Woman in viral TikTok video bakes sourdough bread mid-flight: See her handiwork

A woman recently made headlines on TikTok for showing how she managed to bake sourdough bread from scratch at an altitude of 9,000 meters.

Maria Baradell, known to her thousands of social media followers as @leadandloafco, recently traveled from her hometown of Dallas, Texas, to Barcelona, ​​Spain, to see her sister for the first time in six years.

At a time when baking your own sourdough bread has become a requirement for “Homesteading Trad Wives” on social media, Baradell decided to document her process in two videos that have been viewed a total of over 1.8 million times to date.

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The mother of five told Fox News Digital that she fed her sourdough starter before leaving her Dallas home to ensure it would be ready later that day.

In the posted videos, Baradell can be seen mixing water, starter, flour and salt in a large bowl on her connecting American Airlines flight from Chicago to Barcelona.

“I was very careful not to disturb anyone,” she said.

“I boarded 15 minutes before my seatmate, so I could mix the ingredients really quickly before they even sat down.”

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After discussing the bread experiment with her fellow passengers, Baradell said there were no problems among other passengers or flight crew during the entire flight and she doesn't think anyone noticed.

Maria Baradell said her sourdough experiment went unnoticed by other passengers or flight crew during the flight. (@leafandloafco/TMX)

Fox News Digital has reached out to American Airlines for comment.

As the hours went by, Baradell continued stretching and folding, rolling, folding and rising the dough—all while leaving the dough on her tray table.

Baradell explained that the sourdough went through an eight-hour primary fermentation during the flight, but was still not ready for baking – which she believes was due to the altitude, humidity and temperature on the plane.

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However, when Baradell reached her sister's kitchen in Spain, she pre-shaped the dough, let it rest on the bench and gave it a final shape before letting it chill for another 20 hours – and then finally putting it in the oven.

The mother of five children did almost all of the sourdough preparation during the flight. (@leafandloafco/TMX)

However, after she posted the video on social media, some users took issue with her experiment.

One user wrote: “Looks really cute, but please don't do this on an airplane. It's a really enclosed place and a coeliac could get poisoning – the flour can easily 'fly' and spread.”

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Other social media users expressed concern about the bacteria floating around in the cabin and advised her not to do it again.

Shortly after, Baradell posted a video on TikTok in which she sincerely apologized for offending anyone with her post. She said: “Yep, I'm the crazy woman who baked bread on the plane.”

Maria Baradell (right) arrived at her sister's (left) home in Spain with her sourdough bread in tow. (@leafandloafco/TMX)

She told Fox News Digital that the bread is baked at 450°F (232°C), which kills all germs, and that she uses hand sanitizer before each step.

“I said I would not try it again because it had been brought to my attention that the flour could pose a risk if there were coeliacs on board because of the air recirculation,” she said.

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Celiac disease is defined as “a disease caused by an immune reaction to the consumption of gluten,” according to the Mayo Clinic.

However, some comments on social media had no problem with Baradell's bread experiment.

Baradell said the bread turned out well thanks to her hours of prep work on the plane. (@leafandloafco/TMX)

“As someone who gets super nervous about flying, seeing you doing this next to me would instantly put me at ease,” wrote one TikTok user.

Another said, “Now that’s what I call devotion.”

Baradell said her dream is to bring bread back to America and have “a bread baker in every neighborhood” by sharing tips and content on social media.

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The woman, originally from Venezuela, told Fox News Digital that she started baking sourdough bread in early 2024 and fell in love with it.

A woman baked sourdough bread on the plane to see her sister for the first time in six years. (@leafandloafco/TMX;iStock)

“I started giving bread to my neighbors, who liked it so much they asked if they could buy it weekly. So I got a license and started selling my bread,” she said.

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Today she regularly bakes over 60 loaves of bread for her congregation.