24 Sep 2025
From Instagram to the oven: Sourdough innovations making waves in 2025
70% of global consumers believe sourdough adds tastiness to baked goods, according to our Taste Tomorrow worldwide consumer research. No wonder sourdough is stretching beyond loaves and baguettes, inspiring innovation across multiple bakery and snack categories. In fact, Innova reports a 31% growth in sweet baked goods products with a sourdough claim over 2023 and 2024. One thing is clear: while sourdough has been the driving force in bakery since the COVID-19 pandemic, the craze shows no signs of slowing down.
In this article, you will discover the latest artisanal sourdough trends and innovations that are creating online buzz and learn how they can inspire your next product launch.
Stuffed donuts & bomboloni
In the second quarter of 2025, online conversations and searches on sour-doughnuts went up 172% according to our Taste Tomorrow trend tracking data. The biggest trend? Stuffed donuts. Kansas City-based Slow Rise has built its entire concept around filled sourdough donuts, offering inventive flavors like pandan coconut, strawberry rhubarb, peaches & cream, caramel corn, and blueberry lavender coconut. These creative twists showcase how sourdough is pushing beyond traditional loaves and baguettes into indulgent, Instagram-worthy formats that capture consumer attention.
Other bakeries are putting their own spin on the trend by launching sourdough bomboloni, which is the Italian version of a stuffed donut. In Singapore, the Fat Kid Bakery playfully brands their creations ‘bombos’ (short for bomboloni). Almost half of their sourdough based creations are savory, think of roasted garlic mascarpone, spicy egg mayo and sour cream and onion. We expect the savory sourdough donut trend to keep growing, as more bakeries experiment with hearty, meal-inspired fillings. This approach enables even artisanal businesses to tap into the fast-growing worlds of snacking and foodservice, opening doors to new customer segments. Beyond delighting existing fans, it helps bakeries attract fresh foot traffic and diversify their income streams with innovative, on-the-go offerings.
Colorful sourdough creations
Pink focaccia made with beetroot powder, purple blueberry croissants, green matcha loaves and even some blue-hued creations. Sourdough is getting more colorful than ever! These cheerful bakes not only brighten bakery shelves but also perform great on social media. And since today’s consumers are turning away from synthetic food dyes, bakers are using natural colorings such as fruits, vegetables, spirulina, and pandan to achieve these vibrant shades.
One standout in this trend is sourdough baker Jesha Ann Stevens, who has become wildly popular with her vibrant creations. Her colorful croissants and bright pink, yellow, and green dough balls have become her signature style, regularly reaching 10 to 50 million TikTok users per post. Her success shows how visual innovation can transform sourdough into a true social media sensation.
Loaves with interesting flavors
Superstar Taylor Swift confessed her sourdough hobby has “taken over my life” and that she talks about baking “60% of the time” in the podcast New Heights. Taylor Swift’s favorite sourdough creations are blueberry lemon, cinnamon swirl, and funfetti sourdough.
Swift is incredibly on-trend with her sourdough bakes. Flavored sourdough loaves are dominating online, with blueberry lemon emerging as the clear favorite. Google Trends data reveals that this sourdough flavor exploded early in 2025, but there’s a clear spike in the week of 10 to 16 August, right when Swift’s podcast episode aired. This crossover between pop culture and food trends shows how powerful celebrity influence can be in accelerating sourdough’s popularity.
For professional bakers, experimenting with new sourdough flavors can be a smart way to stand out. Our global Taste Tomorrow consumer survey pointed out that 20% of consumers are willing to pay more for bakery creations with innovative flavors. One strategy is to tap into big online hypes with crowd-pleasing ideas like cinnamon sugar chocolate chip sourdough loaf or jalapeno cheddar sourdough loaf. Another is to develop your own signature flavors, such as matcha, cranberry & walnut or pistachio, chocolate & strawberry. These unique twists not only capture consumer attention but also position bakeries as trendsetters in an increasingly competitive market.
Artistically shaped, dazzling loaves
From flowers and butterflies to bows, shells and even mermaid tails, bakers are turning sourdough into edible art. The Sourdough Mama is one of the creators that are making waves with her eye-catching sourdough loaf designs. Using a mix of colors, scoring, stencils, and even string, she transforms dough into imaginative creations that captivate online audiences.
Of course, her intricate methods are far too time-consuming for bakeries producing hundreds or thousands of loaves a day. But adding a touch of artistry doesn’t have to be complex. Basic scoring patterns or simple stencil designs with flour or poppy seeds can elevate a loaf’s appearance with minimal effort. The result? Maximum visual impact that delights customers and makes products more shareable on social media.
Layers, layers and more layers
Texture and sensory experience are powerful factors in consumers' food preferences and sourdough is riding that wave in exciting new ways. One rising trend is the popularity of bakes with endless layers, offering not just flavor but also a multi-sensory eating experience. It’s not limited to croissants and other laminated pastries. There’s the sourdough croissant loaf that has gone viral: bread with an amazing layered texture. Texture is also the major appeal of this sourdough cinnamon sugar pull-apart bread. People are going crazy over the alluring mouthfeel of this treat made up out of lots of gooey and fluffy ‘sheets’ that can be peeled off one by one.
Sourdough creations with savory fillings
When it comes to stuffed loaves of sourdough bread, chef Khanh Nguyen takes the cake. He captivates his 110K Instagram followers by preparing crab, chicken biryani, beef wellington or a full English breakfast inside a loaf of sourdough bread. Right now, stuffed sourdough loaves are stealing the spotlight — a trend that fuses timeless breadmaking with modern creativity. Nguyen experiments with sourdough bread in lieu of a traditional french ‘en croute’ preparation, but others opt for more traditional stuffings. We’ve spotted cheese-stuffed flatbreads and lots of filled bagel rolls – sometimes called bagel bombs – with cream cheese-based fillings.
Meanwhile, Gulf Coast Sourdough has developed its own twist with ‘flybys’: sourdough buns stuffed with combinations such as falafel, hummus and sauerkraut, or bacon, eggs and cheese. These creations double as hearty lunch sandwiches, with the bonus that the fillings infuse flavor into the dough during baking. The result? Convenient, on-the-go snacks that are both satisfying and full of character.
Fresh and exciting sourdough applications from large bakery chains
What are the sourdough innovations that are taking over on supermarket shelves and large QSR chains?
