Chocolate Sourdough Bread Recipes

CHOCOLATE-CHERRY SOURDOUGH BREAD

Steps:

• In a wide mixing bowl, whisk together the yeast and water and allow the yeast to bloom, about 1 minute. Whisk the sourdough starter into the mixture until dissolved, then add the flour, cocoa powder and coffee. Use a dough scraper to stir the ingredients into a shaggy mass. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 20 minutes, then add the salt, incorporating it well. Transfer to a lightly oiled plastic container and cover with plastic wrap; it will be sticky.
• Rest dough for 30 minutes, then lightly oil hands to fold: Pull one edge of the dough up and press it down into the center of the ball; repeat with the 3 other edges of the dough, then cover dough. In 30 minutes, repeat the folding, this time incorporating the chocolate chips and cherries. Repeat the folding every half-hour, for a total of 6 folds. Check for gluten development: Pinch a piece of dough between your fingers and stretch it. It should stretch out to a thin, transparent membrane before tearing. If not, repeat folding and check again.
• Turn the bread out onto a lightly floured surface and use hands to gently tuck the edges up toward the center of the dough, then flip the dough over so it's seam-side down, and gently round with your hands. Cover with plastic wrap and rest dough for 20 minutes, then tuck edges down toward the seam, to shape dough into a tighter ball. Cover with plastic wrap and rest for 10 minutes. Transfer to a flour-dusted wicker breadbasket, seam side up, pinching the seam shut if necessary. Wrap basket with plastic wrap, or slide the basket into a clean plastic bag, closing it. Proof at about 55 degrees, or in the refrigerator, for 14 to 16 hours, until dough has increased in size, and springs back slightly to the touch.
• When you're ready to bake, remove the dough from the refrigerator and transfer it, smooth side up, to a large cast-iron pot (with a lid) lined with a round of parchment paper. Be careful not to over-handle dough and lose air bubbles. Cover and bring to room temperature for 1 to 2 hours. Position a baking rack in the center of the oven and heat to 500 degrees. Using a razor or fine, sharp knife blade, score a cross on the top of dough, making a fast, clean cut about 1/8- to 1/4-inch deep.
• Bake covered for 33 minutes. Remove lid and bake for another 10 minutes, cracking open the oven door for the last 5 minutes. Push a thermometer into the bread dough; it should read 195 to 200 degrees for cooked bread. Transfer bread to a cooling rack, carefully remove the paper, and allow to cool completely at room temperature before cutting open.

CHOCOLATE SOURDOUGH BREAD

Steps:

• Make the poolish by adding the sourdough starter, water, bread flour and sugar. Let sit out overnight for 8-12 hours.
• The next morning add the poolish to a stand mixer.
• Add the coconut oil, dark cocoa powder and powdered milk.
• Cut the milk chocolate into small chunks.
• Add the flour in batches while the mixer is on low speed.
• Add the remaining flour.
• Knead on low for 3 minutes. Then add the chocolate and mix to combine.
• Dust your hands with flour and remove the bread dough from the mixer. Form a dough ball. Cover with a towel and let rise for 2 hours.
• When the dough is ready it should spring back when you stick your finger in it.
• Remove the dough to a piece of parchment paper. Stretch and fold four times and place the seam side down. Let rise for 30 min while the oven and dutch oven preheats to 400 F. (make sure the rack is in the middle of the oven)
• Score the loaf with a sharp knife.
• Place the bread into the preheated dutch oven on the parchment paper. Cover with the lid and cook for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and cook for an additional 15 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and let cool for 30 minutes.
• Slice and serve.

CHOCOLATE-CHERRY SOURDOUGH BREAD

Steps:

