Butterfly Pea Flower Sourdough Bread – Soft, Fluffy & Naturally Colored
Butterfly Pea Flower Soft Sourdough Bread
Why Use Butterfly Pea Flower?
What Makes This Recipe Special
- Natural Color: No artificial food coloring—just butterfly pea flowers infused into the dough.
- Soft Texture: Thanks to the sweet stiff starter and enriched dough (using milk, butter, and egg), this sourdough bread is extremely soft and moist, more like a milk bread than a rustic loaf.
- Mild Flavor: This loaf is very low in sourness due to the stiff starter and shorter fermentation time, making it suitable even for those who don’t typically enjoy the tang of sourdough.
- Shelf Life: It stays soft for several days at room temperature, especially when stored properly.
Step-by-Step Instructions How To Make Butterfly Pea Flower Soft Sourdough Bread
8g dried butterfly pea flowers tops (removed stem and discarded)
1 egg + 1 tbsp water, whisked
- Butterfly Pea Flower Water (prepare one night before):
- In a sauce pan, boil flower and water. Off the fire once boiled.
- Steeping for 30 - 60 minutes, strain to get the blue water. Chill in the fridge.
- Yudane (prepare one night before):
- Add bread flour in a bowl, pour the boiling flower water and mix well with spatula or spoon until no dry flour.
- Cling film and place in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Use directly from the fridge.
- Sweet Stiff Starter (prepare one night before)
- In a bowl of stand mixer, dilute starter with flower water, stir in sugar and add in bread flour. Mix with paddle attachment until well mixed and all come together. It can be done by hand mixing too.
- Cover and let it ferment until tripled. I prepared a night before and leave it in aircond room (approximately 24 - 25C room temperature) overnight until tripled. It took about 8 - 9 hours depending on your starter. It should take around 4 - 6 hours to get triple at room temperature at 28C - 30C.
- Main Dough:
- Put all ingredients (except butter) into a bowl of stand mixer. I usually torn the stiff starter and yudane dough into pieces first.
- Slightly combine the mixture by hand with the paddle attachment before turning on the machine so that the flour will not splash out. Using the paddle attachment, mix for 2 minutes or until all incorporated. This step is critical to prevent an uneven mixed dough as the stiff starter is rather hard and a dough hook may not be able to mix it well enough.
- Change to hook attachment and knead for another 3 minutes or until the dough comes together. Add in butter and continue knead for 10 - 12 minutes or until reach window pane stage. The whole kneading process, I stopped few times to scrape down the dough from the hook to be sure it is evenly kneaded and also to prevent the motor from overheating.
- 1st Proofing/Resting:
- In the same bowl, let the dough rest for 45 - 60 minutes. Keep it covered with clingfilm or use a lid. This dough I rested for 45 minutes at 29C room temperature and the dough rose slightly in 45 minutes.
- Shaping:
- Transfer the dough to a clean floured surface then divide into 2 equal portions. Please use a kitchen scale if you want to be exact.
- Form each portion to a ball. Flatten with rolling pin.
- Fold right to centre and fold left overlap it. Roll out with rolling pin into long rectangle shape. Roll up the dough like Swiss Roll until a small log is formed.
- Place all dough in the prepared loaf pan.
- Final Proofing :
- Let it proof at warm place until the dough reaches the height of the pan. This one took approximately 2 1/2 hours at room temperature of 29C - 30C. The duration of proofing depends on your ambient temperature and starter.
- Baking:
- Preheat oven at 190C (top & bottom heat) for 10 - 15 minutes.
- Brush with egg wash (optional) and bake in a preheated oven for 25 - 30 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Remove bread from oven and let them cool on rack completely before slicing.
Tips for Perfect Results
- Sourdough Starter:
- A healthy starter is essential for successful bread baking. To ensure your bread rises well, it's important to feed your starter regularly and use it (the levain) at its peak. A consistently fed starter will be more active and reliable. If the mother starter isn’t strong, the dough may still struggle to rise properly, even if the levain is used at its peak. For more information, click the links: "How To Make Sourdough Starter" and "Sourdough Maintenance".
