Feed Starter

• Feed starter 4-12 hours before mixing up your dough

Mix Ingredients

• In a large bowl, add water, active sourdough starter, and flour.  Mix until it comes together into a shaggy sticky dough.  Leave it for 15-30 minutes to “autolyse”.  This just means you’re giving the flour a chance to absorb the water and the starter.
• Add the salt and “mix” into the dough with a circular motion similar to how a mixer would mix the dough (see video below).  Let sit for another 15-30 minutes.

Create Structure In Your Dough

• Begin creating structure in your dough by doing a series of stretch and folds, coil folds and/or lamination every 15-30 minutes.  You will know your dough has good structure when it holds it shape and starts getting some bubbles on top.  Sometimes I only do 2-3 stretch and folds before letting it bulk ferment if I’m in a hurry, but I try to also do 2-3 coil folds and one lamination.

Bulk Ferment

• Cover bowl with a loose fitting lid like a plate and leave it in the bowl at room temperature for 2-3 hours to bulk ferment.

Add The Inclusions

• Turn dough out on the counter with the top of the dough facing down on the counter.  Gently spread the dough out until it’s in a very thin layer.  This is called laminating the dough. Combine cream cheese, sugar and lemon juice and spread over the surface of the dough. Sprinkle blueberries on top of the cream cheese mixture.

Shape

• Gently roll up the bread into a roll, and then fold the ends in towards the middle.  Carefully add tension to the dough by pushing it away from you, and then pulling it back.  (See video).

Cold Ferment

• Place dough upside down in a banneton or tea towel and flour lined bowl.  Cover with cloth or plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 2-12 hours.  Keep in mind that the dough will raise some while in the refrigerator, but it may not double in size like yeast bread.  It does a lot of its rising while baking.  Remember, this is very different than baking regular yeast bread.

Preheat Oven

• There are two ways you can bake this bread.  In a dutch oven or without a dutch oven as an “open baked” loaf.  Either method works well.  If using the dutch oven method, be sure to place your dutch oven in your oven while it preheats to 450 degrees.

Score

• When oven is hot, take sourdough out of the refrigerator and dump it out onto a piece of parchment paper.  Your dough should still be holding it’s shape.  Slash the top of the dough about a ½” deep.  I find that this simple score works best for this loaf with all of the inclusions..

Bake

Dutch Oven Method

• Remove dutch oven from pre-heated oven.  Remove lid and quickly place parchment paper with bread on it into the hot dutch oven.  Replace lid and quickly place it back into the oven.  Place a baking sheet on the rack under the dutch oven so the bottom of your bread doesn’t end up too hard and crusty.

Open Bake Method

• Place parchment paper with bread on it onto a baking sheet or pizza stone and place it into the oven.  Below it place a baking sheet or pan and pour boiling water into it to create steam.  This will help to give your bread a crispy crust with a fluffy inside and will replicate the dutch oven baking.
• Reduce heat to 425 degrees and bake for 25 minutes.
• Remove the lid if using a dutch oven.
• Bake for 15 more minutes until the loaf is a nice golden brown.
• Remove bread from oven and place on a cooling rack.

Honey Lemon Wash

• Mix the honey and lemon juice together to make a syrup.  Brush on the top of the loaf immediately after it comes out of the oven.

Slice and Enjoy

• For best results, wait until bread is cool to slice with a sharp knife.  Sometimes I can’t wait that long, and slice it sooner.  The bread can look gummy if you slice it to soon, but it is so good with fresh butter that sometimes I do it anyway.
• The easiest way to slice artisan sourdough bread is to cut it in half, and then lay the halves flat and slice.
• Store leftover bread in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.