Bake Any Sourdough Loaf: Rules & Ratios for Every Inclusion

 As British expats, we’re still adjusting to how quickly Americans rush summer out the door. In the UK, a blue-sky day between October and March is a rare gift! Still, the cozy bakes of autumn and winter make us as giddy as any local, and we can’t wait to share some of our favorite seasonal loaves from our bakery days.

But here’s the twist: we won’t be posting every recipe. You don’t need them.

Here's Why You Don't Need Recipes

After Taylor shared that her favorite loaf of the moment was a Blueberry Lemon Sourdough, everyone was looking for a recipe. The thing is, if that loaf is anything like the Blueberry Lemon Poppyseed (or Blemonpop, as we called it) we did at the bakery, the recipe is just a basic sourdough with inclusions.

“But should I use fresh blueberries or dried? And how many?”

We did another loaf with cranberries, and another with figs. Dates, raisins, fennel seed, walnuts, pecans, Montmorency cherries, chocolate, orange peel—the list goes on and on. But as many and varied as our specialty loaves were, we only really used a handful of base doughs. Sometimes the process was tweaked a little, sometimes the dough, but decisions were always based not on recipes, but on a basic understanding of how the dough would behave with the introduction of different factors and ingredients.

And that is the point of this post: you do not need endless recipes. You need just two or three base dough recipes, an understanding of what dough needs and does under certain conditions, and a reliable Rules-of-Thumb list. From there, you can make any sourdough you can dream up! There are no guarantees it will taste good, or even “work” the first time around, but there’s no rule that says you cannot tweak and try again.

And so, to support you on your sourdough adventuring, here is the Sourdough Geeks You-Can-Bake-Any-Loaf-You-Like-Without-A-Recipe Rules of Thumb list. 

Why You Can’t Add “Any Old Ingredient”

Before we run through the list, it’s helpful to understand why you can’t just sling any old ingredient into a dough and expect perfect results. As you already know, gluten formation is everything in sourdough—it’s why you spend so long mixing, waiting, folding, etc.

While the urge to get fancy by adding fruit or nuts is entirely normal, the addition of anything that isn’t dough interrupts gluten formation (they stop gluten bonds from forming), some things more than others. Additionally, they can damage existing gluten structure (undoing the formation that’s already happened). Another key factor that inclusions interfere with is hydration—either contributing water to the dough or taking it away. And of course, there are texture and flavor considerations.

Rules of Thumb When Baking Sourdough with Inclusions

The following list is broken down into categories and sub-categories and, where applicable, includes a target range in baker’s percentages—i.e., weight relative to flour weight. Using less than the recommended range, may beg the question “why bother?”, whereas using more may be challenging, so you may want to start in the middle for your first attempts.

Fruit — target range 20–25%

• Dried – Ideal, because you can control the water content. As strange as it sounds, you will want to soak your dried fruit in water, booze, juice, or tea—but you control the amount of water you introduce. The soak-and-strain process means the fruit will neither take nor give water to the dough.
  
• Fresh – Not ideal. If you insist, extract as much water as possible. For example, if using thawed frozen or fresh blueberries, mash through a sieve first so they burst and you’re left with just the skins. Better to use dried blueberries, honestly. 

Nuts — 15–20%

Most nuts benefit from toasting first—actually, it’s the loaf that benefits because toasting intensifies flavor and adds crunch rather than chew. Nuts are going to pull a little water and steam a little, so without toasting you will lose your desired nut flavor and end up with a sandy, mealy texture.

Pecans, walnuts, and hazelnuts are often the best nuts for general use. Almonds and pistachios are trickier. There’s a lot more to learn about nuts—pros and cons—which we’ll cover in a BreadTalk soon.

Enrichments (butter, oil & sweeteners)

When incorporated into the dough, these turn a lean dough into an enriched dough, introducing an entire chapter of complications.

• Sugar is a dry ingredient but acts like a wet one in terms of how it affects dough structure. Adding sugar or honey to sourdough can even make it more sour.
  
• Fat is a reducing agent—meaning it shortens gluten structure (that’s why lard is called shortening). A shorter gluten structure means a tighter, more uniform crumb, not the open, irregular crumb most sourdough bakers look for.
  
