This long-fermented sourdough muesli bread is filled with oats, seeds, dried cranberries, and raisins, and made with part whole wheat flour. It's the perfect sourdough breakfast loaf, with plenty of texture and delicious muesli flavour in every bite.
Recipe Rundown: Sourdough Muesli Bread
- Texture: with a crisp exterior crust, and chewy, soft interior, it's a typical sourdough boule baked in a dutch oven. The difference here is a lot of added crunch from the seeds and chew from oats and dried fruit – and there are a lot of inclusions in this loaf so you get some in every bite.
- Flavour: slightly sweet thanks to the dried fruit and with a bit of toasty nuttiness from the sesame, pumpkin, and sunflower seeds. Whole wheat flour and oats plus a long cold ferment add more complexity.
- Difficulty: not any trickier than any other sourdough bread. If you've mastered sourdough bread for beginners you're ready to move on to inclusions! The only difficulty with any sourdough bread lies in patience and knowing when the loaf is proved, but this is a reliable method.
Ingredients
This is a pretty flexible recipe in terms of add-ins as long as you keep the oats in place – change up the seeds and fruit to suit your tastes.
- Flour: use all-purpose white flour or bread flour (the latter will make the bread a little chewier and can be easier to work with for beginners).
- Dried fruit: you can use all cranberries or raisins if preferred, or replace some with other dried fruits like dried apricots.
- Seeds: we make this loaf with seeds instead of nuts simply because they're less expensive and just as tasty. You can replace some or all of the seeds with nuts like walnuts and hazelnuts if you prefer.
- Sourdough starter: this should be active 100% hydration starter or levain that's had plenty of time to mature. A weak starter will result in a flat bread.
Use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top, or scroll to the bottom of the post to see the printable recipe card with full ingredient measurements and complete instructions.
Step by Step Photos
Step 1: add flour, water, and starter to a bowl.
Step 2: mix to combine and set aside to rest for an hour.
Step 3: add the remaining ingredients.
Step 4: mix until well combined.
Step 5: do 6 rounds of stretches and folds over the course of 3 hours.
Step 6: shape the dough into a boule and turn into a lined banneton.
Step 7: refrigerate overnight, then turn out the dough in the morning and score it.
Step 8: bake in a preheated dutch oven for about 50 minutes.
Recipe Notes
This bread is made in the classic Sophie style, which you'll see often on the Baked Collective. Instead of a bulk ferment at room temperature or in the fridge before shaping, the dough is shaped and then refrigerated overnight (or longer) and rises during that time. It's easier to work with this way and has just as good of flavour – it's a win-win. Sophie's method comes from working in sourdough bakeries early in her career.
Mixing the flour, starter, and water as a first step hydrates the dough. If you skip this step or reduce the amount of time the dough will tear when you start the stretches and folds and it won't develop gluten as effectively.
Top Tips
- Toast the seeds: all of the added seeds in this muesli bread are toasted for extra flavour. You can buy them toasted or do it yourself in a dry pan over low heat, stirring frequently, being careful not to burn the seeds.
- Soak the fruit: covering the dried fruit in boiling water while the dough is autolysing is to prevent them from soaking up the water in the loaf and reducing the hydration in the dough.
- Mist the banneton: to make the loaf easier to release, give the inside of your banneton a quick mist with a spray bottle of water to help the flour stick to it.
How to Store
Storage: keep wrapped in beeswax wrap or a sealed container for 3-4 days at room temperature. See: how to store sourdough bread.
Freezing: transfer the fully cooled loaf or individual slices to an airtight container and freeze up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature or directly in the toaster. To refresh the crust of a whole loaf, spritz with water and reheat in a warm oven for a few minutes.
More Flavourful Sourdough Loaves
- Oatmeal Molasses Sourdough Bread
- Apricot Sourdough Bread with anise
- Cranberry Sourdough Bread with walnuts
- Cinnamon Raisin Sourdough Bread
If you make this Sourdough Muesli Bread recipe or any other sourdough recipes on the Baked Collective, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more baking, follow along on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
Sourdough Muesli Bread
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- Wooden spoon
- Dutch oven
- Wire rack
Ingredients
- 100 grams active sourdough starter, or levain, made the night before
- 350 grams water , room temperature
- 260 grams white all-purpose flour
- 175 grams whole wheat flour
- 40 grams jumbo raisins
- 40 grams sweet dried cranberries
- 15 grams sea salt
- 50 grams rolled oats
- 25 grams toasted sesame seeds
- 25 grams toasted sunflower seeds
- 25 grams toasted pumpkin seeds
- 15 grams extra oats for topping
Instructions
- Mix the starter or levain, water, white flour, and whole wheat flour in a large bowl. Cover and set aside to hydrate for 1 hour.100 grams active sourdough starter, 350 grams water , 260 grams white all-purpose flour, 175 grams whole wheat flour
- While the dough is hydrating, cover the raisins and cranberries in boiling water to soak.40 grams jumbo raisins, 40 grams sweet dried cranberries
- After an hour, add the salt to the dough and mix to combine. Add the soaked raisins and cranberries, oats, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds. Mix well with a wooden spoon or your hands to incorporate.15 grams sea salt, 50 grams rolled oats, 25 grams toasted sesame seeds, 25 grams toasted sunflower seeds, 25 grams toasted pumpkin seeds
- Over the next 3 hours, do 1 round of stretches and folds every 30 minutes. You should do 6 rounds of stretches and folds in total.
- After finishing the stretches, turn the dough out onto a clean work surface and shape into a boule. Top the shaped loaf with the additional oats, patting lightly with your hands to get them to stick (if they aren't sticking, scatter them into the banneton instead). Turn the loaf into a lined and lightly floured banneton, seam-side up.15 grams extra oats for topping
- Cover well and refrigerate the loaf overnight, or for at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours.
- The next day, place your dutch oven into the oven and preheat to 500°F (260°C). Once preheated, turn your loaf out onto parchment paper and score. Carefully remove the dutch oven and place your loaf into it. Cover and return to the oven.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 450°F (230°C). Bake the bread for 30 minutes with the lid on, then remove the lid and bake for another 20 minutes.
- Remove the bread from the oven and cool fully before slicing. If the bread is too hot to take out of the dutch oven, leave it in the pot to cool until you can handle it, then cool fully on a wire rack.
Notes
- Storage: keep wrapped in beeswax wrap or a sealed container for 3-4 days at room temperature. See: how to store sourdough bread.
- Freezing: transfer the fully cooled loaf or individual slices to an airtight container and freeze up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature or directly in the toaster. To refresh the crust of a whole loaf, spritz with water and reheat in a warm oven for a few minutes.
- This bread is made in the classic Sophie style, which you'll see often on the Baked Collective. Instead of a bulk ferment at room temperature or in the fridge before shaping, the dough is shaped and then refrigerated overnight (or longer) and rises during that time. It's easier to work with this way and has just as good of flavour – it's a win-win. Sophie's method comes from working in sourdough bakeries early in her career.
- Mixing the flour, starter, and water as a first step hydrates the dough. If you skip this step or reduce the amount of time the dough will tear when you start the stretches and folds and it won't develop gluten as effectively.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is an estimate and is provided as a courtesy. For precise nutritional data, please calculate it independently using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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