People Are Making Christmas Sourdough Bread - And It Looks Delicious

Along with the likes of Tiger King and banana bread, baking a sourdough was practically an essential during the first lockdown.

But have you heard of the festive sourdough? If you're looking for something to rustle up this weekend, look no further - it's the ultimate Christmassy recipe and it looks very festive, too.

It couldn't be easier to make and can be achieved simply by following your favourite sourdough recipe (we've also popped a simple one below) with a few minor changes added in.

Here's how to do it...

Ingredients

• 500 grams of strong white bread flour
• 300 grams of sourdough starter
• 250 mls of water
• Salt
• Any additional ingredients such as cinnamon, raisins, currents, almonds, hazelnuts, chocolate chips or cherries
• You'll also need a sharp craft knife and kitchen string

Method

1. Add the strong white bread flour, sourdough starter and water into a bowl and slowly stir until combined.

2. Add the salt and any additional ingredients. If it's too dry, add a splash of warm water or try a little extra cinnamon if it's too wet.

3. On a floured surface, squeeze and push down your mixture to combine, but don't knead too much. Then, leave your dough for 30 minutes to rest.

4. After half an hour, turn out your sourdough on a wet surface and begin stretching and folding. Pull the dough outwards, focussing on one side at a time before folding each corner.

5. Leave to rise for two hours before doing another stretch and fold. Then, leave to rise for another two hours.

6. Now for the fun part! Once the dough has risen, take a sharp craft knife, and carve out your festive design of choice (a Christmas tree is a good starting point) on top of your dough. Using a piece of kitchen string, simply mark one vertical line down the middle of the dough, followed by three horizontal lines, evenly spaced out.

7. Use this as a guide to carve out a Christmas tree (we've included a handy video by @ikneadbread below) before popping in the oven for 40 minutes to an hour.

And it certainly seems like the Christmas sourdough has been popular on social media, with plenty of bakers posting their designs on Instagram and TikTok.

Of course, you can switch up your Christmas design for any you fancy (maybe a snowman?!) and feel free to add in any other festive ingredients.

This lot are certainly giving us inspo'!

That's our weekend baking sorted then!

Topics: Christmas, Tasty Food, Food And Drink

Lucy Devine

Lucy is a journalist working for Tyla. After graduating with a master's degree in journalism, she has worked in both print and online and is particularly interested in fashion, food, health and women's issues. Northerner, coffee addict, says hun a lot. Get in touch at [email protected].

@lucedevine