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New this season

Bread · · By Ashley

Blue Moon Fall Harvest Artisan Bread

A firm French country boule with Blue Moon in the dough and browned butter on the crust, made for dragging through a creamy stew.

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Prep
45 min
Cook
50 min
Total
5 hr
Serves
1 large boule
Level
Medium
The finished Blue Moon boule cooling on a gold wire rack on the kitchen counter, its crisscross-scored crust baked into deep golden peaks

Where the time goes

5 hr, mostly waiting

  • Hands-on
  • Hands-off
  1. 01Hands-onBrown the butter10 min
  2. 02Hands-onMix the dough10 min
  3. 03Hands-offRest so the flour hydrates20 min
  4. 04Hands-onKnead in the salt, zest and spices6 to 8 min
  5. 05Hands-offBulk rise, with three stretch-and-folds1 hr 30 min to 2 hr
  6. 06Hands-onShape the boule10 min
  7. 07Hands-offFinal proof · heat the Dutch oven at the same time45 min to 1 hr 15 min
  8. 08Hands-offBake covered25 min
  9. 09Hands-offBake uncovered20 to 25 min
  10. 10Hands-offCool on a rack before slicing1 hr to 1 hr 30 min

The story

This is a rustic loaf for autumn. Blue Moon Belgian White brings wheat, malt and citrus. Salted browned butter adds a toasted, nutty richness and a savory finish, a little raw honey rounds out the malt without making it taste like dessert, and green cardamom and roasted coriander give it a gentle floral warmth. Orange zest picks up the citrus in the beer.

It is a firm dough, 600 grams of flour to 350 grams of beer, so expect a moderately tight, even crumb with a satisfying chew rather than the big open holes of a wet sourdough. That is the point. The slices are sturdy enough to dip, and the cornmeal base and deep mahogany crust give every bite some crunch.

I made it to go with my French Country Chicken & Dumplings. It is also good with butternut squash soup, roast pork or a wedge of aged cheese.

  • A bottle of Blue Moon Belgian White on the counter beside the mixing bowl and a zested orange
    One bottle of Blue Moon Belgian White goes in the dough.
  • Bread flour and whole-wheat flour in a mixer bowl with instant yeast and grated orange zest on top
    The flours, yeast and orange zest, ready for the beer.
  • A square of parchment folded into a triangle on the counter
    The cartouche, step one: fold the square into a triangle.
  • The parchment folded into a narrow wedge, held next to a pair of kitchen scissors
    Fold it down into a narrow wedge.
  • The folded parchment wedge with its wide end trimmed into a curve
    Trim the wide end into a curve.

Ingredients

Serves 1 large boule

Tap an ingredient to check it off.

Browned butter

Bread dough

Autumn aromatics

For the crust

Method

Tap a step number to mark it done.

  1. Brown the butter

    Melt the 3 tablespoons of salted butter in a small, light-colored saucepan over medium-low heat. As it foams, stir constantly, scraping the bottom so the milk solids do not settle and burn. When the foam subsides and the solids turn golden brown and smell nutty, about 4 to 6 minutes, pour it straight into a cool heatproof bowl, solids and all. Weigh out 18 g for the dough and save the rest for a light brushing on top of the loaf. Let it cool until lukewarm.

    Do not walk away from the pan. It goes from brown to burnt fast. You will likely have a little left over after brushing, which is no problem. If you are making the chicken and dumplings too, stir it into the pot.

    Salted butter browned to a deep amber in a small steel saucepan, still foaming at the edges

  2. Mix the dough

    In a large bowl, combine the bread flour, whole-wheat flour and yeast. Add the beer, honey and cooled browned butter and mix until no dry flour remains. Bring it together by squeezing and folding with your hands. Cover and rest for 20 minutes so the flour can hydrate.

    This is a firm dough, not a wet, shaggy one. If it stays very stiff or has dry patches after resting, work in water 5 to 10 g at a time.

  3. Knead in the aromatics

    Add the salt, orange zest, cardamom, coriander and black pepper. Knead by hand for 6 to 8 minutes, until the dough is cohesive, elastic and smoother. If it resists, let it rest for a minute and keep going.

    A half-zested orange on a wooden board next to a fine grater flecked with zest

  4. Bulk rise

    Put the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover and let it rise at about 74 to 78°F for 1½ to 2 hours, until it has grown by roughly half to three quarters and feels lighter. Give it three sets of stretch-and-folds, 30 minutes apart: stretch one side up and fold it to the center, rotating the bowl as you go.

