Chocolate Sourdough Bread
If you like chocolate then you are definitely going to like this chocolate sourdough bread recipe. The process of making this bread is not much different from any regular sourdough, but when you actually bake it the whole house smells like a chocolate factory!
Ingredients
Sourdough starter
- 5g sourdough starter
- 35g water
- 30g all purpose flour or bread flour
- 5g rye flour
Dough
- 300g bread flour (100%)
- 15g cocoa powder (5%)
- 222g water (74%)
- 24g cold water added along with salt (8%). Total hydration 78%
- 15g sugar (5%)( optional)
- 60g levain (20%)
- 3g salt (1%)
Directions
Starter
- 10 pm add starter to the water and whisk together, add flour, mix well, cover loosely, let it sit at room temperature 74-78F until in about 8-10 hours starter reaches its peak (triples or more in volume). Learn how to make starter from scratch here.
Dough
- 7 am mix water with all flour and cocoa powder and cover, let it rest for 1 hour to complete the autolyse.
- During the autolyse process the flour absorbs the water, becoming fully hydrated. This activates gluten development.
- 8 am add sourdough starter.
- Mix on low speed of your mixing machine for 2-3 minutes, or KitchenAid on speed 3 for 3-4 minutes until well incorporated.
- Cover, let it rest for 30 minutes.
- 8:30 am add sugar and salt and slowly add extra water during mixing.
- The process of adding extra water is called bassinage, it helps to tighten up gluten. Mix on low speed of your mixing machine for 2-3 min, or with KitchenAid on speed 3 for 5-6 minutes until well incorporated. The dough should come up together, but still be sticky on the bottom.
Note: because of cocoa powder, dough might start to fall apart, if it happened, increase the speed, continue mixing, perform 3-4 stops (30 sec -1 min) to help tighten up the gluten. And continue mixing, until dough will come up together, but still be sticking to the bottom.
- Continue gluten development and structure building by performing stretches and folds during the warm fermentation period.
- Leave dough to rest 30 min. At 74-78F /23-26C.
- 9 am wet your hands and perform 1st stretch and fold.
- 9:45 am 2nd stretch and fold.
- 10:30 am 3rd stretch and fold.
- 11:15 am 4th stretch and fold.
- Performing stretches and folds helps with gluten development. Keep monitoring the dough, if it rises too fast, you can shorten the time between stretches to 40 minutes or less.
- After the final stretch let the dough proof for 30 minutes at 76-80F/ 23-26C. You should see some bubbles on the surface, the dough has to become lighter. We are looking for 70-80% rise.
Preshaping Sourdough
- 11:45 am Transfer the dough on to a work surface and dust its top with flour. Flip the dough over so the floured side faces down.
- Fold the dough onto itself so the flour on the surface remains entirely on the outside of the loaf. This will become the crust.
- Place the dough round on a work surface and let it rest for 30 minutes uncovered.
Shaping Sourdough
- 12:15 pm dust the dough with flour. Use a dough scraper to flip it over on to a work surface so the floured side faces down.
- Starting at the side closest to you, pull the right 2 corners of the dough to the left, then fold them up into half of the dough. Repeat this action on the left side too.
- Finally, roll the dough. Shape it into a smooth, taut roll.
- Transfer the roll, seam side up, into a prepared proofing basket (loaf pan with kitchen towel).
- Cover it with plastic and return the dough to the 80F (27C) environment for 15 minutes.
- Then transfer the dough to rise for 14-24 hours in refrigerator.
Baking
- Next morning preheat your oven to 500 F, place a cast iron pan with the lid inside for 45 minutes – 1 hour.
- Remove the dough from the fridge.
- Flip it over on a parchment paper, score it with a sharp knife or a scoring lame.
- Transfer it on to the hot cast iron pan, cover with lid (to create steam for a beautiful and crusty crumb).
- Bake at 500F for 15 minutes with lid on.
- Remove the lid, lower temperature to 450F.
- Bake for 20 more minutes until golden brown.
