tiny sourdough

make your own extra tiny sourdough loaf with a homemade mini proofing basket and an 8 oz cocotte. recipe yields 2.

dough formula

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 🍓