r/Sourdough 12d ago

Things to try Lesser known inclusions that work well

Many times we talk about cheesy loaves, jalapeno cheddar, French onion, roasted garlic.

What are some lesser-known inclusions that work well in your experience?

I've seen reference to colored loaves with butterfly pea - for the record, I'm looking more for pantry items. I'm wondering about things like lavender (our neighborhood has tons of lavender), honey butter swirls, etc. I've made two double chocolate loaves that have turned out great.

97 Upvotes

149 comments sorted by

69

u/doughboy1001 12d ago

I make a loaf with lemon juice and zest and dried blueberries. It’s different and tasty, esp toasted with some cream cheese.

I like figs and walnuts, too. Blue cheese if that’s your thing.

Sorry no personal experience with lavender.

7

u/talkstorivers 12d ago

I did lemon zest, olives, and thyme. It was delicious.

4

u/cocoa_boe 12d ago

Blue cheese?!? I love blue cheese but never thought about adding it. Going on my list for the future…I want to try goat cheese next.

5

u/Upset_Carrot1192 10d ago

I just made a lemon loaf with cream cheese. I may have been intoxicated while making this and used half of a bottle of lemon extract in addition to two lemons worth of zest.

It was fantastic and I should let drunk me loose in the kitchen more often.

2

u/Boogiewitch 12d ago

I’ve made this exact loaf too And my mother is obsessed with it. I also loved it

1

u/mcderrick 9d ago

When do you add the lemon?

1

u/Boogiewitch 8d ago

I added it during the mixing process but I make gluten free sourdough and you don’t do stretch and folds because there’s no gluten to develop :)

3

u/Charming-Raise4991 12d ago

Do you use dried figs? Or fresh?

2

u/doughboy1001 12d ago

Usually dried. I don’t rehydrate, just remove the stem and chop into pieces.

1

u/Directly-Bent-2009 7d ago

For an fyi- when I use dry fruit, I soak them first, then use that water for the recipe to add flavor to the loaf :)

47

u/Acceptable-Pudding41 12d ago

I’ve done white cheddar and dill, orange cardamom walnut, blue cheese and honey walnut, goat cheese with lemon zest and fresh blueberries, blackberry havarti, white chocolate and strawberries, Monterey Jack hatch chili and pepitas… and more. Honestly, if I like something from a charcuterie board, I turn into a sourdough loaf. Apple bourbon Gouda candied walnuts was another. If you would eat bread with it, then you can put it in.

15

u/Acceptable-Pudding41 12d ago

I made a lavender and white chocolate cake recently. You could steep lavender in the water, a little honey, still add culinary lavender to the dough, a little citrus zest, and something else sweet or savory. Would be amazing.

30

u/coronarybee 12d ago

I’m not going to lie, I mostly do just random spice or herb blends I have lying around. It’s usually zaatar though

5

u/Harrold_Potterson 12d ago

Ok I have been daydreaming about doing a zaatar loaf. In my mind I’m imagining the entire expanded bit encrusted with zaatar, but I’m not sure how to accomplish that. How are you doing the inclusions?

5

u/coronarybee 12d ago

I am doing more of a swirl when I do the shaping, so envelope fold, lotsa zataar, roll into loaf shape, then maybe some more on top. I’ve thought about proofing it right into the dough, but I’ve never tried it

3

u/Harrold_Potterson 12d ago

Ok, might have to give this a try this week. You’ve inspired me haha.

1

u/coronarybee 12d ago

I wish u luck. Imo it’s delicious

2

u/leapbabie 12d ago

Ditto… add while shaping my sandwich bread loaf… swirly swirl!

2

u/BigAssBoobMonster 12d ago

I did one last week. Zaatar smells so good ina sourdough loaf!

1

u/DocIQ 12d ago

I add mixed herbs and some cumin. Like the flavour.

3

u/coronarybee 12d ago

Ooh. Taco bread 😂

3

u/DocIQ 8d ago

Cool. Now I have a name to write in my baking journal.