• If you want to add fat, wait until you’ve mixed all the flour and water together first; otherwise, fat will coat the flour and prevent gluten formation.
  

Cheese

• Hard cheeses – 5–8%
  Parmesan, pecorino. Easiest to work with. The limiting factor is the salt content, which tends to be high, so reduce the salt in your dough—maybe 1.5% instead of 2%. Best added grated or shredded. Avoid pre-shredded whenever possible, as it’s coated in an anti-caking agent.
  
• Semi-hard – 8–15%
  Includes cheddar. After shredding, place in a container to settle and clump a little; this results in seams of cheese without creating caverns in your bread. Again, the longer the cheese is aged, the higher the salt content, so consider reducing your dough salt.
  
• Soft – 0%!
  Brie, cream cheese, creamy blues: not well suited as an inclusion in a lean dough. Better as a filling in enriched dough products.
  
• Crumbly – 3–6%
  Feta, crumbly blues like Stilton or Gorgonzola. Best crumbled. Target percentage reflects higher salt content and intense flavor.
  

Seeds

• High density – sunflower, pumpkin: 8–15%
  
• Low density – sesame, poppy, nigella: 4–8%
  

For a multi-grain (seeded) loaf, aim for most of your weight from high-density seeds and do not exceed 15% combined weight—e.g., 4% low, 11% high. (If using flax, use milled or soaked for better bio-availability.)

Herbs

• Fresh: 1–2% – Some herbs have anti-microbial properties, but this is generally not a concern at these small amounts.
  
• Dried: 0.5–1% – More concentrated, but the baking time isn’t long enough to bring out as much flavor. Fresh is best.
  

Spices – 0.5–1.5%

Some spices have anti-microbial properties and should not be used over 1% in sourdough. These include cinnamon, clove, cumin, and turmeric. With cinnamon, even when using less than 1%, expect longer fermentation times.

Outliers

• Cocoa – 2–3%
  • Regular cocoa is more bitter, generally lower quality, but lower in fat (10–12%) and produces a firmer, more elastic dough.
  • Dutch-process/alkalized cocoa is smoother, richer, and higher quality but contains more fat (22–24%), producing a softer, more pliable dough.
    The fat and fibers in either type both inhibit gluten and absorb water. Whether adding dry to flour or blooming, always add extra water—at least twice the weight of the cocoa. Blooming means mixing cocoa with hot water to form a paste before adding to the dough.
    
• Chocolate chips – 15–25%
  Come in many shapes and sizes, but smooth and rounded are easier to work with. Higher-cocoa chocolate adds more bitterness (a drying, astringent effect), while lower-cocoa chocolate contains more sugar and adds sweetness.
   
• Booze
  Ethanol retards fermentation and dries dough, so add hydration and allow longer fermentation time.
  Beer tips:
  
1. Use a malt-forward, low-IBU beer. Porters and stouts work well, but choose a session beer rather than an imperial stout, with lower hops and higher flavoring malts.
   
2. Consider simmering the beer to lower ABV and concentrate flavor. Then add water to make up the difference.
   
3. Try beer syrup (e.g., thebeersyrupcompany.com) for concentrated beer flavor without fermentation issues.
    
• Jalapeño
  • Pickled – Vinegar tightens gluten; drain and pat dry. Pickled peppers are milder.
    
  • Fresh – Variable heat, high water and sugar content; unpredictable, best avoided.
    
  • Roasted – Caramelizes sugars, reduces water content and heat intensity. More work, best result.
    
    
• Olives
  All olives are both buttery and briny, but one trait usually dominates. Drain well. For a cleaner flavor, rinse and pat dry. For a “dirty martini” vibe, consider reducing dough salt to account for brine.
  • Buttery: e.g., Castelvetrano
  • Briny: e.g., Kalamata

If mixing, aim for a 60:40 buttery:briny ratio.

• Garlic & Onions
  Avoid raw alliums due to allicin, which can inhibit fermentation and degrade gluten. Roast, caramelize, or confit garlic and onions to neutralize the negative effects.

So there we are. Of course, we’ll keep sharing recipes because they’re convenient and we all like the security of them. We just wanted you to know that knowledge really is power, and armed with these general rules of thumb, you can write your own recipes.

Play around, have fun, and don’t be afraid to break the rules and see what happens.

Go bake, bread warrior!