Trail Mix Sourdough Bread

Chef Jean's Note:

For this recipe I used a Kitchen Aide Mixer to mix and knead the dough. You can of course do it by hand or you can follow your bread machines instructions for Bread with Mix-ins. I have not tried using this recipe in a bread machine so I do not know what the outcome will be! I used 6 cups of flour, but you may need to adjust to make the dough just stiff enough to handle.Do not add to much flour. The prep time includes rising time.

• Total Time: 3 hrs 25 mins
• Prep Time: 2 hrs 45 mins
• Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 2 loaves

BREAD

• 1/2 cup sourdough starter
• 2 cups warm water
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 6 cups bread flour

FILLING

• 2 teaspoons rosemary, chopped
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries, packed
• 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1 large green onion, thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons pimientos, jarred, roughly chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. In your kitchenaide mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, mix together all of the bread ingedients, except the flour, until blended. Add the flour 2 cups at a time until the dough comes together and you can touch it without it completely sticking to your fingers. A little sticky is ok as long as you can pick it up in one ball.
2. Knead with the dough hook for 8 minutes. Then remove and place the dough in a large greased bowl, making sure all the dough has been lightly coated with grease. Cover and let rise until double in size, this took about 2 hours for me.
3. While the dough is rising, mix together the filling ingrdients and set aside in the refrigerator.
4. Once the dough has doubled pour the filling over the dough and punch down, mixing the filling into the dough as you fold dough over itself.
5. Turn the dough out onto a very well floured surface. Knead the dough about 12 times to get the filling well combined int he dough. Mixing the filling in will get kind of messy so use lots of flour to help!
6. Cut the dough half and shape each peice into a large round loaf. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet and let rise a second time. This will take about 30 minutes, or until the loafs have almost doubled(about 1.5 times bigger).
7. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, then if you like a crispy crust turn heat to 400 and bake for 10 more minutes.
8. I turned my second loaf into crutons, which were really really good!

Reviews

[Iceland]

I also had problems finding out how to treat the sour dough. I used my bread machine to make this and even though i used the "whole wheat" program for it the bread came out very moist so i had to bake it additionally. I liked the outcome though and used it with a ground beef casarolle for dinner and with cream cheese and tomato sandwiches the next day. The spices were great but i will skip the cranberries next time i make it. Susie D´s suggestion to make buns out of this sound awesome! Thank you for sharing, this is a recipe i will work with! Made for RSC#14

[Susie D]

Even with a few problems this ended up being a contest favorite. My family told me not to lose this recipe! I elected to make a half batch in a bread machine. The problems: No indication is given on proofing the sourdough so I measured it right out of my stash in the fridge. As the other recipes I've used still called for yeast I added 2 1/2 t. I ended up needing an extra half cup of flour in the ABM. After the dough cycle I divided it into 8 circles and placed on a greased baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. It rose about 30 minutes & then baked. The result was eight lightly browned and beautiful 6 inch buns. The texture is very light & fluffy. It really is one of the best breads texture wise I've made lately. The buns are studded with jewel like colors from the dried cranberries, nuts, green onions, & pimentos. Next time I will dry the pimentos before cutting as they smeared colorwise somewhat, but I think it was the dampness straight out of the jar. I used the buns today with shaved roast turkey, but the buns will be a good match flavorwise with other meats as well. The rosemary wasn't overpowering in this recipe. I will use this recipe again! Good luck in the contest!