Sourdough Herb Loaf
This aromatic sourdough herb loaf combines the tangy depth of traditional sourdough with fragrant herbs. If you’re ready to take your sourdough baking to the next level, then this sourdough herb loaf is the perfect recipe to try.
Equipment
- Dutch Oven
- Mixing Bowl
- Kitchen scale or measuring cups
- Shaping Basket
- Proofing bag or plastic wrap
- Parchment Paper or Silicone Baking Mat
- Bread lame or sharp knife for scoring
- Bowl Scraper (optional)
Ingredients
- ¼ cup 50 g active sourdough starter
- 1 ⅓ cups + 2 Tbsp 350 g filtered water
- 4 cups + 2 Tbsp 500 g bread flour
- 1 ½ tsp 10 g fine sea salt
- 2 Tbsp fresh rosemary chopped and stems removed
Instructions
- Autolyse: In a large bowl, mix together your active sourdough starter, water, and bread flour until you have a shaggy dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and let the dough rest for 1 hour.
- Bulk Fermentation: Next you'll add salt to the dough and mix it in by squishing the dough between your fingers. Once the salt is evenly mixed into your dough, add your fresh rosemary by sprinkling through a series of stretch and folds. I like to add about 1/3 of my fresh rosemary to the top of the dough, then stretch and fold the dough on top of itself. I give the dough a quarter turn, then add the same amount of rosemary to the top of the dough and repeat until all of my rosemary is added to the bread dough. Perform a series of stretch and folds every 30 minutes for 2 hours for a total of 4 sets of stretch and folds. Cover your bowl with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and let your dough rise until it doubles in size. This will take approximately 3-4 hours depending on the temperature of your room.
- Shaping: Once the dough has doubled in size, place it onto a lightly floured surface. Next, shape the dough into a round. I like to shape by turning my dough roughly into a square. I pull each corner to the center and press down, then do the same thing with the new corners that were created. I then flip my dough over so the seams are on my countertop and use two hands to roll the dough into a ball. For you visual learners, here is a link to a video where I show you how I like to shape my round loaves. Let your dough rest on the countertop covered with a kitchen towel for about 30 minutes. Flip your dough back over so the seams are faced up, and reshape your dough using the same technique outlined above. Once you've shaped into a ball again, you will place it seam side up into a floured banneton basket or proofing basket. Place the proofing basket into a plastic grocery bag, and place your dough into the refrigerator for 12 to 36 hours.
- Baking: When you're ready to bake, preheat your oven and Dutch oven to 500°F for 30 minutes. Turn your dough out of your proofing basket onto a piece of parchment paper or silicone baking mat. You will need to score the top of your dough using a sharp knife, razor blade, or bread lame to allow the dough to expand and not tear while baking. Once your oven is pre-heated, place your dough into the hot Dutch oven. Lower your oven temerature to 450°F, and bake with the lid on for 20 minutes, then uncover and bake for an additional 20 minutes until golden brown.
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