active starter

This delicious Sourdough Caramel Apple Focaccia sweet bread is infused with apples and topped with cinnamon sugar, butter, and caramel.

Sourdough Caramel Apple Focaccia

unsweetened applesauce, warm (3 ¼ cup)

water, warm (scant ¼ cup)

sourdough starter (heaping ⅓ cup)

salt (1 ⅓ teaspoon)

bread flour (3 ⅔ cups)

apples

butter (½ cup)

sugar (1 Tablespoon)

cinnamon (1 teaspoon)

soft caramels (8-10 pieces)

flaky sea salt

sugar

Whisk together applesauce, warm water, and active sourdough starter in a large bowl.  If your applesauce is in the fridge I recommend warming it up in the microwave so it is warm in the dough. Cold applesauce will slow down the rise times.400 grams unsweetened applesauce, warm, 50 grams water, warm, 150 grams sourdough starter

Next, add in the salt and bread flour and mix until combined in a shaggy dough.10 grams salt, 500 grams bread flour

Cover, and then let the dough sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes. I like to cover with a lid or dinner plate instead of a tea towel so that the dough doesn’t dry out. 

Peel and dice the apples. After 30 minutes, add the apples to the dough and perform a set of stretch and folds. Wet your hand and reach down to the bottom of the dough. Pull the dough up on one side and on top of the dough. Turn the bowl and repeat again 3 more times until the dough won’t stretch anymore. Cover the dough and let rest for 30 minutes. Perform a second set of stretch and folds. Cover and wait 30 minutes. Perform a 3rd set of stretch and folds. Continue to let the dough rise in a warm spot until it has risen about 50% and is jiggly.130 grams peeled and diced apples

Spray a 9×13 inch baking dish with nonstick spray. Add 4 tablespoons of unsalted melted butter to the pan and then dump the focaccia dough into the pan. Flip the dough once to coat both sides with butter and then cover the pan. For the second proof, let the dough rise for an additional 1-2 hours or until it is puffy and mostly fills the pan. 114 grams butter

After the second proof, add the remaining butter to the top of the dough. Sprinkle with a mix of cinnamon sugar and scatter chunks of soft caramels. Then using your fingertips press down into the dough stretching it to fill the pan and dimpling it, creating indentations in the dough.15 grams sugar, 3 grams cinnamon, 50 grams soft caramels

Bake in the oven for 27-30 minutes at 425F. Top with flaky sea salt and powdered sugar, if desired. Remove from the pan and let cool on a cooling rack.Pinch of flaky sea salt, Dusting of powdered sugar

This recipe was delicious and easy.  I substituted the sugar with a mixture of coconut sugar and monk fruit sugar.  I didn't add the caramels and instead did a maple syrup/coconut sugar caramel drizzle when it came out.  I prepped it in the evening and left it out on the counter overnight and it was ready to bake in the morning (our house is mid 60's at night).  Fool proof.

Holy cow! This is delicious! I used different caramel and will cover with foil next time to prevent the caramel from burning, but this turned out amazing! Highly recommend adding a little powdered sugar glaze!

Not sure what happened.  I’ve made focaccia before and the dough felt similar, but the end result had bread that was way too moist.  I used warm, homemade applesauce and fresh gala apples diced; I’m wondering if perhaps the applesauce and apples had too much moisture that released when baking.  I used a cast iron skillet to cook and it took about 50 minutes, rose nice and looked good.  Cut into it when slightly cooked and it was a moist, mushy mess with good flavour

Love the recipe, especially appreciate the gram measurements. I added some cardamom with the cinnamon apples and a bit directly into the dough, and topped with simple syrup instead of caramels to make a pseudo apple fritter. Love the instructions are easy to follow and tweak to your preference.

Unfortunately this recipe turned out to be a complete goopy mess for me. At 91% hydration you absolutely need VERY high protein flour for it to turn out well as formulated. I used KA 12.5% protein flour. I ended up having to add 50g of flour for the dough to even come together. Even with that it was still very goopy and hard to handle.

This Chocolate Sourdough Bread is a chocolate lover&#x27;s delight, boasting a rich, chocolatey flavor with a sweet taste and a crisp crust.

Chocolate Sourdough Bread

sourdough starter (⅔ cup)

granulated sugar (⅓ cup)

brown sugar (¼ cup)

cocoa powder (¼ cup + 2 Tablespoons)

salt (1 ½ teaspoons)

bread flour (3 ½ cup)

water (1 ½ cup)

chocolate chips

To a large bowl, add all the dough ingredients except the mix-ins. Mix together until completely combined. Cover and begin bulk fermentation, resting the dough for 30 minutes and keeping the dough at 78-80ºF.150 grams sourdough starter, 65 grams granulated sugar, 55 grams brown sugar, 30 grams cocoa powder, 10 grams salt, 500 grams bread flour, 350 grams water

After 30 minutes, perform a set of stretch and folds. Wet your hand and reach down to the bottom of the dough. Pull the dough up and over the top of the dough. Turn the bowl and repeat again - 4-6 times until the dough won’t stretch anymore. Cover the dough and let rest for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, add the chocolate chips if you would like. Perform a second set of stretch and folds. Cover and wait 30 minutes. Perform a 3rd set of stretch and folds. Add a 4th set of folds if the dough feels weak.Optional mix-ins: 1 cup chocolate chips or Heath® bits

Cover the dough and let rest for the remainder of the bulk fermentation. From the time you mix your dough to the end of bulk fermentation it will be about 4 hours, or longer if the temperature is cooler. However it is best to watch for the following signs the dough is ready to move on: risen about 50%, pulling away from the sides of the bowl with a dome shape in the middle, and scattered bubbles around the sides of the bowl.

Dump the dough on the counter. Use a bench scraper and a wet hand on each side of the dough, going around in a circle and tucking the dough under itself forming a ball. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, flip the dough over. Going around in a circle, pull the dough towards the center and then flip the dough so the seam is on the bottom. Using cupping hands, rotate the dough towards you, creating a taut surface. Place upside down in a basket and cover. Refrigerate for 8-12 hours.

Preheat a Dutch oven at 450ºF. Pull the loaf out of the refrigerator. Remove the cover and flip the dough onto a piece of parchment paper. Use a bread lame or very sharp knife to score the dough. Place the scored dough into the Dutch oven with the lid on. Bake for 30 minutes with the lid on followed by 5 minutes with the lid off. The loaf should sound hollow if you knock on the bottom and register at 205ºF. If it doesn’t, bake a few extra minutes with the lid on. Cool before slicing.

I absolutely love this recipe. Just made it again for the third time. Never disappoints! I’m wondering if I could turn a 1X recipe into 4 smaller loaves and what the bake time would looked like!

If I could add a picture, I would! This came out so beautifully (and was delicious)!!

This bread baked beautifully.  Even though I had to tweak the suggested schedule, and therefore took longer to proof  it was delicious.  It was my first attempt to bake a sweet sourdough.  It reminded me of a brownie flavor.  We ate it with butter, as a toast with cottage cheese or ricotta and at the end we baked a delicious bread pudding.

Top 2 active starter recipes from across the web

The most viewed active starter recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine

Top Tags

Sourdough Caramel Apple Focaccia

Chocolate Sourdough Bread

Top 2 active starter recipes from across the web

The most viewed active starter recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Sourdough Caramel Apple Focaccia

Chocolate Sourdough Bread

The most viewed active starter recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine