Chocolate Vanilla Swirl Sourdough

There’s sourdough and then there is this work of art!

I kind of got obsessed with the marbled sourdough process when I was recipe testing my peanut butter and jelly sourdough bread, and it got me thinking… what other flavors can I mix together with this method?

There is a bit more work involved when you’re making double chocolate marbled sourdough, I won’t lie to you, but oh my, it is worth the effort.

This chocolate vanilla swirl sourdough is dedicated to being worth it!

Jump to:

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

Key Ingredients

Vanilla Paste: Vanilla bean paste is a thick mixture of vanilla extract and actual vanilla seeds. The flavor from vanilla paste is much more intense than an extract, and I find it also feeds your visual appetite by giving your bread the little vanilla seed specs. If you don’t have vanilla paste, you can substitute vanilla extract 1:1 or omit it completely.

Dutch Process Cocoa Powder: I prefer to use dutch process cocoa powder. Dutch-process cocoa is less acidic and has a smoother, more mellow flavor profile. I believe that dutch process powder plays nicer with sourdough. That said, you can absolutely use regular cocoa powder.

Black Cocoa Powder: Black cocoa powder is really just cocoa powder that has been “dutched” or alkalized more than regular cocoa powder. The flavor of black cocoa powder is distinctly different than other cocoa powders – some people find it more chocolaty, others find it less. In this recipe, I paired it with fresh espresso to help bring out more intense chocolate flavor.

How To Make Marbled Chocolate Sourdough:

Make The Doughs:

1. In a medium bowl, combine 110g water with 30g sourdough starter and 6g vanilla paste. Whisk together with a dough whisk or spoon until combined. Then add 160g unbleached bread flour, and 4g sea salt. Mix until completely combined and no dry bits remain, you may have to knead by hand. Cover and set aside for 60 minutes.
2. In a second medium bowl, whisk 115g water with 30g sourdough starter until combined. Add 140g unbleached bread flour, 15g dutch process cocoa powder, and 4g sea salt. Mix until fully combined and no dry bits remain, you may have to knead by hand to fully incorporate. Cover and set aside for 60 minutes.
3. In a third medium sized bowl, whisk 50g cooled espresso, 65g water, and 30g sourdough starter until combined. Then add 140g unbleached bread flour, 15g black cocoa powder, and 4g salt. Mix until fully combined and no dry bits remain, this may require a bit of hand kneading to incorporate fully. Cover and set aside for 60 minutes.

Stretch And Fold:

1. Working from lightest to darkest dough, uncover each 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 2 times over 2 hours, for a total of 2 sets of stretch and folds each followed by a 60 minute rest.

Laminate + Bulk Ferment

1. Lightly flour a working surface, then starting with vanilla, then cocoa, then black cocoa dough, turn the dough out of the bowl and carefully press and stretch into a rectangle. If the dough wants to tear, allow it to rest for a few minutes before trying again. Repeat with the other dough. The vanilla flavored dough is a bit higher hydration purposely, as it forms the base of the dough pile and needs to be stretched slightly larger.
2. Using a pastry brush, brush the surface of the vanilla dough with water. Then carefully pick up the cocoa dough and place it on the vanilla dough. Press firmly around the surface of the dough to adhere them together. Then brush the surface of the cocoa dough with water and lift the black cocoa dough and place it on the cocoa dough, again pressing firmly to ensure the doughs adhere to each other. This can help prevent large bubbles forming between the layers.
3. Brush the black cocoa dough with water, then fold up the bottom third of the dough, then fold the bottom right corner one third of the way across, fold the left corner across, then roll the dough into a log.
4. Use a bench scraper to pick up the dough and place it into a large bowl.
5. Cover the dough and bulk ferment for 2-3 hours.

Pre-Shape and Shape:

1. Observe your marbled 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. Uncover the dough and transfer to a lightly floured work surface or countertop. Gently press and spread the dough into a rectangle.
3. Fold up the bottom third of the dough as though you were folding a letter then old the bottom right corner one third of the way across, fold the left corner across. Rotate the dough 90 degrees then roll into a log. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and rest for 30 minutes.
4. The final shape for this recipe is just about building more surface tension, so you’ll just place your pinkies underneath the far side of the dough roll and gently pull it towards yourself. The dough will tighten after a couple of pulls.
5. Dust the dough with rice flour then lift with a bench scraper and tuck the loaf seam side up into a banneton.

Prove + Cold Retard:

1. Prove the double chocolate vanilla swirl sourdough loaf in the banneton for 2-3 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 I believe the flavor is better after resting in the fridge.

Bake:

I open baked this sourdough loaf and used the 5 minute score. If you want to dutch oven bake your sourdough, follow the directions listed below the open bake method.

Open bake your Sourdough:

1. When ready to bake, place one oven rack on the oven floor, and place a cast-iron skillet on that rack. Add 4 cups of water to the skillet.
2. Then place a second oven rack in the lower third of your oven, usually you’ll need to place it in the second from bottom slot in order to clear the skillet. Place your baking stone or baking steel on the rack.
3. Preheat the oven to recommended temperature in the recipe, usually, that’s 450f, with the baking stone in the oven for at least 45 minutes.
4. Once the oven is fully preheated, turn your proofed dough out of the banneton onto a sheet of parchment paper.
5. Quickly, but carefully, open the oven and using a pizza peel or the parchment paper as a sling, place the sourdough onto the heated baking stone and bake uncovered with the water-filled skillet for as 5 minutes before opening the oven and scoring the dough deeply down the center of the loaf.
6. Continue baking another 30 minutes, then carefully remove the skillet, and continue baking until the crust has reached your desired color, usually another 5-10 minutes or until the bread is cooked through. You can check the internal temperature – it should be between 205 and 210 Fahrenheit.

Dutch Oven Bake Your sourdough:

1. Place your dutch oven, cloche, or desired baking dish in the oven and preheat to 450f.
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, with a decorative loaf, I like to use a simple slash down the center 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. Bread is cooked once it reaches 205 – 210 degrees Fahrenheit internal temperature.

Cool:

1. Remove baked bread from the 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 vanilla chocolate swirl 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.

Our go to when storing sourdough bread is to store it cut side down on a cutting board, this method keeps the crust crusty and the crumb tender and delicate. Usually we finish the loaf before the crust gets too hard! I do recommend transferring it to a bread bag after 16-18 hours though.

It’s easy to freeze your sourdough loaf, too! Cool the loaf to room temperature, then tightly wrap it in plastic wrap, slide it into a plastic bread bag, seal the bag with a knot or twist tie, and place in the freezer for 1-2 months. To eat after freezing, remove the sourdough 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:

• Baking Steel: When working with open bakes, a baking steel or baking stone is an invaluable asset. I prefer to use a baking steel, they are generally not overly expensive and are darn near indesctructible. I had a baking stone, and it broke. My baking steels have been hauled in and out of the oven a thousand times, stacked, dropped, and still they’re as persistent as I am! HA!
• 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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