Sourdough Stecca Bread (No Knead Baguette)

This Sourdough Stecca Bread recipe is the only one you'll ever need! Salty, soft, yet still crunchy, this no-knead small baguette is perfect with a little butter or jam. Just five main ingredients!

If you have ever lived in or even visited Greenville, SC, there's a good chance you've heard someone rave about the stecca bread from a local cafe and grocery store. If you haven't had it yet, you can make this sourdough version at home!

Sourdough stecca bread works great as a sandwich bread. It also is phenomenal as a toast, dipped in good olive oil, or lathered with butter! The saltiness goes so well with the tanginess from the sourdough. This bread will be your new go-to! Serve stecca bread as sandwich bread with Vegan Pesto, or pair it with soups and pastas such as Vegan Mushroom Soup or Vegan Beef & Shells.

Making sourdough can be a bit tricky if you are not familiar with it. I recommend this recipe for intermediate to advanced sourdough bakers. If you're new to sourdough, don’t worry, I will provide details and resources as much as possible!

Why you'll love this recipe

• Unique Style - Even the most experienced sourdough bakers may not have ever made a sourdough stecca bread loaf. Make this and treat all of your friends to a new style of bread!
• Salty & Tangy - I love sourdough for its inherent tanginess. Add some crispy salt to that and it becomes a delicious tangy flavor for stecca bread.
• Simple Ingredients - While sourdough stecca can be tricky, it benefits from using super simple ingredients. All you need for this is some flour, starter, sugar, water, oil, and salt.

What you need for this recipe

Ingredients and Substitutions:

• Sourdough Starter - For this recipe, you need a ripe and mature sourdough starter. If you don't have a starter yet, you can learn how to make one at home. You can also borrow some starter from a generous friend, or you can buy starter. Whichever method you use, just ensure that it is mature and, at the time of making the stecca bread dough, it is at its peak ripeness.
• Bread Flour - I've always used bread flour for any sourdough I've ever made (though I use all-purpose for my starter). Bread flour has more protein, thus leading to better stability and a stronger rise. I believe all-purpose flour will also work in this recipe, but results may vary.
• Olive Oil - Use a good quality extra virgin olive oil. Do not substitute or omit this ingredient.
• Sugar - Just a small pinch of white cane sugar goes into the dough. Do not substitute or omit this ingredient.
• Sea Salt - Fine sea salt (or table salt) is used in the dough for the stecca bread. Please note the difference between this salt and flake salt.
• Flaky Salt - Flaky sea salt is very different than the fine sea salt. Flake salt is used on top of the dough before baking.

Equipment:

• Food Scale - I highly, highly, highly recommend using a digital food scale for this recipe. While you can use traditional measuring cups and spoons, you will never have an accurate measure without using a food scale. If you are serious about sourdough baking, invest in a food scale.
• Mixing Bowls
• Sheet Pan
• Bench Scraper (Optional)

How to make this recipe

Step 1: Prepare the Starter

The sourdough starter is without a doubt the most important part of this recipe. Please read this section very carefully.

Roughly 4-8 hours before starting the stecca dough, feed your sourdough starter by adding equal parts (by weight) water and all-purpose flour to your already active starter. I like to do 50 grams of water and 50 grams of flour.

Once the starter has been properly fed, let it sit at room temperature until it doubles in size. This will vary in time based on the temperature of your kitchen.

When the starter has doubled and is at its peak rise, measure out 125 grams of ripe starter.

Tip: If you're not sure if the starter is ripe enough, place a small scoop of starter into a bowl of water. If it floats, it is ready for use!

Add the starter to a mixing bowl and combine it with 287 grams of cool water (filtered or tap is fine). Use a fork or whisk to combine until you have a milky-looking liquid with no clumps.

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Step 2: Make the Dough

In a separate mixing bowl, add 337 grams of bread flour.

To that, add ½ teaspoon of fine sea salt or table salt and ¾ teaspoon white sugar. Mix well.

Pour the starter and water mixture into the flour mixture.

Use a fork to whisk together, avoiding clumps if possible.

Mix until you achieve a sticky, wet dough mixture.

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Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel. Let it rest until the dough has doubled in size, 10-18 hours.

Tip: If you need to rest it for a longer time, wait until the dough has nearly doubled in size, then place in the refrigerator with a towel on top for 12-24 hours.

Step 3: Second Rise

After the dough has doubled in size, generously dust a work surface with flour. Carefully remove it from the bowl and place it on a clean, lightly-floured surface. Be sure that the dough comes out of the bowl in one piece.

Next, grab one corner over of the dough and stretch it upwards, then fold it into the center of the dough. Repeat this with each corner multiple times until the dough becomes less stretchy and more resistant to the pulls.

The dough should roughly resemble a slightly smaller, flattened sphere.

Grab a large mixing bowl or a tall, straight-sided vessel and brush the insides of the bowl with a few tablespoons of olive oil.

Gently place the dough, seam side down into the bowl.

Brush the top of the dough with more olive oil and a pinch of flake salt or coarse kosher salt.

Cover the bowl with a damp towel. Place in a warm draft-free spot to rise for 3 to 4 hours.

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The dough is ready when it has doubled in size once again. If you gently poke it with your finger, it should hold the impression. If it springs back, let it rise for another 15 minutes.

Step 4: Bake the Stecca Bread

Pre-heat the oven to 500º Fahrenheit.

Coat a sheet pan with roughly ¼ cup of olive oil. Dump the dough out of the bowl and onto the sheet pan. It will flatten slightly.

Use a bench scraper or a non-serrated knife to divide the dough into 2, 3, or 4 pieces.

Use your hands to take each piece and stretch it out into a long, even-thickness, baguette-like shape. 2 pieces will yield the longest shapes, 4 will be the shortest shape.

Generously sprinkle the tops of the baguettes with the flaky salt.

Place in the 500ºF oven and bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden on the tops and cooked all the way through.

Remove from the oven when done and allow to cool at least 5-10 minutes before slicing. Enjoy sourdough stecca bread with butter, olive oil, jam, or as sandwich bread!

Expert Tips & Tricks

• I can't stress enough how important it is to use a digital food scale for this recipe. Sourdough is tricky enough as is, but making sourdough without accurate measurements is extremely difficult.
• Sourdough starter is one of the most important parts of this recipe. Once you learn how to make and keep a sourdough starter, test if it is ready for use in this recipe by placing a small amount in a bowl of water. If it floats, its ready!
• If you need to rest the dough for longer than the 10-18 hours, wait until the dough has nearly doubled in size, then place in the refrigerator with a towel on top for 12-24 hours. 

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