Gorgeous swirls of cinnamon, brown sugar and butter get nestled inside this delicious crusty sourdough bread loaf and makes the perfect accompaniment to breakfast for the whole family!!
If we’ve chatted in the last few months, you know that I’m simply obsessed with sourdough!! Since the start of 2024, I’ve been making 1-2 loaves per week for family and friends and it’s like a steam engine that just won’t slow up! 🙂
Sourdough Bread Benefits
I absolutely love the health benefits that it provides including:
- Low glycemic index so it won’t spike your blood sugar
- Highly digestible
- Provides good gut health bacteria
- Offers Zero preservatives
Just the idea of making sourdough was so daunting that I pushed it off for years but now I’m hooked!! I’ve been experimenting with inclusions and this Cinnamon Crunch Sourdough Bread is one of the most highly requested flavors. Have you ever had one of those Cinnamon Crunch bagels at Panera? Well this bread tastes so similar and I can’t stop eating eat especially after I slather my toasted slice with honey pecan cream cheese.
Where to get Sourdough Starter?
You’ll need an active sourdough starter to make this recipe but no worries!!! If you need a starter, Doughlene is ready to ship and can get you to baking sourdough by Day 3!!! WHAT?!?!?! Yes! Day 3!!! My Doughlene Sourdough Starter is so vigorous and can be easily rehydrated and active by the end of Day 3. So if you’re new to sourdough, grab a pack over in the boutique and let’s GO!!!! You’ll never turn back I tell ya!!
If you’re new to making sourdough bread, I recommend the Artisan Sourdough Made Simple book by Emilie Raffa to get a basic understanding of the full process. I will say…I’m no expert in sourdough but I have certainly found a way to enjoy good, wholesome, tasty bread for my family.
How To Make Cinnamon Crunch Sourdough Bread
This Cinnamon Crunch Sourdough Bread starts with a plain loaf and you just add in what I call the “cinnamon crunch” mixture after the bulk fermentation process.
It’s important to note that cinnamon inhibits the fermentation process so it’s imperative to add the mixture in during the shaping process and not during the stretch and fold exercises. You can see below how I add in the mixture during the shaping process.
Shaping The Dough
Once your dough has finished the bulk fermentation, you can shape and layer the cinnamon crunch mixture and then shape it into a boule or bastard.
I have shaped into a boule (round) here but I usually prefer the batard (oval football) shape. I find the batard shape has more oven spring than the boule.
After making your boule or bastard, you move on to the cold fermentation in the fridge for about 12-24 hours and up to 48 hours. The longer it cold ferments, the more sour taste the loaf will become.
Cold fermentation happens in a tea towel lined bowl or a banneton lined with a cover to make removal easier.
Baking The Dough
After the cold ferment, you’re ready to bake. I preheat my oven to 450 degrees for about an hour with my dutch ovens inside. While preheating, you can make your expansion score and create any pretty details on your loaf. I usually save the pretty details to my Homestyle Original loaves.
After preheating, I turn my loaves onto parchment and place inside my rack lined dutch ovens with a few ice cubes underneath to create a steamy environment and cover. They bake for 20 minutes at 450 and then I turn down the heat to 400 and remove the lids and continue to bake for another 40 minutes.
Remove from the oven and quickly remove them from the Dutch ovens and place on to wire rack to continue cooling for 1-2 hours before cutting into them. This is by far the hardest part!!! Lol! The wait!!! Say Grace and enjoy!!!
Sourdough Bread {Cinnamon Crunch Sourdough Bread}
Ingredients
Sourdough Bread Loaf
- 500 g bread flour
- 150 g active sourdough starter
- 10 g sea salt
- 350 g filtered water
Cinnamon Crunch Filling
- 100 g brown sugar
- 10 g cinnamon
- 58 g softened butter
Instructions
Sourdough Bread Loaf
- Pour water (80 degrees) into bowl and then pour your active starter into the bowl. Hopefully, it's floating on top of the water. Mix well with a dough whisk. Add salt and flour and mix well with large spatula or bench scraper. It will look like a shaggy dough. Total time to bulk ferment starts now.
- Allow to sit for one hour and then begin your stretch and folds with clean, wet hands. Pull the dough up from one corner and stretch it and then fold it over the top of the dough, rotate and do the same action 4 times.
- Le the dough rest/relax for one hour. I like to check the temperature of my dough during this time to determine how long it needs to bulk ferment. The warmer your home is, the less amount of time it will take to bulk ferment. I like my dough to stay around 80 degrees so it usually takes only 5.5 hours to bulk ferment before going in the fridge. If it's cooler, it will take longer and up to 16 hours.
- Let the dough rest another hour and repeat the stretch and fold process again.
- Repeat this 2 more times.
- At this point the dough texture should have drastically changed in texture and should be very jiggly and developing large bubbles on the surface.
- Once it has almost doubled in size, its time to shape and prepare it for cold fermentation.
- In a small bowl mix the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon until well combined. Set aside.
- Take dough and stretch it into a large rectangle. Take 1/3 of the cinnamon crunch mixture and spread it evenly down the center of the rectangle.
- Fold one third of the dough over. Add another 1/3 of the mixture onto that part that you folded over. Now fold the other third over that. Add the last of the cinnamon crunch mixture.
- Roll the dough up, carefully trying to keep all the ingredients inside.
- Shape your dough into a ball by pulling it toward you, using your hand to pull toward while turning it at 90 degrees. Carefully shape it into a round or oval shape depending on the shape of your banneton. Once that it done you want to put it in your banneton basket or lined bowl. I like to flour my banneton with rice flour to keep the dough from sticking.
- Flip the dough over and put the finished side of the dough down into the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel.
- Place in the fridge and let it sit in there for at least 12 hours. You can leave it as long as 48 hours.
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees with your covered Dutch oven inside.
- Lay out parchment paper, and flip the dough out of the bowl so the finished side is now on top.
- Cut a large expansion score with a lame into the dough to allow for a uniform spot for the loaf to expand while baking.
- Remove hot dutch oven out of the oven and put the parchment paper with loaf on top inside the dutch oven, place the lid on and put it in the oven for 20 minutes.
- Drop oven temp to 400 degrees and take the top off and bake for another 40 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow it to cool completely on a rack before cutting.
- Store in a bread bag (if you want exterior to stay crunchy) or ziplock bag (if you want the exterior to soften).
Homestyle Original Sourdough Recipe adapted from Conley Ann Kitchen
Leave a Reply