Sourdough Mini Loaves

As part of our Make it Mini series – where beloved recipes are reimagined for Le Creuset Mini Cocottes – this take on sourdough baking brings individual charm to the table. Baked directly in the set of four Gourmand Collection Cocottes, these petite sourdough loaves emerge perfectly golden with a crisp crust and tender interior. Each is finished with a generous slab of radish butter, some lemon zest, and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt. It’s an elegant, effortless pairing that turns simple ingredients into a standout summer appetizer or side dish for warm-weather gatherings.

Recipe provided by Abigail Harris-Shea

The Levain:

25 g mature sourdough starter

25 g bread flour

25 g whole wheat flour

50 g warm water

The Dough:

300 g bread flour

50 g whole wheat flour

150 g all purpose flour

100 g levain

365 g warm water

10 g fine salt

Levain (7:00 am)

When you first wake up, make your levain. Levain is essentially freshly fed sourdough starter that will grow to be the 100g you need for your final product. Mix your starter, bread flour, whole wheat flour, and water. Cover and leave in a warm place until it is bubbly and doubled in size (weighing 100 g), around 5 hours.

Bread Dough (11:00 am)

An hour before your levain is ready to use, mix bread flour, whole wheat flour, and all purpose flour with 365 g of warm water. You can use a "squeezing" technique to incorporate the water. Once the water and flour are fully incorporated, cover and let rest for 1 hour.

Combining Bread Dough & Levain (12:00 pm)

After 1 hour, add your 100 g of levain to your dough mixture, spreading it out over the top of the dough. Repeat the squeezing technique until fully incorporated. Wait 30 minutes, and then add the salt, incorporating using the squeezing technique. The dough will still be very sticky, so you can use a bit of water on your hands to make it easier. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.

Building Gluten Strength:

Bench Kneading (12:30 pm)

Using a dough scraper, stretch and fold the dough over itself.

Lamination (1:00 pm)

Like bench kneading, lamination is another technique of stretching and folding the bread dough to build strength.

Coil Folds (1:30 pm)

You will do a total of 3 coil folds, 45 minutes apart:

1 coil fold, cover and let rest for 45 minutes (1:30 pm)

1 coil fold, cover and let rest for 45 minutes (2:15 pm)

1 coil fold, cover and let rest for 4 hours (3:00 pm)

Final Shaping (7:00 pm)

Dump your dough out on a clean surface. Divide the dough into 4 pieces. With the stickier side facing up, fold each side of the dough into itself to form each loaf. If you have bannetons for the size of your loaves, great. If not, you can use 4 bowls about the size of each Cocotte. Add flour to your bowls and carefully scoop each loaf into each one. Dust with a little more flour, cover and put into the refrigerator.

The Next Day

Preheat oven to 500°F and add your Cocottes to the oven so they get hot. Remove the loaves from the refrigerator and carefully transfer to a piece of parchment paper, dusting with more flour. Score your dough using a lame. When oven is preheated, transfer parchment paper to your cocottes, add 1 ice cube underneath each and cover. This will allow for steam to be created. Cook for 10 minutes with the lid on. Remove lid and cook for another 7 minutes or until the top is golden brown.