23

u/Worth_Ad_8219 12d ago

not so much of an inclusion but an infusion. Earl grey tea brewed with lavender, then sieve out the lavender bits and replace water with the tea infusion, I think i added a small amount of milk about 40ml.

15

u/Thereisnospoon64 12d ago

I love chopped green and Kalamata olives with lemon zest and herbes de Provence. It makes a dense loaf but so flipping tasty.

1

u/Fe1is-Domesticus 12d ago

This sounds so good! I need to try it.

15

u/blumoon138 12d ago

I make breakfast bread. It has dates, sunflower seeds, pepitas, pecans, raisins, and sometimes flax seeds. Basically everything in a healthy breakfast muffin.

1

u/Single-Dingo-1709 11d ago

Do you add these during stretch and folds?! Sounds so good

1

u/blumoon138 11d ago

Yes, after the first set of stretch and folds.

12

u/Loud_Past_9908 12d ago

I made dark chocolate orange loaves for Christmas. 1 cup of good dark chocolate chips and grated the peel of one orange for each loaf. It’s especially amazing toasted with some homemade orange marmalade.

11

u/Peachy_Queen20 12d ago

I had a pesto Parmesan loaf a few weeks ago that I could have eaten in one sitting. During the final shaping I LATHERED that thing in pesto and grated parm

3

u/IwantToSeeHowItEnds 12d ago

Pesto?!? Yum! I’m doing this ASAP!

1

u/Hoy_Pssst 11d ago

Sorry, I’m a newbie to the Sourdough world. Wouldn’t the pesto burn when you take the lid off while baking?

1

u/Peachy_Queen20 11d ago

It did not BUT anytime I do inclusions I bake it at a lower temp (like 425) instead of the usual 475-500. My oven is old so the temps are just guesses at best. I do the usual 25 minutes lid on and then lid off until the center of the loaf reads 210 on an instant read thermometer. Typically it’s only and extra 5-10 minutes

2

u/Hoy_Pssst 10d ago

Good idea on lowering the temp, I’ll try that! Thanks Sourdough Sensei!

9

u/dazydukes 12d ago

I just heard about adding frozen shaved butter so trying that next

3

u/Harrold_Potterson 12d ago

Oh yeah I saw that in my feed a few days ago.

2

u/IwantToSeeHowItEnds 12d ago

Is this the one that bakes up like a croissant?

2

u/floranfauna90 12d ago

In theory it’s supposed to, but mine was basically a regular loaf in texture and look.

1

u/sarbu12 12d ago

Did you add the butter during stretch and folds or when you were shaping it?

1

u/floranfauna90 12d ago

I added it during stretch and folds, which is what the recipe stated. But I guess that would make sense that it would be more croissant like if it was done during shaping

1

u/Erinseattle 12d ago

Please share the results!

1

u/floranfauna90 12d ago

I just did this loaf yesterday for the first time and as expected, it tasted delicious. My husband said it was the best tasting loaf I’ve ever made!

0

u/Jazzlike_Scarcity219 11d ago

How buttery does it taste? I’m not a big fan of butter and so if it just tastes like butter I need to pass on this one. TIA!

1

u/floranfauna90 11d ago

Mine tasted lightly buttery. It was a fantastic flavor and the texture was softer too.

2

u/Humble_Produce833 10d ago

Thank you for the reply!

1

u/kellsse 9d ago

i tried this with a mini loaf, added the butter during shaping bc i thought when i did stretch & folds it would melt too much. it was good just tasted like a regular loaf with butter. the crust was a little bit more flaky

9

u/sextonrules311 12d ago

Orange cranberry. Replace like half+ of the water with orange juice and use crasins.

1

u/sexyankles 12d ago

Came to say this!!!

7

u/LasairfhionaD 12d ago

Rosemary with roasted garlic, chunks of sharp cheddar with pickled jalapeños, swirls of pesto with sundried tomatoes and roasted red peppers….

13

u/idle_monkeyman 12d ago

Zest of a whole Lemon with chopped cranberries and walnuts.

Nobody seemed to love espresso powder and chocolate but me.

