Dark chocolate, cranberries and sourdough. A truly heavenly combination! There is nothing tricky in the baking of this delicious bread and it is just a variation on my Everyday Sourdough Loaf. It is not very sweet and the flavour of chocolate compliments the tang from the sourdough and with the fruit I think that a very strong case could be made that this is an essential health food....I mean it is full of antioxidants and fermented goodness...
If you have not yet got your own sourdough starter then check out my easy How-To Guide and give it a go today. It really is such a simple and rewarding process and you will not look back. And to make this chocolate version requires very little added ingredients.
If you are not a fan of cranberries then you could swap them for hazelnuts, another dried fruit or just go for a straight up chocolate bread. If you like a sweeter bread than of course you adjust the honey/sugar content but I find that this works well as it is.
Chocolate and Cranberry Sourdough Bread
Ingredients:
300g Active sourdough starter
300g Warm water
500g Strong bread flour
12g Sea salt
1 1/2tsp Vanilla extract
55g Cocoa powder
50g Honey
20g Granulated sugar
30g Unsalted butter
150g Chopped, dark chocolate
100g Dried cranberries
Method:
In a large mixing bowl, measure out the sourdough starter and water, mix together, cover and set aside for 30 minutes.
Add in the flour, salt, vanilla, cocoa powder, honey, sugar and butter. Using a spoon or spatula mix well until all the ingredients are combined.
Cover and set aside for 30 minutes.
Measure out the chocolate and cranberries and add to the dough.
Using a wet hand begin folding and turning the dough. To do this you pull a piece of dough up from the outside, fold over and turn the bowl. Repeat until you have worked the whole dough a couple of times.
Cover and rest the dough and repeat the above step of pulls and folds every 30/45 minutes for the next 3 hours.
Turn the dough out onto a clean, floured surface and shape into a round ball.
Place the dough into a well floured proofing basket or a bowl lined with a clean, floured tea towel.
Cover and place in the fridge overnight.
The following day place a Dutch oven or baking tray into the oven and pre-heat the oven to 240°C (464°F).
Take the dough from the fridge, tip out onto a piece of baking parchment and score the top of the bread using a sharp knife.
Place the bread into the hot Dutch oven or onto the baking tray. If using the Dutch oven place the lid on or alternatively cover with foil if using a tray. Bake for 30 minutes.
Remove the lid or foil and continue to bake for a further 15 minutes.
Remove from the pan and cool completely on a cooling rack.