Sometimes my pantry fails me. The most current situation came to be when I wanted to make this fig hazelnut sourdough bread but I did not have hazelnuts. Nor figs. But I did have ground hazelnut praline sitting in the freezer and a bag of figs. And the bread game was on again!
The hazelnut praline sourdough has a crunchy, dark crust but the crumb is soft. The loaf is sweet but not overly so. Rather, rye brings its character and the random bites with figs give a sense of winter sweetness. You can use whatever dried fruits, raisins, or dates for example.
How to make ground hazelnut praline?
A box of ground hazelnut praline is always a good idea to stash in the freezer. Why? Because it can elevate any dessert you’re into from ice-cream to fruit tart and galettes.
If you’re making the praline just for this bread, I suggest you make a good amount because I’m sure you’ll find it useful within a year. I like my praline without the skins & my process is as follows.
How to make hazelnut praline?
- Pre-heat the oven 200°C.
- Carefully toast the hazelnuts for 6-10 minutes on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Mix and turn a couple of times during the bake for roasting equally all sides.
- Transfer the nuts into a tea towel & tuck them in to cool. Rub the skins off with the towel.
- On medium heat, carefully boil sugar on into a golden caramel. Add the nuts into the pan and finally cool the mass on a lightly greased plate.
- Cut the cooled praline into chunks. Grind in a food processor, stop when crumbly.
- Store in an air-tight container in the freezer.
There is sugary praline and not-so-sugary praline. It’s up to you whether you use 50/50 ratio or 60/40, or 70/30 for combining nuts and sugar. My ratio was 65 percent nuts and 35 percent sugar.
Hazelnut Praline Sourdough with Fruits
As this is not a high hydration dough, it’s perfect to experiment with new or more complex scoring designs. If you know me, scoring is not my favorite thing. But I tried haha!
Now I’ve made two wonderful loaves with this revamped recipe. One loaf with honey, as seen here in the photos, and one with dark syrup which gave, even more, darker crust. I’ve used a different mix of fruits and nuts. However, figs are my all-time favorite because they are not as sweet as raisins.
As this is a bread with sugar, I bake this and similar loaves within one day instead of cold proofing overnight in the fridge. I had fed the starter the evening before and it was bubbly ready in the morning to work the dough. After the bake, I tucked the loaf in this beautiful linen towel & cut it half the next day.
Half of this loaf is now on its way to my friend. The other half, well, almost gone.
Hope you enjoy this recipe and make it your own! To share a loaf with me, tag me on Instagram, or give a shoutout on Facebook.
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Love, Saara