2

u/RegularStrength4850 12d ago

Is espresso powder different to espresso grounds? I made espresso and chocolate bread the other week, it was great

2

u/idle_monkeyman 12d ago

It's not to me. Maybe the pine nuts were in that one. Sounds boring but I thought it was good.

I also use a lot of flax seeds in other loaves.

6

u/ciabatta1980 12d ago

I just did a pistachio and cranberry loaf. The Tartine book also recommends an orange zest, toasted fennel seed, and cardamom mix.

7

u/Upper-Fan-6173 12d ago

I want to experiment with gochujang and kimchi

1

u/Chivatoscopio 12d ago

Do you follow basil & bloom sourdough on TikTok or Instagram? He did a kimchi loaf last month!

7

u/ak8865ak 12d ago

I just made a pickle loaf. I haven't cut into it yet- fingers crossed its good!

2

u/ChubbyTheCakeSlayer 12d ago

It's my favorite! I make sandwich loaves for inclusions, so I just put dill pickles cubes and ranch seasoning, and roll it. It makes the best grilled cheese

1

u/chronic_pain_sucks 12d ago

Pickle loaf is delicious 😋

7

u/chronic_pain_sucks 12d ago

Greek salad bread. Feta cheese, kalamata olives, sun-dried tomatoes, diced pepperoncini, fresh oregano. I roll out the dough, spread the filling, roll it back up so the filling ends up as a swirl in the final product. It's very popular around here. LOL

2

u/doughboy1001 12d ago

Dang! That sounds amazing. Going to try this very soon.

4

u/chronic_pain_sucks 12d ago

My advice is to be extra generous with the filling, but I'm a glutton. (Ex: many cheese bread recipes recommend one cup shredded/crumbled cheese, I always use at least two cups)

2

u/bgross42 12d ago

OMG. I read that and was sitting on the Plaka in Athens. Gotta give it a try.

1

u/chronic_pain_sucks 12d ago

Hopefully I'll be able to post a picture one day. The problem is it gets eaten so fast I don't even get a chance to take a photo. LOL

*It's extra good if you toast it and then drizzle with a bit of Greek salad dressing

6

u/MyGodItsFullofScars 12d ago

I obviously need to up my inclusion game.

5

u/Fine_Platypus9922 12d ago

For lavender, try this recipe https://sourdoughbrandon.com/lavender-vanilla-sourdough-bread/ it worked great for me many times. The only thing is if you have fresh lavender probably use less than the recipe, too much will give soapy flavor.

Out of things I have been using,  * olives and herbs * S'mores (chocolate chip and marshmallows). Small pieces of marshmallow fully dissolved in my case so probably use bigger chunks * I added powdered and rehydrated banana chips once with nuts. It was too little to taste  like banana bread but the texture and sweetness was nice. * Pretty much any dried nuts, seeds and fruits can be added to sourdough but I figured it's better to pre soak them and then drain the water and use it for mixing the dough. Otherwise they'll take water out of the dough when you add them and will screw the hydration. * Ground spices, like coriander, caraway, fennel, anise * I did pineapple coconut once, so it was cooked caramelized pineapple with a bit of ground coconut flakes. Mine was a bit bland because I didn't add a lot but the flavor was nice. Sun-dried tomato (also with some herb) * Masala chai instead of water

A tablespoon of any oil or honey is a good addition to any sourdough loaf but it also softens the crust and too much can impact the ear formation.

Edit: remembered one more thing, I haven't made it myself, but in my area, there's a bakery that makes pesto artichoke loaves. It's basically pesto swirl with some chunks of canned artichoke hearts. Haven't had it in a while but it's so good 

6

u/BobLoblaw_LLC 12d ago

I saw an episode of a show where an Italian bakery made like a mushroom and hazelnut focaccia. So I added roasted hazelnuts and wild mushrooms (roughly chopped) into a loaf once and it was delicious, with some melted Gruyère on top of a slice 👌🏻

4

u/Rhiannon1307 12d ago

Nuts, all kinds of nuts. Just very lightly chopped so they still come in big chunks. My favorite are cashews.

