Whole-Wheat Chocolate Swirl Brownie Sourdough Bread

Sourdough bread was once a really intimidating attempt for me. I carefully read recipes, precisely scheduled rise times, and hoped for the dubious best when I put those lumps of dough in the oven. But over time, it's become routine, familiar, and understandeable. The thing that truly "cured" me of my sourdough tentativeness was the summer we decided to sell bread at our local farmer's market in Ohio. Suddenly, I was making more than 12 loaves a day, in multiple flavors, and had to get it into the car and out the door by 2pm (with a baby in tow!).

With all that practice, I started feeling comfortable enough to start making up my own recipes. This is one of the first, off-the-cuff loaves that I started selling that summer, and I still enjoy it immensely (it's got the words whole, chocolate, brownie, and swirl in it. There's little to not love!)

Ingredients

Dough:
• 7 oz recently fed sourdough starter
• 12 oz water, plus 3 tablespoons water, separate
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup unrefined sugar
• 1/4 cup unrefined coconut oil (or grass-fed butter)
• 3 + cups whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder

Filling:
• 3-6 Tbs unrefined sugar (depending on preference)
• 1/3 cup cocoa
• 1 t cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 Tbs whole wheat flour
• 1 Tbs vanilla
• 3 Tbs unrefined coconut oil (or again, you could also use butter)
• Boiling water

Time: About 30 minutes active, 6+ hours passive, 1 hour baking

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the starter, water, salt, sugar and cocoa powder. Swirl with your hand until well combined. Add 2 cups of flour and mix well. Add oil, mixing with your hand, then add the third cup of flour. The dough should hold together well by this point and be slightly glossy and sticky. (If it seems too dry, add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until all the flour is incorporated.) Knead until it is smooth, then let rest in the bowl for five minutes.

Now comes the most important part of the whole recipe. Keep the dough in the bowl, add a tablespoon of water, and knead for three minutes. Allow another five minute rest, add another tablespoon of water, and knead for three more minutes. The end result should be a pliable dough that yields to your hand, yet can hold its shape in a ball. It may seem like you’re adding too much water at first, but the whole wheat will soak it up as you knead—and the added water will make for wonderful, fudgy bread.

Cover the bowl with a towel, and allow to rise for three hours in a warm place.

Alright, now for the best part. It's time to make the filling.

In a bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, salt, and cinnamon (note: you won't really taste it--it just rounds out the flavor). Add your oil and vanilla, and mix thoroughly. Now the goal is to get this stuff the consistency of smooth peanut butter, so depending on how its looking, you may need to add some boiling water. Add it in tiny amounts until it looks just right. You really can't mess this part up, unless you eat it all.

(...which is tempting, but wait. Your time will come.)

Flour a clean counter top and pat the dough into a circle about half-inch thick. Cut the radius of the circle with a butter knife (your dough should look like a chocolate pac-man with his mouth closed). Spread the filling over the surface of the dough, leaving a 1-inch margin around the outer edge and the edges of your cut. Lick the extra filling off the spoon, a very crucial step. Then, starting from your cut, roll up the dough like a circular cinnamon roll, pinching the edges as you go. With a little shaping, you should have a round ball (and the chocolate layer will now make a swirl when you cut it.) Dust the ball liberally with flour.

Line a large bowl with a lint-free cloth. Place the floured dough into the bowl and allow to rise for three more hours in a warm place.

Preheat your oven to 400°F. (During this time, if you lick the chocolate filling bowl before washing it, I won't blame you). To bake, you can slide the dough onto a baking stone, or line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper—either way works. Just be sure you score the top of the loaf with a serrated knife before baking to allow the dough to expand.

Bake in the middle rack of your oven until the dough reaches an internal temperature of 190-200° F—roughly an hour (check it at 45 minutes to be sure).

Let rest 10 minutes before slicing, and enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee and good conversation.

Note: I shared this recipe on Fermentools.com as well. So if you comment, @cheetah, I promise it's my own content!