Name: Garlic Sourdough Bread
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 560 min
Ingredients: 75 grams bubbly sourdough starter; 365 grams warm, filtered water; 480 grams bread flour; 40 grams whole wheat flour; 10 grams fine sea salt; 1-2 heads garlic (- roasted ); 100 grams parmesan cheese (- cubed or shredded); 2 teaspoons dried rosemary

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Garlic Sourdough Bread combines roasted garlic and freshly shredded parmesan with a delicious sourdough base. This savory bread also includes dried rosemary which packs an extra punch of flavor. Use this delicious bread to make avocado toast and the tastiest paninis!

The opportunities are endless with a sourdough starter. Try my Sourdough Focaccia, Jalapeño Cheddar Sourdough Bread, Sourdough Bagels, and Multigrain Sourdough Bread next!

A whole loaf of garlic sourdough bread, on a white napkin.

Roasted Garlic Sourdough

There is nothing better than a crusty loaf of sourdough bread. The best part is the smells coming from the oven and the worst part is waiting until the bread cools before slicing it!

Over the past couple of years, I’ve made numerous loafs of bread with the majority being sourdough. I’m slowly fine-tuning the art of the perfect loaf and it’s been so much fun continuing to learn about this process.

Why This Recipe Works:

It’s simple. As mentioned, this recipe has only five base ingredients plus three add-ins.
Gut healthy. Sourdough is a gut-healthy bread. Sourdough bread is NOT gluten-free, as it contains flour, but its long fermentation helps break down this gluten. It’s easier on the gut because it’s more digestible and easier for the body to absorb.
Higher Hydration. This recipe is 70% hydration which means it’s softer and has a more open crumb. You’ll see more “holes” in this bread due to a higher water-to-flour ratio.
Delicious! We love the strong flavor of the roasted garlic and the salty parmesan cheese!

A board with sliced garlic sourdough bread, next to a partial loaf.

Make your own sourdough starter at home with just a few simple ingredients using Sourdough Starter Basics. In just over a week’s time and a little bit of patience, you’ll be ready to use your active starter to make the best sourdough bread!

Ingredients Used

Only four base ingredients plus three bonus ingredients (garlic, parmesan, and rosemary!) are required for this delicious bread! I use a combo of two types of flour for this recipe as well.

Bubbly Starter – The starter is THE most important part of sourdough bread making. It takes a little time, but you will be rewarded over and over again.
Filtered Water – Use filtered water, either out of your refrigerator filter system or use bottled water. The water should either be at room temperature or slightly warmed before adding it to the sourdough process.
Flour – For this recipe, use a combo of unbleached bread flour and whole wheat flour. Organic is normally unbleached, btw.
Sea Salt – I recommend using fine sea salt.
Garlic – Roast two whole bulbs of garlic and then squeeze out the insides.
Parmesan – Make sure you use a wedge of parmesan and shred it or cut into small cubes.
Rosemary – One to two teaspoons of rosemary adds incredible flavor to this sourdough recipe. I also added a little bit to the top before baking.

Closeup on some sliced garlic sourdough with parmesan and rosemary.

How to prepare the starter for baking:

First of all, consider this:

If your starter is rather large and you’ll know you have enough to bake with, then carry on. No need to adjust.
If your starter is rather small, you’ll need to bulk it up so that you have enough to bake with and some to keep. (Because my rule of thumb is to NEVER RUN OUT OF STARTER!)

THEN:

Feed the starter as normal up to the day before you bake, generally speaking.
Adjust the starter the day before you bake OR the day you bake.
If you need 75 grams of starter in your recipe, you’ll want to have roughly 100 grams of starter at the ready. Some to use and some to keep.
So if you only have about 50 grams of starter and then 25 grams after discard, add 40 grams of water and 40 grams of flour to your starter to bulk it up for one loaf of garlic sourdough.

NOTE: I normally make two loaves of sourdough at a time which means I need 150 grams of bubbly starter plus some to keep for later. Remember – NEVER RUN OUT OF STARTER!

How to make Garlic Sourdough Bread:

Step 1
Roast the garlic. Chop off the tops of two bulbs of garlic. Add them to some foil and drizzle the tops with olive oil. Wrap them up tightly and roast in a preheated 400-degree oven until the garlic is soft, about 50 minutes or more. Remove and cool slightly. Then squeeze out the insides to use for the bread.

Step 2
Shred parmesan. Use a wedge of parmesan and shred. You can also use a knife to chop into small cubes.

A bulb of roasted garlic on some tin foil.

A bowl of shredded parmesan cheese, with a partial chunk next to it.

