Cranberry Walnut Orange Cardamom Sourdough (aka January Bread)
I’m officially calling this “January Bread” - filled with dried cranberries, walnuts, fresh orange zest and cardamom, it’s the perfect cozy, warm, wintery spicy sourdough for the middle of winter.
Ingredients
Here’s all you’ll need to make your “January Bread”:
275g filtered water
50g active sourdough starter
380g organic flour (I use Sunrise Flour Mill organic heritage flour always!)
10g sea salt/Himalayan salt
40g dried cranberries
30g chopped walnuts
2g ground cardamom
1g ground cloves
Zest of one orange
Instructions
Mix your base dough (flour, water, salt, starter). Fermentolyse for 30 minutes to an hour depending on dough/kitchen temp.
Begin stretch and folds every 30 minutes. After the second set of stretch and folds, add in your inclusions (dried cranberries, walnuts, spices and orange zest). Continue stretch and folds as usual, incorporating the inclusions as you go. After 4 total sets of stretch and folds (about 2 hours after the first set), cover the dough, set aside and let bulk ferment.
When the dough has risen about 70%, you see lots of bubbles under the surface, and is rounding out on top, dump the dough onto the counter and shape. Never base your bulk fermentation timeline off of the clock, but look for these signs and learn to read your dough. The time it takes to bulk ferment will vary largely depending on the temperature of your dough and room, among other factors.
Once shaped, let it rest on the counter for 20 minutes or so, give it one final stitch and move it to the fridge to cold proof. My preferred length of cold proof is about 36 hours, but it’s up to you how long you want to go for.
When ready to bake, preheat your oven (with Dutch oven inside) to 475F. When it’s hot, pull the dough from the fridge, place on parchment paper, score the dough, and put it in the Dutch oven (with the lid on) and into the oven for 20 minutes (first half of the bake).
After 20 minutes, remove the Dutch oven lid and put it back in the oven for another 18-20 minutes (keep an eye on it, every oven bakes differently!).
When it’s reached a nice dark golden brown color (don’t be afraid of a darker crust, that’s where the best flavor is!), remove from oven and let cool for an hour or two.
Slice and enjoy your January Bread!
If you give this a try, tag me on Instagram @bysourdoughmama — I love seeing what you make!
Want to learn more about sourdough baking?
Check out my full Sourdough Basics guide, or sign up for updates on upcoming sourdough workshops right here.