We all know by now, that I’ll put pretty much anything in a loaf of sourdough bread. With my strawberry series in full swing, and spring right around the corner – this is a loaf of sourdough that is right on brand for both! Swirled with freeze dried strawberries, and stuffed with dollops of cream cheese, this is a fun and festive loaf of bread for the warmer months 🙂

❤️ Why You’ll Love Strawberries ‘n Cream Sourdough

It doesn’t take much to make a solid base recipe into a creative little masterpiece. Which is exactly what this loaf is! Spring is right around the cover, which means strawberry season, garden party season, spring brunches with coffee and cocktails – and if you want to wow a crowd, come bearing gifts like this sourdough loaf.

🍲 Ingredients

Sourdough Starter – Previously fed, bubbly + active sourdough starter. Every great loaf of sourdough bread starts with a strong sourdough starter.

Water – Filtered water is best.

All purpose flour – for most all my recipes, I’m using Costco’s organic, unbleached all purpose flour.

Salt – we use pink Himalayan salt, but use whatever you have on hand!

Freeze dried strawberries – The full 1 oz bag of Simple Truth Organic freeze dried strawberries

Cream Cheese – Half a block, straight from the fridge is perfectly fine.

👩‍🍳 How to Make Strawberries ‘n Cream Sourdough Loaf

• In the morning, feed your starter.
• In the afternoon, when you’re starter is at peak, assemble your dough by mixing the starter and water together until a milky liquid forms.
• Add in the flour and salt and mix until a shaggy dough forms. Cover with a bowl cover or tea towel for 45 minutes – 1 hour.
• After resting, pull the sides of the dough up and towards the middle, rotating the bowl each time, until a semi – smooth dough forms. Cover and let rest for another 45 minutes/ 1 hour.
• Perform 2 – 4 more sets of stretch and folds every hour. When you’re done, cover the bowl with a damp bowl cover or tea towel to keep from drying out. Let your dough rest on the counter overnight to bulk ferment.
• The next morning, turn your dough over on to a lightly floured work surface. Stretch the dough into a large rectangle, but not too thin because you don’t want the dough to rip when you add the inclusions.
• Dollop about 8 – 10 tablespoons of cream cheese over the surface of your dough.
• Slightly crush up the freeze dried strawberries and sprinkle ⅔ of the cup over the top of cream cheese, on top of the dough.
• Take the shorter sides of the rectangle and fold them towards the middle. Spread the rest of the cream cheese and strawberries over the top and fold the dough into the shape of your banneton. (round or batard)
• Place the dough seam side up in the banneton and let rest for 15 minutes.
• After 15 minutes stitch the sides of the dough (pinching and pulling the sides towards the middle) all the way from the very top of the banneton to the bottom.
• Cover with plastic wrap or a bowl cover and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or up to 4 days.
• When you’re ready to bake, preheat your Dutch oven to 475 for at least 20 minutes.
• Turn your dough over onto a piece of parchment paper or a bread mat. Score the top of your dough and carefully transfer it into your hot Dutch oven.
• Bake with the lid on for 25 minutes, remove the lid, drop the heat down to 450 and bake for an additional 23 – 25 minutes.
• Remove the bread and place it onto a wire cooling rack, and wait until it has fully cooled before cutting into it.
• Enjoy with a big smear of butter and your favorite cup of coffee.

🪄 Tips and Tricks

• While you’re doing stretch and folds, wet your hands just slightly so the dough doesn’t stick.
• Crush the bag of freeze dried strawberries just slightly so you get a pretty prink swirl inside of the dough.
• If you would like a sweeter loaf, toss the freeze dried strawberries with a tablespoon of granulated sugar before spreading it over the dough.

🗒 Bakers Schedule

9 am- feed your starter. I like a 1:3:3 ratio. (50g of starter, 150g of flour + 150g of water)

5:30pm – assemble your bread dough.

6:15pm – pull the sides of your dough towards the middle until a semi – smooth ball forms.

7pm – first set of stretch and folds.

7:45pm – second set of stretch and folds.

8:30pm – last set of stretch and folds.

The next morning, 7am – shape your dough, add the strawberries and cream cheese and place it in your banneton and into the fridge until you’re ready to bake.

If we’re having a loaf bread for lunch, I’ll preheat the oven at 10am and start baking so that our bread is ready by noon. If we’re having the loaf for dinner, I’ll preheat the oven and start baking between 3 and 4pm.

🗒 Best served with

• Spring Brunch
• Smear of butter or cream cheese
• Your favorite cup of coffee

👝 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!