    Go by how the dough looks and feels, not just the clock.

    The dough risen and domed in a steel bowl, flecked with orange zest and black pepper

  5. Shape and proof

    Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape it into a tight round boule, building tension across the top without pressing out all the gas. Set it seam-side up in a well-floured proofing basket or a bowl lined with a floured towel. Cover and proof for 45 to 75 minutes, until slightly puffy and a fingertip dent springs back slowly.

    The risen dough turned out onto the counter, ready to shape into a boule

  6. Cut a parchment round

    Fold a square of parchment in half, then in half again, then into a triangle and down into a narrow wedge, the way you would cut a French cartouche. Hold the point over the center of your Dutch oven, trim the wide end into a curve at the edge, and unfold it. It just needs to fit inside the pot without much paper sticking up.

    Keep the paper below the rim and away from any exposed heating element, and check your parchment’s maximum temperature.

    The parchment unfolded into a rough round, held over the Dutch oven

  7. Heat the oven and score

    Put the lidded Dutch oven in the oven and heat it to 475°F for at least 40 to 45 minutes. Turn the proofed dough onto the parchment round, scatter a thin, even layer of cornmeal beneath it, and score the top with a crisscross of short, shallow cuts all over, so it bakes into rows of little golden peaks.

    My kid does the scoring at our house. It’s the only part of bread making she’ll do, and she loves it. Score yours however you like. Fun is encouraged.

    The proofed boule dusted with cornmeal, sitting on its parchment round inside the Dutch oven

  8. Bake covered

    Lower the loaf and parchment into the hot Dutch oven, cover and bake at 475°F for 25 minutes. The trapped steam lets the loaf spring before the crust sets.

  9. Butter and finish uncovered

    Take off the lid and brush the top with a very thin film of the browned butter you set aside. Rewarm it for a few seconds if it has set. Lower the oven to 440°F and bake uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes more, until the crust is deep golden to mahogany and the inside reads about 205 to 210°F.

    Just enough butter for sheen and aroma. Do not soak the crust.

    The boule in a red Dutch oven after brushing with browned butter, its scored crust turning glossy and golden

  10. Cool completely

    Move the loaf to a wire rack and let it cool uncovered for at least 60 to 90 minutes before slicing, so the crust stays crisp and the crumb sets.

Things worth knowing

  • Keep the spices subtle. The cardamom and coriander should support the beer, not take over.
  • Do not cover the loaf while it cools. Letting the steam escape keeps the crust crisp.
  • Serve thick slices with cultured butter and flaky sea salt.

Ashley's notes

My parchment-cutting photos are not exactly a masterclass in precision. Let’s just say my cartouche would probably make a French chef reach for the scissors. Fortunately, the bread doesn’t care if the circle is a little wonky. We’re making artisan bread, not auditioning for Le Meilleur Ouvrier de France.

Swaps that work

  • Rice flour instead of bread flour for dusting the basket. It keeps the dough from sticking better.

Credits and sources

Ingredients · 5 hr · Serves 1 large boule

Browned butter

  • 3 tbsp (42 g)salted butter

Bread dough

  • 500 gbread flour
  • 100 gwhole-wheat flour
  • 350 gBlue Moon Belgian White beer
  • 5 ginstant yeast
  • 18 gof the browned butter
  • 15 graw honey
  • 9 gfine sea salt

Autumn aromatics

  • ½orange
  • ⅛ tspground green cardamom
  • ⅛ tsproasted ground coriander
  • ¼ tspfreshly cracked black pepper

For the crust

  • 1 to 2 tbspmedium-grind yellow cornmeal
  • bread flour or rice flour
  • the rest of the browned butter

Filed under

A bowl of creamy chicken and dumplings with carrots and pulled chicken, a thick slice of the Blue Moon bread dipped into the gravy and a spoon resting on the rim

Best paired with

New this season

French Country Chicken & Dumplings

Dinner · 2 hr 10 min · 4 to 6

This loaf’s firm crumb was built for creamy broth. Serve thick slices with a pot of browned butter chicken and dumplings, and keep the stew savory and herby so the bread’s autumn flavors still come through.

Get the recipeSee the fall supper
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