These 2 Mix-Ins Give Sourdough Bread A Nostalgic Feel

If you consider yourself the experimental type when it comes to cooking, you should really try making your own bread. The recipe for bread is very simple and requires just four ingredients — yeast, flour, water, and salt — but once you get comfortable with baking homemade bread (and follow some expert tips), you'll be well on your way to creating flavorful loaves, boules, and more.

Sourdough is, of course, known for its tangy flavor, so it can hold up to sweeter additions in a way that an already sweet bread, like brioche, can't. Samantha Merritt, creator of Sugar Spun Run, recommends playing with two ingredients in sourdough for a tastier loaf: cinnamon and sugar. "Flavor-wise, adding cinnamon and sugar will make the flavor deeper, richer, warmer, and, of course, add sweetness," she says. "Generally, even when you add sugar, the sourdough flavor can still shine through nicely, and the sweetness usually complements it rather than competing with it." Cinnamon, meanwhile, will offer your sourdough a nostalgic and familiar flavor, reminiscent of the cinnamon-sugar toast you may remember eating as a kid.

We wish it were as easy as just throwing ground cinnamon and sugar into a sourdough recipe before proofing. As Samantha Merritt of Sugar Spun Run explains, cinnamon won't change your recipe all too much, but sugar will. "Depending on how you incorporate it and how much you add, sugar can cause the loaf to brown faster than it would otherwise," she says. As such, you may want to keep an eye on your loaf as it bakes to ensure that it doesn't burn in the oven. Moreover, adding too much sugar can slow down the yeast, which will affect the rise and texture of your loaf. As such, it may be better to start with a sourdough recipe that already calls for sugar and cinnamon (and has bake and resting times adjusted for them). 

Once you get comfortable, you can start experimenting with different sugar and cinnamon combos in your dough. One of our favorite mix-ins that will upgrade any sourdough loaf is not just sugar and cinnamon, but sugar, cinnamon, and apples — kind of like a play on apple pie bread. I've added this combination to homemade focaccia and sourdough Dutch oven bread and had great success. You can also pair sugar and cinnamon with any recipe that calls for sourdough discard, like cinnamon rolls, muffins, and pancakes.