Cranberry & Almond Sourdough

Sourdough is about as good as it gets for bread. Homemade. Slightly tangy. Chewy crumb. And that crust. This is not a normal bread recipe with commercial yeast that is fluffy and soft, made in your mixer, and done start to finish in a few hours. This will take all day or up to 24 hours. It is mostly hands off but you do need to be around to stretch and fold the dough. It is artisan bread; made the old-fashioned way.

I don't explain how to make a starter, or how to stretch and fold dough. You can go to You Tube and look up videos on how to make sourdough bread. Or buy the book Tartine. Or educate yourself over at the blog The Perfect Loaf.  Or do all of the above like I have done. This is just my favorite version of a fruit and nut sourdough bread. It assumes you have those skills already.

THIS IS NOT A FIRST-TIME SOURDOUGH RECIPE. Not because this isn't easy (it is), but because I am scant on photos for illustrating each step.

golden raisin and almond dough

banneton baskets

loaves proofed overnight in the refrigerator

cloche clay bakers

Cranberry and Almond Sourdough

printable recipe click here

Makes 2 loaves

by Cynthia Winward

608 grams warm water*

167 grams sourdough starter

110 grams sugar**

160 grams whole wheat flour

640 grams bread flour

16 grams salt

150 grams cranberries or raisins

100 grams sliced almonds or other nut

DIRECTIONS

1. Put sourdough starter and water in bowl and mix all together with your hand. Add flour and mix until flour is all incorporated. Cover tightly.

2. Let sit 30 minutes to 2 hrs covered.

3.  Add the salt to the top of the dough and mix it up the best you can with one set of stretch and folds.

4. Do one more set of Stretch and Folds, 30-45 minutes apart. On the second Stretch and Fold, add the fruit and nuts. Don’t worry if all the fruit/nuts don’t get mixed in right now. They will on the next stretching. Do 1-2 more stretch and folds every 30 minutes. If my dough seems strong I skip the last, if it seems limp I might add another.

5. Let the covered dough ferment on the counter or in the oven with the light on in the same bowl for another 2 hours until it is about 1.5 times the size. If my kitchen is cold I can let it go 3 hours.

6. Divide dough in half,  pre-shape the dough on a lightly floured board into a round.

7. Let sit for 20 minutes covered.

8. Shape loaves as desired and put into well floured banneton baskets or floured cloth lined bowl. (Cloth should be a tea towel or other lint free towel.)

9. Place bannetons in a plastic bag that you “blow up” with air, secure it close with twist tie. Put it fridge overnight to bake the next day.

Or to bake the same day, let it rise another 2 hours then bake right away.  

10. 30-45 minutes before you are going to bake turn oven to 475 degrees and place baking vessels  in the oven. (Either a dutch oven, combo cooker or cloche). I use cloche bakers.

11. Score the loaf and place bread in pan. I use parchment paper to transfer to the pan.

12. Bake covered at 475 for 25 minutes and remove cover. Turn oven down to 400 degrees. Continue to bake for 15-20 minutes until bread reaches internal temp of 205. (You might need to play with the temp and time depending on your oven.)

*This is a 76% hydration dough, increase or decrease to your desired percentage.

**To make this a regular sourdough, eliminate sugar, fruit, and nuts.