Dark Chocolate Sourdough Bread with Honey and Pecans

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This recipe is perfect for beginners! I love making this decadent honey pecan chocolate sourdough bread all through autumn and winter. This recipe is for a slightly sweet, rich, chocolatey sourdough loaf baked in a Dutch oven. Serve this bread warm with butter and honey drizzled on top.

Dark Chocolate Sourdough with Honey and Pecans

Here is everything you need to get started with this delicious chocolate sourdough bread recipe:

• Sourdough Starter: We have an easy sourdough starter recipe HERE. You’ll need to start this 7 days before baking or 2 days before baking if you use our quick recipe option.
• Flour: Organic bread flour works best
• Organic Fair-Trade Cacao: Click here for the cacao I always use. Also, you can use cocoa powder instead, but I really enjoy the nutritional benefits of cacao (more on that below).
• Water: You can use tap water to bake bread; I do. However, if you prefer bottled or filtered, that works too.
• Salt: Use natural sea salt, please! Just make sure your salt does not contain anticaking agents. 
• Spray Bottle Filled with Fresh Water: This is a must-have for stretching and folding the dough. (see the section below) 
• Dutch Oven: a 6-quart Dutch oven with a lid works best for this recipe. 
• Proofing Basket: You can use a proofing basket like this or a bowl with a tea towel coated in flour.
• Dark Chocolate Chips and Pecans: This is the filling for this flavorful sourdough! You can incorporate some organic milk chocolate chips for a sweeter bread.
• Honey or Maple Syrup: I love using local raw honey in this dough to give it a slightly sweet flavor. I think dark maple syrup works well, too.

Tips for Making Chocolate Sourdough with Pecans

The hardest step to making this chocolate sourdough bread is stretching, folding, and incorporating the pecans and chocolate. It takes patience and a gentle touch.

I have three main rules for stretching and folding my sourdough loaves:

1. Don’t use a floured surface. You must turn the dough onto a clean surface to stretch and fold. Some people suggest sprinkling flour on the surface, but DO NOT. Get yourself a little spray bottle and fill it with fresh water. Spray your surface and hands with water before turning the dough out on the surface. This prevents sticking without making the dough dense with too much flour. The more hydrated your dough, the greater the rise will be. 
2. Make sure you adjust the time with the temperature. The time you need to wait in between stretch and folds depends on the temperature in your house. If your house is above 75° F, you may be able to reduce the amount of time between stretch and folds to one hour. 
3. Do at least three wet surface stretches and folds in 6 hours. You can do a stretch and fold every hour for six stretches and folds or every two hours for three stretches and folds minimum.
4. Add the chocolate chips and pecans on the first stretch and fold: I wait until the first stretch and fold before incorporating the chocolate chips and pecans. This helps the gluten build up before adding things like pecans that can tear the dough.

Adding Fillings to Chocolate Sourdough Bread

To add fillings to sourdough, wet your counter and gently stretch the dough out without breaking the dough.

Then, you will carefully spread half the filling over the dough before you roll it up into the dough and fold the sides in over each other for the stretch and fold.

Then, you will knead the dough again. It will get sticky, and some ingredients may tear through the dough, but that’s okay.

Here is an excellent video from my favorite baker on YouTube, Bake with Jack, to help you learn how to incorporate fillings without breaking the dough. CLICK HERE.

Chocolate Sourdough Bread Nutrition

You probably already know that sourdough is the most digestible bread. Sourdough bread is made out of flour, just like regular bread. However, the fermentation process makes the nutritional components of the flour more bioavailable.

Lactic acid bacteria in sourdough starters are able to reduce phytic acid, the compound that can prevent nutrient absorption in regular bread. Without the phytic acid binding to the minerals, you can absorb more potassium, phosphate, magnesium, folate, and zinc from the bread.

Speaking of magnesium, since this bread contains cacao powder, it’s loaded with beneficial minerals. Cacao contains significant amounts of magnesium, copper, potassium, and calcium, which have been shown to reduce the risk of hypertension and atherosclerosis. The minerals in cacao become more bioavailable through the fermentation process, making this bread a nutritious superfood.

How to Eat Chocolate Sourdough Bread

You can eat this bread with a savory breakfast or use it for a sweeter pairing. My favorite way to eat this chocolate sourdough bread is with some fresh butter and raw honey slathered on top. It’s also delicious for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Sourdough Starter Problems? 

Do you want to make this recipe but struggle with your starter? CLICK HERE for our blog on The Most Common Sourdough Starter Problems and How to Fix Them.

More Sourdough Recipes to Try

• Sweet Sourdough Pumpkin Bread With Cinnamon and Pecans
• Dutch Oven Sourdough Bread Recipe (Master Recipe)
• The Best Sourdough Cinnamon Bread with Maple and Pecans
• Rustic Rosemary Sourdough Bread

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