Enjoy chocolate sourdough bread 🙏
Chocolate Sourdough Bread
1707kcal
Ingredients
Sourdough Starter Levain (Night Before)
- 5 g Sourdough starter culture
- 35 g Water
- 30 g All-purpose flour or bread flour
- 5 g Rye flour
The Chocolate Main Dough Base
- 255 g Bread flour (85%)
- 30 g Stone-ground whole wheat flour (10%)
- 15 g High-quality Dutch-processed cocoa powder (5%)
- 25 g Sugar or honey (8.3%)
- 207 g Water (69% – Used for the core autolyse mix)
- 60 g Active sourdough starter levain (20% – From the stage above)
- 6 g Salt (2%)
- 30 g Cold water (10% – Held back as bassinage adjustment water)
The Melty Inclusions
- 75 g Semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips (or chunks)
Equipment
- Mixing Bowls (For levain building, autolyse, and bulk fermentation)
- Proofing Basket (Banneton or a clean bowl cleanly lined with a dry kitchen towel)
- Cast Iron Pan with Lid (Or a heavy Dutch oven to capture pressurized steam for maximum oven spring)
- Sharp Scoring Lame (Or a fresh razor blade for clean expansion cuts)
Method
Night Before – Levain Optimization
- 10:00 PM – Starter Build: In a small glass jar, add your 5g of starter culture to 35g of water and whisk together cleanly. Stir in 30g of all-purpose or bread flour and 5g of rye flour. Mix thoroughly, cover loosely, and let it sit at room temperature 74–78°F (23–26°C) overnight for 8 to 10 hours until the starter reaches its peak and at least triples in volume.
Day 2 – The Chocolate Autolyse & Core Mixing
- 8:00 AM – The Cocoa Autolyse: In a large bowl, thoroughly whisk together the 255g of bread flour, 30g of whole wheat flour, 15g of cocoa powder, and 25g of sugar until completely uniform. Pour in 207g of water and mix with a spoon just until all dry flour patches entirely disappear. Cover tightly and let it rest on your counter for 1 full hour to completely hydrate the cocoa and flour proteins.
- 9:00 AM – Sourdough Starter Integration: Add 60g of your active overnight starter peak directly into the dark, autolysed dough. Knead by hand or mix on low speed for 2 to 3 minutes until the starter is completely incorporated. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
- 9:30 AM – Bassinage & Salt Incorporation: Add your 6g of salt along with the remaining 30g of cold bassinage water into the bowl. Squeeze and knead the dough for 3 to 5 minutes until the extra liquid is fully absorbed and a cohesive, dark dough forms. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes at a stable warm temperature of 74–78°F (23–26°C).
Lamination Inclusions & Bulk Fermentation Folds
- 10:00 AM – Chocolate Lamination: Spray your clean work surface lightly with water and wet your hands. Gently tip the dark dough out and stretch it out into a wide rectangle as thin as possible across the table without tearing the matrix. Scatter all 75g of chocolate chips or chunks evenly over the entire surface. Fold the dough cleanly over onto itself into a neat package to trap the chips, return it to your bulk container, and let rest for 45 minutes.
- 10:45 AM – 1st Stretch & Fold: Wet your hands slightly. Lift one side of the dough up cleanly from the container edge and fold it directly over the center. Repeat this action for all four quadrants of the dough mass to build structured vertical strength and distribute the chocolate chips. Cover and let rest for 45 minutes.
- 11:30 AM – 2nd Stretch & Fold: Execute your second structured round of quadrant folds to continue organizing the expanding gluten network. Cover and let rest for 45 minutes.
- 12:15 PM – 3rd Stretch & Fold: Execute the third and final stretch-and-fold round. Cover and let the dough proof completely untouched for 30 minutes at a warm 76–80°F (24–27°C). The dough should look visibly lighter, show distinct surface bubbles, and hit a clean 50% volume rise.
Preshaping, Tension Rolling, and Cold Retard
- 12:45 PM – Preshaping: Gently tip the expanded dough out onto your work surface and dust the top lightly with flour. Flip the mass over so the floured side faces directly down. Fold the outer edges cleanly onto itself so that the raw flour coating remains entirely on the outside of the loaf. Round the dough into a loose ball and let it rest on your counter completely uncovered for 30 minutes to relax the gluten network.
- 1:15 PM – Final Shaping: Dust the top of the resting dough round with flour. Use a dough scraper to flip it over onto your counter so the floured side faces down. Starting at the edge closest to you, pull the two right corners of the dough outward and fold them up into the center. Repeat this exact matching movement across the left side. Roll the dough tightly away from you, shaping it into a perfectly smooth, taut, uniform boule or batard.
- Basket Stabilization & Fridge Retard: Transfer the shaped roll seam-side up into your well-floured proofing basket. Cover with plastic wrap and return the basket to a warm 80°F (27°C) spot for exactly 15 minutes to stabilize. Slide the basket directly into your refrigerator to rise slowly for 14 to 24 hours of cold fermentation retard at a stable 40°F (4°C).
