Double Chocolate Sourdough Bread With Chocolate Chips
Jump to VideoThis Double Chocolate Sourdough Bread is perfect for any chocoholics out there! The taste of this chocolate loaf is very rich, so we're adding white chocolate chips for a bit of sweetness!
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Equipment
- 1 Large mixing bowl
- 1 baneton basket or proofing basket
- 1 kitchen scale or measuring cups and spoons
- 1 Dough scraper
- 1 parchment paper bread mat
- 1 sharp knife or rayor blade
- 1 Wire rack
- 1 plastic bag or a plastic wrap
Ingredients
- 35 grams cocoa powder
- 200 grams hot water
- 100 grams sourdough starter active
- 300 grams all-purpose flour
- 6 grams salt
- 35 grams brown sugar
- 100 grams chocolate chips white or other
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk cocoa powder with warm water until smooth. Add brown sugar and salt. Let it reach room temperature before adding in the starter.
- Stir in your sourdough starter, ensuring it's active and bubbly for the best fermentation process.
- Gradually add in all-purpose flour and bring your dough together (the easiest way to do it is with your hands).
- In the first two hours of the bulk ferment, do 3 sets of stretch and folds every 20 - 40 minutes.
- The time for bulk fermentation will depend a lot on the temperature of your kitchen, but since cocoa powder makes this dough stiff and therefore a bit slower to ferment, the bulk ferment will probably last around 12 hours at room temperature (read more about the timing sourdough proofing).
- To shape your dough, put it on a work surface, stretch it into a large rectangle, and sprinkle chocolate chips all over the dough.
- Then fold either side onto the center third and add some more chocolate chip, fold the other third and add the rest of the chocolate chips on top, and finally roll up before transferring to a banneton basket (or a proofing basket of your choice), lined with a lightly floured kitchen towel.
- Wrap your banneton basket with the dough in it in something airtight (or cover with a plastic wrap!) and let it rise for about 3 more hours (or do a cold retard in the fridge for up to 48 hours.)
- Transfer your dough using a piece of parchment paper into a preheated Dutch oven. Make a crisis cross score on the top of the dough.
- Bake at 460°F (238°C) for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and continue baking for an extra 10 minutes at 440°F (227°C) to achieve a lovely golden brown color.
- Remove the bread from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Throw a damp towel over it to soften the crust a bit. It will dry as the bread cools.
Video
Notes
- despite using quite a bit of liquid, this recipe yields a stiff bread dough (thanks to all the cocoa powder). If you have problems with doing stretch and folds, just throw it into a stand mixer for about 10 minutes. This will help with the gluten formation and knead the dough for you.
- I cannot stress enough how important it is to WAIT after blooming cocoa powder and before adding starter to this mixture. Hot water will kill the yeast, so it's important to wait until it reaches room temperature.
- a cast iron Dutch oven is crucial for creating steam and giving your bread a nice oven spring. Since the cocoa powder is a bit drying, it is especially important to bake this loaf in a steamy environment!
- since this dough is stiff, it needs more time to rise. Do not rush it; accept that it will rise longer than your normal sourdough bread.
- don't flour the surface for shaping this dough. It shouldn't be sticky, so the flour is not needed. If you add it, your dough may separate a little between layers when it is baked, and we don't want that.
- when you shape the dough, work with wet hands to avoid tearing the dough if it seems very stiff.
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Nutrition
Serving: 1slice | Calories: 126kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 157mg | Potassium: 79mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Calcium: 13mg | Iron: 1mg
