Strawberry Almond Sourdough Loaf

This is a soft sourdough loaf that is filled with fresh strawberries and sliced almonds. The fresh strawberries bring a nice sweetness, while the crispy almonds bring a nice crunch. It’s a well-rounded loaf that is perfect for spring baking!

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❤️ Why You’ll Love Strawberry Almond Loaf

Sweet, chewy, crunchy – what is there not to love? Inclusions are the best loaves to bring to a spring/ summer get together, because it’s a special side that you can’t get just anywhere. They are made with love, thought, and creativity. I love bringing bread to my friends and them responding “YOU MADE THAT?” Which is exactly what this loaf will do!

🍲 Ingredients

Sourdough Starter – Active, bubbly sourdough starter that has been previously fed. This is the leavening agent that will make your bread rise.

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Water – Filtered water

Flour – I use Kirkland’s organic, unbleached all-purpose flour. Organic isn’t necessary, but I always recommend using unbleached flour.

Salt – I use Pink Himalayan salt but use whatever salt you have on hand.

Strawberries – This recipe calls for fresh strawberries, but if you want to use dehydrated strawberries, that will work! You just may have to add a bit more moisture.

Almonds – Sliced almonds work best for this bread.

Honey – For just a simple touch of sweetness.

👩‍🍳 How to Make Strawberry Almond Loaf

At night, feed your sourdough starter.
In the morning when your starter has reached its peak, assemble your dough.
In a large bowl, whisk together your active sourdough starter, honey, and water until the starter has dissolved and turned into a milky liquid.
Add in the flour and salt, and mix together until a shaggy dough forms.
Cover and let rest for 1 hour.
After resting, pull one side of the dough up and towards the middle, repeating on all sides and rotating the bowl each time. Keep doing this until a semi-smooth dough forms.
Cover and let rest for one hour. Do two more stretch and folds every hour.
On the third stretch and fold, laminate your dough my transferring it to a clean workspace and stretching it out into a large rectangle, careful not to rip the dough.
Sprinkle ½ cup of the diced strawberries, and 3 quarters of the sliced almonds all over the surface of the dough.
Fold the short end of the dough up and towards the middle, repeating on the opposite side so the dough touches in the middle. Sprinkle the rest of the inclusions over the dough before folding everything into a ball.
Cover your dough with a damp bowl cover or tea towel and let rest for 6-8 hours until it has visibly doubled in size.
In the afternoon, when your dough has finished bulk fermenting and doubled in size in the bowl, turn it over onto a clean workspace. (if you want to lightly flour your space – that’s fine, just be sure not to add to much flour or the dough won’t stick together while shaping.
Spread the dough out into a rectangle shape, and shape into the proper size of your banneton. Boule – round shape. Batard – oval shape.
Place seam side up into your banneton, cover and place in your fridge overnight.
The next morning, preheat your Dutch oven to 475 degrees for at least 20 minutes.
When your Dutch oven is nice and hot, turn your dough over onto a piece of parchment paper or bread mat. Using a sharp bread lame, score the top of your dough from one end to the other in a curved line.
Carefully place the dough into a HOT Dutch oven. Cover with a lid and bake for 23 minutes. Remove the lid, reduce the heat of your oven to 450, and bake for an additional 25 minutes.
When your bread is done, let it cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.
Serve with butter and honey, on the side of a fresh spring salad. Enjoy!
Optional: Sprinkle sliced almonds on the bottom of your banneton before placing your dough inside so there are almonds on the outside while baking.

🪄 Tips and Tricks

While your dough is bulk fermenting, covering it with a damp bowl cover or tea towel will ensure that it doesn’t dry out on the top..
Don’t over work the dough while you’re shaping it, or the surface will rip, and the inclusions could fall out.
Sprinkle extra sliced almonds on the inside of your banneton before placing your dough inside so it coats the outside of the dough before baking.

🗒 Variations

Adding inclusions to sourdough is my favorite part of baking! If you have a great base recipe, then you can add any and all of the flavors you like. Here are some of our favorites –

🗒 Substitutions

You can substitute the fresh strawberries for freeze dried and use bread flour instead of all-purpose. But if you do this, you will need to up the hydration just a little bit because bread flour absorbs more liquid than all-purpose flour.

Fresh Strawberries – Freeze Dried Strawberries
All-purpose flour – Bread flour.

🗒 Best served with

Spring/ summer garden party.
Cup of coffee (everything is better with coffee)
On the side of a fresh spring salad.
Smeared with butter and a drizzle of honey.

👝 How to Store Leftovers

You can slice the loaf and place the slices into a Ziplock bag and into the freezer for up to three months. Or, what I like to do, is dice the leftover pieces and place them in the freezer to save for a French toast casserole!

🤔 Common Questions

Can I use bread flour instead of all-purpose flour?

Yes! Because bread flour has a higher protein content than all-purpose flour, it absorbs more moisture so you may need to add 10-20 grams more of water.

Can I do the bulk ferment overnight?

You can! But be careful not to over ferment the dough. I would use colder water while mixing the dough together or use 50 grams of starter instead of 100 to slow down the fermentation if it’s going to be sitting for longer than 8 hours.

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