- Gluten Development:
- Essential for soft, airy bread, gluten is created when flour hydrates. To develop it, use techniques like autolyse or kneading. The windowpane test checks readiness—dough should stretch thin without tearing. From my experience, high hydration dough with high percentage of fat will be easy to stretch and achieve a paper thin windowpane stage.
- Kneading:
- Please regard the timing provided as an indication only. It is only meant as a guide. Times vary by flour and mixer type. For higher fat dough, knead longer (18–20 minutes).
- Flour & Hydration:
- Use high-gluten flour for optimal texture. Always reserve some liquid to adjust dough consistency for best results. If dough is too dry, add the reserve liquid one tablespoon at a time until the right consistency.
- Dough Temperature:
- Maintaining the right dough temperature during kneading is crucial for a fine crumb. If the dough becomes too warm, the crumb will become too big and uneven. To prevent this, use cold water, milk, or eggs, and chill your mixing bowl or hook attachment in the freezer. Knead at low speeds, and if your kitchen is warm, rest the dough in a cooler spot. Proper dough temperature ensures a soft, fluffy bread with a fine, even crumb.
- Proofing:
- Proofing time depends on your environment. Use the finger poke test to gauge readiness. To check dough readiness, lightly press the side with your finger:
- If it bounces back instantly, it’s under-proofed and needs more time.
- If the indentation stays, it’s over-proofed.
- If the indentation slowly bounces back, it’s ready to bake.
- There’s also a final rise called oven spring when the dough bakes, which adds to the bread’s height.
- Wrinkle Top or Shrinking:
- If your bread collapses or develops wrinkles on top after baking, it might be over-proofed during the second rise. Aim for the dough to rise to 80-90% of its final size or just below the rim of the pan to prevent this. Over-proofing leads to weaker structure, causing the bread to lose shape.
- Baking & Oven Temperarate:
- Do also note that the baking temperature and timing provided are what works for my oven and should also be regarded as a guide only. Every oven behaves a little differently, so please adjust accordingly for your oven.
Storage and Serving Suggestions
Storage:
Serving:
FAQs
Tried This Recipe?
Butterfly Pea Flower Soft Sourdough Bread

I was so happy with how my Sourdough Shokupan using the sweet stiff starter turned out that I am rebaking my old recipes using a sweet stiff starter method to satisfy my curiosity. I added more butterfly pea flowers this time to achieve this vivid colour. However, I'm guessing that the additional butterfly pea flower causes a diminished oven spring and the result is a shorter bread if compared to white bread using stiff starter. I tried it twice and got the same result. This is my Sourdough Butterfly Pea Flower Soft Bread using a Sweet Stiff Starter. With a stiff starter, I found that the bread proofs noticeably faster. This Butterfly Pea Flower Soft Sourdough Bread is especially soft, fluffy and moist on the first day and it lasts very well for 2 - 3 days. It is not sour at all.
Ingredients
Instructions
- I prepared one night before.
- In a sauce pan, boil flower and water. Off the fire once boiled.
- Steeping for 30 - 60 minutes, strain to get the blue water. Chill in the fridge.
- I prepared one night before.
- Add bread flour in a bowl, pour the boiling flower water and mix well with spatula or spoon until no dry flour.
- Cling film and place in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Use directly from the fridge.
- I prepared one night before.
- In a bowl of stand mixer, dilute starter with flower water, stir in sugar and add in bread flour. Mix with paddle attachment until well mixed and all come together. It can be done by hand mixing too.
- Cover and let it ferment until tripled. I prepared a night before and leave it in aircond room (approximately 24 - 25C room temperature) overnight until tripled. It took about 8 - 9 hours depending on your starter. It should take around 4 - 6 hours to get triple at room temperature at 28C - 30C.
