Raisin & Walnut Loaf
The Master Loaf folded with plump raisins and toasted walnuts. Perfect toasted with butter, and the best breakfast bread in the house.
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Total time
- ~20 hours
- Yield
- 1 loaf (~1.1 kg dough)
- Hydration
- 71%
New recipe: I'm still fine-tuning the details. Bake it, and let me know how it goes.

Method
- 1
MixRest 30 min
Mix flour and water until no dry flour remains. Meanwhile soak the raisins in warm water and toast the walnuts.
- 2
Add starterRest 30 min each
Add the starter, mix; 30 minutes later add the salt and mix again.
- 3
Laminate in the add-insRest 30 min
Wet the counter, stretch the dough into a thin rectangle, scatter the drained raisins and walnuts over it and fold it back up into a ball.
- 4
FoldEvery 30 min × 3
Do three sets of gentle coil folds. Add-ins tear the gluten a little, so be gentle.
- 5
Finish the bulkAs needed
Look for about 50% rise and a bubbly, jiggly dough — 4 to 5 hours at 25°C.
- 6
Shape and cold proof12 hours
Shape into a tight oval, tucking any exposed raisins underneath (they burn on the crust). Into the banneton and the fridge.
- 7
Bake~45 min
Dutch oven at 250°C: 25 minutes lid on, then about 20 minutes at 220°C lid off.
- 8
Cool1 hour+
Cool on a rack before slicing.
Raisins bring sugar, so this loaf browns faster: bake the second half a little cooler than the Master Loaf.
Try swapping in dried figs, cranberries or hazelnuts — keep the total add-ins around 35–40% of the flour weight.
Didn't turn out the way you hoped?
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