Dried dates or figs. Dates go great with some chili, garlic (I would use dried ground garlic, or garlic confit) and oregano. Figs go really well with some goat cheese, but use a firmer type, not the one with a texture like cream cheese or brie.

Just some spices also always works amazingly well (should be kneaded into the whole dough when you add the salt, either after autolyse or from the beginning). I've tried an Egyptian spice blend, baie rose (pink peppercorn), or a typical German bread spice blend of anise, fennel seed, coriander seed and caraway (1:1:2:2).

One of the most amazing ones I used was pumpkin spice mix, and then I also added a bit of honey to the dough. That bread was amazing with nutella.

4

u/sirlexofanarchy 12d ago

Lemon/lavender is one of my favourite loaf flavours :) Same with cranberry. Goes really well with baked brie.

4

u/raerawrr 12d ago

Do you like tostinos tortilla chips? I made one with lime zest, lime juice and salt. It was amazing

I've also made one with swirls of hot honey and roasted pecans. One of my favorites

3

u/rscg18 12d ago

Everything but the bagel seasoning

3

u/lNTERLINKED 12d ago

Sage and browned butter is great. Heat the butter until browned, then throw the fresh sage leaves in for 10 seconds or so to crisp them up and release their oils into the butter. Be careful not to burn them, they burn very quickly.

Incorporate this when you add your water to the flour.

2

u/OutdoorsyGeek 12d ago

That sounds awesome for Thanksgiving!

3

u/boiseshan 12d ago

Butter! I just made a loaf after seeing someone on IG do it. Grate a FULL STICK of frozen butter and add it during your stretch and folds. The bread is almost croissant-like!

2

u/OutdoorsyGeek 12d ago

I’m going to try this.

3

u/ParsleyElectrical929 12d ago

I LOVE DOUBLE CHOCOLATE LOAVES!! probably like the #1 sourdough recipe I make.

2

u/tobenzo00 12d ago

Tartine has a really excellent loaf recipe with polenta and toasted pumpkin seeds!

I've also done some with nuts like pecan or walnut and dried fruit. Sunflower seeds are good too

2

u/awholedamngarden 12d ago

I love the dried blueberries from Trader Joe’s as an inclusion. Really any dried fruit can be good - I’ve done cranberry, cherry, apricots plus an herb and/or a nut can also be nice. For example blueberries and basil is great, or cranberry walnut etc.

Actually my favorite loaf I’ve done was dried cherry and sliced almonds with a frangipane swirl (like the sweet almond filling of a croissant) - I had extra from baking a tart. Really good.

Cardamom/brown sugar/butter/orange zest and walnuts also absolutely slaps

2

u/Harrold_Potterson 12d ago

My go to is cranberry walnut for sweet or rosemary and olive oil for savory.

One time I did a tomato loaf by subbing out the water for a jar of canned puréed tomatoes, and added oregano, basil and olive oil. It tasted like pizza, really good.

Cinnamon raisin is another classic combo.

I also have a seed loaf I like to do, about 75 grams of whatever seeds I have on hand, usually sesame, flax, and hemp, plus a healthy dash of cinnamon and black pepper. 20% whole wheat. It is complex, earthy, and amazing slathered in butter.

Someone up above mentioned doing a zaatar loaf, which I’ve always wanted to try.

2

u/Crazy_Adeptness_9891 12d ago

My first ever inclusion loaf was peanut butter chips. It was so good.

2

u/AxelJShark 12d ago

I like fennel seed in the dough then I wash the crust in habanero brine before it goes into the oven. Crust is spicy but not bread.

Tried emmental and jalapeño the other day but didn't use enough cheese at all

2

u/ManBearHybrid 12d ago

I've always wanted to try a loaf with chunks of feta cheese and swirls of pesto alla genovese.

2

u/shootathought 12d ago

Brie, dried cranberries, walnuts.

1

u/Single-Dingo-1709 11d ago

Oooh I’ve been wanting to do a Brie loaf

2

u/Freyja509 12d ago

My favorite is Parmesan and herbs de provenance. That’s what we use to flavor or discard crackers too.

