This sourdough with quinoa and honey is one of my favorite loaves because the flavor from the quinoa is subtle yet hearty. The honey adds just a very gentle sweetness. This recipe is a variation of my Sourdough with Quinoa recipe. Both recipes are very similar, but this recipe uses more bread flour and honey. The other recipe has more whole wheat flour and no honey. Both are very delicious.
Cooking the quinoa
I cooked about 1/4 cup quinoa in 1/2 cup water, covered, for 15 minutes (according to the package instructions). I also toasted the quinoa in a dry pan before cooking it in the water (optional). For my dough, I used a white quinoa like this but any kind should work fine if you follow the directions for how to cook it. Make sure you allow the quinoa to cool slightly before adding it to your dough. It is okay if the quinoa is slightly warm, but if it is too hot, your dough could overproof.
Loaf size
This recipe for sourdough with quinoa and honey is for one loaf of my regular size or two smaller loaves. Both sizes work well. I’ve done both sizes.
Equipment
I baked these loaves in my Dutch ovens and also my new Emile Henry bread pot. Both worked very well. I’ve been enjoying the Emile Henry bread pot lately for baking my smaller loaves. It is light weight and easy to move in and out of the oven. For a full list of my baking tools, check out this page here.
Sourdough with Quinoa and Honey
Equipment
- Dutch oven
- kitchen scale
- bowl or banneton
Ingredients
Leaven (Levain) Ingredients
- 90 g sourdough starter
- 257 g water
- 70 g whole wheat flour
- 175 g bread flour I used Central Milling's Artisan Bakers Craft Plus
Dough Ingredients
- 130 g water (plus more for cooking the quinoa)
- 300 g bread flour I used Central Milling's Artisan Bakers Craft Plus
- 9 g salt
- 8 g honey
- 140 g cooked quinoa (55 g dry) This is the already cooked weight. Follow the instructions on the package for how to cook it. You'll need about 1/4 cup dry quinoa simmered in about 1/2 cup water.
- rice flour (for dusting) optional
Instructions
Make the leaven (or levain)
- In a large mixing bowl or container like this one, weigh out the sourdough starter using your kitchen scale.
- Then, add 257 g water, 70 g whole wheat flour and 175 g bread flour. Mix to combine.
- Cover the mixture and let rest at room temperature overnight or refrigerate it until it is bubbly and about doubled in size.
Mix the dough and cook the quinoa
- After the leaven has grown in volume and is very bubbly, add 130 g water and 300 g bread flour. Mix by hand gently to combine. Some of the flour might still be dry. Cover, and let rest at room temperature for 45 min to 1 hour.
- In the meantime, cook the quinoa according to the package directions and let it cool. I cooked 1/4 cup dry quinoa in 1/2 cup water for 15 minutes.
- Then, add the salt, cooled cooked quinoa, and honey to the dough. Mix well to combine until the quinoa feels well distributed in the dough. It might take several minutes of hand mixing. Cover, and let rest for half an hour.
- Then, perform one set of stretch and folds by gently lifting up the sides of the dough and folding toward the middle of the dough. Cover, and let rest for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes of resting, stretch and fold the dough again. Cover, then refrigerate it overnight or for about 12 -48 hours. The dough will be increased in size, soft and billowy. I took my dough out of the refrigerator after about 22 hours at 36°F. Yours might take longer or shorter time depending on the temperature of your refrigerator.
Shape the dough
- Remove the dough from the container onto the counter. If you are making two small loaves, divide into two pieces. A slightly damp counter will prevent the dough from sticking.
- Form each piece of dough into a taut ball by gently pulling the dough underneath (see video). Then rest each dough ball seam-side down on the counter for 20 minutes.
- Next, transfer each loaf into bowls or bannetons lined with kitchen towels. It helps to dust the kitchen towels with flour (rice flour works well). The loaves will be seam-side up in the bannetons or bowls. Dust the loaves with flour, and cover with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap.
- Refrigerate the shaped loaves for 24-48 hours. My loaves were in the refrigerator for about 34 hours at 36 °F.
Bake the loaves
- Preheat your oven and Dutch oven to 500°F. I usually preheat for at least 20 minutes after it reaches 500 °F to make sure it is thoroughly heated.
- Remove a shaped loaf from the refrigerator and slash the dough across the top to allow steam to escape during baking. Transfer to the Dutch oven, cover and bake for 25 minutes.
- After 25 minutes, decrease the oven temperature to 450 °F and uncover the Dutch oven. Bake for another 20-40 minutes or until golden brown.
- Allow the bread to cool for a few hours, then slice and eat!
Love this sourdough bread recipe with quinoa.
As someone new to the world of sourdough I am curious about the very long times for keeping the dough in the fridge.
My go-to recipe with white and wholewheat bread.flour is mixed throughout the day, shaped then put in the fridge for 1 session of 12-14 hrs overnight. Then I bake in the morning.
So wondering about the science of the multiple extended periods in the fridge and whether it has something to do with adding the quinoa?
Thanks
Hi Andrea,
The refrigeration helps slow down the fermentation as well as build flavor. I also find it makes scheduling your baking quite a bit easier because you don’t need to watch the dough all day long when it is in the refrigerator. You could do everything at room temperature and skip the refrigeration steps if you want to experiment. Also it’s not particular to loaves with quinoa, I use this refrigeration method for my plain loaves as well. Glad you are enjoying your sourdough baking!!
Anna
Thanks so much, Anna
I look forward to experimenting with my other loaves using this technique. I agree it will be good to have more flexibility!!