Fresh blueberries are a disaster in sourdough. They burst during shaping, bleed purple through the dough, and leave wet pockets in the crumb. Sun-dried blueberries solve all of that. They're small, concentrated, and hold their shape through a long ferment, so you get distinct bursts of fruit in every slice instead of a grey-violet smear.

The flour is an even split of whole wheat and all-purpose. The whole wheat gives the loaf a nutty, slightly earthy backbone that keeps the blueberries from reading as dessert, and the all-purpose plus a splash of avocado oil keep the crumb soft and tender enough that it still feels like a breakfast bread.

Formula#

Ingredient	Weight	Baker's %
Whole wheat flour	250g	50%
All-purpose flour	250g	50%
Water	390g	78%
Starter (active)	100g	20%
Fine sea salt	10g	2%
Avocado oil	20g	4%
Sun-dried blueberries	75g	15%

Quantities are per loaf. Whole wheat drinks more water than white flour, which is why the hydration sits at 78% rather than the 75 to 76% you'd use for a mostly white dough. If your whole wheat is coarsely milled, you can push it to 80%.

The 20g of avocado oil is what makes this loaf soft. Fat coats the gluten strands and shortens them a little, so the crumb comes out tender and the crust bakes up thinner and less chewy than a lean sourdough. Avocado oil is neutral in flavour, so it softens without getting in the way of the fruit. Any neutral oil works; olive oil adds a peppery note that's nice but noticeable.

On the Blueberries#

75g per loaf is deliberately restrained. Dried blueberries are much smaller than cranberries or figs, so a modest weight still scatters a lot of berries through the dough, and going much heavier starts to tint the crumb and weigh down the rise.

Give them a quick soak: cover with warm water for 10 to 15 minutes, then drain and pat dry. They don't need as long as larger dried fruit, and over-soaked blueberries split when you fold them in. Unsweetened or juice-sweetened berries are best; the sourdough tang is what makes the fruit taste bright.

Mix and Bulk Fermentation#

Mix the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, and 370g of the water until no dry flour remains, then autolyse for 45 minutes. Whole wheat benefits from the longer rest, as the bran softens and the dough becomes noticeably more extensible.

Add the starter, salt, and the remaining 20g of water and squeeze them through the dough until fully incorporated.

Add the avocado oil only once the dough has come back together, after a few minutes of slap and folds or a 15-minute rest. Oil added too early coats the flour before the gluten forms and leaves you with a slack, greasy dough. Drizzle it over, then pinch and fold until the dough stops looking slick; it will seem to fall apart at first, then pull back together.

Add the drained blueberries during the first set of stretch and folds, about 30 minutes in. Spread the dough out, scatter the berries over it, and fold it over itself a few times. Don't knead them in; you want whole berries, not purple streaks.

Do four sets of stretch and folds over the first two hours, 30 minutes apart, then leave the dough to finish bulk. Total bulk runs about 5 hours at 76°F. Whole wheat ferments faster than white flour, so start checking early: you're looking for a 50 to 60% rise, a domed surface, and bubbles at the sides of the container.

Shaping#

Pre-shape into a loose round and bench rest 20 minutes. Final shape into a boule or batard. Any berries poking through the surface will scorch in the oven, so tuck the obvious ones under as you build tension.

Cold retard in the fridge for 10 to 14 hours.

Scoring and Baking#

Preheat the Dutch oven at 500°F for 45 minutes. Dust the top generously with flour before scoring. It sets off the leaf and wheat-stalk patterns against the dark crust.

Score with a decisive main cut plus any decorative cuts you like. Shallow, angled cuts open into the curved ears you see in the photos.

Bake covered at 500°F for 20 minutes, then uncover, drop to 450°F, and bake another 20 to 25 minutes. The whole wheat and the sugars from the fruit make this loaf brown faster than a plain one, and berries at the surface will blacken. A few dark spots are part of the character, but if the crust is going past mahogany before the time is up, tent it loosely with foil.

Cool for at least 2 hours before slicing.

How to Eat It#

Toasted, with salted butter and a drizzle of honey. With a soft goat cheese or ricotta. Or as French toast on day three, when it's just stale enough to soak up the custard without falling apart.