Before You Start - Prepare the Lemon & Blueberries:
An hour before you start mixing this sourdough, you need to prepare the blueberries and lemon zest. Put your blueberries into a small bowl and cover them with 10g of Maple Syrup and just enough boiling water to cover them. Cover with cling wrap and put aside until you need them (these can be made the day before if you want, but as long as they sit for an hour they will be fine).
Add your lemon zest to the brown sugar. Use a spoon to mash them together a little and then let them sit while you prepare the dough. The sugar will emulsify with the lemon zest and become glossy.
Premix & Autolyse:
Weigh out your sourdough starter and water into a large ceramic or glass bowl. This recipe is based on you having an active starter that you have fed a few hours before starting your bake.
Mix the water and starter together briefly. Then add your flour and salt and mix together with the end of a wooden spoon. The dough will be fairly shaggy and only just brought together.
Cover your bowl with cling film or a damp tea towel and let it sit for around 1 hour. It's ok if it's a little longer.
Forming Up Your Dough:
After the dough has been through autolyse, you need to bring it together into a ball. You'll notice that the dough is fully hydrated after soaking up all the liquid. It will be fairly sticky but as you bring it into a ball, it will become smoother and shinier.6
See AlsoHerbed Beer Bread Recipe70 Make-Ahead Brunch Recipes That Make Hosting a BreezeThe Best Blueberry Cranberry Bread Recipe - The Top MealThis Homemade Mini Loaf Pan Focaccia Claims To Be One of the Easiest Bread Recipes on the Internet, So Naturally, We Tried ItWork your way around the bowl, grabbing the dough from the outside and stretching it up and over itself until a smooth ball is formed. You shouldn't need more than 20-25 folds to form the ball, you might need less. You just need to let the dough tell you
Once the dough has formed into a smooth ball, pop the cling film back on and let it rest for around 30 minutes.
Stretch & Folds / Adding Flavors:
Over the next few hours, you need to create some structure for you dough by stretching and folding. Aim to do around 4-6 sets of stretches and folds. For each set, stretch the dough up and over itself 4 times. You'll find it gets easier to do at each set as the gluten in your dough develops.8
Around your second or third set of stretch and folds, add the drained blueberries and sweet lemon zest. Try to incorporate them without disturbing all the beautiful bubbles that will be forming in your dough. I find it's easiest to actually get your dough out of the bowl and pop it on the bench top. Add the flavors on top of the dough and gently stretch and fold the dough around them. Don't worry if they aren't all through your dough on the first add - you'll have them worked through by the last set.
Bulk Ferment:
Once you've finished your stretch and folds, place the cling film or damp tea towel back over your dough and let it rest and ferment.
Shaping Your Dough:
Once your dough has finished its bulk ferment, you need to shape it. I've chosen to shape into a boule for this recipe, but you can use any shape you prefer.
See AlsoChocolate Zucchini Bread RecipeOnce you're happy with the shape, place your dough into your banneton or bowl, ensuring that you've liberally floured whatever you are using.
Cold Ferment:
Now your dough is in it's shaping container, cover it loosely with a plastic bag or damp tea towel and place it into the fridge.
Try to leave it for a minimum of 5 hours, up to a maximum of 36 hours. The longer you leave it, the better your bread will be.
Preparing To Bake:
Once you're ready to bake your sourdough, you'll need to preheat your oven to 230C/450F. Place your Dutch Oven into the oven when you turn it on so that it gets hot. Try to preheat for around 1 hour to ensure your oven is super hot - but you know your oven, so just adjust this time if you need to.
Leave the dough in the fridge until the very last minute.
Time To Bake!
When your oven is at temperature, take your sourdough out of the fridge. Gently place it onto a piece of baking paper or parchment paper.
Gently score your bread with a lame, clean razor blade or knife. A cross is sufficient, but you can get as artistic as you like.
Carefully take your Dutch Oven out of the oven. Place the sourdough into the pot using the baking paper as a handle. Put the lid on and place into the hot oven. If you want you can spritz your dough with extra water before you put the lid on.
BAKE TIME:
Bake your sourdough for 30 minutes with the lid on at 230C/450F plus
12-15 minutes with the lid off at around 200C/390F.
Keep an eye on your bread at this stage - because it has blueberries and sugar in it, the sugar can make the top go very dark, very quickly.
I tend to turn my oven back to 200C for the last 10-15 minutes with the lid off as I don't want to caramelise the crust too much on this one. I find a lighter crust works better with the delicate lemon flavor.
Once the time has elapsed, remove your sourdough from your Dutch Oven. Turn off your oven and place the sourdough back into the oven, directly on your oven rack. Let it cool in here with the door ajar for 1-2 hours.
FAQs
Why do you put baking soda in sourdough bread? ›
Baking soda or bicarbonate of soda can be used in sourdough bread to create a less sour loaf. Added after bulk fermentation, but before shaping, it can help to create a lighter, more fluffy loaf of sourdough.
