Chai & Cinnamon Sourdough Raising Bread
A simple, spicy loaf with sweet raisins to warm your tummy for breakfast or fill your belly for dessert.
Ingredients
Chai & Cinnamon Sourdough Raisin Loaf
- 3 Cups Organic Bread Flour or favorite flour
- 1 tsp. Sea Salt
- 2 Tbsp. Chai Mix*
- 1 Cup Raisins
- 1 1/2 Cups Warm Water
- 1/2 Cup Sourdough Starter
- 2 Tbsp. Butter or Coconut Oil, softened
*Bulk Chai Baking Mix
- 5 Tbsp. Cassia Cinnamon or any powdered cinnamon
- 2 Tbsp. Nutmeg
- 1 Tbsp. Ginger
- 2 tsp. Cardamom
- 1 tsp. Cloves
- 1 tsp. White Pepper
Instructions
Chai Loaf Instructions
- Mix 3 cups flour, 1 tsp. sea salt, and 2 Tbsp. chai mix together in a bowl.
- Combine 1 1/2 cups warm water and 1/2 cup sourdough starter in a liquid measurer.
- Add the water mixture to the flour mixture and add the 2 Tbsp. of softened fat. Mix by hand or with a stand mixture with the bread hook attached until the dough clears the sides of the bowl.
- Form into a ball and cover the bowl. Allow to rest covered for 30 minutes.
- Peform a stretch and fold every 30 minutes, 3 times.*
- Cover and set aside in a warm place to ferment for at least 6 hours.
- After 6 hours, remove the dough from the bowl and perform one last stretch and fold. Shape and place into your bread pan. Cover with enough room to rise and set aside until the dough has doubled in size. Depending on ambient temperature, this could take 1-3 hours, or more.
- Remove the cover, slash the dough several times, replace with a baking safe cover (like a metal lid or an inverted bread pan) and bake at 400F/204C for 45 minutes.
- Remove the cover for the last 10 minutes of bake time to brown the top. The finished loaf should register between 200F - 205F (93C - 96C).
- Remove from the oven and place the loaf on a baker's rack to cool completely. It takes a bread loaf 12 hours or longer to completely cool. If you choose to cut into this loaf while it's hot, be gentle and don't crush the crust. The crumb may be a little gummy after cutting hot. I don't judge, though; this bread is best when served hot with melted butter.
Bulk Chai Mix Instructions
- Mix all spices in a bowl thoroughly.
- Place in a glass jar with a lid.
Notes
Note that the chai mix I use doesn't have black tea. Also, when I make a chai mix for drinking, I add a lot more herbs to the mix.
This chai baking mix has fewer ingredients but is no less spicy, delicious, and healthy!
*If you don't want to stretch and fold the dough, knead it after it's mixed for 8-10 minutes. (Eight minutes by mixer, or ten minutes by hand.)
Kneading will typically give you a smooth, firm loaf and great texture. Stretching and folding will usually result in an extra light loaf, also with great texture.
Honestly, it's six to one, half a dozen to the other as the old saying goes. I prefer stretching and folding as I age and my old shoulder joints protest kneading.
You can also completely ignore most sourdough loaves and interact with them only when putting them into their baking pans. Allow them to double in size before baking, and you'll end up with yet another delicious loaf. This is called no-knead bread.
Sourdough is simply the best, most forgiving bread you'll ever make.
See the body of the post for links to sourdough bread tutorials for more information.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!