Step 3
Carefully measure out the water and sourdough starter in a mixing bowl, and stir well with a fork. Add the flour and salt, and stir again.

Step 4
Then use your hands to bring the ingredients together. It will look shaggy. Cover with a damp towel and let it sit for 45 minutes. (Be sure to set a timer.) This is the AUTOLYSE.

Step 5
After 45 minutes, add the roasted garlic, parmesan cheese, and dried rosemary. Then start the stretch and folds. Use your hand and lift the dough up on one side, stretching it upward, and then punch into the center of the dough. Turn the dough and repeat. Continue this process for about 30 seconds. This is the STRETCH AND FOLDS.

You’ll want to try to get most of the garlic and parmesan in the center of the dough during this process. Form the dough into a smooth’ish ball, and place towel back in the bowl.

ADDITIONAL STRETCH AND FOLDS: I recommend doing additional stretch and folds if time permits. Do these every 30 minutes 3-4 more times to further develop the gluten structure.

A bowl of the sourdough mixture with the flour on top, before mixing.

The sourdough mixture with the shredded parmesan, roasted garlic, and rosemary on top.

Step 6
Let the dough rise for 6-8 hours, or overnight. It should almost double in size and appear soft on top. Small air bubbles may appear as well. This is the BULK RISE.

Note: I recommend placing a damp towel on the dough for the overnight rise. You might also add a bit of oil to the top to keep a crust from forming on the dough overnight.

Step 7
Add a light dusting of flour to a baking mat or clean surface. Remove the dough to the mat and gently form into your desired shape, usually round or oblong. Don’t punch the dough down because you don’t want to remove all the air. Let dough sit for five minutes.

Step 8
After five minutes, use your hands to pull the dough toward you, dragging it along the mat to tighten it up. Repeat in the other directions to tighten. (Make sure you don’t have too much flour on the surface when tightening the dough, so there is some needed friction necessary to tighten it.)

Step 9
Place the dough, seam side up, in a bowl lined with a towel or a prepared banneton basket (pictured below). Cover with a damp towel and let it sit for about an hour or two. For this bread, it does not need to double again in size. This is the SECOND RISE.

NOTE: For both the bowl or banneton basket, you’ll need to prepare them. For a bowl, add a thin tea towel dusted with rice flour (or regular flour will work in a pinch). For the basket, add some rice flour as well. The rice flour will help prevent sticking while regular flour may not do this as well.

Step 10
Prepare for baking. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Carefully remove the loaf to a piece of parchment paper, smooth side up. Then take a serrated edge knife or a bread lame (linked below), and score the bread a couple of times. Place the bread (including parchment paper) into a Dutch oven.

A banneton basket of garlic sourdough, pinched on the bottom.

The formed sourdough loaf in a dutch oven, with rosemary on top.

Step 11
Bake. Add the lid to the pan and bake for 20 minutes. Then remove the lid and bake an additional 30-35 minutes, or until bread is nice and golden on top and bottom.

Step 12
Cool. Remove pan and then use parchment paper as handles to lift the bread out of the pan. Place on a cooling rack. Let the bread COMPLETELY COOL before slicing.

A dutchoven with a just baked loaf of sourdough, on parchment paper.

How we enjoy our sourdough bread:

There are so many tasty ways to enjoy garlic sourdough. In fact, we normally eat it for dinner at least once a week! It’s simple and makes dinnertime a breeze.

Add different meats and cheese.
Make avocado toast.
Make grilled cheese using pimento cheese.
Add over easy eggs (WITH avocado).
Use it to make the best Roasted Vegetable Pesto Panini or a BLT Sandwich with Pesto Sauce.

See my post on how to store sourdough bread for maximum freshness! Let’s not let our hard work go to waste and savor every single morsel of sourdough.

Garlic sourdough bread, toasted with pepper jack cheese and smashed avocado (two slices).

What is sourdough?

Sourdough is a slow-fermented bread that doesn’t require store-bought yeast to make it rise. It’s a LIVE fermented culture that creates a natural leavening agent. A starter is required to make sourdough.

How do you make a sourdough starter?

A starter can be created in less than a week with a simple combo of unbleached flour and filtered water. It’s a process of removing half of the starter and then “feeding” it every day, storing in a jar on your countertop, and getting it to a bubbly, sour point where it floats in water. More on this later.

Is sourdough bread gluten-free?

Sourdough bread is NOT gluten-free, as it contains flour, but its long fermentation helps break down this gluten. It’s easier on the gut because it’s more digestible and easier for the body to absorb.

A round board with some sliced sourdough and a partial loaf, with a knife.

Kitchen Tools Used: (affiliate links)

xoxo ~Sue