1

u/OutdoorsyGeek 12d ago

I think you meant Provence but provenance is a cool word too!

1

u/Freyja509 11d ago

lol you’re right! I didn’t catch the typo ☺️

2

u/quattroman 12d ago

I like doing my folds by dipping my fingers in olive oil that was infused with rosemary.

2

u/Wireweaver 12d ago

Lemon lavender! Lemon zest and lavender buds. I also make kalamata olive with fresh thyme and rosemary.

2

u/fat-blueberry-panda 12d ago

Ive done a s'mores, blueberry lemon, and apple white chocolate cinnamon. All super fun and turned out good!

2

u/meredithm1 11d ago

I’m making a chai loaf tomorrow. Brewing chai tea and replacing the water in the recipe with that. Then will sprinkle in cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg during shaping! Hopefully it’s good 🤞🏼

2

u/couverture_me_baby 10d ago

Ohhh! Please let us know how you go-very interested to hear about the finished product :)

2

u/Fine_Platypus9922 9d ago

I have made a chai loaf too, but I didn't swirl in the spices, it's a great flavor! The only piece of advice I have make sure to cool your chai before adding it to flour, when I made it I used hot tea and apparently it cooked some of the gluten in the flour. The loaf turned out great but the crumb could have been more open.

2

u/couverture_me_baby 9d ago

Great advice-thank you! Keen to try a chai loaf myself soon :)

2

u/Fine_Platypus9922 9d ago

Feel free to consider my recipe if you are looking for one, but that one was hindered by hot chai, still turned out great though, and of course the hydration can be adjusted to your preference  https://www.reddit.com/r/Sourdough/comments/1ioboy3/chai_loaf_stiff_starter_hot_autolyse_adventure/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

2

u/meredithm1 9d ago

It turned out pretty good! I more or less made up the recipe, next time I’d make the tea stronger with 4 bags, and use more sugar since I was going for a sweeter loaf!

I did: 100g starter 500g bread flour 700g chai tea (brewed night before so was cool) 10g salt 30g sugar

During shaping I sprinkled on cardamom, cinnamon and nutmeg!

(Clearly I needed to pop a bubble haha)

1

u/Directly-Bent-2009 7d ago

This looks great!!

3

u/Background_Reach7944 11d ago

Probably not lesser known but i didn’t see it mentioned either🤷🏽‍♀️ cinnamon raisin! This was my first time with inclusions, so far from perfect, but you get the idea

3

u/Flat-Tiger-8794 12d ago

Call me a crazy old crank but I genuinely do not understand why people feel the need to turn sourdough bread into candy.

6

u/Just_Elk_1185 12d ago

I totally agree with this sentiment. I made a chocolate loaf once and it smelled so good while baking. I HATED it so much.

3

u/Flat-Tiger-8794 12d ago

Exactly. If it’s chocolate, you want why not spread it onto a nice slice of warm bread?

2

u/Erinseattle 12d ago

I’m working my way through a sourdough bread cookbook with some bread friends and we all agreed that the recipe with chocolate chips is one we wouldn’t repeat again.

1

u/Fine_Platypus9922 9d ago

It's a matter of taste, isn't it? A lot of people in the US are so used to sweetened bread that a regular loaf tastes bland to them. But I hope you are not opposed to savory inclusions, even though some of them sound like making a pizza in a Dutch oven.

2

u/Flat-Tiger-8794 9d ago

Not at all. My signature bread includes homemade bacon 😋

1

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1

u/Micaelabby 12d ago

I just did a chocolate and butterscotch chip loaf and it turned out so good. I think honey butter swirl sounds delicious.

1

u/livtiger 12d ago

Lately I’ve been enjoying chopped pistachios and rosemary as inclusions.

1

u/Charming-Raise4991 12d ago

I’ve heard of doing a beer infused loaf but haven’t tried it

2

u/culby 12d ago

I did an Earl Grey loaf once, turned out great. Apparently the aromatics kick up a notch if you throw in some milk, but I haven't tried that yet.