Day 3 – Blazing Cast Iron Bake
- Next Morning – Preheating: Preheat your oven to 500°F (260°C). Place your cast iron pan and lid onto the middle rack to heat up thoroughly for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Scoring & Loading: Remove the cold chocolate dough basket from the fridge. Flip it over gently onto a sheet of parchment paper and score the dark surface with one clean, long, deep cut using a sharp lame or razor blade.
- The Steam Bake: Transfer the dough carefully onto the smoking hot cast iron pan base, drop the heavy lid down tightly to lock in the steam, and bake at 500°F (260°C) with the lid on for exactly 15 minutes.
- The Open Bake: Carefully lift the hot lid off to expose the loaf, lower the oven temperature to 450°F (232°C), and continue baking bare for an additional 20 minutes until the crust is deeply caramelized and crisp. Let cool on a wire rack for 2 full hours before slicing!
Nutrition
Calories1707kcalCarbohydrates310gProtein51gFat31gSaturated Fat24gPolyunsaturated Fat3gMonounsaturated Fat2gCholesterol10mgSodium526mgPotassium1206mgFiber19gSugar52gVitamin A24IUVitamin C1mgCalcium319mgIron8mg
Notes
- The Enzyme Action of Cocoa Powder: Pure cocoa powder is highly absorbent and completely devoid of gluten-forming proteins. Keeping its inclusion capped at a precise 5% (15 grams) ensures that your bread receives an incredibly rich, dark mahogany color and deep chocolate aroma without weighing down or tearing apart the strong wheat gluten network required for a lofty oven spring.
- Why Pre-Whisking the Cocoa is Vital: Cocoa powder is naturally hydrophobic and prone to forming tight, dry clumps when it comes into direct contact with liquids. Always thoroughly whisk the cocoa powder, flour, and sugar together while dry during step 2 before introducing any water. This guarantees a perfectly smooth, homogeneous distribution of chocolate color throughout the entire loaf without leaving dry, bitter pockets in your crumb.
- Managing Fermentation with Sugar Additions: Even a small amount of sugar (or honey) acts as an immediate fuel source for your wild sourdough yeasts. Because the yeast cells consume these simple sugars quickly, a chocolate dough can sometimes ferment slightly faster than a standard lean white loaf. Keep a close eye on your daytime bulk fermentation window, looking for a puffy texture and surface bubbles rather than relying strictly on a timer.
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Lovely recipe. Thank you.
Weird but true: I can’t stand chocolate. Will this work with carob powder, Natalya?
Patricia, hi!
I’m not that fan of chocolate too. Also I’ve never used carob powder. Try to add 5% of it. Hope it will work.
Is there wheat flour also? The photo shows bread flour, cocoa powder, and a third flour that I cannot figure out. Thanks!
Julie, hi!
Whole wheat flour can be added ( about 10%) from total amount of flour
Hi Natalya,
Thank you but have you actually added whole wheat flour to this recipe? If so, how many grams? Thank you
Steffan, hi!
It depends on the total amount of flour you are planning to use. Example, for 300g total flour , use 270g bread flour and 30g WW flour
Nice Recipi
OMG.. I just made this and it has turned out exactly like the picture. I m comparatively new to sourdough and so I m very excited and thought I should let you know. Will be tagging you on Instagram as soon as I post it. But a quick question is there a substitute to all purpose flour.. since it’s not that healthy to eat it on a regular basis.. thank you so much 😊
Thank you so much, very happy for your success 🙏 unfortunately if you are chasing beautiful and open crumb (at least 80% of bread flour is necessary)
But if you are just looking for flavor and healthy side, then definitely it can be substituted 🙏
So when you talk about sour dough starter at 10PM you are talking about making Levain, correct?
Yes, exactly 🙏
I made your chocolate bread which was delicious, but recipe was slightly different to this one. It had honey and butter, flavour was amazing. Would love to try this recipe, does it differ much in flavour and texture from the other?
Thank you for your feedback 🙏
First making and eating Chocolate Sourdough bread. It was a hit. When I posted on my Instagram page got a lot of likes. It tasted very good alone or with cream cheese. Thanks again for your hard work in recipes and sharing. Not many people share.
Thank you, I’m happy you liked it 🙏
Lovely. This week I baked some similar bread (orange and cocoa) which had a wonderful taste as well when you ate it with cheese or Marmelade.
In your Instagram account I found this bread of yours. You mentioned that you had it deep frozen for several days, right?
What was the reason for that and what was the difference/ effect?
