Cinnamon Raisin Sourdough

Who doesn’t love the smell of cinnamon raisin bread baking in the oven?
This recipe is so delicious it might just be the perfect comfort food. All my friends and family keep requesting this cinnamon raisin sourdough bread so I thought it was time to share it with you.

Activating your starter

You will begin your by feeding your starter. Learn how to make your own here.
Mix 20 grams of starter with 100 grams filtered water then stir in 50 grams white flour, 30 whole wheat and 20g rye. This ratio is considered 1:5:5. It should be ready within 3 hours.

If you want to bake sooner you could do a 1:3:3 (25 starter-75 water-75 flour)ratio or later as in the next day, you could try a 1:10:10. I’ve even done a 1:20:20 with great results. Just feed your starter right before you go to bed.

Next place a rubber band where the starter is currently resting so you can keep track of it’s progress.
Then cover loosely with a lid or towel and place in a warm spot for 3-6 hours depending on the temperature in your kitchen.
The goal is for your starter to double or even triple in size. You know it is ready to use when you place a tablespoon full in a dish of water and it floats.

Autolyse

To begin we will mix (by hand or in a stand mixer with a dough hook) 1000 grams of flour (800 bread flour or white all-purpose flour and 200 grams of whole wheat flour, or any other whole grain flour.

I’ve been experimenting with some other whole grain flours and have had great success mixing the ancient grain Einkorn Wheat with Spelt.

Next, add 600 grams of warm filtered water (or 500 g water and 100 g milk for a softer bread) that’s about 80 degrees Farenheight, then mix everything well so no dry clumps remain.
Let the dough rest covered in a warm place, like inside your microwave with the under-mount light on, or in your oven with the light on for 30 minutes.

Adding the Levain

After that is finished we will add 200 g of activated starter or “levain”.
Mix by hand or in a stand mixer with the dough hook until well combined. Let rest covered in a warm place, for 30 minutes.

Adding the rest of the ingredients

Now we will add in the yummy stuff.
Add :
20 grams salt
270 g of sugar
10(6g now, save 4 grams for later ) grams of cinnamon
50 grams of oil (preferably avocado or grapeseed.)
Mix well by hand or in a stand mixer.
Let rest covered in a warm place, for 30 minutes.

This will last anywhere from 3 to 6 hours.
During this time you perform a series of 3-5 stretch and folds on your dough, meaning you will just lift a portion of the dough up and over on top of itself, then turn your bowl and do it again until you’ve made it around a couple of times.

Dough Bulk Rise – Stretch and Fold

Note:
You may need to wet your hand with water before doing this to keep the dough from clinging to your hands.
Performing this procedure will help achieve a very extensible, elastic dough. Let rest covered in a warm place, for 30 minutes.

Do another set of stretch and folds.
Do this a couple more times until your dough feels like a marshmallow and when you stretch it thin it doesn’t break. Look for light to shine through a thin layer of dough when your stretch it, This is called the windowpane test.

Add-ins:

When your dough has gotten to the marshmallow stage and has risen about 50 % in volume, it’s time to add the raisins and the rest of the cinnamon.

Note:

You can use a small amount of dough in a jar with a rubber band to help you keep track of how much your dough has risen. Just add your dough to the jar right after you have added and mixed in your starter to the flour and water. You can see the picture below of this.

Carefully dump your dough on the counter. Try to keep it from tearing.
Then gently stretch the dough into a circle, dump 100g raisins and 2 g of cinnamon over the top of the dough. Fold in half then sprinkle the rest of the 100 g of raisins and 2 more g of cinnamon on any parts that don’t have the good stuff. Then do another stretch and fold to help mix in the tasty additions.

Bench-Rest:

Round the dough into a loose ball then sprinkle a little flour on top. Next, use a bench scraper to divide the dough in half. Gently round each half of the dough into a loose ball, using the bench scraper to keep it from sticking to the counter. Let your dough rest on the counter for 30 minutes UNCOVERED this time.

Final Shaping

Sprinkle with more flour then flip your dough ball over,
Gently fold the dough like you are wrapping a present.
Then roll into a log shape or a round ball depending on if you are making a {weird word alert} batard aka oblong bread, or another {weird word alert} boule aka round loaf.
Finally, place the dough seam side up into a {weird word alert} banneton aka wicker baskets designed for keeping bread in the fridge before baking. If you don’t have one of these, you can also use a kitchen towel-lined bowl.
Repeat this step for the other dough ball. Then cover the bannetons, with plastic wrap or giant Ziplocs. I like using large bread bags from Amazon.
Let bulk rise for 15-45 more minutes if needed.

Note:
You can tell your bread is ready for the fridge when you press on it and the indent releases only halfway. If it pops out leaving no trace of your finger it needs more proofing time.

Cold Fridge Proofing

Place your covered bread into the fridge at 37 degrees for 12-24 hours.

Baking Day

Preheat your Dutch Oven inside a 500-degree oven for at least 30 mins.
When you are ready to bake remove the first loaf from the fridge, dump it onto parchment paper, and dust it with whole wheat flour. Next, score the dough using a bread lame or razor blade.

Remove the VERY HOT dutch oven and carefully put the bread inside (Please don’t burn yourself although I have done it many times)
Replace the lid and bake for 30 min.

Note:
I keep a large cookie sheet on the very bottom rack of my oven at all times while baking bread, this seems to keep the bottom of the loaves from getting too dark.

This is my FAVORITE PART of the whole process!

The Mid-Bake Reveal!!

After 30 minutes of baking, remove the lid of your dutch oven and be prepared to celebrate your hard work. What your looking for here is a nice oven spring to the bread. This means when it hit that scorching hot pan steam was created which made the dough rise and create a beautiful ear on the bread where you scored it. It’s almost done now!!

Let the bread bake 15-20 minutes more uncovered to achieve that beautiful crunchy golden crust that sourdough is famous for!

Note:
All ovens tend to bake a little differently so you may need to remove the bread from the dutch oven and bake uncovered on a cookie sheet if your loaf isn’t getting brown enough for your liking. Also, you may need to reduce your oven temp to 450 if you find the bread is getting too dark.

Once your bread is done baking, let it cool for at least an…………..hour!?

I know, I know, this could be considered a rare form of torture!
But just trust me, you need to wait to cut into your masterpiece until it’s peak time. Cutting too soon may result in gummy bread.

Sourdough tends to keep longer than other bread because of the probiotic cultures in it so your store it on the counter in a bag for up to 4 days, then keep it in the fridge for 2 weeks, or store for up to a year in the freezer.