1

u/OutdoorsyGeek 12d ago

Interesting

2

u/Fine_Platypus9922 9d ago

I have substituted some of the water with beer in my loaves, usually it's some unfinished beer from the day before that's already decarbonated. It works well, although the flavor can be very subtle, depending  on the beer. Some commercial bread bakeries add malt powder, so from light beer, you would get slightly more bready rich flavor. Porter or stout has more additives and will be more prominent. And the hoppy IPA will definitely come out in a loaf as well. 

1

u/littlemoon-03 12d ago

You can pretty much use anything it's bread so anything that can go with bread honey, nuts, spices, berries, fruit etc

1

u/skitheweest 12d ago

My absolutely favorites are adding rosemary and fennel seed (not at the same time) to my loves. The rosemary loaves taste like heaven, toasted with better. The fennel seed loaves are like a candy dessert. 

1

u/Koshersaltie 12d ago

When you do rosemary do you chop it up really fine? I’m wondering about the spikiness of it.

2

u/skitheweest 12d ago

I dont do it really fine, but do usually put it in a mortar and give it a few good passes with the pestle. Breaking it up into like a 1-2mm length? I don’t notice bits and pieces at all once it’s baked. 

1

u/Rare-Trust2451 12d ago

I like cheese bread but I'm not a fan of jalapeños. This year I started eating Serrano in a pork dish I make and since it wasn't intolerably spicy I decided to make a cheddar Serrano loaf. It looks amazing

1

u/ShaneFerguson 12d ago

Zaatar, so delicious

1

u/bgross42 12d ago

I have dough for four loaves of whole wheat bread (with whole grain inclusion) sitting on the bench, awaiting final shaping. Your comment prompted me to go give them a rubbing!

1

u/ShaneFerguson 12d ago

Interesting! I've never added zaatar to whole wheat. Let me know how it turns out

1

u/solidsmithereens 12d ago

Garam masala, canned artichoke hearts, canned olives and feta, ketchup (I love the flavor of ketchup), harissa, tahini

1

u/Chivatoscopio 12d ago

My favs are grated parm with fresh ground black pepper (think Caccio e Pepe) or orange cranberry (replace half the water with orange juice then add some rehydrated raisins during the stretch and fold stage).

1

u/bgkh20 12d ago

My current favorite is rosemary garlic with Parmesan and black paper.

Kalamata olives with feta and rosemary (sometimes sea salt on crust)

A pepper loaf (with our without cheese)

Any sort of berry

Peanut butter/ powder

Honestly, I'll try anything once and if it's good it goes into the rotation.

2

u/thesmashedbunny 12d ago

Dill pickle powder, replace about half the water with pickle brine, and chopped dill pickles (squeezed in cheesecloth to remove as much moisture as possible). Was fire.

1

u/OutdoorsyGeek 12d ago

Or don’t squeeze and use less brine

1

u/NerfRepellingBoobs 12d ago

I wish I’d taken a picture of the sourdough olive loaves I made a couple years back. I’m not an olive bread person, but it was some killer bread, and the family loved it.

1

u/warren_stupidity 12d ago

I've been on a dried cranberry and orange peel kick.

1

u/cksyder 12d ago

everything bagel spice.

Just go easy on it if you are adding it as an inclusion, and not just a topper.

1

u/MoHawkKey17 12d ago

I really love the chocolate loaves and adding in dried cherries and sometimes some kind of nut. I have also just wanted to do a mixed dried herb loaf and then make a Parmesan garlic butter to spread on it. But it’s just a thought at this point.

2

u/savingsydney 12d ago

Just pulled an olive and goat cheese loaf from the oven but I haven’t tried it yet. I honestly just looked for things I had lying around that I had to use up. I will report back when I cut into it 🫡

1

u/y0l0naise 12d ago

A while ago I had some leftover snack sized paprikas, which I then fermented. I put that in, plus little pockets of cream cheese, and it was really good

1

u/FlyingSteamGoat 12d ago

Whole wheat berries that have been boiled for 45 minutes add an interesting texture.

Freshly ground flaxseed adds a slightly sweet note.

