A simple five ingredient rosemary sourdough bread, with a hint of black pepper. Make the ultimate grilled cheese with this loaf!
Photography by Sophie MacKenzie.
Another delicious loaf! This rosemary sourdough bread is just a little bit fancy, perfect for dipping in olive oil or a deluxe sandwich. Mixed with a little black pepper, it’s subtle enough for everyday.
This is a simple method and the recipe is adapted from our cinnamon raisin sourdough. It’s great for beginners looking to branch off from our everyday no-knead sourdough bread.
Use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top, or scroll to the bottom of the post to see the printable recipe card with full ingredient measurements and complete instructions.
Ingredients
Method
Tips and Notes
Our plan was to do garlic rosemary sourdough, but we found that the garlic, no matter when it was added, resulted in under-proved bread. If you want a hint of garlic, rub a peeled clove on a freshly toasted slice of bread.
As mentioned above, this makes a fabulous grilled cheese sandwich. It’s also excellent as croutons or used in sourdough stuffing.
If you’re unfamiliar with the terms used in this post, please see our guides on how to stretch and fold sourdough and how to shape sourdough boules.
Use either active sourdough starter or levain for this recipe. Either should be 100% hydration.
Substitutions
Use up to 40% (170g) whole wheat flour in this recipe.
More potential add-ins could include soaked golden raisins, cheddar cheese, chopped olives, and soaked walnuts. Anything that has a tendency to burn should be soaked beforehand.
Use dried or fresh rosemary. If using dried, reduce the amount by half, as it has a stronger flavour.
More Sourdough Recipes
Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls
Sourdough Focaccia
Sourdough Pizza Crust
Sourdough English Muffins
Spelt Sourdough Bread
Recipe
Black Pepper and Rosemary Sourdough Bread
Description
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- Tea towel
- Banneton
- Parchment paper
- Dutch oven
- sharp knife
- Measuring spoons
- Digital kitchen scale
Ingredients
- 440 grams all-purpose white flour
- 320 grams water, at room temperature
- 100 grams active sourdough starter
- 10 grams sea salt
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped rosemary
- 1 teaspoon black pepper, ground
Instructions
- Day One
- Add the flour, water, and starter to a large bowl. Mix, using your hands, until a shaggy dough forms.
- Once the dough is mixed, cover with a tea towel and let it rest at room temperature for 40 minutes.
- After the elapsed 40 minute resting time, add the salt, rosemary, and pepper. Mix until well combined.
- Do the first fold: To do this get your hands damp and reach under the dough on the opposite side of the bowl from you. Pull the dough up and over towards you. Repeat this so the side closest to you folds over to the side away from you and the side on your left folds towards you right, and your right folds towards your left. Think of it as wrapping a package. Then, scoop your hands under the ball of dough and flip it over completely. This completes one “fold”.
- Complete 6 more folds (one fold every 30 minutes) for 3 hours total.
- Shaping the dough: Begin by taking the dough out of the bowl and letting it rest on the counter for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare your banneton by dusting it with flour (50-50 wheat flour and rice flour is a great dusting combo).
- Shape your dough making sure you get as much surface tension as possible without tearing the outside of the loaf. Once shaped, turn the loaf into the lined and floured bowl or banneton (top-down, seam side up). Gently flour the top (previously the bottom) of the dough.
- Cover with a plate and set the banneton in the fridge overnight, or for at least 8 hours.
- Day Two
- The next day, place your dutch oven in the oven and preheat to 260°C (500°F) or as hot as your oven can go, but no higher than 500°F. After the oven has come to temperature, let the dutch oven continue to preheat for another 30 minutes.
- Once the Dutch oven has been preheated, take your bread out of the fridge. Gently invert the dough onto a piece of parchment paper that will be large enough to lift your bread into and out of the dutch oven. Gently score the bread with a sharp knife or bread lame. Using oven mitts, carefully remove the dutch oven from the oven, take off the lid and then carefully lift the dough into the pot using the parchment paper.
- Using oven mitts, carefully place the lid back on the dutch oven and put the entire dutch oven back into the heated oven. Reduce the heat to 230°C (450°F) and bake for 20 minutes. Carefully remove the lid (be careful of steam) and bake for another 20-25 minutes with the lid off.
- Remove the pot from the oven and carefully lift out the loaf using the edges of the parchment paper and let cool completely on a wire rack. If heat makes it too difficult to extract the dough and parchment layer safely, just let the loaf cool in the Dutch oven – don't risk burning yourself.
Rebecca Loudon says
I made this yesterday and baked it this morning and it is utterly delicious. Freshly ground pepper is key. Yum!
Christine says
I actually haven’t baked yet, it’s chilling in the refrigerator but I want to add a tip for those who aren’t used to baking in a Dutch oven. If you don’t already have one, purchase one that has the ability to put the lid down as the base. It makes it so much easier to get the loaf in and out. Also a large, sturdy spatula will get that hot loaf lifted out of the hot pan, just make sure to stabilize it with a protected hand on top of the loaf.
The recipe came together beautifully and I can’t wait to try it.
Christine Diedrich says
UPDATE: I have now made this recipe multiple times, doubling it frequently. I have made it without rosemary, with or without pepper, with whole-grain additions, etc. This is now my base recipe for my sourdough. I feel like I finally found THE formula that works for me. Thank you so much.