This sourdough bread has chopped dill pickles, pickle brine, fresh dill, and chunks of creamy Havarti cheese mixed into the dough. Is that enough dill for you? Haha. It’s almost enough for me. Hence the incredible flavor, soft crumb, golden crust, and gooey melting cheese goodness. It makes the BEST ham and cheese sandwiches.

picture of a cut up round sourdough bread with havarti cheese and dill inclusions

I love dill pickles; I love eating dill pickles; I love making dill pickles (I’ll share that recipe this summer). I also love adding inclusions to my Easy Beginner Sourdough Bread recipe. So, today I’m sharing a new one I just tried and it has the most incredible flavor. You need to try this mouth-watering Sourdough Havarti Cheese and Dill Bread. With the addition of just a few simple ingredients, you can easily bake this beautiful loaf.

WHY will you LOVE this Havarti Dill Sourdough?

The aroma of this incredible bread while it’s baking is unbelievable. We never make it two hours before cutting into it.

The crumb is light and chewy with the savory deliciousness of the gooey cheese-dill combo.
It makes the most amazing grilled cheese sandwiches, avocado toast, or good just buttered. It’s also great dipped in olive oil. A loaf doesn’t last two days around here and there are only two of us, haha.
It uses up that salty briny juice from your dill pickles, which I really hate to throw out.

ingredients for the Mouth Watering Sourdough Havarti Cheese and Dill Bread

Ingredients for the Havarti-Dill Sourdough Loaf:

Active sourdough starter – to make the dough rise and give it the flavor
All-purpose or bread flour
Salt
Water
Dill pickle brine – homemade with lots of garlic and dill flavor
chopped dill pickles
fresh Dill – for the fresh scent and flavor
Havarti cheese – go overboard and grab the Dill Havarti Cheese (it’s amazing).

When to Add Inclusions to your Sourdough Bread:

There are a couple of ways you can add your inclusions to your bread dough:

During your third and fourth stretch and folds:

On your third stretch and fold, add the pickles, dill and cheese to the top of your dough. Do your stretch and folds, folding in the bits as you work your way around the bowl. Rest 30 minutes and repeat.

During your Shaping:

Stretch your dough out on a lightly floured surface and add the pickles, cheese and dill. Fold 1/3 over to the center, add more inclusions. Fold the remaining side over, add the final inclusions before rolling the dough up and shaping it.

I prefer the during shaping method as it’s much easier and I get less tearing in my dough.

sourdough havarti and dill bread cut in half with dill pickles and havarti cheese from the Sour Strawberry Blog

Sourdough Bread Inclusion Tips:

Dill Pickles – Pat the dill pickles dry with a paper towel before and after you chop them to eliminate extra moisture.

Dill: Use the freshest dill you can find or grow. Chop it and add it to your pickle bits.

Havarti Cheese: I find chopping it into small squares works best as there is less chance of it tearing the dough. I grate most cheese inclusions, but Havarti is a very soft cheese and hard to grate. Besides, I love the larger gooey cheese pockets you get when using the cubes.

Brine: mix the room temperature brine with your water at the dough mixing stage. Don’t miss this step, as it adds so much flavor.

Sourdough Havarti Cheese and Dill Bread – Baking Schedule

I’m a morning baker, so this schedule works for me.

8:00 a.m. – feed your sourdough starter
3:00 – 4:00 p.m. – mix dough
5:00 – 7:00 p.m. – 4 sets of stretch and folds
overnight – cover with plastic wrap and bulk ferment overnight on the counter.
Next Day:
8:00 a.m. – stretch the dough out on a lightly floured surface and add the inclusions before shaping it. Shape the dough and place it upside down into a well-floured banneton. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Next Day:
8:00 a.m. – score and bake your loaf.

Sandwich Ideas for your Sourdough Havarti Cheese and Dill Bread:

Ham and Cheese and/or Croque Monsieur

Dill Pickle Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Avocado and Everything Bagel Toast

Dill-Havarti Sourdough Open Melt

Mouth Watering Sourdough Havarti Cheese and Dill Bread

This sourdough bread has chopped dill pickles, pickle brine, fresh dill, and chunks of creamy Havarti cheese mixed into the dough.

