Roasted Garlic Rosemary Olive Oil Sourdough

When I'm craving a savory bread, I always revert back to this classic flavor combination. I don't think I need to go into what makes this tandem so perfectly matched, but the aroma of sweet roasted garlic, and earthy warmth of rosemary may have something to do with it…

This was the first time I'd incorporated a fat like olive oil to my dough, without other enrichments like milk and eggs. I knew adding any type of fat would soften the crumb and result in a closer texture. The results far exceeded my expectations, the crumb was soft and chewy. It didn't have large air bubbles, which I associated with a light and desirable crumb, but this loaf was far  from dense, and the texture reminded me of a REALLY good sandwich loaf. I loved the result so much, I think I'm going to work on a sandwich loaf recipe using a similar method.

I used a combination of Bob's Red Mill Artisan Bread Flour and Azure Standard Ultra Unifine Bread Flour. I almost always do a mix of plain flour and whole grain in my loaves, for the strength and texture of bread flour and nutty depth of flavor of whole grain. Recently, I've really loved adding bread flour from Azure Standard to my loaves because it is a true whole grain flour. I've talked about their special method of milling grains in a previous blog post. Long story short, they use the Unifine method which maintains the integrity of the grain, preserving the bran along with most of the nutrients and beneficial oils lost in conventional methods of milling. Azure's bread flour, is powdery and fine, without the bitterness of other whole wheat flours.

My current preferred way of baking sourdough is a cold bulk with an overnight autolyse. This stretches out the baking process over a span of 3 days, with long rest periods in between, I go into detail about this method in a previous blog post. Although this may seem like a long time, I find it to be way more flexible and I've gotten the best results using this process. If you don't want to follow this method, you can use the instructions in my beginner's recipe as a guideline for creating your dough.

Now onto the recipe!

Ingredients

Levain

Quantity	Ingredient	Baker's %
10 grams	Starter	25%
40 grams	Bread Flour	100%
40 grams	Water	100%

Dough

Quantity	Ingredient	Baker's %
210 grams	Bob's Red Mill Artisan Bread Flour	70%
90 grams	Azure Standard Ultra Unifine Bread Flour (Whole Grain Flour)	30%
228 grams	Water	76%
90 grams	Starter	30%
8 grams	Salt	2.6%
30 grams	Olive Oil	10%
4 grams	Chopped rosemary leaves	--
10 grams	Garlic (1 small head)	--

Method

Levain Build

The night before you are ready to bake, create your levain by mixing all of the ingredients in the levain section. Cover and set aside.

Autolyse

After creating your levain, combine flour and water in a large mixing bowl. Mix until all flour is properly hydrated and no more dry bits remain. Cover and set aside in a warm place overnight.

Dough

Roast garlic by preheating your oven to 350 F/176 C. Wrap whole head of garlic in aluminum foil, do not peel the cloves. Place garlic directly on oven rack and roast until cloves feel soft, about 15 to 20 minutes. Set aside and peel once cooled.

After an overnight autolyse, your flour and water mixture should look wet and feel stretchy when pulled. Incorporate levain into dough using a pinching motion until everything is well incorporated. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, add salt and olive oil to your dough. Slap and fold or stretch and fold your dough until it looks smooth, about 10 minutes. Return dough to the bowl and let rest for another 30 minutes.

Stretch and Fold

Perform 4 sets of stretch and folds, allowing dough to rest for 30 minutes in between each set.

Fold in peeled garlic and chopped rosemary into dough during the 3rd fold.

Cold Bulk

Once you’ve built enough strength into your dough (a good indicator is dough that holds it shape and reaches windowpane stage), place into an airtight container, cover and store in refrigerator overnight.

Pre-Shape

Turn your dough out onto a clean surface, and sprinkle a little bit of flour on top.

To pre-shape, pull on the side of your dough closest to you and fold it towards the center, thinking of an envelop, pull both sides towards the center as well, and finally the top. Flip your dough over, use your hands to gently rotate and tuck the bottom of the dough.

The goal here is is to begin creating tension in your dough which will help it keep its structure for its final rise.

Let the dough rest on the counter covered with a tea towel for 30 minutes.

Shape

Uncover your dough, and shape it however you’d like making sure you create lots of tension without tearing the surface of your dough.  

Pick up your dough gently, and place it seem-side up into a banneton or towel-lined bowl dusted with flour.

Final Proof

Allow loaf to proof at room temperature until ready to bake.

This step will be dictated by the temperature in your kitchen and the activity in your dough, remember to pay attention to your dough and not the clock.

Once your dough is close to being properly proofed (this usually takes about 2 to 3 hours for me), preheat your oven to 480 F/248 C, with your Dutch Oven inside.

Score

Using a sharp knife, lame or razor blade, cut a large X (or any other design you’d like) on the top of your dough.

Bake

Place your scored bread inside your preheated Dutch oven and bake covered for 25 minutes and uncovered for another 25 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 200 F and the crust reaches your desired color.

*** I prefer to bake my bread covered for 30 minutes and uncovered for 20 minutes for a thinner, softer crust. Bake your bread depending on your preference

Cool

Remove bread from the Dutch oven and immediately place on top of a wire rack to cool completely before consuming. While that bread is incredibly tempting, if you cut it too soon it will be gummy and will eventually dry out.

Please share this recipe if you enjoyed it! Follow me on Instagram @MakeItDough or like Make It Dough on Facebook for more sourdough and baking ideas. Remember to post a photo and tag me or use #makeitdough when you make this delicious recipe, so I can check out your bake!

Try my other sourdough recipes:

• 4 Ingredient Cream Cheese Crepe Filling
• Easy Sourdough Discard Crepes Recipe
• Ube White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Sourdough Cookies
• Crispy Overnight Sourdough Waffles (No Baking Powder Recipe)
• Sourdough Blueberry Turnovers