• Day 1 (morning): If you store your starter in the refrigerator, take 85 grams and allow it to come to room temperature, about one hour. Make sure you have enough starter leftover to feed and store for future use. (Edit: cold starter straight out of fridge works well, too)
• Day 1 (morning; Mix the dough): Stir in the unfed starter and water in a bowl. Once the starter has been evenly distributed in the water add the bread flour and cacao powder. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let sit for one hour.
• Day 1 (morning): Add the soaked and drained dried cherries, kosher salt and almonds to the mixture in the bowl. Combine the dough using a wet hand and folding the dough over from the bottom to top. Then Ken Forkish employs what he calls the "pincer" method to make sure all the ingredients are fully incorporated. Imagining your hand as a lobster claw (my description), cut through the dough pinching a few times, mixing, then pinching again.
• Day 1 (morning; stretch-and-fold). Pick up one portion of the dough (without taking it out of the bowl) and fold it over. Repeat this folding step a few times, inverting the dough with the folds at the bottom of the bowl when done. This stretch-and-fold step should be done every thirty minutes, three or four times over the course of two hours. After the final stretch-and-fold, cover the bowl with a towel or plastic wrap to for bulk fermentation
• Day 1 (evening; testing for completion of Bulk Fermentation): Depending on the temperature of your kitchen your dough should have doubled in size eight afters after stretch-and-fold. A warmer kitchen would take less time and a cooler one, more time. You should see bubbles throughout the dough if you're using a clear container and if you pull the dough a little it should be webby underneath.
• Day 1 (evening; shape and overnight proof): Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. The dough will relax and flatten when you take it out of the bowl. Taking one section of dough at at time, fold the sections over the rest of the dough until you have a somewhat tight ball shape. Then tighten the dough by pulling it towards you by cupping the dough with both your hands using your pinky fingers as the anchors. Tension is created on the surface of the dough as you pull it towards you. Rotate then repeat three to four times until the dough holds its ball shape. Transfer the dough on a floured banneton with the seam side down (See Note). Cover the entire proofing basket with a plastic bag and store in the refrigerator overnight. For this loaf, the dough proofed in the fridge for 36 hours. It should be fine to bake the next morning. To test for readiness, poke the dough with a floured finger, making about a 1/2-inch indentation. If the dent springs back immediately, the dough needs a longer proofing. If the dent springs back slowly and doesn't completely disappear, the dough is ready to bake.
• Day 2 or 3 (bake): This recipe uses a dutch oven for baking. Preheat your oven to 475ºF with a rack in the center of the oven. Put the dutch oven with the lid on the rack while the oven preheats. Once the oven has reached temperature, take the dough out of the refrigerator and invert it onto a piece of parchment paper, leaving enough paper on either side to be able to lift it. Make sure you have oven mitts then take the (very hot) dutch oven out of the oven and place on the counter or stove. Remove the lid and rest one of your mitts on top of the lid so you don't touch it by accident. Take the ends of the parchment paper and carefully lift and transfer the dough to the dutch oven. Cover the dutch oven and place it back in the oven. Bake covered for 30 minutes then uncover and bake for another 20-25 minutes, checking your bread at the 15-18 minute mark just in case your oven runs hot. When done, tilt the bread out of the dutch oven and let it cool on a rack for at least 20 minutes before slicing.

CHOCOLATE CHERRY SOURDOUGH BREAD

Steps:

• In a wide mixing bowl, whisk together the yeast and water and allow the yeast to bloom, about 1 minute. Whisk the sourdough starter into the mixture until dissolved, then add the flour, cocoa powder and coffee. Use a dough scraper to stir the ingredients into a shaggy mass. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 20 minutes, then add the salt, incorporating it well. Transfer to a lightly oiled plastic container and cover with plastic wrap; it will be sticky.
• Rest dough for 30 minutes, then lightly oil hands to fold: Pull one edge of the dough up and press it down into the center of the ball; repeat with the 3 other edges of the dough, then cover dough. In 30 minutes, repeat the folding, this time incorporating the chocolate chips and cherries. Repeat the folding every half-hour, for a total of 6 folds. Check for gluten development: Pinch a piece of dough between your fingers and stretch it. It should stretch out to a thin, transparent membrane before tearing. If not, repeat folding and check again.
• Turn the bread out onto a lightly floured surface and use hands to gently tuck the edges up toward the center of the dough, then flip the dough over so it's seam-side down, and gently round with your hands. Cover with plastic wrap and rest dough for 20 minutes, then tuck edges down toward the seam, to shape dough into a tighter ball. Cover with plastic wrap and rest for 10 minutes. Transfer to a flour-dusted wicker breadbasket, seam side up, pinching the seam shut if necessary. Wrap basket with plastic wrap, or slide the basket into a clean plastic bag, closing it. Proof at about 55 degrees, or in the refrigerator, for 14 to 16 hours, until dough has increased in size, and springs back slightly to the touch.
• When you're ready to bake, remove the dough from the refrigerator and transfer it, smooth side up, to a large cast-iron pot (with a lid) lined with a round of parchment paper. Be careful not to over-handle dough and lose air bubbles. Cover and bring to room temperature for 1 to 2 hours. Position a baking rack in the center of the oven and heat to 500 degrees. Using a razor or fine, sharp knife blade, score a cross on the top of dough, making a fast, clean cut about 1/8- to 1/4-inch deep.
• Bake covered for 33 minutes. Remove lid and bake for another 10 minutes, cracking open the oven door for the last 5 minutes. Push a thermometer into the bread dough; it should read 195 to 200 degrees for cooked bread. Transfer bread to a cooling rack, carefully remove the paper, and allow to cool completely at room temperature before cutting open.