The Southern Sourdough Co.
Lemon Blueberry or Lavender
Sourdough Bread Recipe
Gather Your Supplies
Large Mixing Bowl (glass, ceramic or stainless steel)
Wooden Spoon or Bread Whisk
Food Scale or Measuring Cups/Spoons
Flour Sack Towel/Tea Towel or Plastic Bowl Cover
9" Banneton (proofing basket) or a tea towel lined colander
Dutch Oven or Bread Oven
Parchment Paper
Oven Mits
Wire Cooling Rack
Bread lame or serrated knife
Lemon Zester
Lemon Juicer
Shop Amazon Supplies List CLICK HERE
Ingredients
100 grams (1/3 cup) active, bubbly sourdough starter
300 grams (1 & 1/4 cups ) room temperature filtered water
500 grams (4 cups) unbleached bread flour (King Arthur brand is my favorite)
100 grams (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
10 grams (2 teaspoons) salt
1 cup fresh blueberries (may use frozen if necessary) OR 1-2 tablespoons culinary
grade dried lavender flowers
Zest & juice of 1 large lemon
*I recommend using a food scale to measure for most accurate measurements
Instructions
1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together water, lemon juice and active sourdough
starter (you want to pull from your starter approximately 4-8 hours after being fed
when it is at it’s peak rise). Once combined it’ll look very milky.
2. To your starter/water slurry add lemon zest, sugar, flour and salt.
3. Mix everything together with a wooden spoon or dough whisk until a shaggy dough
forms. Sometimes I like to get my freshly washed hands in the bowl to fully combine
and make sure there are no hidden pockets of flour hiding in the dough. It’s ok to get
your hands a little dirty on this step. If you notice your dough is too dry, drizzle in
about a tablespoon of water just to get all the ingredients fully combined.
*It is normal for your dough to be a little more sticky than traditional sourdough
because of the sugar in the dough.
4. Once the dough is formed, cover the bowl with a damp flour sack/tea towel or
plastic bowl cover and let it rest for 1 hour.
5. After the rest time, it's time for stretch and folds. Dampen your hands with water.
While keeping your dough in the bowl, grab part of the dough at the edge and stretch
it upward (without tearing) and fold it into it’s center. Give the bowl a 1/4 turn and
repeat this 3 more times until all sides of the dough have been stretched and folded into
the center, creating a dough ball. Cover your dough with your damp towel or plastic
bowl cover. Repeat this step every 30 minutes for a total of 4 sets of stretch and folds.
6. After your final set of stretch and folds you’re going to cover your dough again with
your damp towel or plastic bowl cover and let sit at room temperature for
approximately 4-12 hours. This step is called the bulk fermentation. The timing on this
step can widely vary depending on the temperature in your kitchen, time of year, etc.
Some key indicators that your dough is done bulk fermenting: your dough has some
bubbles forming on the top and sides in the mixing bowl, the dough jiggles when you
shake the bowl slightly and it has approximately doubled its original size. During the
colder months, this step will take longer. During the warmer months this step will be
quicker.
7. Now that bulk fermentation is complete, it’s time to shape your dough. We are
going to start with a boule (pronounced “bool”). This is a ball shaped dough. Turn
your dough out onto a clean/lightly floured surface (tilt your bowl and let gravity slide
your dough out rather than pulling it out of the bowl as this can cause is to deflate).
Gently pat your dough down into a rough square/rectangular shape. This is where you
will add your blueberries. Spread evenly over your laminated dough. If you’d like to
add some extra lemon zest for a stronger lemon flavor you can sprinkle over your
blueberries. Another great inclusion with this dough is lavender! It is so delicious and
can be substituted for the blueberries if you’d like to try a different spin on this recipe.
You can add 1-2 tablespoons of dried lavender flowers after laminating your dough. I
have some great culinary grade lavender linked on my Amazon for you!
8. Pick up one side of the dough and fold it to the middle, repeat with the other side.
You’re going for a long burrito like shape here. After, you will start at one end of your
burrito shaped dough and roll the dough up to the other side. It’ll look a little like a big
cinnamon roll from the side. Now, cup your hands around the dough and gently rotate
it on the countertop while tucking the edges underneath. Think of a push and pull
motion in the shape of a candy cane. (I have some examples on my TikTok page if you
need help with this step). You should end up with a nice dough ball.
9. Flour the top of your dough ball and transfer seam side up (smooth side down) into
a well floured banneton (proofing basket) or floured tea towel lined bowl or colander.
Cover with a damp towel and let sit on the counter for 1 hour. After 1 hour move into
the fridge for 8-48 hours keeping it covered. Allowing your dough to proof longer in
the fridge will give it a stronger sourdough flavor. If you have plastic bowl covers, you
can cover your dough to help retain the moisture while it’s in the fridge. A clean
grocery bag also does the trick. I personally prefer plastic bowl covers. I have them
linked on my Amazon.
10. After allowing your dough to proof in the fridge it is time to bake your Lemon
Blueberry (or Lavender) Sourdough! Preheat your oven to 450°F (230°C) with your
dutch oven or bread oven inside while it’s heating up. Let your oven preheat for at
least 30 minutes.
11. Grab your parchment paper and tear off a piece big enough for your dough ball.
Probably about 12" piece or so. Take your dough out of the fridge. Gently flip your
dough out of the proofing basket onto your parchment paper. Dust lightly with rice or
all purpose flour. Smooth the flour out with your hand.
12. Time to score your dough! This is when you can create a design with your bread
lame (razor tool) making shallow, decorative cuts and a large expansion score across
the dough. The decorative scoring is optional but looks pretty. If you don’t have a
bread lame you can use a serrated steak knife to make your large expansion score. I
like scoring a large X across the top of my dough to showcase the blueberries inside.
It’s fun to be creative on this step!
13. With oven mits, take your dutch oven or bread oven out of the oven. Place your
dough ball along with the parchment paper inside and cover with the lid. Bake at
450°F (230°C) for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the lid and bake for
another 15 minutes until your bread is golden brown on the outside.
14. When the bake time is over. Remove from the oven and carefully take your bread
out of the dutch or bread oven. These things are SCREAMING hot so be careful. Place
your bread on your wire cooling rack to cool for at least 1 hour before cutting into
your beautiful loaf. Waiting for it to cool before cutting will ensure the inside of your
bread doesn’t get gummy.
I’d be willing to bed your kitchen smells DELICIOUS right now!
This loaf tastes amazing alone but also topped with butter, jams, cream cheese or
turned into French toast!
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as our family does! Happy Baking!
