Sourdough Nut Batter Bread Recipes

SOURDOUGH BREAD

Steps:

• For the levain: Combine the all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, water and starter in a medium bowl and mix to combine. Cover and let sit at room temperature until bubbly and increased in volume by about 20 percent, about 8 hours.
• For the dough: Add the all-purpose flour, water and whole-wheat flour to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Weigh out 7 ounces of the levain (about 1 cup) and add to the mixer (discard any remaining levain). Mix on low until a shaggy dough forms. Cover the bowl and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
• Add the salt to the dough and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes; the dough should feel a bit sticky and wet but look smooth and very stretchy. Scrape the dough into a plastic or glass container about twice its size. Cover and let sit at room temperature until puffed, about 45 minutes.
• Put the dough on a floured work surface, flatten it gently, then fold in thirds like a business letter. Transfer it back to the container. Cover and let sit at room temperature for 45 minutes.
• Repeat the folding process one more time, transfer back to the container, cover and let sit at room temperature for another 45 minutes. After the third 45-minute rest, the dough should feel soft and pillowy; when pressed with a finger, it should leave an indentation that begins to spring back.
• Gently scrape the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide in half using a bench scraper. Shape each piece loosely into a round by gently tucking the edges under. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rest for 30 minutes.
• Drape 2 kitchen towels into 2 medium (8-inch) bowls and dust very generously with flour. Dust the top of the dough rounds very lightly with flour and flip over using a bench scraper. Flatten one piece of dough into a circle, then fold the left and right sides of the dough over the center. Keeping tension in the dough, begin folding down from the top edge in 3 segments, sealing the bottom edge with the last fold. Loosely cup the dough and, using your hands and the tension between the board and the dough, pull the bread very slowly towards yourself while creating a taut ball. Gently flip the dough ball over and into one of the prepared bowls. Cover loosely with another kitchen towel. Repeat the process with the second piece of dough. Place both in a warm place to rise until about 1 1/2 times their size, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
• About 20 minutes before baking, position an oven rack in the lower third of the oven, put a 4-quart Dutch oven and lid on the rack and preheat to 500 degrees F. When preheated, carefully transfer the hot Dutch oven to a heatsafe surface with oven mitts (leave the lid in the oven). Flip one round of dough over into the Dutch oven. Using a sharp knife, scissors or bread lame, score the top of the bread in a cross or desired pattern. Return to the oven, immediately cover with the lid and bake for 20 minutes. Lower the temperature to 425 degrees F, uncover and bake until dark brown, about 10 minutes more. Transfer the bread to a cooling rack to cool completely. Return the empty Dutch oven to the oven, raise the temperature to 500 degrees F and let heat for 10 minutes before repeating the baking process with the second dough round.

SOURDOUGH BANANA NUT BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan.
• Combine sugar, butter, and egg in a large mixing bowl; beat until creamy. Add mashed bananas, sourdough starter, and vanilla extract; mix well.
• Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together in a separate bowl. Stir into the banana mixture until just combined. Do not overbeat. Fold in pecans, almonds, and cranberries.
• Pour batter into the prepared pan. Let batter rest for about 10 minutes.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 60 to 65 minutes.

SOURDOUGH BATTER

Steps:

• Remove starter from fridge and allow to reach room temp.
• Measure out 1 1/2 Cups starter into a warm 2 Qt bowl.
• Return remaining starter to fridge.
• Add 1 1/2 Cups of flour and approx 1 Cup warm water and mix well.
• Since all flours are different, add only sufficient water to make a batter the consistency of a light pancake batter.
• Cover the bowl lightly to prevent drying and let the sourdough batter proof for 8-12 hours at 85-90 degrees.
• When the batter is properly proofed, its surface will appear bubbly and it will exhibit a strong, pungent, sour odor.
• After proofing, measure out the amount called for in the recipe and return the remaining batter to the starter pot.
• Stir and refrigerate.

SOURDOUGH NUT BATTER BREAD

Steps:

• Measure the starter into a large mixing bowl.
• Melt butter; add milk and warm to 85 degrees F.
• Add the salt and sugar and stir until dissolved.
• Add this mixture to the starter and mix well.
• Stir in nuts, raisins, and spices.
• Add the flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing vigorously for 1 minute or so between cups.
• Grease a 4 1/2 x 8 1/2-inch loaf pan and spoon batter into pan.
• Proof, covered, at 85 degrees F for 1 to 2 hours, or until dough rises 1/2 inch above the edge of the pan.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Bake for about 45 minutes.
• Remove loaf from pan and cool on wire rack.

SOURDOUGH FRUIT AND NUT ROLLS

Steps:

• Mix all of the ingredients in a large bowl until incorporated. Cover and let rest 30 minutes. Stretch and fold the dough 3-4 times during the next 2-3 hours at 30-60 minute intervals.
• Let the dough continue to rise for several hours more, keeping an eye on puffiness and growth. Because of the heavy dried fruit and nuts, you will not see big bubbles on the dough surface or major aeration through the underside of your bowl, but the dough will roughly double in size. You can also refrigerate the dough for part of the bulk fermentation. When you bring the dough out of the cold, flip it once in the bowl so the top of the dough gets moist again.
• Flour your counter and scrape the dough out onto it. If you have a scale, place your bowl on it and tare it. Then divide the dough into six pieces, each weighing approximately 180-190g (a little less than the original dough weight divided by six, to account for some bowl mess).
• Shape the six pieces of dough into balls, and place them on two pieces of parchment paper on a cookie sheet or baking pan with sides (this helps the plastic cover not touch the rolls). If you are baking in an oval baker, use a rectangular piece of parchment paper. If you are baking in a round baker, use a square piece of parchment paper.
• You can easily fit three rolls into round bakers that are 5 qt and larger. Three rolls also fit in the Breadtopia oval clay baker (see photo gallery), but they will likely need to be pulled apart after baking. To avoid the rolls adhering to each other, you can bake three batches of two rolls.
• Put the entire pan/sheet into a plastic bag and let the rolls proof for 0.5-1.5 hours depending on room temperature.
• Preheat your oven with your baking vessel(s) inside for 30 minutes at 475F.
• When the oven is preheated and the rolls proofed, uncover your rolls, lightly dust them with flour and score the tops. With all the bumpy nuts and berries, a simple ) or + works best.
• Take out the baking vessels, lift the parchment into the vessels, cover and return them to the oven.
• Bake at 475F
• 10 minutes lid on
• 10-12 minutes lid off
• If you are baking multiple batches, leave the lid in the oven after you take it off at the ten-minute mark. That way your entire baking vessel is hot and ready to go for round two. Also, if you have space, put your second batch of rolls in the refrigerator while batch one is baking.