Nutty-Fruity Sourdough

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Nutty-Fruity Sourdough

star rating (13) rate this recipe »
Published prior to 2008

This dense, moist, gently tangy bread makes wonderful breakfast toast. Or slice it very thin, and spread it with cream cheese or butter—what a treat!

1 cup (about 8 ounces) fed sourdough starter
1 cup water
3/4 cup pumpernickel flour
2 1/2 cups (10 3/4 ounces) King Arthur All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/2 cups Fruitcake Blend or the dried fruits of your choice
1 cup chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts, or almonds)

Mix all of the ingredients (except the fruit and nuts) by hand, mixer, or bread machine till you've created a smooth, elastic dough. Because the consistency of sourdough starters vary, you may need to add a bit of extra flour or water; the dough should be medium-soft but not sticky. Add the dried fruit and nuts, kneading until they're evenly incorporated. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let rise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Turn the dough onto a lightly greased or floured surface, and form it into a fat log. Place the log into an Italian stoneware baker that's been greased on the bottom, or onto a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover the loaf, and let it rise for 1 hour, or until it springs back very slowly when lightly pressed.

If you're baking in a covered stoneware baker, place the bread into a cold oven, set the oven to 400°F, and bake for 40 minutes. Check the bread, and bake for a bit longer, if necessary; the internal temperature should be about 190°F when measured on an instant-read thermometer. If you're baking on a sheet pan, preheat the oven to 375°F, and bake for 28 to 32 minutes, until the bread is brown. Remove the bread from the oven, and cool it on a rack. Yield: 1 loaf.

Reviews

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  • star rating 03/14/2012
  • michwel from KAF Community
  • I used golden raisins and chopped walnuts, and substituted medium rye flour for the pumpernickel. The bread was moist and sweet, makes excellent toast. For lunch I'll try it with a turkey sandwich as another reviewer mentioned. I used my brotform instead of shaping into a log. I think next time I would probably reduce the raisins from 1 1/2 cups to 1 cup just to cut down on the sweetness a little.
  • star rating 02/06/2012
  • lucyiscaro from KAF Community
  • I have baked this bread three times and it's a new favorite. It's good as toast and also makes a yummy turkey sandwich foundation. I also, as one reviewer admitted, don't have pumpernickel flour on hand and so use King Arthur White Whole Wheat instead. It's amazingly delicious considering it has no shortening nor eggs. My one caveat to other bakers is that the crust is not an attractive color so I brushed it with egg wash and sprinkled a bit of cinnamon sugar on top the last time I baked it.
  • star rating 12/09/2010
  • Jennifer from Massachusetts
  • This recipe was delicious. The bread was awesome - the dried fruits (I used currants and cherries) really complimented the sourdough flavor nicely. The only reason why I didn't rate this with 5 stars was because the bread was quite dry - and I had measured flour by weight, too! Are there general modifications that I can make in order to make this (or any) bread more moist? "Hi, Jennifer. Thank you for sharing your experience with the fruity-nutty sourdough. It is possible that your dough just was not hydrated enough during the mixing process. With the addition of dried fruit in the bread, sometimes it absorbs the moisture that should be going into the bread. In this case it is a good idea to add more water to compensate for this. I hope you will try this recipe again. -Amy
  • star rating 04/11/2010
  • Linda from Missouri
  • I've decide this recipe is indestructible. As mentioned before, I've baked this bread every week for months. When I last baked it, a couple days ago, I grabbed the wrong flour container, when I should've been adding A-P or WWW flour. (I'm actually out of A-P, but usually substitute White WW, anyway.) As a result, the dough got an extra cup of pumpernickel flour--more than doubling the original amount. After I discovered my mistake, I proceeded with the recipe as usual, but added a couple tablespoons of Rye Bread Improver. Used a mixture of dried fruits, but primarily cranberries and raisins, and used up a bag of raw, unblanched almonds I had frozen. I baked two loaves, as I always do. They were naturally more dense than usual, but still moist. The flavor is superb. I may do this on purpose!
  • star rating 04/10/2010
  • Patsy from Idyllwild, CA
  • This recipe is a real winner. I prepared it yesterday, and let it do a slow rise overnight in the fridge. Then it did its second rise in the brotform this morning. I had a collection of odd-ball dried fruit in the cupboard, which I chopped and kneaded in: pineapple, mango, apricot and crystallized ginger. I substituted pistachios for walnuts/pecans. The result was outstanding. I will definitely prepare this again. And it will be fun to try using different fruits and nuts.
  • star rating 02/04/2010
  • Linda from Missouri
  • Since rating this recipe last Nov., I've baked it every week. I form it into two nice-sized loaves and bake on a bread stone. Have experimented with various fruit and nut combinations, and all are good, although my husband and I prefer walnuts to pecans in this recipe, and he likes some pine nuts added. I've been substituting white whole wheat for half of the A-P flour, to make it more nutritious. This recipe never disappoints, and everyone loves this bread. Toasted and spread with cream cheese, it's a breakfast!
  • star rating 01/30/2010
  • Elle from North Florida
  • We loved this bread! I didn't have any rye flour in the house, so I used KA whole wheat flour. Just happened to have a bag of dried mixed fruit bits in the house. Terrific. Great rise, nice tang, perfect slicing bread. Looked like a loaf I would hope to find at a bakery...but never DO find. My husband went nuts for this bread.
  • star rating 01/24/2010
  • amy from marshfield, ma
  • this was delicious! i used the sourdough starter on your site and it took 2 days to sit. i made this into two loaves like another baker suggested. i preheated the oven to 400 degrees for 30 min with baking stones and an empty cast iron skillet in it. i put some cornmeal on the stones and then transferred the loaves to the hot stones. i poured about 1 cup of boiling water into the hot skillet on the bottom rack of the oven and closed the door immediately to create steam. i left the water in for 20 min. after 20 min i removed the skillet and continued to bake for another 15 min or so and tested with my instant read thermometer until it read 200 degrees. the crust was very rustic and the bread tasted authentic. i used craisins and pecans. store it in a paper bag to keep it crusty.
  • star rating 12/09/2009
  • Janine from Brookhaven, NY
  • I love this bread! I usually substitute whole wheat or white whole wheat for the pumpernickel flour as I rarely have it on hand, and I find the combination of dried cranberries and walnuts makes it a perfect accompaniment to a fall dinner. Today's loaf will be served with Butternut Squash soup and salad. Thanks for a great recipe!
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