Chocolate lovers, meet this indulgent bread that leaves nothing to be desired! Made with cocoa powder and dark chocolate chips, this Chocolate Sourdough Bread recipe is a fun twist on your traditional loaf!
Dark in colour, with a soft crumb and chewy crust, this delicious bread is not as sweet as chocolate cake but super rich and decadent, making it perfect for breakfast, dessert or simply a snack! Trust me, it's hard not to eat the entire thing on the day that it comes out of the oven!
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Chocolate in Sourdough Bread: But Why?
So you've been baking delicious bread for a while... This tasty bread with chocolate chips and cocoa is a great new challenge if you are looking to try something new.
The sourdough tang combined with bitter chocolate gives you the experience of that tangy taste of Hershey's chocolate. It's slightly bitter, it's a little bit sour and it has the kind of sophistication that cannot be explained in words. Do I dare say, pure bliss!
Fancy something chocolatey but simple? Try our Sourdough Chocolate Crinkle Cookies!
Ingredient Notes
- strong bread flour: you may substitute up to 15% white flour with whole wheat flour, but expect a denser loaf.
- cocoa powder: we tried this recipe with regular unsweetened cocoa powdered as well as raw cocoa powder. For darker, more intense colour, use Dutch-processed cocoa.
- salt: we tend to use sea salt.
- sugar: we used brown sugar, but white granulated sugar may also be used.
- active sourdough starter: active bubbly starter that's 100% hydration.
- water: using slightly warm water will help speed up bulk fermentation by giving the wild yeast a kick-start. Note that cocoa powder will absorb more water, so your dough may feel stiffer than you're used to.
- chocolate chips: we used dark chocolate chips (semi-sweet chocolate chips) on this occasion for that extra rich chocolate flavour, but white or milk chocolate chips will work just as well. You can also use a chopped-up chocolate bar, but the chunks tend to melt into the dough more than the chips.
You can find the ingredient quantities, detailed instructions, and nutritional information on the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Variations
The recipe we share is a basic one (although we think it's brilliant as it is!), so you can add a lot more to it, if you so desire. Here are a few things that work beautifully in this chocolate sourdough:
- Replace 60ml of water in this recipe with cooled-down strong double espresso (60ml). Note that caffeine may slow down the bulk fermentation process, but it's worth the wait - coffee adds wonderful intense flavour to this chocolate sourdough.
- Fold in a handful of dried cherries (or simply follow our Chocolate Cherry Sourdough Bread recipe), raisins and/or pecan nuts into the dough at the same time as chocolate chips.
- A teaspoon of vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste works wonders here too!
- How about a little cardamom? We love pairing sourdough with cardamom -just try our Sourdough Cardamom Buns!
Step-By-Step Method
Before you begin, make sure your sourdough starter is fed, and becomes active and bubbly before you use it in the dough. Once it at least doubles in volume, you are ready to mix the dough.
Day 1
- When your sourdough starter is active and bubbly, mix the dough. In a bowl of a stand mixer, combine the dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, salt and sugar.
- Pour in the water and active starter, and run your stand mixer, fitted with a dough hook attachment, for 10 minutes on medium speed.
- Scoop the chocolate bread dough into a clean large bowl, cover it with a damp tea towel or plastic wrap (cling film) and leave it in a warm place for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, perform the first set of coil folds: using wet hands, lift the dough from the sides and fold it inwards to form a coil. Rotate the bowl a quarter turn and coil fold again. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
- Repeat the coil folds twice more at 30-minute intervals. Then leave the covered dough in a warm spot for 30 minutes.
- Scatter half of the chocolate chips over the surface of the dough. Lift the corner of the dough and fold it over the chocolate towards the centre of the dough. Do so with all 4 corners of the dough, until the chips are encased. Flip the dough over and scatter the rest of the chocolate chips and stretch and fold the dough over the chips again. Flip the dough again, cover and let the dough rise for 30 minutes.
- Every 30 minutes, perform two more sets of coil folds to distribute the chocolate chips more evenly.
- After the last set of folds, cover the dough and leave it to finish the bulk fermentation process for 2-3 hours. Your dough should bulk up by about 50% compared to its original state.
- Tip the dough onto a floured work surface, and using a dough scraper shape it into a very tight ball.
- Place the sourdough ball smooth side down into a well-floured banneton basket (or any proofing basket alternative). We recommend using rice flour for dusting. Cover it with a cloth and place it into a plastic bag (or simply cover it with a shower cap) - it will prevent the dough from drying out in the dry fridge environment. Place your chocolate sourdough in the fridge for its cold proof overnight (or up to 36 hours).
Day 2
- The next day, preheat the oven to 240°C with your Dutch Oven inside the oven whilst it preheats.
- Take the sourdough out of the fridge, and invert it gently on a large piece of parchment paper. Brush off any excess flour from the surface. Slash the top of the dough with a sharp razor blade or bread lame.
- Place your bread into a hot Dutch Oven by holding the sides of the parchment paper sheet, cover it with a lid, and place it in the oven for 35 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, take the lid off, and return it to the oven for another 20 minutes for the crust to caramelise and become crispy.
- Once baked, take your chocolate sourodugh out of the Dutch oven, and place it onto a wire rack. Slide the sheet of parchment from underneath and leave it to cool down to room temperature before dusting it with some powdered sugar and slicing.
