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Snowflake Scored Sourdough Boule

A classic lean sourdough boule scored with a lacy, radiating snowflake pattern - a geometric decorative-scoring technique instead of paint or appliqué, and a timely one as the weather turns.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Rest / Ferment (+ Overnight Cold Proof) 16 hours
Total Time 17 hours 15 minutes
Servings: 12 slices
Course: Bread
Cuisine: American
Calories: 140
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 450 g / 3¾ cups bread flour
  • 50 g / ⅓ cup + 1 Tbsp whole wheat flour
  • 365 g / 1½ cups water, room temperature
  • 100 g / ⅓ cup + 1 Tbsp active sourdough starter
  • 10 g / 1¾ tsp fine sea salt

Equipment

  • Kitchen scale
  • Dutch oven, 5–6 quart
  • Banneton (proofing basket) with cloth liner
  • Lame or a very sharp, thin blade
  • Bench scraper

Method
 

  1. In a large bowl, mix the bread flour, whole wheat flour, and water together by hand just until no dry flour remains. Cover and rest (autolyse) for 30 minutes.
  2. Add the starter and salt. Mix and knead until smooth and elastic, 8-10 minutes by hand or 6-7 minutes with a stand mixer.
  3. Cover and bulk ferment at room temperature for 4 hours, with 3 sets of stretch-and-folds in the first 2 hours, until puffy and about 50% risen.
  4. Turn the dough out and shape into a tight round. Place seam-side up in a well-floured banneton, cover, and refrigerate overnight (12-15 hours).
  5. The next day, preheat the oven to 475°F (245°C) with the Dutch oven inside for at least 30 minutes.
  6. Turn the cold dough out onto parchment paper and dust the surface lightly with flour so the scoring lines will show up clearly.
  7. Using the lame, score a small hexagon, about 2 inches across, in the center of the loaf, cutting about ¼ inch deep.
  8. From the middle of each side of the hexagon, score a straight line radiating outward toward the edge of the loaf, each about ¼ inch deep.
  9. Partway along each radiating line, add several short diagonal branch cuts angling off to either side, like the arms of a snowflake, to build a lacy, frost-like pattern.
  10. From each of the 6 corners of the hexagon, extend radiating lines further toward the edge and score it about ½ inch deep - this deeper cut gives the loaf a reliable vent for the oven spring, hidden within the pattern.
  11. Carefully lower the dough (on its parchment) into the hot Dutch oven, cover, and bake for 20 minutes.
  12. Remove the lid and bake another 20-25 minutes, until deeply golden and the pattern has bloomed open.
  13. Cool on a wire rack at least 1 hour before slicing.

Notes

Scoring a design like this is really just scoring with intention instead of one confident slash — the dough doesn't care that the pattern is more complicated, it just needs somewhere reliable to expand.
That's why there's a deeper vent cut tucked into this design and not just decorative lines. A loaf scored only with shallow, pretty cuts and nothing deep enough to actually vent steam is how you end up with a blowout somewhere you didn't plan for.
Go slower than feels necessary on the branch cuts. A hesitant, shaky line reads as messy once it blooms in the oven; a confident, unhurried one reads as lace.