Sourdough Bread

Ingredients

• 1 cup Sourdough Starter
• 5 1/2 to 6 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons margarine or butter
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Instructions

1. Bring Sourdough Starter to room temperature. Combine 2 1/2 cups of the flour and the yeast. Heat and stir water, sugar, margarine, and 1 teaspoon salt just till warm (120° to 130°) and margarine almost melts. Add to flour mixture. Add Sourdough Starter. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes.
2. Combine 2 1/2 cups of flour and the soda. Add to yeast mixture. Stir till combined. Using a spoon, stir in as much remaining flour as you can. Turn out onto a floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough (6 to 8 minutes total). Shape into a ball. Place in a greased bowl; turn once. Cover; let rise in warm place till double (45 to 60 minutes).
3. Punch dough down. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide in half. Cover; let rest 10 minutes. Shape into 2 round loaves. Place on a greased baking sheet. Flatten each slightly to a 6-inch diameter. (Or, shape into two 9x4-inch oblong loaves. Place on a greased baking sheet!) With a sharp knife, make crisscross slashes across tops of loaves. Cover; let rise till nearly double (about 30 minutes). Bake in a 375° oven for 30 to 35 minutes or till done. Cover the last 10 minutes if necessary. Remove from baking sheet; cool. Makes 2 loaves (28 to 32 oz each).
4. Raisin Sourdough Bread: Prepare as above, except stir 1/2 cups raisins into yeast mixture along with the flour-soda mixture. Before baking, brush loaves with mix: Combine 2 table spoons sugar and 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Sprinkle over loaves.