Tips For Best Results
This chocolate sourdough bread isn't much more difficult to make than your regular loaf, but if it's your first time making it, here are a few tips:
- Always weigh your ingredients using a kitchen scale. Cups and spoons do not have the same precision - it is almost impossible to estimate the volume of active sourdough starter for the weight required in the recipe.
- If you want a better distribution of your chocolate chips throughout the chocolate sourdough, use a sourdough lamination method to incorporate them instead of folding them in.
- The addition of the cocoa powder means your dough will have less gluten in it, and therefore may tear easier - just be gentle with it.
- Brush off any excess flour from the top of the dough after the second rise when you turn it out of the proofing basket to ensure a dark exterior after baking.
- I would not bother with an intricate scoring pattern here - simple scoring techniques will have more of an effect!
- This may outrage some of my readers, but... I love this bread ever so slightly warm (think a few degrees up from the room temperature), so I slice it and eat it before it cools down completely!
Recipe FAQs
Theoretically, cocoa powder should slow down the fermentation process due to the caffeine content in it, but with the amount used, I did not notice any difference in the speed of the fermentation process. In fact, the dough ferments quicker due to added sugar.
Yes, it freezes well. Just remember to double-wrap the bread (or individual slices) to protect them from freezer burn. If you want to toast your bread, do so in the oven or under the grill though - chocolate chips may cause a huge mess in your toaster.
How To Serve Chocolate Sourdough Bread?
Ok, here's where it gets exciting!
The best way to serve this chocolate sourdough is on the day that it is baked. Slather it with butter (we love salted butter on it) and enjoy. Seriously, it's great without extra toppings, but if you are looking to indulge, try it with
- Cherry Jam and cream cheese for that Black Forest Cake experience.
- Salted Caramel Spread - do I need to say more?
- Biscoff, or another cookie butter.
Another great way is to serve it with red meat dishes (yes, that's right! we put cocoa powder into our slow cooker chilli con carne for a reason!). Serve it with venison or beef stews, chillies, Beef Giniling or Slow Cooked Braising Beef.
Any leftovers make a delicious chocolate bread pudding (just cut the chewy crusts off).
Flavoured Sourdough: How, When and What Mix-Ins To Add To Your Sourdough?
Discover a variety of mix-ins and learn how they affect hydration and bulk fermentation, master the art of substituting water with coffee and tea, and explore a plethora of creative mix-in ideas. Plus, get 2 exclusive bonuses!
More Flavoured Sourdough Bread Recipes
Chocolate Sourdough Bread
Equipment
- Bench Scraper
- Proofing Basket
- Razor Blade or Bread Lame
Ingredients
- 350 g strong bread flour
- 50 g cocoa powder
- 5 g salt
- 50 g sugar
- 160 g active sourdough starter 100% hydration
- 250 ml water
- 150 g chocolate chips dark, milk or white
Instructions
DAY 1
- When your sourdough starter is active and bubbly, mix the dough. In a bowl of your stand mixer, combine the flour, cocoa powder, salt and sugar.
- Pour in the water and sourdough starter, and run your stand mixer, fitted with a dough hook attachment, for 10 minutes on medium speed.
- Scoop the dough into a clean large bowl, cover and leave it in a warm place for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, perform the first set of coil folds: using wet hands, lift the dough from the sides and fold it inwards to form a coil. Rotate the bowl a quarter turn and coil fold again. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
- Repeat the coil folds twice more at 30-minute intervals. Then leave the covered dough in a warm place for 30 minutes.
- Scatter half of the chocolate chips over the surface of the dough. Lift the corner of the dough and fold it over the chocolate. Do so with all 4 corners of the dough, until the chips are encased. Flip the dough over and scatter the rest of the chocolate chips and stretch and fold the dough over the chips again. Flip the dough again, cover and leave it to rest for 30 minutes.
- Every 30 minutes, perform two more sets of coil folds to distribute the chocolate chips more evenly.
- After the last set of folds, cover the dough and leave it to finish bulk fermenting for 2-3 hours. Your dough should just about double compared to its original state.
- Tip the dough onto a floured kitchen surface, and using a bench scraper shape it into a very tight ball.
- Place the sourdough ball into a well-floured proofing basket, cover it with a cloth and place it into a plastic bag - it will prevent the dough from drying out in the dry fridge environment. Place your chocolate sourdough in the fridge for its cold proof overnight (or up to 36 hours).
Day 2
- The next day, preheat the oven to 240°C with your Dutch Oven inside the oven whilst it preheats.
- Take the sourdough out of the fridge, and invert it gently on a large piece of parchment paper. Brush off any excess flour from the surface. Slash the top of the dough with a sharp razor.
- Place your bread into a hot Dutch Oven by holding the sides of the parchment paper sheet, cover it with a lid, and place it in the oven for 35 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, take the lid off, and return it to the oven for another 20 minutes for the crust to caramelise and become crispy.
- Once baked, take your chocolate sourodugh out of the Dutch oven, and place it onto a cooling rack. Slide the sheet of parchment from underneath and leave it to cool down to room temperature before dusting it with some powdered sugar and slicing.
Nutrition
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