This sourdough pistachio sourdough bread is such a dream to make! The greens and purples of the pistachio nuts, the sweet, drizzly honey, the way it all comes together in a crusty loaf of sourdough. Honestly, this one should go on your must bake list right now!

This loaf ferments so beautifully with the added honey. It was so smooth and bouncy and bulk fermentation was an absolute dream! I also found this to be so easy to shape as well as the dough was bouncy, like a big marshmallow!

A loaf of pistachio sourdough bread that has been sliced. The photo is taken front on to show the open crumb and pistachio nuts laced through the sliced sourdough bread.

Why You'll Love This Recipe!

The Flavors - there's just something about pistachios and honey. The flavors and textures work so well together and then throw in some sourdough and you have a match made in heaven!

Sweet or Savory - this is one of those sourdough loaves that can be eaten as either a sweet or savory loaf. It's not so sweet that it's like candy, but not so savory that I'd put eggs on it, it lays someone in between! Check out some of my serving suggestions further down.

A photo of 2 slices of sourdough pistachio bread that has been displayed on a wooden board with a dish of cream cheese and a dish of honey. There is a knife with cream cheese laid on the slices of bread. You can see the rest of the loaf in the background of the photo.

Ingredients

Sourdough Starter - you'll need an active sourdough starter to create this recipe. I recommend feeding your sourdough starter several hours before you want to mix the dough to ensure it's at its peak and ready to raise your dough!
Water
Honey - honey brings sweetness and flavor to this loaf of sourdough pistachio bread. It also makes bulk fermentation much faster! I've used organic, raw honey straight from our beehives, but use whatever honey you like to eat.
Bread Flour - as always, high quality bread flour will give you the best results.
Salt - like most other loaves of sourdough bread, you'll need around 2% salt to balance out the flavors and strengthen the gluten in your dough.
Pistachios - I've used raw, unsalted pistachio nuts. I've added some of the pistachios during the stretch and folds and some during shaping to create both color and texture in this loaf.
Brown Sugar - while this loaf is sweetened with honey, I've used the brown sugar to create gorgeous swirls of color and sweetness through the loaf that complement the crunchy pistachios perfectly!
All Purpose Flour - just a tiny bit of all purpose flour is mixed with the brown sugar to ensure the filling doesn't leak out during cold fermentation.
Cinnamon - this is optional, but I love the flavor it creates along with the honey and the pistachios. As cinnamon can hamper fermentation, I recommend adding this during shaping to give your dough the best chance at rising.

How To Make Sourdough Pistachio Bread

This loaf follows the same basic process as making my simple sourdough bread recipe. The flavors of honey, pistachio and cinnamon are layered throughout the sourdough making process and are added during the pre mix, stretch and fold and shaping stages to create a delicious depth of flavor and texture you're sure to love!

Pre Mix & Autolyse

Weigh out your sourdough starter, water and honey in a glass or ceramic bowl. Mix them together so that the honey and sourdough starter is dissolved in the water (or at least really well distributed). Then add your flour and salt and mix altogether with a spatula. The dough will be fairly dry and only just brought together.

Cover your bowl with cling film or a damp tea towel and let it sit for around 1 hour.

2 glass bowls containing a dry sourdough dough mixture.

Forming Up Your Dough

Work your way around the bowl, grabbing the dough from the outside, stretching it up and over itself until a smooth ball is formed. You shouldn't need more than about 20-25 folds to form the ball. Once the dough has formed into a smooth ball, pop the cling film back on and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Stretch & Fold - Creating Structure

You need to add 50g of chopped pistachios to your dough during the stretch and fold phase. It's very easy to do! Try to add them around the second or third set of stretch and folds. So do your first set of stretch and folds with the dough as is and then add the inclusions on the second (or third) set depending on how your dough is behaving.

A photo of adding the chopped pistachios through the sourdough during stretch and folds.

Try to do around 4 sets of stretch and folds with around 15 to 30 minutes between each set.

Bulk Ferment

Once you've finished your stretch and folds, place the cling film or damp tea towel back over your dough and let it rest and bulk ferment at room temperature. This can happen quite quickly with the honey in the dough and all the inclusions, so keep an eye on that dough.

While your dough is fermenting, take a small bowl and mix the chopped pistachios, cinnamon, brown sugar and all purpose flour together. Set this aside until you're ready to shape your dough.

A black granite dish containing the pistachio and spice mixture to add to the middle of the sourdough during the shaping process. You can see the dough bulk fermenting in the background of the bowl.

Shaping Your Dough

Once your dough has finished its first ferment, it's time to give it some shape and surface tension and add the spices that you've kept aside.I think this recipe lends itself to a batard however it's completely up to you what shape you would like.

