These tiny turkey sourdough loaves are the perfect, festive side dish/ centerpiece for the season! These are fully fermented and flavorful sourdough loaves that are cut and baked to crispy cute perfection. These make great gifts, taste delicious, and are fun to look at! What’s not to love?
❤️ Why You’ll Love Tiny Turkey Loaves
Well, you can also call them baby bread birds, so that is definitely one reason! But the other reason is they are cute and simple. There has never been a time I have made these and it hasn’t resulted in smiles from the crowd. They also resemble small chickens, so if you have a friend who has and loves chickens, these will make great gifts! (I have also done that. Honestly, there is nothing like a special homemade loaf of bread as a gift)
Mini Banneton Baskets for bread proofing
🍲 Ingredients
Sourdough Starter – Active, bubbly starter that has been fed and is ready to leaven bread. Every good loaf of sourdough bread starts with a strong starter. It is typical to use your starter anywhere from 6 – 8 hours after feeding, depending on the temperate of your home. The colder your home, the slower it will be to rise.
Flour- All-purpose flour is a staple in our home. Even if you’re not a frequent baker, you usually have a bag of all-purpose flour in your pantry. I want to make this recipe accessible to the masses.
Water – Filtered water is always best to use when making sourdough.
Salt – I use pink Himalayan salt in my recipes but use whatever you have on hand!
Butter – Melted butter gives the turkey loaves that extra shine.
Thyme – A sprig of dried thyme for the top of the turkey loaf for garnish.
👩🍳 How to Make Tiny Turkey Loaves
Make your turkey shapes
- Use your bench scraper to cut wings into the sides of your dough. Cut at a diagonal 3 quarters of the way down the dough (approx. half the length of your bench scraper)
- Then, chop off the bottom sides (at an angle) of the dough to create the legs, and a sharp point at the bottom of the dough.
- Take the detached pieces and attach them back onto the body of the dough as the legs.
- Cross the wings together to secure them onto the body, and do the same with the legs, pinching them in the middle.
- Take a bread lame to score a shallow mark in the middle (belly) of the turkey.
- Sprinkle with a touch of cinnamon.
Baking
- Place all 6 tiny turkey loaves onto a large parchment lined baking sheet.
- Place an oven-safe shallow dish (I use my cast iron skillet) on the bottom rack of the oven. Pour boiling water in the dish and close the oven immediately to trap in the steam.
- Bake for 18 minutes with steam, then remove the dish with water and bake for an additional 18-20 minutes until golden and crispy.
- Immediately out of the oven, brush the bread birds with melted butter for an extra glossy turkey shine.
- Tie a bow with a piece of butcher’s twine and place a sprig of thyme in the middle.
- Serve with butter, and enjoy!
🪄 Tips and Tricks
- Room temperature affects fermentation. A warmer environment speeds up fermentation, while a cooler one slows it down. Adjust based on your climate.
- You can add any inclusions to your dough to make flavored bread birds!
- Mini bannetons are a must to create a perfect round shape to work with, unless you have small mixing bowls.
- You can also use this recipe to make two regular size large turkey loaves if you don’t have the mini bannetons.
🗒 Variations
These loaves can easily be made into my sourdough soup bowl recipe without cutting them into turkey shapes. You can also add flavor inclusions to make them into any flavor you like, especially seasonal flavors!
If you don’t have mini banneton baskets but still want to make a turkey loaf to bring to Thanksgiving, this recipe makes two regular sized loaves that can be made into the shape of a turkey as well. 🙂
- Sourdough Soup Bowls – Acts Of Sourdough
- Cranberry + Walnut Stuffed Sourdough Turkey – Acts Of Sourdough
- Beginner Sourdough Loaf – Acts Of Sourdough
🗒 Substitutions
Because this is a long-fermented sourdough recipe, the ingredients are pretty simple so there are not a ton of substitutions to be made. But if you don’t have a sourdough starter, you can use these steps to make a turkey loaf out of a classic yeasted artisan loaf.
- All-Purpose Flour: Substitute whole wheat flour for a denser loaf, or bread flour for a chewier texture.
- Herbs: If you’re looking for flavor, adding garlic powder, onion powder, or dried herbs could enhance your loaf.
- Nuts/Seeds: You can substitute or mix in different nuts or seeds for variety.
- Dried Fruit: Instead of one type of dried fruit, use whatever you have on hand, such as raisins, cranberries, or apricots.
