Pain Au Levain Avec Banane

Relax, the fancy-schmancy French name I gave this hearty, crusty boule means Banana Sourdough. There's only six ingredients - five if you don't count water - and there's no added sugar at all. All the sweetness comes from the namesake fruit! In lieu of added butter or oil, a scoop of all natural cashew butter adds the "peanut butter and banana sandwich" nuance along with everlasting moisture. In brackets, I have included the baker's percentages so you can easily scale up or down as you need.

• Ready In: 36 hrs 45 mins
• Serves: 18
• Yields: 1 loaf

Ingredients

• 350  g  recently fed  sourdough starter (100%)
• 350  g whole wheat bread flour (100%)
• 246  g  mashed bananas (70.18%)
• 55  g smooth cashew butter (15.79%)
• 49  g water (14.04%)
• 11  g salt, use less if your cashew butter is heavily salted (3.16%)

Directions

1. Combine all the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook.
2. Mix ingredients on low speed for 2 minutes, just to combine, then cover and let rest 20 minutes.
3. Knead for 12 minutes on medium-low speed.
4. Cover and let rise 2 ½ hours, stretching and folding (30-40 times) every 50 minutes.
5. Cover and let rise, undisturbed, for 2 hours.
6. Place in the fridge overnight.
7. Bring to room temperature, shape into a round loaf and let rise 4 hours on a sheet of parchment.
8. Meanwhile, place a baking stone in the oven and heat to 410°F.
9. Transfer dough (on the parchment) to the stone and bake for 20 minutes.
10. Reduce temperature to 375F, tent with foil and bake another 25 minutes.
11. When fully baked, the loaf will be 190F internally.