The night before you want to start this loaf, make sure you have properly fed your sourdough start so it is ready for you to use in the morning.

Begin by adding 280g white flour, 200g whole wheat flour, and 315 g of water.

Mix this until the flour and water are well combined. (It’ll look a little dry, trust the process)

Place a wet towel on the bowl and let the mixture sit, or autolyse, for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

In a small sauce pan, heat the 16g cocoa powder with the 16g coconut oil. Allow this mixture to heat up and develop for 3-4 minutes.

Once the Autolyse is complete, add in your 90g sourdough start, 60g water, sugar, salt, and bloomed cocoa powder mixture.

Begin to knead your bread, you can also used a kitchen mixer with a dough hook attachment.

Knead the bread for a good 5 or so minutes.

You will want to make sure all your cocoa powder is completely incorporated. Don’t be afraid to be a little aggressive here in finding all the little white pockets of dough and making sure the cocoa powder gets incorporated. It takes some work, but if you don’t take that time…you bread will have a more marbled look rather than a fully chocolate loaf.

The first hour and a half will be performing stretch and folds every 30 minutes, repeated 3 times. This is also where you will be adding in your chocolate and cherries during each stretch and fold

If I were start my initial rise at 10:30am, this is what my stretch and fold times would roughly be.

11am– Add a third of the chocolate chips and cherries. Then, perform First stretch and folds, cover with a towel and let rest

11:30am– Add a third of the chocolate chips and cherries. Then, perform second stretch and folds, cover with a towel and let rest

Noon– Add the final third of the chocolate chips and cherries. Then, perform third set of stretch and folds, cover with a towel and let rest

Noon-2:30 (at least)- Let the dough rest and rise to it’s doubled in size. My house is a little chillier, so it took my loaf around 5ish hours to be finished. The timing could change depending on your situation. But a good rule of thumb is to check every half hour after that 4 hour mark.

Place your loaf on the counter and begin shaping it by folding one end over the other so it make a log shape. (see above for diagram)

Then take the ends of the long log shape and fold them into thirds onto each other. (see above for diagram)

Pinch the ends in to create a seal, pushing any chocolate chips and cherries into the dough and away from the crust.

Pinch the top to create a seal, pushing any chocolate chips or cherries in as well.

Place in an airtight container, and place in the fridge overnight.

Preheat oven to 475 degrees Fahrenheit and place dutch oven in to warm up with the oven.

Wait at least 30-45minutes for the dutch oven to get nice and hot (this will help to add spring and give your crust a little crunch)

Remove your loaf from the fridge and place it seam down onto a parchment paper.

Score the loaf to your liking (You can dust with rice or semolina flour here….I chose semolina).

Remove Dutch oven from the oven, working quickly place your loaf and the parchment paper it’s on inside the dutch oven, place lid back on, and place in the oven.

Cook 25 minutes with lid on

Remove lid

Cook 20-25 minutes with lid off (times can vary depending on oven so keep an eye on it around 20 minute mark)

There you have it! A BEAUTIFUL piece of bread!