Chai Latte Sourdough

As the days shorten and the temperatures get crisp I find myself craving foods that are full of flavor and warming spices. And this chai latte sourdough just hits the spot.

It’s made with 100% chai latte deliciousness. Between the actual latte, chai spices, and chocolate chai ribbons wrapped up in a tasty sourdough package, you won’t even be sad to see the temperatures plummet!

This chocolate chai sourdough is dedicated to full flavor.

Jump to:

• Tips
• Key Ingredients
• How To Make Chai Sourdough
• Batch + Storage
• Recommended Equipment
• 📖 Printable Recipe

Key Ingredients

Chai latte: This recipe use an actual chai latte in the place of water to get that extra spicy punch. I made my own latte with my Breville Barista Express and full sugar chai tea spice syrup. A store bought latte will work, or even a homemade version. Note: I have not tested with sugar free syrup.

Sourdough Starter: For this recipe, you want to use a fed and active sourdough starter. Your starter should have been fed before beginning and have at least doubled in size.

Psst.. Want to know more about feeding your starter, storing sourdough starter, how to use discard, or even which is the best jar for your starter? I’ve got tons of guides to help you!

How To Make Chai Sourdough

Make The Dough:

1. In a large bowl, combine 340g of cooled chai latte and whisk in 100g of active sourdough starter until mostly combined. I prefer to mix my liquid ingredients with the sourdough starter before adding the flour because it’s much easier to ensure that the starter is more evenly distributed in the dough. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, combine 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon cardamom, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves, 1/4 teaspoon all spice, and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg. Stir until well combined.
3. Add 450g unbleached bread flour to a medium sized bowl, then add 1/2 to 2/3 of the spice blend from step 2, plus 10 g salt. Stir until completely combined. Reserve the remaining spice mixture for the shaping stage.
4. Add flour mixture to the sourdough starter/ latte blend and mix until a shaggy dough forms. Knead the dough with your hands until all the shaggy bits are incorporated.
5. Cover the bowl and set aside for 45 – 60 minutes.

Stretch And Fold:

1. Uncover the bowl and using damp hands, grab the dough and gently pull it until the flap is long enough to fold over itself, then fold the flap, rotate the bowl 90 degrees, and repeat 3 more times, this is considered a set of stretch and folds. Recover the bowl, and set it aside for 60 minutes.
2. Repeat the stretch and fold process 3 times over 3 hours, for a total of 3 sets of stretch and folds each followed by a 60 minute rest.

Bulk Ferment:

1. Complete a fourth and final stretch and fold then cover the bowl and set aside for 3 hours to finish the bulk ferment. It is important to keep the dough bowl somewhere warm to encourage the microbes to work quickly!

Shape:

1. Observe your dough, at this point, the dough should have risen in the bowl, and have a smooth surface with visible bubbles. If the dough is domed in the bowl it is ready to work with, if the dough is flat it may need more time in the bulk ferment.
2. In a small bowl, combine the remaining spice mix and 1 tablespoon cocoa powder. Set aside.
3. Uncover the dough and transfer to a work surface or countertop. Gently press and spread the dough into a large rectangle. Sprinkle the cocoa powder mixture over the surface of the dough, and spread evenly across the surface, leaving a gap along the edges.
4. Fold up the bottom third of the dough as though you were folding a letter, then fold in the right then left bottom corner towards the center. Continue rolling up into a batard or log shape.
5. Pinch the ends if you’re making a batard or tuck them in if your making a boule.
6. Dust the dough with rice flour then tuck seam side up into a banneton.

Don’t have a banneton basket? I have a guide on bannetons and banneton alternatives!

Prove + Cold Retard:

1. Prove the chai sourdough loaf in the banneton for 2 hours in a warm place before covering and placing in fridge to cold retard for up to 3 days. If you want to bake it right after proving, you’re welcome to, but the flavor is better after resting in the fridge.

Bake:

1. Place your dutch oven, cloche, or desired baking dish in the oven and preheat to 450f. If you don’t have a dutch oven, I do have a guide on open oven sourdough bread baking.
2. Once the oven is preheated, invert the banneton onto a sheet of parchment paper.
3. Use a lame, sharp knife, or clean razor blade to score the dough, I usually like to make one deep curved slash, but you can get as fancy as you like!
4. Carefully remove the dutch oven from the oven, and using the parchment paper as a sling, transfer the sourdough loaf from the counter into the dutch oven.
5. Bake the dough at 450f covered for 30 minutes and uncovered at 450f for 10-15 minutes, or until the loaf is cooked through and the crust is nicely browned. You can test the doneness of the loaf with an instant-read thermometer. Bread is cooked once it reaches 205 – 210 degrees Fahrenheit internal temperature.

Cool:

1. Remove baked bread from the dutch oven and transfer it to a wire mesh cooling rack to cool completely before slicing. I like to leave it for at least 2 hours before slicing, as slicing too soon can affect the crumb and texture of your loaf.

Batch + Storage

Batch:

This chocolate chai sourdough recipe makes one large boule or batard. This is enough for my family of 4 to snack on for at least 2 days! It can be doubled to make 2 loaves, or tripled, if desired.

Storage:

If you’ve got leftover sourdough, you’ve got serious willpower! There are a couple of ways to store sourdough bread to help prolong its quality after cutting.

Your loaf can be kept cut side down on a cutting board for up to 12 hours before the crust becomes too crisp. This is our go-to and usually we finish the loaf before the crust gets too crusty! I do recommend transferring it to a bread bag after 16-18 hours though.

Your sourdough loaf can also be frozen. To freeze sourdough, cool the loaf to room temperature, then tightly wrap it in plastic wrap, slide it into a bread bag, seal it up, and stick it in the freezer for 1-2 months. To use after freezing, remove the loaf from the freezer, unwrap, and allow it to come to room temperature (1 -2 hours) before slicing and enjoying.

Recommended Equipment

Baking sourdough is an accessible past-time, and doesn’t require any fancy mixers or special equipment, but there are things that can improve the quality of your baked goods. Here are a few things I find invaluable to my sourdough baking:

• Dutch oven: One of the key tricks to successful sourdough bread is to use a high heat, steamy baking environment, and since most of us don’t have commercial steam infused ovens, we use the next best thing! The heavy lid of the dutch oven clamps in steam and improves the rise and texture of your loaves.
• Scale: You certainly can make sourdough without a scale, and I know that we all resist change, but trust me when I tell you using the scale is the way to higher quality, more consistent results. I find it cleaner and easier to use the scale than to use my measuring cups and spoons at this point.

📖 Printable Recipe

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