Sourdough Herb and Garlic Twist Loaf
This gorgeous sourdough herb & garlic twist will wow your family and friends - perfect to take to a potluck or bbq. Soft, enriched dough swirled with fresh garlic, butter and herbs.
Ingredients
Bread Dough
- 100 g Sourdough Starter
- 500 g Bread Flour
- 8 g Salt
- 50 g Butter (melted - can be salted or unsalted)
- 200 g Milk (slightly warm, around 37C)
- 50 g Water (warm)
Garlic & Herb Filling
- 3 cloves Garlic (finely diced)
- 50 g Parmesan Cheese (grated)
- 100 g Salted Butter (softened at room temp)
- 1 bunch Fresh Herbs (thyme, basil, parsley, sage etc) - see notes
Instructions
- Add the water, milk and sourdough starter to a mixing bowl and stir until the sourdough starter is dissolved (it's ok if there's still a few chunks).
- Now add the bread flour, melted butter and salt to the liquid and bring together to form a shaggy dough. Cover and leave to sit for around an hour.
- Tip the dough out onto a clean surface and knead it until the dough is soft and supple. You can do this step in a stand mixer or Thermomix if you prefer. It will take around 10 minutes to knead by hand and around 5 minutes in a stand mixer.
- Place the kneaded dough back into a bowl and cover. Allow it to rise around 50%.
- While the dough is rising, make the filling for the dough so that it is ready to go when you need it. Simple chop all the herbs and garlic really finely (so that it's like minced herbs) and then add the herbs and parmesan cheese to the butter. Mix until well combined. You can do this in a food processor if you prefer. Set aside.
- Once the dough has risen a bit, tip it out onto a clean surface and gently shape it into a rectangle with the long edge in front of you. You're looking for a rectangle of around 25" x 8" (64 x 20 cm). Don't be afraid of degassing the dough as it will puff up in the next stage.
- Now spread the herb and garlic filling all over the dough, leaving a 1" strip at the top with no filling.
- Roll the dough up into a big log - just like you would if you were making cinnamon rolls. Make sure it's rolled fairly tightly. Seal the dough up along the seam and roll it over so that the seam is at the bottom.
- Using a knife or dough scraper, cut the log through the middle all the way up, leaving just a small part of the dough attached so you have two strands. You will be able to see the swirls of garlic and herb butter where you have sliced it (refer to step by step photos in the blog above for visual aids on how to do this).
- Now, twist the two strands of dough together to form a "rope". Gently push the ends together so that both ends of the rope are sealed. My rope was around 30" (76 cm) long when I finished (the dough does stretch a bit).
- Now form the rope into a letter "S" curling each end in towards the middle. This forms your twist. You can see how I've done this in the photos further up the page.
- Place your sourdough herb and garlic twist onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper, cover with a damp dishtowel and allow to proof for a few hours. You want your dough to be nice a puffy before you bake it.
- Once the dough has proofed, preheat the oven to 200C (392F) and bake for around 40 minutes or until golden. I recommend placing your twist on the lower shelf to avoid it burning. If your oven is fan forced or it runs hot, reduce this to temp to 180C (356F).
- When the twist is cooked, remove it from the oven. Be careful if your baking tray has no sides as some of the butter may drip over the sides.
- Brush the finished bake with excess butter and serve warm.
Notes
Warm Water & Milk - I generally warm the milk and water slightly for this recipe because it does take longer to bulk ferment with the added fats of milk and butter. I find the warm liquids help the dough to rise more quickly.
Herbs - use whatever fresh herbs you have on hand. Parsley, thyme, basil, rosemary and sage work really well. You can also use some dried herbs as well, however you do need some fresh herbs to create the beautiful green swirls in the dough. I've used around 1 cup of fresh herbs (measured before chopping - so the fresh herbs picked straight from the garden would fill a cup without being squished down).
Garlic - I recommend using 3 cloves of fresh garlic but if you don't have access to fresh, 2 tbsp of minced garlic or equivalent garlic granules or powder would work too.
Sourdough Starter - I've used active sourdough starter that was fed a few hours before baking and at peak. If you want to use sourdough discard, use 100g of discard with a teaspoon of commercial yeast.
Butter & Milk - you can use plant based alternatives if you prefer. Swap the butter for 50g of olive oil or vegan butter. Use the plant based milk of your choice.
Salted Butter - I've used salted butter in my dough and in the filling. I recommend using salted butter in the filling, but you can use any butter you like for the dough.
Egg Wash - you can use an egg wash on the dough before placing in the oven for a darker color when baked. I've chosen to keep this one egg free (mainly because my chickens didn't lay any eggs this week lol).
Loaf Tin - you can bake this Sourdough Herb and Garlic Twist in a loaf pan if you prefer. Simply twist the dough and then place into a loaf tin to allow it to proof. You will need to twist it a little tighter and squish it a bit to get it in the pan, but it will puff up when it proofs.
Nutrition
Calories: 275kcalCarbohydrates: 33gProtein: 7gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.4gCholesterol: 32mgSodium: 413mgPotassium: 77mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 373IUVitamin C: 0.2mgCalcium: 81mgIron: 0.4mg
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