What is the secret behind the sour of sourdough bread? ›There are two main acids produced in a sourdough culture: lactic acid and acetic acid. Acetic acid, or vinegar, is the acid that gives sourdough much of its tang. Giving acetic acid-producing organisms optimal conditions to thrive and multiply will produce a more tangy finished product.
Why add honey to sourdough bread recipe? ›Honey: Honey adds a sweetness to this dough and helps balance any sour flavor that comes through from the fermentation process. If you are looking for whole wheat bread without the honey, try this recipe. Salt: Salt enhances the flavor and helps tempers the fermentation.
What is the best flour for sourdough bread? ›Whole wheat flour is an excellent choice for creating a sourdough starter due to its nutrient-rich composition and potential for fostering a robust microbial community. However, it's important to note that the quality of whole wheat flour can vary between brands.
What is the best flour for sourdough starter? ›The best flour blend for creating a new sourdough starter is 50% whole-meal flour (whole wheat or whole rye) and 50% bread flour or all-purpose flour. I recommend a 50/50 mix of whole wheat flour and bread flour. Why do you need to use these two types of flour?
How do you make sourdough bread lighter and fluffier? ›Keeping the lid on for the first part of baking allows steam to expand between the gluten fibers to rise the bread and create a fluffy loaf. Step 4: Remove the lid and bake for an additional 12-14 minutes or until the crust is crispy and golden brown. Once you take the lid off, the bread likely won't rise anymore.
Why do you put vinegar in sourdough bread? ›In fact the acidity is a dough conditioner that softens the texture of whole grains and makes the bread more pliable. Hack: apple cider vinegar. I often add about a tablespoon of ACV to bread as a dough conditioner.
What happens if you don't add baking soda to bread? ›Baking soda is a leavening agent. It creates air bubbles (technically, carbon dioxide) in your batter, when heated. Without it, your baked goods will not rise to the desired levels and the airy texture you're looking for will be adversely affected.
Why does my sourdough taste funky? ›An over-fermented starter — the kind that produces your funky-flavored bread — shows you it's hungry with an excess of liquid "hooch." Like the rotgut of the Prohibition era, sourdough hooch is alcohol, the byproduct of your natural yeast's consumption of sugar.
Why doesn't my sourdough taste like sourdough? ›In general, more minerals yield more sour taste. Using flours with more ash, or mineral, content, will yield more sour taste. If you can't get enough ash, adding a bit of whole wheat flour to your recipe, which is what is done with the 20% Bran Flour, will boost the sour of a bread.
What flour makes sourdough more sour? ›
For more tang: Incorporate some rye flour and/or whole wheat flour early in the bread-making process, such as when feeding the mother culture and the preferment. Rye flour in particular will help your culture produce some acetic acid.
What does adding olive oil to sourdough bread do? ›Does olive oil make dough softer? Yes - adding olive oil to sourdough bread will result in a softer crust and crumb. The oil as a lipid coats the flour and inhibits the gluten network resulting in a softer, tighter crumb and softer crust. This can be a desirable outcome if you do not like tough, chewy sourdough crusts.
Can I put sugar in sourdough bread? ›If you are making a sourdough sandwich loaf or dinner rolls, a tender, soft crumb is desirable. Adding a small amount of sugar can help with this. Want a darker, deeper sourdough crust. Adding a little sugar to your dough can help the Maillard Reaction, resulting in a darker, more caramelised sourdough crust.
Can I put sugar in my sourdough starter? ›A number of yeast companies make osmotolerant yeasts, we used SAF Gold label for a number of years. A few people have created their own osmotolerant sourdough starters by feeding the starters 80% flour and 20% sugar for several days.
How can I make my sourdough rise better? ›So don't leave your dough in a warm oven, on a radiator or in sunlight. It will likely be too warm and will dry out your dough too. Instead, find a cosy spot, with no drafts, for your dough to rise. And, if your sourdough starter is struggling to get going, consider finding it a warmer spot too.
What is the best proofing time for sourdough bread? ›In my experience, the shortest final proof (at room temperature) that I prefer to do is one hour. The longest final proof (at room temperature) is about 3 hours. When going past 2-3 hours in a final proof, the crumb tends to get very gassy and opens up large gas bubbles with a longer countertop proof.
How to get good crust on sourdough bread? ›Creating the perfect steamy, hot environment is essential to getting a rich, dark sourdough crust. As a home baker, using a Dutch Oven is the easiest and most consistent way to create the steamy environment needed to bake great sourdough bread.
How do you make sourdough bread rise higher? ›Set the sourdough starter on the fridge. This warm location will kick start the fermentation and allow the starter to rise more. You can also add a bowl of warm water nearby to increase humidity. This may sound weird, but on the flip side, fridges are super warm on top!