Sourdough Bread with Garlic Herb Butter

Okay! So this is how I like to make my Garlic Bread; a tangy, chewy bread with a crunchy exterior and slathered in savory butter. I was, quite literally, shooing my children away from the butter mixture as I prepared this for our dinner last night. Kids with milk mustaches are cute, kids with butter mustaches…..well, they are cute too. In a greasy “don’t touch or lick anything in this home” sort of manner.

Is suppose it is safe to say it is a hit, I’ve already been asked for “some of that super yummy bread” this morning.

This pairs so well with lasagna, pasta, any kind of soup, or just as a special snack. sourdough bread and butter of any sort is a staple in our home. This recipe is so easy and should show you just how not intimidating bread baking should be. You can do this!

P.S: To my local friends, I can even hook you up with some starter if you like, just let me know soon so I can grow some for you.

So simple recipe, right? Yes, it is. The hands-on time for this recipe is minimal but it does take a lot of forethought. Like two or more days, sorry. Good things come to those who wait and sourdough bread is a very good thing.

Sourdough Recipe

So when you have picked a day to try this bread, count back a few days and make sure your starter is out of the fridge and at room temperature. You will want to feed it, equal parts flour and water until it is large enough to cover your recipe. In this case, 2 1/2 cups. 2 cups for the recipe and a half cup to store so you never run out of starter.

• You can always store a sourdough starter in the refrigerator when it is not being grown so that you can save or hibernate the bacteria. It needs to be in a lid with a tight fitting jar, in the coldest part of the refrigerator and you will want to take it out at least once a month to feed and care for it.

Mine is on my counter most of the time and I simply feed it a couple tablespoons of flour and water daily to keep it healthy and growing. When I know I’m about to use it and need a large quantity, I’ll up my feedings to a cup each of flour and water a day or two before baking the bread, or pancakes, or pizza dough. Whatever tastiness I want to create.

It isn’t just planning the starter that takes time. Since Sourdough bread doesn’t use yeast and relies on the bacteria in the starter to grow, it needs more time. This recipe needs to set for 6-12 hours before baking.

The ingredients, below, are simple and tasty. The flour can be susbstituted for Whole Wheat, but it will be a more dense loaf. I find that a 50/50 blend of All-Purpose and Whole Wheat Flour is delightful.

Ingredients

6 Cups All-Purpose Flour

2  Cups Wet Sourdough Starter

3 Cups Warm Water

1/2 Cup Honey

2 Teaspoons Salt

Directions

Step 1- Throw all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix with spoon for about 5 minutes, or until all ingredients are incorporated, and you have a sticky, sponge-like substance in your bowl.

Step 2- Cover with Saran wrap or a towel to seal in heat and let sit for 6-12 hours.

• Yes, you read that right. It works wonderfully to mix up before bed and bake for fresh bread and jam in the morning. Yum! Or to mix early in the morning to have fresh bread and butter with soup.
• When using for Garlic bread, as I am outlining here, it would work best to prep it the night before you want to eat it. Prep one evening, bake the following morning, butter and broil that evening. Sound good?

Step 3- Place Dutch Oven in your oven and preheat to 425*

Don’t have a Dutch Oven or know what one is? It is a Multi-purpose pot for cooking and baking. In this recipe, it helps to house and steam the loaf as it bakes, giving it those crispy artisan edges that we love! I also love that it transfers effortlessly from stove-top to oven, and is the queen of one pot meals. If you click here, you can find some available on Amazon.

Step 4- Once your oven is to temperature, carefully remove the Dutch Oven, and spray with non-stick coating. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the dough inside. Cover with the lid, stick the Dutch Oven back in the regular oven and cook for 40 minutes.

Step 5- Once your 40 minutes are up, remove the lid and bake for an additional 5 minutes. You can make this extra fancy by doing a butter-wash at this point. Is there ever a good reason not to coat bread in butter?

Just look at that beautiful rustic loaf!

Step 6- This is it! Remove bread from oven and enjoy, if all you are doing is baking bread. If you are making some Garlic Loafs, follow along with me to Step 7.

I happened to have three extra children when I was preparing this yesterday, so this is all that remained for our dinner.

Fresh baked bread out of the oven goes way too fast!

Step 7: Butter that Bread. With my half loaf of bread left, this is what I used for the Garlic Herb Butter:

1/2 cup butter

1 Tablespoon Garlic

1 Tablespoon Basil Paste (Pictured below. This is an easy and affordable alternative to mincing fresh basil)

1 teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon Pepper

I sliced my bread up, buttered it generously, and placed in the oven at 425* for 10 minutes. I opted to bake it at that temperature because I already had a Zucchini Lasagna in the oven (recipe available here) and didn’t want to change the heat. I will frequently opt to broil the bread for 5 minutes instead. Either way; just slice, butter, and bake to your preferred crispiness.

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