White Chocolate Sourdough Rainbow Bread Recipe

We love a sweet rainbow bread. The sugary flavor just seems to match the sweet whimsy of the colors. This white chocolate rainbow bread is full of vibrant layers of sourdough accented by sweet and creamy white chocolate. The bread requires a few steps to put together, but it's well worth the effort: Not only is this bread gorgeous, but it tastes just as stunning as it looks. Most of the steps are fairly simple, and the recipe would be a fun one to make with children, especially if you plan to serve it for a colorful birthday party.

The bread is fancy enough for special occasions, but tasty enough to eat every day. Serve it as a sweet start to your day alongside fruit. Or go crazy and make a sweet grilled sandwich. Slather the slices of rainbow bread with salted butter, fill them with Nutella and bananas, and then grill in a non-stick pan until golden brown. White chocolate rainbow sourdough is a gorgeous addition to any table spread during Pride month or any time of the year.

Since the bread is made with a sourdough starter, it has a deeply complex flavor and chewy, fluffy texture. However, active dry yeast can be substituted for the sourdough starter in a pinch. Simply add the yeast to the warm water, but skip the pulling and turning of the dough and instead knead it with the hook of the stand mixer for 5 minutes.

Begin the rainbow sourdough process with a quality, strong sourdough starter. Combine the starter with lukewarm water and then add in the bread flour. Some all-purpose flours can also be used, but look for ones with higher protein content, at least 12%. After the dough has been turned and pulled, melt the white chocolate. You can use white chocolate candy melts, or a bar of white chocolate that has been chopped into smaller pieces. Add the sugar and salt to the white chocolate before adding the food coloring. Then divide and combine the melted white chocolate with six different color oil-based food colorings. The contents of this bread are extremely simple (and there are only 5 in total), so use the highest quality ingredients you can find for the best results.

Add the sourdough starter to the warm water and whisk to combine.

Add the bread flour gradually to the water mixture and stir with a dough whisk until the flour is moistened and you have a shaggy dough. Cover the dough and set it aside for 20 minutes.

Pull the dough from one edge in an upward motion and then fold it over the rest of the dough. Turn the bowl and repeat again. Complete 4 turns.

Repeat the dough turns after another 20 minutes. Then repeat again after another 20 minutes. Then after a third 20 minutes. Add the salt.

Melt the white chocolate in 30-second increments in a microwave-safe bowl. Stir in the sugar.

Separate the melted chocolate into 6 bowls and mix in a few drops of food coloring to tint each one a different color from the rainbow.

Section the dough into 6 equal-sized pieces and combine each piece with a different colored chocolate.

Cover the bowls and let the dough rise on the counter for 4-6 hours.

Turn the red dough onto a clean lightly floured surface and stretch to form a 5 x 7-inch rectangle.

Repeat with each piece of colored dough, stacking each on top of the other in rainbow order.

Turn the dough over and fold the sides into itself like an envelope then form the dough into a ball.

Flip the dough and place it in a towel-lined basket. Place in the refrigerator overnight.

Preheat the oven to 450 F and place a large Dutch oven with a lid inside.

Flip the dough out of the basket onto a piece of parchment paper and score the top of the loaf.

Remove the Dutch oven from the oven, place the bread inside, and cover with the lid.

Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the lid and continue baking for another 20 minutes.

Allow the bread to cool and then slice and serve.

The white chocolate adds a subtle creamy sweetness to this bread. However, there are other flavors that complement the bread's color and sweetness, which you could use as well as or in place of the chocolate. Add citrus zest, vanilla extract, or almond extract to the dough before adding the food coloring for a mildly sweet aroma. Replace the white chocolate with a layer of sugar in between each layer of bread dough: Simply dust each layer with regular granulated sugar before adding the next color on top. You could even use cinnamon sugar, but bear in mind that it might change the color slightly.

If you decide not to use white chocolate, you won't need to use oil-based food colorings. You can use regular water-based or gel food colorings, which will bond with the water in the dough. You can also naturally color the bread dough. There are many different plant substitutes for food dye. Beets, saffron, butterfly pea flowers, and matcha, among others, all yield truly gorgeous results. 

If you're looking for a more savory dough for the rainbow bread, you can omit the sugar and have a more versatile bread that you can use for grilled cheese or other dishes. Other savory flavors can be explored, especially when using natural food dye. A fragrant saffron and curry-flavored dough would be a delicious and unusual offering. 

Sourdough can be a complicated process! The most important factor is a strong sourdough starter, and you can create your own starter or you can buy one. A starter that rises quickly and steadily with a mix of small and large bubbles is an active starter. If you're unsure if your starter is ready, try feeding it and seeing how much it rises within an hour, if it's close to doubling, it's good to go. You can also drop a spoonful in a glass of water. If it sinks to the bottom, it needs more time. If it rises to the surface it's ready to use. Make sure to add the salt after you've done most of the pulls and turns but before the 4-6 hour fermentation and rise on the counter, as the salt content can interfere with the rise of the dough.

Turning and folding the dough helps to develop the gluten, as does the time that the dough rests between turns. Gently pull the dough upwards, stretching it but not tearing it, and then fold it over the remainder of the dough. With each repetition, you should see the dough becoming firmer and less sticky. For this particular recipe, when you're mixing the white chocolate into the dough, it can be a little temperamental, so take time to fold the dough around the white chocolate. More turns and folds will strengthen the dough and help incorporate the chocolate.