Elise Jesse’s Cinnamon Sugar Sourdough Croissant Loaf

Directions

1. Mix the active starter with water. When it’s well incorporated and bubbly, add the flour. Cover the dough and allow the yeast to work for one hour before folding in the salt.
2. Let the dough rest. It will morph from shaggy to smooth and shiny. (The time could vary depending on the temperature of your house. This could take up to 10 hours.)
3. Once the dough is shiny and you see bubbles at the bottom of the bowl, begin your first of four rounds of stretch-and-folds.
4. Do one pure stretch-and-fold of the dough; cover and let it rest for 30 minutes.
5. Right before the 30-minute rest is done, shred a stick of cold or frozen butter. (I prefer frozen, as you want this dough to stay on the cooler side.
6. Combine half of the shredded butter with the dough and perform three more stretch-and-folds. Cover and let rest. Repeat the process with the remaining butter.
7. Gently coil your dough four times instead of stretching and folding. Cover and let rest for 3-4 more hours. You’ll be ready to shape when the dough has risen at least 50%, and it’s got a jiggle to it when you shake the bowl. Get your banneton or bowl ready with a cloth you prefer, and flour the inside.
8. To laminate, pour your dough out onto a clean surface and stretch it into a rectangle. Add cinnamon and brown sugar (measure with your heart) to the rectangle. (You’ll want to work quickly at this stage: The brown sugar makes this dough syrupy and difficult to handle after a few minutes.) Fold one side into the middle and add the cinnamon and brown sugar to the top of the fold. Repeat on the other side. Gently roll the dough into a ball, aiming to keep the sugar inside while you gently shape it.
9. Put the dough inside the banneton with the top down; stitch as best you can, cover and refrigerate overnight (roughly 12-15 hours), covered with a shower cap or plastic wrap.
10. Put your Dutch oven into the oven and preheat at 450°. Once heated, pull your dough out of the fridge, remove the shower cap or plastic wrap, and place a piece of parchment paper on top.
11. Holding it steady, flip the banneton. Take the towel off the top and flour the top surface. Use your bread lame to score the dough. Place into Dutch oven; put the lid on. Bake for 35 minutes.
12. Remove the lid and lower the temperature to 425° for 10 minutes longer. When the bread is baked through, allow it to cool completely on a wire rack.
13. For the optional glaze, combine the powdered sugar, heavy cream and vanilla extract to a bowl and whisk into smooth.
14. When the bread has cooled, slice it and drizzle with the glaze.