S’mores Sourdough Bread
Smores sourdough bread is the perfect summer sourdough bread. This is a true sourdough dessert loaf- Stuffed with graham crackers, marshmallows and dark chocolate chips.
Why this Recipe Works
The base of this recipe is adapted from my basic sourdough bread recipe, but I made a few tweaks to handle the inclusions.
First of all, I dropped the hydration in the bread a bit. This prevents the inclusions from getting overly soggy.
I also recommend a short cold fermentation for this recipe. Sourdough inclusion loaves that have high sugar inclusions tend to draw out water. This can create a messy syrup if left in the fridge for a long cold fermentation. The way I addressed this in this recipe is that we only cold ferment the bread while the oven is preheating.
Ingredients
For the Bread
- Bread flour
- Water
- Sourdough Starter: Make sure your sourdough starter is bubbly and active. A weak starter is the most common reason a sourdough recipe doesn’t work. If you need help maintaining a healthy sourdough starter, check out my guide.
- Water
- Brown Sugar: Brown sugar adds a subtle sweetness to the dough itself.
- Salt
- Chocolate Chunks: Use your favorite kind of chocolate here. I love dark chocolate but you can also use milk chocolate or white chocolate.
Inclusions
- Graham Crackers: You can use my homemade sourdough graham crackers in this recipe or feel free to use store bought. I recommend cinnamon graham crackers from Trader Joe’s, but you can also use regular graham crackers as well.
- Mini Marshmallows
Toppings
- Marshmallows: I love the dramatic appearance of larger marshmallows for the topping but realistically, just use whatever you used for the filling. Mini marshmallows look great too!
- Graham Crackers
- Chocolate: You can use extra chocolate chips or chocolate chunks to top the bread. For a more decorative look, feel free to top with chocolate squares (like pieces of a Hershey’s chocolate bar).
How to Make S’mores Sourdough Bread
Make the Dough
Start by mixing up your dough. Let it rest for 30 minutes, then add the chocolate chips or chunks during your first set of stretch and folds. Complete a total of 4 sets of stretch and folds spaced apart 15-30 minutes. Cover the bowl and let rest for the rest of bulk fermentation.
Note: When bulk fermentation is complete, the dough should have risen in size by about 50-75%.
Assemble the Loaf
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Gently stretch into a large square.
Sprinkle 3/4 of the marshmallows and crushed graham crackers over the dough. Fold the dough into thirds like an envelope. Sprinkle the remaining graham crackers and marshmallows on top.
Roll the dough into a ball and place it seam side down on the counter. Gently pull and twist the dough towards you 2-3 times to tighten the dough slightly.
IMPORTANT: It’s very important that you don’t overwork the dough in this step. If you tighten the dough too much, the ingredients could break through the surface of the dough and spill out. It can also prevent even distribution of the filling in the dough.
Turn the dough into a lightly floured banneton, seam side up. Cover and place in refrigerator while the oven preheats.
Bake the Loaf
Place a 5 quart or larger dutch oven in the oven and preheat to 450F.
When the oven is preheated, remove your dough from the refrigerator and turn seam side down onto a piece of parchment paper. Use a lame or sharp knife to score the bread.
Use parchment paper to lift the dough and place it in the preheated dutch oven. Cover and return to oven. Bake for 17 minutes then remove lid and bake for another 15 minutes.
Remove the bread from the oven and top with remaining marshmallows. They should fit well into the scored and expanded part of the dough. Return the bread to the oven and bake for another 3-5 minutes or until the marshmallows appear golden brown.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Then, top with several broken graham cracker pieces and chocolate. Allow to cool for at least another 15-20 minutes before serving.
How to Store Sourdough S’mores Bread
Store the bread in a gallon ziplock bag in the fridge for 3-5 days or on your counter for up to two days.
Note: This bread is best served fresh as the graham crackers and marshmallows will get soggy with storage.
The good news is that you can actually reheat this bread and crisp up the marshmallows in your broiler. It only needs 1-2 minutes.
S’mores Sourdough Bread
Ingredients
Sourdough Dough
- 500 g bread flour
- 340 g water
- 100 g sourdough starter active and bubbly
- 25 g brown sugar
- 12 g salt
- ½ cup chocolate chunks
Inclusions
- 1½ cup mini marshmallows
- 1 cup graham crackers cinnamon flavored or plain, crushed
Toppings
- 2 tbsp chocolate chunks
- ⅓ cup marshmallows
- 2-4 graham crackers
Instructions
Prepare Your Sourdough Starter
- If your sourdough starter is not active, feed it several times before using in the recipe. Once your starter is reliably doubling, feed your sourdough starter as follows:Feed 25 g of sourdough starter with 50 g water and 50 g flour. Allow to rise 8-12 hours until active and bubbly.
Prepare the Dough
- Mix together the bread flour, water, sourdough starter, salt, and brown sugar with a bread whisk or your hands until a shaggy dough is formed. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and allow to rest 30 minutes.
- After the rest time, add the chocolate chunks as you perform a set of stretch and folds. Grab one edge of the dough, gently lift until you feel maximum tension, then fold it across the dough. Turn the bowl ¼ turn and repeat. Complete two more folds until you have made a complete turn around the bowl.
- Cover and allow to rest for 15 minutes. Complete two more sets of stretch and folds every 15 minutes. Once you have completed the final set of stretch and folds, cover the bowl and allow to rest for bulk fermentation. Note: Bulk fermentation can last any where from 5-12 hours depending on the temperature of your home. In colder months, your dough will take longer to ferment, in warmer months, it will ferment faster. When completed, your dough should increase in size by about 50-75%. The dough should appear dome-shaped and will slightly pull away from the edge of the bowl. You will notice the dough has multiple bubbles on the surface and appears light and fluffy.
- When bulk fermentation is complete, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Gently spread the dough to form a large square.
- Sprinkle 3/4 of the crushed graham crackers and marshmallows over the dough. Fold the dough into thirds. Sprinkle the remaining graham crackers and marshmallows over the top of the dough. Roll the dough into a ball.
- Turn the dough, seam side down, then gently pull and twist the dough towards you a 2-3 times to tighten the dough into a ball. NOTE: Be careful not to overdo this step. You don't want the surface of the dough to break and spill out the filling.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured banneton, seam side up. Cover and chill in the refrigerator while you preheat the oven.
- Place a 5 quart or larger dutch oven in the oven. Preheat the oven to 450℉.
- Once the oven is preheated, remove the dough from the fridge and turn onto a piece of parchment paper.
- Score the dough with a lame or sharp knife. Feel free to do any decorative scoring, then make a large X-shaped score from edge to edge for your expansion score.
- Use the parchment paper to lift the dough, then transfer the loaf and parchment paper to the preheated dutch oven. Cover and bake for 20 minutes.
- After the 20 minutes are up, remove lid and bake for another 15 minutes.
- Remove the dutch oven, top the loaf with the remaining marshmallows. Return to the oven and let it bake for another 5-7 minutes until the marshmallows appear golden and roasted. Remove from the oven and top with remaining graham crackers and chocolate.
- Allow to cool for at least 10-15 minutes before slicing the bread.
