The Course
Baking sourdough is more than making bread—it’s a quiet, grounding practice that connects you to the rhythms of the natural world. In this course, you’ll step into the nourishing world of wild yeast and fermentation, learning how simple ingredients and patience come together to create wholesome, flavorful bread.
We’ll explore the science behind sourdough in an approachable way, uncovering how natural leavening works and what’s happening inside your dough as it rests and ferments. You’ll learn how to care for a healthy starter, how flour, water, and temperature shape your bread, and how to gently troubleshoot when things don’t go as planned—without stress or perfectionism.
Just as important, this course invites you to slow down. Mixing, kneading, and shaping dough becomes a calming, hands-on ritual—one that many people find deeply therapeutic. Baking bread offers a rare chance to work with your hands, trust the process, and create something nourishing for yourself and the people you love.
Through guided, bake-along lessons, you’ll build confidence and skill while turning understanding into practice. Along the way, you’ll discover how baking sourdough at home supports wellness and sustainability by reducing reliance on processed foods and reconnecting you to traditional, earth-centered ways of living.
This course is for anyone seeking a healing hobby that feeds both body and spirit—rooted in science, guided by nature, and meant to be enjoyed slowly.
What You’ll Learn
This course was created to be a calm, supportive guide—one that meets you where you are and gently builds your understanding and skills over time. Each lesson is thoughtfully sequenced, so you’re never rushed or overwhelmed, and each new concept grows naturally from the last.
You’ll learn the foundations of sourdough baking by exploring the living world of wild yeast and fermentation. Along the way, you’ll begin to understand what’s happening in your dough at each stage, so baking becomes less about guesswork and more about trust and intuition. Practical tips are woven throughout the course to help you troubleshoot common challenges with confidence and ease.
Rather than simply following a recipe, you’ll develop a deeper relationship with the process itself—learning how flour, water, time, and temperature work together to create a nourishing, crusty loaf. You’ll also connect with the long tradition of bread baking, honoring a skill that has sustained people for thousands of years.
As a teacher with decades of experience and a deep love for sourdough, I’ve designed this course to be clear, encouraging, and totally doable for busy women. If you can mix a few simple ingredients and give them time, you can bake beautiful sourdough bread—and I’ll guide you every step of the way.
Course Curriculum
FAQ'S
When is class? Class will meet via Zoom on Sunday evenings, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
How many classes are there? There are seven, two-hour classes.
What are the dates of classes? Feb 15th, March 1st, March 15th, March 29th, April 12th, April 26th, and the final class is May 17th.
What if I don't have a sourdough starter? I will teach you how to make your own, AND I am happy to mail you some of mine (Anne-with an E!) that have been dehydrated and frozen.
What supplies do I need? I suggest a sturdy, one-inch, three-ring binder to print out and contain my recipes and how-to guides, with some extra lined paper to jot down notes from class and while you are baking. You will also need some basic kitchen supplies, and I will provide you with a supply list when you register.
What if I can't make it to class one week, or any week? You are welcome to watch the recordings at your convenience. You will have lifetime access to the videos.
What if I was bad at science in school? I got you. I teach science through stories and hands-on experience. I've been teaching for 26 years, and I am really good at making complicated stuff easy to understand.
Do you have a payment plan? Yup! See below. I offer a discount for paying in full, but there is also a six-payment option.
Your instructor
Stepping into Stephanie Cornais’s teaching is an invitation to slow down and discover where science and healing meet. Stephanie is a veteran science educator and Certified Florida Master Naturalist who brings over two decades of teaching experience into the kitchen, where sourdough bread-making becomes both a learning practice and a therapeutic journey.
Her sourdough journey began more than four years ago during a season of grief, after the loss of her father. She turned to bread baking as a way to work with her hands, find rhythm, and create something nourishing during a difficult time. What began as a personal healing practice grew into a deep fascination with fermentation and the living ecosystems that thrive in our kitchens.
Stephanie is especially drawn to the quiet complexity of wild yeast and beneficial bacteria. She loves helping others understand these natural processes in ways that feel accessible and empowering. Her teaching emphasizes curiosity over perfection, helping students understand why sourdough works so they can bake with confidence and intuition.
In Sourdough Science, Stephanie guides students beyond recipes and rules, inviting them into a slow, hands-on practice that has nurtured people for generations. The course is designed not only to teach skills, but also to provide a grounding, therapeutic experience—one that nourishes both body and spirit through connection to the rhythms of food, fermentation, and the natural world.
What You’ll Gain from This Course
By the end of Sourdough Science, you’ll be able to:
Bake with confidence – understand the science behind fermentation so you can troubleshoot, adapt, and create consistently delicious sourdough loaves.
Nourish yourself and others – turn simple ingredients into wholesome, preservative-free bread that supports wellness and sustainability.
Embrace a healing, hands-on practice – slow down, reconnect with your hands, and find rhythm and calm through the process of baking.
Build a solid foundation – go beyond following recipes to truly understand why sourdough works, giving you the knowledge and skills to innovate, experiment, and enjoy baking for years to come.
Whether you want to feed your family, impress your friends, or simply create a restorative hobby that grounds and heals you, this course will give you the tools, confidence, and understanding to make sourdough a meaningful part of your life.