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 1 1

Cook Time: 53

Fermentation Time: 1

Author: Sandi

Equipment

large glass mixing bowl
Spatula
wooden spoon
kitchen scale
bowl scraper
Dutch Oven
Banneton/proofing basket
razor blade for scoring

Ingredients

150 grams bubbly fed starter about 10 tbsp
285 grams warm water about 1.2 cups
40 grams pickle brine @ room temperature about 2-2/3 tbsp
10 grams salt about 1-1/4 tbsp
500 grams flour – all-purpose or bread about 4 cups
80 grams chopped dill pickles about 6-1/2 tbsp
15 grams chopped fresh dill about 1-1/2 tbsp

Instructions

Step #1 – Feed your Starter

Feed your sourdough starter
About an hour before you are ready to mix your dough:
– cube the Havarti cheese
– dice the dill pickles
– chop the dill

Step #2 – Mix the Dough

In a large glass mixing bowl, using a kitchen scale, add 150 g of active starter, 285 warm water and 40 grams of room temperature pickle brine.
Use the end of the wooden spoon to mix well.
Add 500 G flour and 10 g salt.
Mix using your wooden spoon handle and/or your hands to work this into a shaggy mass, ensuring there is no dry flour.
cover with a damp tea towel and let sit for 1 hour

Step #3 – Stretch and Folds

Stretch and fold every 30 minutes for the next 2 hours – 4 in total.
wet your hands with water, pull the dough straight up then towards you and down. Turn the bowl 1/4 turn, repeat, Repeat 2 more times for a total of 4 every 30 minutes

Step #4 – First Rise (bulk Fermentation period)

Cover the dough with the damp kitchen towel and let the dough ferment for 4 – 8 hours.
The dough is ready when it has risen 50 – 75%, the top is slightly domed and there are a few bubbles in the dough. The dough should not stick to your finger when you poke it.
The time this takes depends on the temperature in your kitchen. (cooler temps – longer fermentation)

Step #5 – Shape and Second Rise

Add the cloth insert to your Banneton (proofing basket) and generously dust the inside with rice flour so the dough will not stick to the cloth.
Using the bowl scraper, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter. Flour your fingers and gently spread the dough out into a large square.
Sprinkle the dough with about 2/3 of the cheese, diced pickles, and dill.
Fold one-third to the center, and add more cheese, pickles, and dill.
Fold the second third to the center, and add more cheese, pickles, and dill.
Gently roll the dough up into a ball. Gently turn the ball with both hands, tucking the bottom under, then gently pull it towards you. The counter will grab the dough and pull on it, causing surface tension in the dough.

Step #6 – Cold Proofing

Place the dough upside down into your proofing basket and cover it with plastic wrap and a plastic bag.
Place the covered dough into your fridge overnight. 12 – 48 hours.

Sept #7 – Scoring and Baking

Place your covered Dutch oven inside the oven and preheat to 450°. Once the oven is preheated, remove the dough from the fridge.
Remove the bag and plastic and flip the dough onto the counter using a large piece of parchment paper. (The dough will now be right side up.)
Use a razor blade to score your decorative scores on one side and then the release score (1/2" deep) down the other side of the bread, holding the razor blade at 45° from the bread.
Using thick oven mitts, remove your hot Dutch oven from the oven. Use the tips of the parchment paper to move your dough into the Dutch oven. Cover with the lid and bake for 34 minutes at 450°.
Remove the lid and bake for another 18 – 22 minutes at 450° until the dough reaches an international temperature of at least 205° and attains the designed brownness.
TIP – with 5 minutes remaining in the back, remove the bread from the oven and add the remaining cubed cheese to the top of the loaf. Return to the oven and finish baking.
Remove the bread from the Dutch oven and from the parchment paper. Place it on a cooling rack for at least 2 hours before cutting.

More Sourdough Recipes:
Easy Beginner Sourdough Bread:

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