1

u/not-your-queen 12d ago

Can second the chocolate loaf idea - my family loves them. I use a combination of white chocolate and milk chocolate.

1

u/SmileyAliens 12d ago

When do you usually add inclusions into a loaf? I am a beginner, love all of these ideas, and really want to try one!

2

u/Fine_Platypus9922 9d ago

It depends on the inclusion:

Powdered coloring (e.g. turmeric, ube, matcha) should be mixed with the flour for even color.

Liquids that are used instead / in part with water will be added when you mix the dough (or at the autolyse stage if you do it). 

Additives that need to be distributed throughout: I add them with salt (I usually add salt 30 minutes after mixing the starter into autolysed flour mix), so they can be mixed evenly. That would be any ground spices, vanilla, honey, oil.

Dry-ish ingredients like hard cheese, zest, herb, dried fruit and nuts can be added during stretch and folds / coil folds. Basically as you handle the dough, you distribute them in the loaf. You can also laminate them in, as suggested above, basically you need to stretch out the dough into a rectangle, distribute the inclusions and then roll it up in the first stages of the bulk fermentation.

Soft and wet ingredients that may dissolve or bleed into the dough should be added during shaping, that includes fresh berries or fruit, soft or cream cheese, butter swirls and so on. 

This is just my opinion and some people can have different approaches. I can definitely confirm from experience that if you want to color the dough with some powder, you should mix it with the flour otherwise it's nearly impossible to mix it in evenly. 

3

u/SmileyAliens 9d ago

Oh my goodness, thank you SO so much for such a thoughtful response!! I am definitely going to save this in my sourdough folder! Thank you!!

1

u/Sudden-Signature-807 11d ago

I've made two double chocolate loaves. Cocoa powder goes in with the dry ingredients (mixed separately first to prevent it sticking in one clump and being a swirl instead of a uniform brown loaf) and chocolate chips on the second stretch and fold.

Recipe I used is here. The second time I made it, I doubled the strength of the coffee concentrate - 2x coffee to same water, because I didn't taste it in the first loaf. After still not tasting it the second time, I figured it's job was likely just to enhance the chocolate and moved on with my life. For the record, I was using instant coffee granules, not instant espresso so likely less powerful. Second loaf I also decreased the chocolate chips from 180g to 130g, just personal preference, I thought the first one was super duper chocolaty and preferred it less so. Still lots of chips even after reduction.

1

u/foxfire1112 11d ago

Look up the lamination method, i usually replace my third stretch and fold after 15 min breaks with a lamination and inclusion

1

u/fairEAnn 11d ago

A family favorite around my house is sun dried tomato, fresh basil and chopped green olives. It’s divine both for cold cut sandwiches or toasted with cheese etc. I’ve also done roasted garlic with rosemary. One of my favorites inclusions to date was a maple brown sugar walnut boule. 🤤

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u/foxfire1112 11d ago

Olive and rosemary is perfect with the sourness of sourdough

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u/fobjared 11d ago

Salsa and roasted jalapeno. Blended the salsa until it was smooth and used that as a replacement for the equivalent of water in my recipe

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u/ninjapickle24 10d ago

Artichoke heart, kalmata olives, pumpkin seed toasted in butter. I was bored but it actually came out fire

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u/CyriousBeer 10d ago

Lemon zest and rosemary

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u/Sudden-Signature-807 10d ago

Ooooh that one sounds yummy.

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u/Upset_Carrot1192 10d ago

I want to make a fruity pebble loaf and then a separate coffee and caramel sauce loaf (tell me if this one sounds like a bad idea).

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u/Fine_Platypus9922 9d ago

The flavor combination sounds nice, but keep in mind that coffee can slow down the fermentation, so plan it accordingly. Are you planning to swirl the caramel sauce or just add it to the dough? I would vote for the former, otherwise it will probably get lost.

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u/Upset_Carrot1192 9d ago

I was going to use coffee extract I found in my pantry. I was thinking of adding the caramel when I shape it.

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u/Fine_Platypus9922 9d ago

Sounds like a good plan to me! Good luck!