- Put all ingredients (except butter) into a bowl of stand mixer. I usually torn the stiff starter and yudane dough into pieces first.
- Slightly combine the mixture by hand with the paddle attachment before turning on the machine so that the flour will not splash out. Using the paddle attachment, mix for 2 minutes or until all incorporated. This step is critical to prevent an uneven mixed dough as the stiff starter is rather hard and a dough hook may not be able to mix it well enough.
- Change to hook attachment and knead for another 3 minutes or until the dough comes together. Add in butter and continue knead for 10 - 12 minutes or until reach window pane stage. The whole kneading process, I stopped few times to scrape down the dough from the hook to be sure it is evenly kneaded and also to prevent the motor from overheating.
- In the same bowl, let the dough rest for 45 - 60 minutes. Keep it covered with clingfilm or use a lid. This dough I rested for 45 minutes at 29C room temperature and the dough rose slightly in 45 minutes.
- Transfer the dough to a clean floured surface then divide into 2 equal portions. Please use a kitchen scale if you want to be exact.
- Form each portion to a ball. Flatten with rolling pin.
- Fold right to centre and fold left overlap it. Roll out with rolling pin into long rectangle shape. Roll up the dough like Swiss Roll until a small log is formed.
- Place all dough in the prepared loaf pan.
- Let it proof at warm place until the dough reaches the height of the pan. This one took approximately 2 1/2 hours at room temperature of 29C - 30C. The duration of proofing depends on your ambient temperature and starter.
- Preheat oven at 190C (top & bottom heat) for 10 - 15 minutes.
- Brush with egg wash (optional) and bake in a preheated oven for 25 - 30 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Remove bread from oven and let them cool on rack completely before slicing.
Do you separate the flowers from the green base?
ReplyDeleteHi, thank you for your question. Sometimes I do. But, sometimes I don't when I busy. I have seen some articles claimed that taking too much of the green base is toxic. However, there is no scientific proof yet.
DeleteCheers :)
Hi
ReplyDeleteHow to get this beautiful purple color! It always came blue!
Hi there, Thank you for asking. I used a lot of butterfly pea flowers to get this colour. Please add more flowers.
DeleteCheers :)
This so beautiful! What are the dimensions of your bread pan?
ReplyDeleteHi, thank you for your comment. Please refer to the utensil on the above post.
DeleteUtensil:
20 cm X 10 cm x 10 cm Pullman Loaf Pan
Cheers:)
Hi, I would like to bake a pandan soft sourdough loaf, do you think it is possible to replace the blue pea flower water in this recipe with pandan juice/paste?
ReplyDeleteBtw, I did try the orange cranberry soft sourdough loaf the other day, other that underbaking it, we love the taste. Thanks for all the soft bread recipes using sourdough. I hope you will share more recipes in the future. :)
Thanks!
Hi, thank you for your question. Yes, it is good idea to make pandan bread. But, bear in mind sometimes Pandan may not work well with long fermentation. The smell will change to become like cheese.
DeleteIf you want to try, you can replace blue pea flower water with pandan juice except for the Yudane. Please use boiling water instead as Pandan juice will turn to brown colour when you boil it.
Cheers :)
Hello! Right now, I don't live in an environment where I can start a sourdough starter (my house is too cold!!) and I was wondering if this can be adapted with yeast. If so, what would you recommend the measurements be? If it can't, no problem! Would love to make some of your sourdough soft bread recipes with yeast.
ReplyDeleteHi, thanks for visiting Bake with Paws. I have plenty of yeast bread recipes in my blog too. Just search under categories.
DeleteFor this bread, please use this recipe and just replace milk or water with Butterfly Pea Flower Tea.
https://www.bakewithpaws.com/2020/07/japanese-soft-white-bread-shokupan.html
Cheers :)
Thank you so much!!! Very excited to try it.
DeleteHappy baking and stay safe :)
Delete