Hello, friends! I hope you’re having a wonderful Friday.

Guess what I’ve been working on the past few days? A sourdough starter!
It’s been such an exciting (and sometimes challenging) journey—turns out, making the perfect sourdough starter isn’t as easy as it seems. So many factors come into play, like temperature, flour type, and feeding schedule.

But no worries—I’ve got you covered! Below, you’ll find helpful tips and a super simple, beginner-friendly sourdough starter recipe to get you started.

And that’s not all…
Learn how to make authentic Greek tsoureki with a sourdough twist! This aromatic Easter bread features orange, lemon, and mahlepi, and includes a natural starter.

Notes:

• Make your sweet starter the night before so everything is fermented and ready to go. If you do not follow this step, the wild yeast won’t be active and your loaf will not rise.
• You need to have your sourdough starter ready at least 1 night before making this recipe.
• Make sure to follow the rise steps as this will ensure in a fluffy tsoureki!
• If you want the full 101 on tsoureki making incuding tips please visit the link here.

Feeding Starter ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup lukewarm distilled water

Day #1

Add the starter ingredients to a tall glass mason jar. Make sure the ingredients are well mixed and cover loosely. Store in a warm place for 24 hours. ( I store mine above my refrigerator since heat rises.)

Day #2

You may see a few bubbles form, but if you don’t see activity that is okay. Remove half the starter, then add the “feeding starter” to the mix. Make sure to mix properly so there is no dry flour. Repeat the same process to store, and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Rest for 24 hours.

Day #3

You should see some bubbles, and the mixture should have a slightly fruity aroma. Repeat the same process by removing half the starter, then feeding it again. Rest for 24 hours while covering with plastic wrap.

Day #4

Repeat the same process by removing half the starter and adding again the feed. You might wonder why you remove the starter? Well, yeast needs to feed on sugar, and most of the time the yeast will go dormant because the flour doesn’t have much sugar to feed on after a few days. This is why you would add a new starter.

Day #5

Once the sourdough starter starts to smell a bit sour, you do not need to feed it any longer. At this point, you can use the starter day of, or cover and chill in the refrigerator.

Sweet”Starter” ingredients:

• 100 grams of all purpose flour
• 100 grams of water
• 50 grams of sourdough starter (see the notes below for feeding starter)
• 25 grams of sugar

Tsoureki Time!!

Tsoureki with Sourdough Starter

Servings: 2 medium size tsoureki

If you are looking for a fluffy and tasty tsoureki this one is for you!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of sourdough sweet starter (240 grams)
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 cup of unsalted butter, room temperature (95 grams)
• 1/2 cup of milk- warmed (125 grams)
• 1/2 cup of granulated sugar or (100 grams)
• 1 large orange- zest the whole orange (reserve juice) (5 grams)
• 1 large lemon- zest the whole lemon (reserve juice) (5 grams)
• 1 tablespoon of mahlepi grounded
• 1 tablespoon of mastiha grounded
• 1 teaspoon of cardamom
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla
• 3 cups of all-purpose flour plus more for dusting the surface. (360 grams)
• 1/2 cup of all purpose flour (60 grams)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt (6 grams)
• Egg wash- 1 egg with about 1/4 cup of water beaten
• optional almonds or sesame seeds for the top of the bread

Method:

1. Make sure you prepare the sweet starter the night before. Then refrigerate the starter until ready to use the next day.
2. Place the bubby sourdough starter inside a stand mixer bowl with the dough hook attachment. Add the eggs, butter, milk, sugar, zest, mastiha, mahlepi, vanilla, and cardamom on low speed. Then sift the flours together along with the salt and then in 3 increments add the flour mixture to the mixing bowl. Now put the mixer on medium speed and mix just until everything comes together. The dough will be slightly sticky and that is fine. Remove the dough and knead about 5 minutes on a clean surface.
3. Place the dough inside a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap and set aside. I like to place the bowl outside in direct sunlight with an extra towel over the top. Make sure the dough rises in double and then punch down and let it rise again. Once you achieved two rises, then place the dough inside the refrigerator for an overnight rise.
4. After the cold rise, remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature. This usually takes about 1 hour or so. Once the dough is soft to the touch prepare a work surface to shape.
5. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and punch it down. You’ll need to sprinkle more flour as needed to prevent sticking—the dough will remain a bit sticky.
6. Separate the dough into 4 equal parts. Shape each part into a round and let rest for 10–15 minutes. Divide each round into 3 pieces, then roll each piece into a rope about a foot long.Braid the 3 ropes loosely to form a loaf (avoid braiding too tightly, as this can cause the strands to pull apart during baking). Place the braided loaves onto baking sheets with 2 parchment papers on the bottom. Let the loaves rise again until doubled in size.
7. Once risen, brush each loaf with egg wash. Top with blanched almonds or sesame seeds if desired. Gently press a red egg into the top of each loaf. (You can wrap a small piece of dough around the egg to prevent it from cracking during baking.)
8. Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 30 to 35 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown. (Tip: I like to slightly underbake my loaves for a softer texture.)
9. Bake on the middle rack, and if the tops begin to brown too quickly, cover loosely with foil and continue baking. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wired rack.

Try our natural Easter egg dye here

Dyeing Easter Eggs The Natural Way 

Special thanks to Windy City Greek for featuring us again in their 2018 Pascha edition!

Check out the Pasxa edition here.

**Updated post on April 17th 2025.