i made this tiny sourdough reel for april fools’ inspired by how “small batch” has taken off this past year. it quickly became my most popular post! i’m blown away by the response, and wanted to share a longer video and process with all of you.
i’m including the full recipe below so you can make your very own tiny sourdough loaf ✨
notes
- although i provide a recipe, you can scale down any standard recipe. 60g of total flour will make two tiny sourdough loaves.
- i used my classic country brown recipe, but decreased the proportion of wheat flour to 10%, and used bread flour in place of all purpose.
materials
- mini proofing basket: for a round bannetone, i use a 2.5 oz condiment sauce cup and a cut pour-over coffee filter. you could likely use a small piece of scrap linen cloth too.
- mini dutch oven: mini le creuset cocotte
tiny sourdough
make your own extra tiny sourdough loaf with a homemade mini proofing basket and an 8 oz cocotte. recipe yields 2.
formula
dough formula
- 54 g king arthur whole wheat flour
- 6 g king arthur bread flour
- 45 g water @ 90°F
- 1 g salt
- 15 g ripe levain
method
12 pm: autolyse
- in a small bowl, mix all flours together. slowly add the water, mixing with fingers making sure to incorporate the water into the flour well, stopping when all the flour is hydrated. let sit, covered, for 30 minutes.
12:30 pm: mix
- sprinkle salt evenly over autolysed dough. incorporate gently by folding dough over a 2-3 times. then, measure out ripe starter, and add to bowl. mix, alternating between pincer and stretch and fold, for about 6-7 minutes.
- this dough needs 3-4 sets of stretch and folds spaced 45 min apart, at the beginning.
- let dough rise at room temp until expands and appears gaseous, about 8 hours in the springtime.
make the bannetone
- get two 2.5 oz sauce or condiment cups, or something similarly sized.
- option 1: using a pour-over coffee filter. cut off about 1 inch at the top. then, place the filter cone point down into the tin. fold the bottom, and then fold the filter edges over the sauce tin.
- option 2: using a small piece of linen. find a scrap piece of linen. cut it so that you can fold the edges over and line the sauce tin.
- whichever option you choose, repeat twice to create two mini proofing baskets.
8:30 pm: divide & shape
- on a generously floured surface, gently guide dough onto the table. using a bench knife, divide the dough into two equal parts.
- to shape, first fold the dough on itself: top, left, right, bottom, like you're folding up paper. then, finish with a few stretch and folds around to create a circular, dome shape.
- flip dough over, seam side down on an unfloured surface, and gently tug to seal.
proof
- generously flour your makeshift proofing baskets, and your mini boules. flip the dough, seam side up, into your proofing basket.
- repeat with the other boule.
- place both bannetones inside of a sealed plastic bag or ziploc. place in fridge overnight for 12-16 hours.
[next morning] 10 am: bake
- when ready to bake, pre-heat oven to 475°F. place both 8 oz mini dutch ovens (also called a cocotte) with lid on into the oven for about 30 minutes.
- if you don't have two, you can bake them sequentially. just place the cocotte back in the oven for 5 minutes in between bakes to heat up again.
- to prepare, flip dough out of sauce tin onto a small, pre-cut piece of parchment paper.
- optional step: score your loaf.
- transfer parchment paper and dough to piping hot cocotte.
- with the lid on, bake for 8 minutes. then, take the lid off. bake for another 10-15 minutes uncovered, or whenever the crust turns a golden brown.
11 am: slice & enjoy
- this loaf needs to cool for 15 minutes. enjoy with the smallest dab of butter 🧈 and jam 🍓
Thank you for the recipe! It yielded the cutest little loaves ever! And thank you for the tip on how to shrink bread recipes! Can’t wait to try it on other breads.
This is brilliant, Erica! There will always be a good crusty loaf around to enjoy. The larger loaves lose their crusty goodness once sliced (tho they are still delicious), yet this wee size will get gobbled up in one meal. High praise!Thanks for this recipe. : )