Barley Walnut & Fig Bread
A funny thing happened in the pastry chapter of Tartine No.3…
Leafing through, like I sometimes do, admiring all of the wonderful looking treats, I settled on the Barley Walnut and Fig Cookies. Now, I should say that I don’t, as a general rule, bake cookies or pastries. If I bake them I eat them, and I try to avoid that as much as possible. Having them in the house makes avoiding them… less possible. So I get my occasional fix at one of the local bakeries and it all works out. But I couldn’t stop staring at these Barley Walnut and Fig Cookies. There isn’t even a photo of the finished cookie, I was fixated on the words alone. Barley Walnut and Fig Cookies… Mmmmmm… Barley Walnut and Fig Cookies… Mmmmmm… Barley Walnut and Fig Cookies… Mmmmmmm… The breaded part of my brain decided enough was enough. It did this: Barley Walnut and Fig Cookies Bread. Oh. Yes. Well, there it is then.
And here it is: Barley Walnut and Fig Sourdough.
The add-ins alone would make a fine breakfast. It took considerable restraint not to grab a spoon and have at it.
The dough is a sticky mess, no way around that. The refrigerated bulk ferment is key to developing structure without going insane – I would not volunteer to knead this one to full development. Even stretch and folds were rather undignified. I did one last fold after it had been refrigerated for an hour and then it finally felt like I was working with bread dough and not so much like cookie dough. The intensity of this version was worth the trouble, but for something more “bready” the add-ins could be cut in half and still contribute.
The oven light has such a nice, warm glow I can't resist snapping photos.
The crust turned dramatically dark from all of the fig sugars and the crumb has a nice purplish tint.
It wasn’t quite cool when I cut the first slice, but it didn’t matter. This one is really, really yummy - perfect for breakfast. You can keep the cookies. I am home :)
Marcus