Welcome to the newest post in our series, “How to Make Sourdough Bread.” Today’s post is ALL about how to make a sourdough starter completely from scratch in one week just using flour and water — and a little know-how. I’ll take you step by step through everything so the process is a breeze. BONUS: Scroll down to the bottom of the post for a free printable starter feeding schedule!

HI HELLO. Are we ready for this? Do we have all the essential sourdough tools in place and a ridiculous eagerness to continue our sourdough bread baking journey? Good. I’m excited, too.

Today’s post is all about how to make a sourdough starter from scratch. If you follow along with me, in about a week’s time you’ll have a thriving, bubbly, happy starter. You should name it, too — that’s totally a thing. Say hello to Lucille III.

Welcome to the first post of How to Make Sourdough Bread, a two-week series on Girl Versus Dough focusing on all things sourdough bread. Today’s post is about my essential sourdough tools — that is, the tools I regularly use to make the best-ever sourdough loaves in my own kitchen. I firmly believe that with a few simple, easy-to-acquire kitchen tools, you’re already off to a great start to make your own sourdough. Scroll to the bottom of the post for a printable guide to help you check off everything you need to get started!

Happy Monday! Usually I’m very meh about Mondays, but today is super exciting because we are kicking off my How to Make Sourdough Bread series, which I introduced yesterday. Today’s post is all about essential sourdough tools, aka a simple checklist of kitchen utensils that I find necessary or helpful to achieve the best results in sourdough prep and baking. Once you have these tools in your kitchen, you’ll be set for the entire process from start to finish. Ready? I’M READY.

Weeee! Friends, pardon my ridiculous enthusiasm, but today is a day I’ve been waiting for for a long, long while. I’m here on this snowy Sunday to introduce you to a new, two-week series I am posting on Girl Versus Dough titled: How to Make Sourdough Bread. I hope you are as eager to learn as I am to teach you all about sourdough bread from starter to loaf. Let’s get baking!

Today has literally been years in the making. For a very long time, I’ve been wanting to create an in-depth series on how to make sourdough bread from scratch — like, the kind that is formed entirely from wild yeast, looks like artisan bread and tastes like the kind of bread you get from a bakery but you bake it AT HOME. I’m here to take you by the hand and help you every step of the way until you, too, have a beautiful baked loaf of sourdough in your own kitchen. It’s possible, and you CAN do it. I totally believe in you.

These chocolate alfajores — South American caramel cookies with dulce de leche-filled centers inside a cookie sandwich — are officially the mascot cookie of our household. The cookies have the taste and texture of a brownie and the caramel center is thick and creamy. So yeah, it’s safe to say this cookie recipe is not going anywhere anytime soon… except straight into our bellies.

When you know you’ve stumbled upon a good cookie idea, you just know, you know?

You know. I know you know.

That’s what happened to me, anyway, when the idea for chocolate alfajores — aka, brownie-like dulce de leche sandwich cookies — came to mind. And I just KNEW. You know?

Never underestimate the powers of a good coffee cake. This Triple Berry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake satisfies in all the ways: it warms your heart, tickles your taste buds and fills your belly. Each bite contains fresh berries, cheesecake filling and an exceedingly thick crumb topping. Serve with a cup of hot coffee or tea for the ultimate coffee cake experience.

I am putting to rest all of my past experiences with coffee cakes — the kind you buy at the store where the dough is spongy (and not in a good way), the cream cheese filling is thin and bland and the icing drizzle on top is pretty, sure, but cloyingly sweet… and the whole thing just isn’t very satisfying.

While I admit, yes, I loved these cakes for weekend breakfasts of my youth, I am (and my taste buds are) older and wiser and enlightened to the idea of what a coffee cake really should be — and it should always and forever henceforth be just like this Triple Cream Cheese Coffee Cake. And I’ll tell you why.

This creamy stovetop macaroni and cheese is just as easy and satisfying as any homemade mac and cheese, but BETTER. Made with a decadent white cheddar cheese sauce, crispy diced pancetta, fresh baby spinach and fusilli pasta noodles, it’s fancy enough for date night but simple enough for a weeknight family dinner. Prepare thyself to fall in love with a new pasta meal.

Want to know what I love the most about this macaroni and cheese recipe? The CREAMINESS. Oh, but those crispy bits of salty pancetta, too. And the fresh spinach mixed into the cheese sauce. And the spiraled noodles that hug in all that cheesy, creamy goodness. OK, you know what, fine — I love all of it the most. One taste, and I suspect you (and every member of your family) will, too.