Thank you very much. Heiner
Thank you for yours feedback. I didn’t plan to freeze it, until my oven got broken. And I wanted to share my experience, because I baked it and it still was delicious after freezing 😉
Thanks for the explanation. Very interesting to find out work arounds in unexpected situations. Knowing that it’s working one could freeze one or more loafs in case you’d need one briefly. Thanks again.
Thank you 🙏
Hi Natalya, I made it! This bread is incredibly good. I wonder whether I can add chocolate drops and, in case, when is the right moment to add it to the dough. Many thanks! Costanza
Thank you so much! I’m glad you liked it.
After salt added, let the dough rest for 30 min, then stretch it on a wet table, and sprinkle chocolate drops, fold it back, let rest 45 min and continue with foldings.
I just made this one and found it very delicious. Its now my favorite choc sourdough recipe. It makes a rather small loaf since I did not add any nuts or choc chips. I used a bread calculator to help me scale the recipe up so I could make one maybe 25% larger. In doing so, it appears the true hydration of this recipe is 85%, not the stated 78%. This seems to make sense as the dough was very wet, sticky and not the easiest to handle. Could you check your hydration calculation to confirm what my number is? Maybe there is an error regarding what happens with water from levain etc. Next loaf I think I will hold back some water and see how it behave for me. Love the bread! Thank you for such a clear tutorial.
Leslie, hi!
Happy you liked the loaf.
I don’t include starter, when I’m calculating the hydration.
And the cocoa is falling under total amount of flour. So hydration 78% is correct.
Dough was very sticky, because cocoa is interrupting gluten development at the beginning of the process, but with folds it should come up together very nicely.
Just the right question.. made it yesterday and it was DELICIOUS!!! i wanted to make a bigger loaf 125% and it was soooo sticky i cant handle it… following ur answers so i can make a bigger loaf..
Sorry to hear it was too sticky, mix it longer with stops, eventually it will get together 🙏
Will do! Thanks!
Looks fabulous and appreciate the details. I don’t have a mixer. Do you think that I can work it with my hands good enough? Or do you think that the stickiness of the initial dough would be too frustrating?
It definitely will require more mixing then regular sourdough, but with some stops in between mixing, I guess you’ll be able to do it.
where does the 60g levain (20%) in dough’s ingredient come from? It’s the whole starter? But the starter seems to be 85g?
You need 60g for the dough, and use leftovers for future feeding
Hi Natasha
If I have forgotten to add cocoa powder at autolyse , when else can I add it at?
Im trying your recipe but doing 83% hydration using dark roast coffee as my h20!! Hopefully it will work but any thoughts?
It’s going to be delicious 😋
I LOVE the flavor. Got a beautiful ear but very dense crumb. I also got very little rise in the bulk ferment stage. Would you recommend longer bulk fermentation?
It depends on strength of your starter. If it’s not strong enough sure you can let it ferment longer.
Hi! Can I use 60g of active regular sourdough starter instead of building a levain with rye flour? Thank you ?
Hi!
Sure!
You can use regular starter.
How long should I bake if the maximum temperature of my steam oven is only 230°C? Can I perform 3 coil folds instead of the 3rd to 5th stretch and folds? Thanks!
Hola
Can I make the bread al the same day ☺️
Hi, Could I add Chocolate chip or chocolate chucks in this recipe? If so when is the best time to add it? Anything specific you recommend?
Hi! When you added salt and starter, then you can perform lamination and add chocolate chips to the dough, or any kinds of filling.
My dough is very wet still while the folds. Was I not suppose to add all the extra water? How can I fix this
Hi there! If your dough is too wet after adding water, you can try adding a bit more flour to balance it out. Start by adding a small amount of flour at a time and knead it into the dough until you reach the desired consistency. Remember to not add too much flour at once, as you don’t want to make the dough too dry. Keep adjusting the flour and water until you achieve the right texture for your dough. Happy baking!
Hello, I do bake bread but I have never made sourdough before and I don’t have a cast iron pan or a scoring lame but I am planning to buy it. Also I do not have a machine to kneed the bread so would it be ok to do it by hand?
Hi! I’m trying this recipe tonight. I wonder how much cocoa powder can it hold and if I were to add more cocoa, should I reduce the flour amount? to keep the hydration ratios. Also, would it be fine adding chocolate chips?
Thank you!
One more question about the step: Cover it with plastic and return the dough to the 80F (27C) environment for 15 minutes. Can this step be skipped? I don’t have a way to get the dough to 80F.