This comes up all the time, so let’s settle it once and for all 👇 🥖 What Actually Creates an Ear An ear forms when three things happen together: ✔️ Lean dough (no oil, no honey, minimal enrichment) ✔️ Strong surface tension from shaping ✔️ A low scoring angle, about 30–35°, creating a flap instead of a straight cut Take any one of those away and the ear disappears. Not because your scoring is bad. Not because your oven failed. Because the dough wasn’t built for it. 🍞 Here’s Where Most People Miss It If you’re adding oil, honey, butter, or eggs…you’re making an enriched dough. And that dough is designed to stretch in every direction during the bake. That’s not a mistake. That’s exactly what it should do. Expecting an ear on enriched dough is like expecting focaccia to spring like a baguette. It’s just not how it works. 🔥 The Bottom Line The ear is a lean-dough result. If you want it: ✔️ Lean formula ✔️ ~75% hydration or lower ✔️ Strong shaping tension ✔️ 30° scoring angle That’s the whole recipe. 👀 What are you baking right now, lean or enriched? Drop it below and I’ll tell you what result to expect. ~Henry ⭐🔥

🌅 Good Morning Bakers 🍞 It’s Marbled Loaf Saturday 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆. 📸 Prep shots🌀 Lamination photos🔥 Dough going into the oven🍞 Crumb shots❓ “Is this right?” questions One thread. All day. We bake together. 📍 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗕𝗲 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗡𝗼𝘄 🥖 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗕𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 Your dough came out of the fridge cold this morning.Don’t rush it. Let it sit while the oven preheats. When it crowns about 1 inch above the pan, it’s ready. 👉 Watch the dough, not the clock. 🍞 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗕𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 You’re either:• Pulling from an overnight cold proof• Or mixing fresh this morning Both work. Look for:✔️ 50–75% rise✔️ Domed surface✔️ A light jiggle when shaken 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹. ⚠️ Before You Start 🌀 Cold dough = clean swirl Warm dough = blur. Work fast. 👐 Adding color will knock out some gas.That’s normal. → Knead 2–3 minutes per portion → Pre-shape into balls → Rest 15 minutes → Roll and laminate Don’t overthink it. 🎨 𝗚𝗲𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝘃𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝘁. 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝗹 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀. 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗱. 👀 What I Want to See Today 📸 Your dough before lamination 🔥 Your loaf going into the oven 🍞 Your crumb shot after slicing Tag me when you post. I’m in here all day. 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗲𝘀: https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/?search=Marbled?𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵=𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗹𝗲 🔥 Let’s go. Perfection is not required. Progress is. Come bake with us. Henry ⭐🔥

If you're baking sourdough tomorrow, your dough should be mixed, your color should be kneaded in, and your loaf should already be in the fridge doing its overnight cold proof. If that's not done yet, do it tonight. You need 8-12 hours in the fridge before Saturday morning. If you're baking the yeasted version, you've got two options. Start your dough tonight for a cold overnight proof, or mix fresh tomorrow morning. Either works. The yeasted version is same-day friendly. 𝗔 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗦𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆: Your colorants measured out and your loaf pan greased. A rolling pin and bench scraper within reach. Your scale. That's it. We covered colorant substitutions earlier this week, the loaf pan question, the sourdough timeline, and why the dough degasses during the color step and why that's fine. If you missed any of that, scroll back through the feed. It's all there. Drop a comment below and tell me where you're at. Dough in the fridge? Still deciding on colors? Just found this post and starting from scratch? Whatever it is, let's figure it out together before tomorrow morning. All the marbled recipes are here: https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/?search=Marble See you tomorrow. 🔥 Perfection is not required. Progress is. Come bake with us. Henry ⭐🔥

I got my dough in the bowl ready for its first proofing when I was reminded that I had forgotten to add color to 1/2. Don’t panic take a deep breath. You can save this.

A few of you have reached out this week about the marbled loaf colorants, and I want to address it now so nobody's scrambling Friday night. Here's the situation: butterfly pea flower powder, activated charcoal, and red sweet potato powder are specialty ingredients. They're gorgeous in the loaf. But if you can't find them locally, you still have options. 𝗕𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗲𝗮 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 (𝗯𝗹𝘂𝗲/𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗹𝗲): This one's the trickiest to substitute because nothing else naturally gives you that color without affecting flavor. If you can't find it, blueberry powder is a solid backup. It'll give you a softer, more muted blue-purple. Fresh or frozen blueberries reduced to a paste also work. The color won't be as vivid, but the swirl will still be beautiful. 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗼𝗮𝗹 (𝗯𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸/𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘆): This is actually the easiest swap. Cocoa powder, especially Dutch-process, will give you a deep, rich dark swirl. It adds a subtle chocolate flavor, which most people consider a bonus. If you want purely black without chocolate flavor, squid ink works if you have access to it, but cocoa is the move for most home bakers. 𝗥𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗱𝗲𝗿 (𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗸/𝗿𝗲𝗱): Beet powder is your best friend here. You'll find it at Whole Foods, health food stores, or online. Same deep, earthy pigment. Ann, this one's for you specifically. Beet powder will work beautifully for what you're after. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄: These colorants go into your dough layers, not the enriched base. Mix each colorant with a tablespoon or two of warm water to make a paste before incorporating. That keeps distribution even and prevents dry pockets. One more thing: the color will shift in the oven. Butterfly pea turns more grey-lavender. Beet can fade. That's normal. The marbling pattern is what makes this loaf stunning, and that comes from how you layer and roll, not just the color intensity. Drop your questions below. If you're still hunting for any of these ingredients, tell me where you're located and I'll help you find the fastest path to a solution before Saturday morning.