Is there anything better than FRESH bread? I mean REALLY. Can you think of anything better?

Sourdough has been my labour of love during lockdown. It took a few attempts to find the perfect mixture of that classic sour taste and soft, sweet bread flavour with the little bursts of sweet raisins. Mmmmmmmmmm. Oh, and did I mention how tasty it is slathered with (vegan) butter? If you couldn’t tell, I am super excited to share this recipe with you!

If you haven’t tried making sourdough before, I promise that this is one of the easier recipes to make. I’ve taken a lot of direction from Little Spoon Farm and King Arthur during my sourdough adventures, so if you’re looking to read up on the specifics of sourdough, those are good places to start.

You will need a sourdough starter in order to make this recipe. If you don’t know how to make a sourdough starter, you’re in luck because I found a recipe that is super straight-forward and helpful from Little Spoon Farm. A sourdough starter is basically a mixture of flour, water and time (yes, time) that contains natural yeast and bacteria. When added to bread recipes gives bread its puffy, bubbly texture. It takes about a week (there’s that time part) to make but I promise it is a pretty easy process. If you know someone with a sourdough starter who can set you up with some right away, then you’ll be able to make this recipe ASAP!

Now, on to the recipe. You will need high protein bread flour as this is the only flour I used to make this recipe. If you use non-bread flour, your results will vary and you’ll most likely have to reduce the water to flour ratio. For reference, I used this hard red flour from Brodflour, here in Toronto. The protein percentage is 14.5% which is part of why this bread is so delicious. You don’t need to use this flour but opt for bread flour in any case.

If you have any questions about sourdough or this recipe in general, please feel free to ask below in the comments.

If you make this recipe, be sure to tag me @megan_rhn!

Now, on to delicious bread…

Sourdough Cinnamon Raisin Bread

makes 1 gorgeous loaf of bread

100 g sourdough starter

500g bread flour (see note on bread flour above), plus extra for dusting

350g filtered water

1/4 cup raisins, soaked in water for 30 minutes

1 tsp cinnamon

10g salt

Dutch oven (cast iron is preferable) or bread pan

1. In a large bowl, mix your sourdough starter with water and salt. Mix this well until you have a beige soupy mixture. Add the flour to the mixture and stir well to create a dough. You may need to use your hands to get every last bit incorporated. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and let this sit for 30 minutes.

2. After 30 minutes, stretch the dough to build the gluten. Starting at the top of the bowl, lift up the dough to stretch it and pull it over to the side of the bowl closest to you. Turn the bowl `1/4 to the left or right, and repeat the stretching and turning process until you’ve done it four times. Recover the dough and do this process again in 30 minutes.

3. This is the tough part—once you’ve completed the stretching process, you must allow the dough to ferment for 7 hours before baking. All you have to do is let it sit on your counter for 7 hours. If it happens that your dough has completed 7 hours of fermenting by night time and you don’t want to bake at that time, simply cover it and put it in the fridge.

4. Once the 7 hours of fermentation have happened, preheat your oven to 400F. During the preheat, put your dutch oven in the oven.

5. While the oven is preheating, add the raisins and cinnamon to the dough and complete your final stretch of the dough. Place the dough on a piece of flour-dusted parchment paper. You can get creative at cut-in designs into your dough using a sharp knife or blade.

6. Carefully remove the dutch oven from the oven and place the dough in the dutch oven. Put the lid on top and bake for 30-40 minutes, covered. At the 30 minute mark, you can take a quick peek at the dough to see if it has risen well, and if it needs more time, bake to the 40-minute mark.

7. Drop the temperature to 350F and remove the lid from the dutch oven. Bake the bread for another 15 minutes until it is nice and golden, to your liking.

8. When the bread is done baking, carefully take it out of the dutch oven and place it on a cooling rack. Let it cool for 1 1/2-2 hours. DO NOT CUT INTO THE BREAD RIGHT AWAY! This will cause the bread to become gummy. Cooling before cutting is very important.

9. To store, wrap the bread in a cloth or store in a container. Consume within 3-4 days.

Sourdough Cinnamon Raisin Bread

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Author: Megan Horsley

Equipment

• Dutch oven (cast iron is preferable) or bread pan

Ingredients

• makes 1 gorgeous loaf of bread
• 100 g sourdough starter
• 500 g bread flour see note on bread flour above, plus extra for dusting
• 350 g filtered water
• 1/4 cup raisins soaked in water for 30 minutes
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 10 g salt

Instructions

• In a large bowl, mix your sourdough starter with water and salt. Mix this well until you have a beige soupy mixture. Add the flour to the mixture and stir well to create a dough. You may need to use your hands to get every last bit incorporated. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and let this sit for 30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes, stretch the dough to build the gluten. Starting at the top of the bowl, lift up the dough to stretch it and pull it over to the side of the bowl closest to you. Turn the bowl `1/4 to the left or right, and repeat the stretching and turning process until you’ve done it four times. Recover the dough and do this process again in 30 minutes.
• This is the tough part—once you’ve completed the stretching process, you must allow the dough to ferment for 7 hours before baking. All you have to do is let it sit on your counter for 7 hours. If it happens that your dough has completed 7 hours of fermenting by night time and you don’t want to bake at that time, simply cover it and put it in the fridge.
• Once the 7 hours of fermentation have happened, preheat your oven to 400F. During the preheat, put your dutch oven in the oven.
• While the oven is preheating, add the raisins and cinnamon to the dough and complete your final stretch of the dough. Place the dough on a piece of flour-dusted parchment paper. You can get creative at cut-in designs into your dough using a sharp knife or blade.
• Carefully remove the dutch oven from the oven and place the dough in the dutch oven. Put the lid on top and bake for 30-40 minutes, covered. At the 30 minute mark, you can take a quick peek at the dough to see if it has risen well, and if it needs more time, bake to the 40-minute mark.
• Drop the temperature to 350F and remove the lid from the dutch oven. Bake the bread for another 15 minutes until it is nice and golden, to your liking.
• When the bread is done baking, carefully take it out of the dutch oven and place it on a cooling rack. Let it cool for 1 1/2-2 hours. DO NOT CUT INTO THE BREAD RIGHT AWAY! This will cause the bread to become gummy. Cooling before cutting is very important.
• To store, wrap the bread in a cloth or store in a container. Consume within 3-4 days.

Notes

makes 1 gorgeous loaf of bread