🫐 Blueberry Artisan Bread
📝 Description
This loaf is soft and airy inside with a crisp, golden crust. Juicy blueberries burst during baking, creating pockets of sweet-tart flavor throughout. It’s slightly tangy if you use sourdough starter, but you can also make it with yeast. Perfect for breakfast, toast, or lightly sweetened with butter and honey.
🍞 Ingredients
Dough:
- 3 ½ cups (420g) bread flour
- 1 ¼ cups (300ml) warm water
- ½ cup active sourdough starter (or 1 tsp instant yeast as substitute)
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp honey or sugar (optional)
Add-ins:
- 1 to 1 ½ cups fresh or frozen blueberries
- 1–2 tbsp flour (for coating berries)
👩🍳 Instructions
1. Mix Dough
- Combine flour and water. Let sit 20–30 min (autolyse).
- Add starter (or yeast), salt, and honey. Mix into a shaggy dough.
2. Stretch & Fold
- Rest 30 min, then perform 3–4 stretch-and-folds every 30 min over 2 hours.
3. Add Blueberries
- Lightly coat blueberries in flour.
- Gently fold them into the dough to avoid crushing.
4. Bulk Fermentation
- Let dough rise 3–5 hours at room temp until puffy (or overnight in fridge).
5. Shape
- Shape into a round loaf. Place in parchment-lined bowl or banneton.
6. Final Proof
- Let rise 1–2 hours (or overnight in fridge for deeper flavor).
7. Bake
- Preheat oven to 450°F (230°C) with Dutch oven inside.
- Score the top.
- Bake covered 20 minutes, then uncovered 20–25 minutes until golden brown.
8. Cool
- Let cool at least 1 hour before slicing.
❓ Q&A
Q: Can I use frozen blueberries?
Yes—don’t thaw them. Toss in flour and fold in quickly to reduce bleeding.
Q: My dough turned purple—what happened?
Blueberries burst during mixing. Be gentler when folding them in.
Q: Can I make this without sourdough?
Absolutely. Use 1 tsp instant yeast and reduce rise times to ~2–3 hours total.
Q: Why coat blueberries in flour?
It helps prevent them from sinking and reduces excess moisture.
Q: How do I keep the crust crispy?
Cool the loaf uncovered on a rack. Avoid sealing it while warm.