Chai Sourdough Bread

This hearty spiced loaf is bursting with chai latte flavor, thanks to the chai latte inclusions and the chocolate chai ribbons throughout the dough.

5 from 1 vote

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 45

Fermentation Time 18

Total Time 19

In a large bowl, combine 340g of cooled chai latte and whisk in 100g of active sourdough starter until mostly combined. Set aside.
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. Set aside.
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.
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.
Cover the bowl and set aside for 45 – 60 minutes.

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.
Repeat the stretch and fold process 3 times over 3 hours, for a total of 3 sets of stretch and folds spaced by three- 60 minute rests.

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!

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.
In a small bowl, combine the remaining spice mix and 1 tablespoon cocoa powder. Set aside.
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.
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. Pinch the ends if you’re making a batard or tuck them in if your making a boule.
Dust the dough with rice flour then tuck seam side up into a banneton.

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.

Place your dutch oven, cloche, or desired baking dish in the oven and preheat to 450f.
Once the oven is preheated, invert the banneton onto a sheet of parchment paper. 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!
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.
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.

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.

We've replaced the water in this recipe with an actual latte, so dough is a little tighter than your standard sourdough dough - that's ok. Be gentle with your stretch and folds and while shaping to ensure you're not tearing the gluten strands.
The addition of spices (and an entire coffee) tends to slow the fermentation in this recipe, so the process is a bit longer than my regular sourdough recipes.
Instead of doing a pre-shape and final shape for this recipe, I decided to laminate the cocoa powder into the dough to give it delicious chocolate chai flavor ribbons. Not only does it save a step and some time, the results are beautiful!
I did a fancy score on this loaf and I feel that it lost some of it's charm. I'd actually recommend a simple slash - the first couple I baked while recipe testing had just a simple slash and less of the swirls were disturbed that way.