How to Make Mexican Inspired Sourdough Bread

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This Mexican Inspired Sourdough Bread is the perfect accompaniment to your Fiesta night. Deliciously infused with cumin and tenderised with black beans, this loaf has amazing flavour and texture. Not a bad way to have extra protein!

Can you Put Beans in Sourdough Bread?

Yes you can!

Have you noticed how much the health world is buzzing about protein? It’s protein this, and protein that. In the last 10 or so years, supermarket shelves have adapted and evolved to the growing demand for protein, and we see it advertised constantly: protein cookies, protein bars, protein chips. It’s even a selling point for bone broth!

Now, I do not disapprove of this trend, in fact, I am all for it! The thing is, if being healthy means getting adequate protein, and when you are trying to be healthy on a budget, then one has to be pretty inventive.

Long story short, I formulated a recipe for sourdough bread to have the extra protein hit from beans.

BLACK BEANS!

I can see you recoiling in horror! Trust me – the beans elevate this bread significantly. You might never bake another loaf without them again! Here are the benefits of adding beans (any kind) to your sourdough bread:

• Increases the protein in your bread.
• Your kids will be eating the nutritious beans, without the fight
• the beans add the most wonderful softness and springy texture to the dough.

And you can’t even detect the beany flavour! It’s genius, I tell you – genius!

How to add Beans to any Sourdough Bread Recipe:

It’s easy to add beans to any sourdough bread recipe.

The beans are simply blended with the liquid components of the bread (starter and water) and infused into the bread imperceptibly. Blended smooth, you cannot detect one fragment of bean.

Basically, you substitute a portion of the water for the portion of beans. One tin of beans, drained, is about 200g, and this will do one loaf of bread. Simply lower the liquid weight to about 280g, and you will have a well-balanced sourdough.

You can use any kind of bean. I have used white beans, garbanzo beans (chickpeas), kidney beans, and of course, black beans (in this recipe).

Sneaking beans into bread is a really good way to get fussy eaters to consume this nutrient-dense food. You cannot tell at all that there are beans in this bread. It’s magical!

What makes this Sourdough Bread Mexican?

To make a Mexican Sourdough Bread loaf, I used black beans (which gave the loaf a lovely, deep brown colour) and cumin.

Cumin is a wonderful spice, probably my favourite. It works really well as the only spice in this bread, simply because it has such a distinctive flavour.

Because cumin is completely savoury, this Mexican Loaf is best served with savoury toppings. It is wonderful with eggs, in toasted sandwiches, or as a side with soups or stews.

How to Make Mexican Sourdough Bread

The Night Before:

Feed your starter using equal quantities of flour and water. Use the discard for cookies, bagels, pancakes, or even this sourdough discard carrot cake.

In the morning:

Blend the starter, water, beans, salt and cumin until smooth.  You do not want any bean skin to be perceptible!  Add the flour. Mix (get your hands in there!) until the dough appears to have consistent moisture throughout (i.e no major floury bits).

Leave to rest for half an hour.

Stretch and Fold

For the next 2 hours, do 4 stretch and folds, 30 minutes apart.

Bulk Ferment

If your bowl is big enough, cover with a tea towel and leave to rise for a minimum of 6 hours (be careful not to over-prove at this stage.  If it’s warm, leave for a maximum of 8 hours, just to be safe).

Shape

Tip the dough out onto the bench.  With wet hands, stretch the dough out as far as it will go without tearing.  Then, bring each corner to the centre of the dough. 

Flip it over. Cup your hands at the top of the dough and pull it across the bench towards you.  This should make the surface of the dough nice and taut. Turn it back over, seam side facing up.

Leave for 30-40 minutes on the bench (maximum 30 if it is a warm time of year).

Repeat these shaping steps, leaving the taut surface of the dough remaining upwards. 

Overnight Cold Ferment

Line your proving bowl with a tea towel, and dust with flour.  Transfer the dough, with the taut surface facing down into the bowl.

Leave overnight in the fridge, for up to 24 hours.

Bake

Preheat a casserole dish/dutch oven in the oven at 250 degrees Celsius. 

After 45 minutes, carefully transfer dough to a sheet of baking paper.  Score the tight surface of the dough to any extent your artistry desires. Transfer to the (hot) casserole dish, putting the lid firmly on top.

Bake for 45 – 50 minutes, taking the lid off in the last 10 minutes so the loaf can brown on top.

Mexican Inspired Sourdough Bread Baking Tips:

• Make sure the Dutch Oven is piping hot before you put the bread dough in. I usually heat it for an hour at the hottest temperature my oven will go to. Then I reduce the temperature after adding the bread. I have found the bread to bounce up higher when I do this.
• I have tried doing a cold start (I.e, putting the bread straight into a cold Dutch Oven then into the oven). This was not successful for me, and I would not recommend doing this method unless you are stripped for time!
• I actually leave the lid on for the full 45 minutes baking time. If you desire, take the lid off after 30 mins and bake with the lid off a further 15-20 minutes, to give the bread a deeper colour.
• It’s easier to cut the dough after waiting for a few hours. The dough looks more impressive once it has cooled to room temperature. The air pockets have solidified and the intricate web of bread is worth the wait!