The weekly sourdough! Another “new-to-me” bread (though I had made it as a yeasted bread before): Sourdough Marathon Bread. Why is it called Marathon Bread? Well, other than it being chock full of good for you stuff, thus, likely a good way to carb-load for a marathon, I don’t have a good, specific answer. It does have grated carrots and finely chopped dried fruit (I used dried apricots but you can use anything that you like), plus sunflower and pumpkin seeds. Healthy, yummy, great as a breakfast bread and keeps you going all day with sustenance. I’ll definitely make it again (but with raisins or cranberries, I think)
Ingredients
1 cup active sourdough starter
3/4 cup room temperature water
3 tablespoons honey
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup grated carrot from roughly 1 small carrot
1/4 cup dried fruit of choice, finely chopped
1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds, plus extra
1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds, plus extra
Directions
In a large bowl, combine together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, salt, and cinnamon. Add in the starter, water and honey and combine until you have a shaggy mass. Turn out onto the counter to knead a few turns. Place in a bowl to rise for 20 minutes. Then flatten slightly, place grated carrots, dried fruit, sun and pumpkin seeds in the middle and using the stretch and fold technique, fold in these ingredients in. Let rest 30 minutes, then repeat the folding technique, 4 more times, for a total of 2 hours. Then, cover the bowl tightly and place in the refrigerator overnight.
On the following day, up to 24 hours later, remove the dough from the fridge and let come to temperature, about 2 hours.
Place the large dutch oven, with lid inside the oven and preheat to 450F.
While the oven is preheating, shape your bread. Lightly sprinkle a working surface with flour. Using a spatula, gently scrape the marathon bread dough out onto your floured surface. Flour your hands and gently shape the dough into a round loaf (boule). Minimal handling is optimal!
Once you’ve shaped the dough, set it into a well-floured proofing basket (banneton) and cover loosely with a clean dishtowel. Just before baking, invert the formed bread onto a piece of parchment paper. Once the oven and the dutch oven are heated, carefully remove the dutch oven from the oven, carefully remove the lid (it will be screaming hot!) and using the parchment paper, lift the bread into the dutch oven. Score the bread, and spritz lightly with water and sprinkle on a few additional sunflower and pumpkin seeds. Place lid on pot, place pot in oven.
Bake your bread for 30 minutes with the lid on, then remove the lid and bake for an additional 15 minutes with the lid off, until the top is quite browned.
Remove the marathon bread from the oven and let cool completely before slicing.