🗒 Best served with
- Friendsgiving/ Thanksgiving centerpieces and tablescapes
- Side dishes or gifts.
- Serve with herb butter and some lemon.
👝 How to Store Leftovers
Short-Term Storage (1-3 days)
- Room Temperature:
- Paper Bag: Place the loaves in a paper bag, which allows for some airflow while preventing the crust from getting too soft.
- Bread Box: If you have a bread box, you can store them there to keep them away from direct sunlight and moisture.
- If you prefer softer crusts, you can place the loaves in a plastic bag. However, this may make the crust a bit soggy.
Long-Term Storage (1 week or more)
- Freezing:
- Wrap: Wrap each loaf tightly in plastic wrap or aluminum foil to prevent freezer burn. Ensure there is no air trapped inside.
- Bag: Place the wrapped loaves in a freezer-safe zip-top bag for additional protection.
- Thawing: When ready to eat, remove the loaf from the freezer and let it thaw at room temperature for a few hours or overnight.
- Oven: For the best texture, reheat the thawed loaf in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 10-15 minutes to restore its crustiness.
🤔 Common Questions
Answer 1
Answer 2
Tiny Turkey Loaves
Equipment
- Mini bannetons
- Butchers twine
Ingredients
- 100 grams bubbly, active starter
- 700 grams filtered water
- 1,000 grams all-purpose flour
- 18 grams salt
Garnishing
- sprinkle of cinnamon
- 2 tbs melted butter
- 6 sprigs thyme
Instructions
- In the morning, feed your sourdough starter.
- When your starter has peaked, assemble your dough.
Dough Assembly
- Whisk together the water and bubbly starter until a milky liquid forms. Add in the flour and salt. Mix together until a shaggy dough forms.
- Let rest for 45 minutes.
- After resting, work your dough into a semi – smooth ball by pulling one side of the dough up and over, rotating the bowl, and repeating until the dough appears smoother (about 30 seconds).
- Cover and let rest for another 45 minutes.
- After resting, perform your first set of stretch and folds, or coil folds. They do the same thing.
- Perform 2-4 more stretch and folds anywhere from 30 minutes-1 hour apart.
- Cover with a damp tea towel or bowl cover and let it rest on the counter overnight (8-10 hours).
- In the morning, your dough should have doubled in size. Turn over onto a lightly floured workspace. Separate the dough into 6 equal pieces (280 – 300 grams each).
- Shape each piece like you would a regular round artisan loaf, only this one is smaller.
- Place seam-side up into a proofing basket and place all 6 baskets onto a baking sheet for easier transferring. Cover with plastic wrap and place the whole tray of dough into your fridge for 2 hours or up to 3 days.
- When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Make your turkey shapes
- Use your bench scraper to cut wings into the sides of your dough. Cut at a diagonal 3 quarters of the way down the dough (approx. half the length of your bench scraper)
- Then, chop off the bottom sides (at an angle) of the dough to create the legs, and a sharp point at the bottom of the dough.
- Take the detached pieces and attach them back onto the body of the dough as the legs.
- Cross the wings together to secure them onto the body, and do the same with the legs, pinching them in the middle.
- Take a bread lame to score a shallow mark in the middle (belly) of the turkey.
- Sprinkle with a touch of cinnamon.
Baking
- Place all 6 tiny turkey loaves onto a large parchment lined baking sheet.
- Place an oven-safe shallow dish (I use my cast iron skillet) on the bottom rack of the oven. Pour boiling water in the dish and close the oven immediately to trap in the steam.
- Bake for 18 minutes with steam, then remove the dish with water and bake for an additional 18-20 minutes until golden and crispy.
- Immediately out of the oven, brush the bread birds with melted butter for an extra glossy turkey shine.
- Tie a bow with a piece of butcher's twine and place a sprig of thyme in the middle.
- Serve with butter, and enjoy!
Notes
- Room temperature affects fermentation. A warmer environment speeds up fermentation, while a cooler one slows it down. Adjust based on your climate.
- You can add any inclusions to your dough to make flavored bread birds!
- Mini bannetons are a must to create a perfect round shape to work with, unless you have small mixing bowls.
- But you can also use this recipe to make two regular sized large turkey loaves if you don’t have the mini bannetons.
Nutrition
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Can I put the entire loaf into the fridge before shaping? My mini bannetons will be here tomorrow but it’ll need to be shaped later today.
Same problem here. I used cereal bowls lined with parchment paper. I hope it works as well!
How did it work?