Chocolate Sourdough

Steps

1. In a large bowl mix together the hot liquid and the Dutch cocoa powder.  Let sit and "bloom" for 5-10 minutes
2. Add 325 grams of water (reserve 25 grams for the next step), sourdough starter, sugar and flour and mix until it is shaggy.  Let the dough sit for 10-15 minutes for the yeast to start its process with the flour
3. Add the salt to the remaining 25 grams of water and disolve the salt
4. Add the salt water and vanilla to your shaggy dough and mix it in
5. Cover the dough and let rest for 1 hour
6. Perform 3-4 sets of stretch and folds in the bowl approximately 30 minutes apart.  The dough will be very sticky for the first few, but should be less tacky by the last set of folds.  I recommend getting your hands wet prior to doing this as it will help keep the dough from sticking to you.  Here is a blogpost on stretch and folds if you don't know how to do them or why they are needed: https://www.theperfectloaf.com/how-to-stretch-and-fold-sourdough-bread-dough/
7. Optional:  At the 3rd set of stretch and folds add in 150 g of chocolate chips at the beginning so they get mixed in (you will want to perform at least one more set of folds after this so they are mixed in thoroughly
8. Cover the dough and allow to bulk rise (doubled in size)  the time this takes will depend on the ambient temperature in your kitchen, but will probably be a couple of hours (you can also cover and put in the fridge overnight for a slow rise and bake the next morning)
9. Once it is done rising, tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape your dough.  For the standard "round" boule shape I flatten the dough into a big rectangle, tri-fold it like a letter, and then roll the letter up like a snail shell.  Then I push and pull the dough with the seam on the bottom towards myself to make the top of the dough tight.   I like to then pop the dough on top of some parchment paper to make it easier to move later.
10. Let dough rest for 30 minutes after shaping -good time to preheat the oven to 450F with your dutch oven inside
11. Score the top of your bread to let steam escape.  A sharp knife will work or you can use a bread lame or razor blade
12. Transfer the dough to the hot Dutch oven (this is why I like to already have it on the parchment paper so it is easy to get into the very hot dutch oven)
13. Bake bread in the Dutch oven for 20 minutes with the lid on, then remove the lid and bake for another 20-30 minutes.  (If you divided the dough in half to make smaller loaves then you will probably reduce the baking time by about 10 minutes overall per loaf)
14. You can open bake this (without the dutch oven just on a parchment covered cookie sheet) but you will want to check the dough's internal temperature with a probe thermometer at about 30 minutes.  It should be about 200F before you pull it out of the oven