Stretch your dough out into a rough rectangle and sprinkle over a generous amount of the brown sugar pistachio mixture. Fold the top down and sprinkle on some more. Fold the sides in, sprinkle some more. It's really up to you as to how much of the mixture you want to use. Roll up the dough like a burrito and pull it towards you to create some surface tension and ensure all of those beautiful pistachios and brown sugar are tucked up inside.

Place the shaped dough into your banneton with the seam side up. Stitch the base together if you need to.

4 photos showing the process of shaping the sourdough pistachio bread. The final photo shows the dough shaped and sitting inside the banneton.

Cold Ferment

Now your dough is in it's "shaping container" cover it loosely with a plastic bag or damp tea towel and place into the fridge to cold ferment. Try to leave it in the fridge for a minimum of 5 hours. I have left this one in the fridge for up to 24 hours with no issues. The all purpose flour in the brown sugar cinnamon mixture will stop it leaking out.

Preparing to Bake Your Sourdough

Once you're ready to bake your sourdough, you'll need to preheat your oven to 230C/450F.Place your Dutch Oven into the oven when you turn it on so it gets hot. Try to preheat for around 1 hour to ensure your oven is super hot - but you know your oven so just adjust this time if you need to.

Baking Your Sourdough

Now it's time to bake! When your oven is at temperature. Take your sourdough out of the fridge. Gently place it onto a piece of baking paper.

Gently score your bread with a lame, clean razor blade or knife.Carefully take your dutch oven out of the oven. Place the sourdough into the pot using the baking paper as a handle. Put the lid on and place into the hot oven.

A loaf of sourdough pistachio bread that has been scored and is ready to bake. There is a small red handled bread lame in the photo too.

BAKE TIME:

30 Minutes with the lid on at 230C/450F
plus 10-15 Minutes with the lid off at 210C/410F

If you're worried about the base of your bread burning, place a baking sheet on shelf underneath your Dutch Oven - it works! When you remove your dough from the oven, carefully remove it from the dutch oven as soon as possible and place on a wire rack to cool.

A whole loaf of sourdough pistachio bread that is sitting in a cast iron bread pan. The bread has been baked and is photographed from above to show the whole loaf.

Kate's Recipe Tips

If you have some of the filling leftover at shaping, sprinkle some of it into the banneton before placing the shaped sourdough pistachio loaf on top! You can see that I've done that in the photo of the scored loaf above.

Sourdough Pistachio Croissant Loaf Variation

During recipe testing for this loaf, I tested a whole lot of ways to add the honey pistachio flavor to the dough. One of the ways I tested the loaf was to add 50g of grated butter to the dough during shaping, along with 50g of roughly chopped pistachios.

4 process photos showing how to make a sourdough croissant loaf combined with a sourdough pistachio loaf.

This loaf didn't have the filling added during shaping like my final recipe written below, however, I thought I would include this variation in case you wanted to try it. It's kind of like a marriage between the sourdough croissant loaf and sourdough pistachio loaf. Whatever you call it, it tastes amazing!

A sourdough croissant loaf crossed with a sourdough pistachio loaf. Half of the loaf is sliced so you can see the crumb. The whole loaf is displayed in a black cast iron bread pan.

Baking Timeline

This is a sample baking timeline you could follow to make this sourdough pistachio loaf. You can change it to suit your own needs. You might also find this post on creating sourdough baking timelines useful.

TIME	PROCESS
9 am	Premix and autolyse for around an hour, forming up the dough and leaving to rest for another 30 minutes before stretch and folds.
11 am	1st stretch and fold
11.30 am	2nd stretch and fold - add half the pistachios.
12 pm	3rd stretch and fold - add other half of the pistachios.
12.30 pm	4th stretch and fold
1 pm	Bulk fermentation at room temperature remembering that the honey will speed up fermentation.
6 pm	Shape dough into a batard, place into banneton and then into fridge for cold fermentation.
9 am	Wake and bake! The next morning, you can get up, make a coffee and bake your sourdough pistachio loaf.

Serving Suggestions

I mentioned earlier that this loaf is one of those sourdough loaves that can be served as a sweet or savory loaf. It's a little bit magical like that! Here are some of the ways we enjoy this loaf:

Served freshly sliced alongside a dish of whipped honey cinnamon butter.
Lightly toasted served with a dish of marscapone or cream cheese and a dish of drizzly honey and flakey sea salt. So good!
Served freshly sliced alongside a dish of cultured butter.
Lightly toasted or grilled and served on a charcuterie board or cheese platter along with some hard and soft cheese and some of this whipped Brie butter.
And if you ask my kids, they love it spread with this whipped chocolate butter.