A delicious Sourdough Olive and Sage Loaf with a crisp crust and tender crumb, and the mindblowing flavors of olives, sage, black pepper and garlic. There is no added yeast in this recipe. Use it to sandwich vegan deli slices, or eat with a drizzle of olive oil or a dab of vegan butter.
Ever so often, my sourdough starter, George, drives me to inspired kitchen moments. This ravishing Sourdough Olive and Sage Loaf is one of them.
If you love baking with sourdough, you know that one of the things that makes it so special is the journey itself. With sourdough, you can be sure that you will be surprised at every stage of the bread-making process. Pleasantly.
With most breads, the rising is done by the time you put your loaf in the oven. But with sourdough, the loaf you pull out of your oven will look very different from the loaf you put inside it. Because within the 45 minutes or so that it bakes, all of those wonderful bacteria in sourdough and the gases they produce would have worked their magic, making your loaf bigger, puffier, and way more delicious than you thought possible.
If you don’t yet have a batch of sourdough sitting in your refrigerator, what are you waiting for? You can find step-by-step instructions for making a sourdough starter here, and if you do decided to get one going, it’s a decision you’ll never regret.
I added a ton of deliciousness to this loaf, by way of olives, pepper, sage, and garlic, because I wanted a full-flavored bread. This loaf is so delicious, in fact, that you might find yourself tearing chunks of it and stuffing it into your mouth. And it makes great toast too– Jay loves it toasted till its golden and crisp, with some vegan butter spread on it.
- 1 cup unfed sourdough starter *Recipe link in notes below
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 2 cups bread flour
- 1 cup lukewarm water
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 cup olives. I used Kalamata. Use any you like.
- 2 tsp dry sage
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl, mix the sourdough, whole wheat flour, and 1 cup of the bread flour with the water. Set aside, covered, for four hours.
In a food processor, process the olives, sage, garlic and black pepper until the olives are in fairly small pieces. Set aside.
Add the remaining cup of bread flour to the mixer bowl along with the salt and the olive-sage-garlic-pepper mixture. Knead till the dough comes together. If your dough looks wet, add more bread flour, 1/4 cup at a time. Your dough should be slightly sticky but not wet.
Continue to knead on medium speed or by hand for five minutes.
Remove the dough to a floured surface and knead into a smooth ball using your hands. Place in an oiled bowl, turning around once to coat the top with oil. Cover with cling wrap, and place in a warm spot for two hours. The dough will rise a little but it may not double at this stage.
Punch down the dough to form a circle. Roll into a log and press the seams together. Roll it a little. You can form a log-like shape, as I did, or shape into a boule.
Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper, and place the loaf on the parchment. Dust on flour with a sifter and cover with a kitchen towel. Place in a warm spot for an hour or until the loaf has doubled in size.
In the last half hour of rising, preheat your oven to 450 degrees. If you have a baking stone or a pizza stone or unglazed ceramic tiles, place them in the middle rack of the oven.
- Five minutes before you place your loaf in the oven, pour a cup of hot water into an oven-safe pan and place it on the lowest rack of the oven.
Take a very sharp or serrated knife or a sharp blade and score the loaf carefully, making one long, vertical slit. Take care not to lean too heavily into the knife or you will deflate the bread -- let the weight of the knife do the work. Carefully pick up the parchment sheet and place the loaf directly on the baking stone. If you don't have a baking stone, simply place the cookie sheet with the loaf into the middle rack of the oven.
After 10 minutes, lower the baking time to 350 degrees. Continue baking for another 45 minutes.
Remove the loaf from the oven and let it cool on a rack before you slice.
*Click here for step-by-step instructions on making a sourdough starter.
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More Vegan Sourdough Breads:
The best Sourdough Sandwich Bread
Whole Wheat Sourdough Baguettes
Costco sells a bread that looks like that–has some cranberries and nuts. It’s delicious. Yours looks even better! That’s amazing how you can make bread that looks so professional. A woman of many talents!
Made this today. So happy to try sourdough starter recipes. It worked perfectly. I used fresh sage, as we are at the end of our garden season here, and chives to close out the herbs. It makes a giant loaf! It’s is both chewy and soft. This would be a great bread to take and share for some potluck or event. I made the slit in the top, but not deep enough. It did not split as wide as yours in he photos. Next time – because I will definitely make this again!