Lavender Vanilla Sourdough Bread

Reminiscent of the French countryside or Provençal cooking, this Lavender Vanilla Sourdough Bread is floral, fragrant, and herbal.

Vanilla deepens the intoxicating flavor in this loaf, giving it an earthy richness and almost creamy sweetness, with no added sugar. Then, lemon zest brightens everything up and helps captivate your senses. Ultimately, it’s quite a relaxing and refreshing loaf with a spa-like aroma without being soapy.

It’s excellent to serve at summer picnics, with creamy cheeses, butter, and a drizzle of honey!

This detailed bread recipe will walk through every step of the process and gives lots of tips so you can get the best result possible. If you’re new to adding inclusions to your breads, this is an easy inclusion recipe to start with as they’re simply mixed into the dough!

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Baking with Lavender

If you have a home garden or herb garden, I highly recommend growing lavender. The perennial lavender varieties are quite hardy, even down to Zone 5 in cooler climates. I grow English lavender in Western Massachusetts. It is hardy to frigid winters and blooms throughout the summer.

Lavender looks pleasant in the garden as a pollinator, with bees and butterflies attracted to the lilac and purple-colored buds. Almost all varieties are edible, including the buds, stems, and leaves!

It’s a versatile herb for cooking, baking, and herbal teas. Lavender is often used in French Provençal cuisine and is sometimes included in Herbs de Provence mixtures.

You can bake with both fresh and dried lavender buds in baking, but I chose dried lavender in this recipe as that’s how most people purchase lavender (or you can dry your own). That way, it lasts in your pantry for years.

Like other herbs, fresh lavender is not as potent as dried lavender. Fresh lavender can be two or three times less intense than dried lavender. Thus, you’d likely need to increase the fresh amounts in this recipe.

When purchasing dried lavender, make sure you’re buying culinary lavender. Don’t use non-food-grade lavenders meant for aromatherapy, essential oils, or other uses.

Edible flowers like roses and lavender can vary in scent, fragrance, and potency, so if you’re sensitive to floral flavors or find lavender to be soapy, use it sparingly in baking.

Lavender pairs well with vanilla, honey, lemon, ginger, and many summer berries and fruits. In savory applications, it can also be paired with other fresh, woodsy herbs like rosemary and thyme.

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👨‍🏫 Baker’s Percentage Chart

I include a baker’s percentage chart to scale a recipe up or down easily. With baker’s percentages, the total weight of all flour in the recipe is 100%.

I also include the prefermented flour from the levain in this flour weight. Finally, I note the ingredients proportionally to the total weight of flour (in this case, 430g, which includes 30g from the levain). That’s why the total percentages below will add up to over 100%.

If you want to learn more, the King Arthur website has a more detailed reference page on why and how baker’s percentages are calculated.

Ingredients	Weight	Baker’s Percentage
Bread Flour	380 grams (includes 30g for levain*)	88.4%
Spelt Flour	50 grams	11.6%
Salt	9 grams	2.1%
Water	346 grams (includes 30g for levain)	80.5%
Sourdough starter	30 grams (all for levain)	7%
Dried lavender	4 grams	.9%
Vanilla paste	10 grams	2.3%
Lemon zest	5 grams (from one lemon)	1.2%

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🛠 Tools Needed

View my Sourdough Tools and Equipment guide for a complete list of my favorite bread-baking tools.

• Dutch Oven
  • I love baking with my Challenger Bread Pan. It bakes excellent sourdough bread for a home baker and is heavy-duty cast iron.
  • For more information on Dutch ovens, I have listed my recommendations with pros and cons here.
• Baking Scale
  • Measuring your ingredients by weight instead of volume is essential so you get a more consistent and accurate bake.
• Bread Lame
  • Can use a sharp razor blade or sharp knife.
• Bench Scraper
  • Assists with shaping and transferring your bread to your banneton or basket.
• Banneton Proofing Basket
  • I use this 10″ oval proofing banneton for baking batards (ovals) and a 9″ round banneton for boules (rounds).
  • A proofing basket will help keep your dough shaped while it proofs overnight and is removed easily from the basket with a liner. If you don’t have one, line a mixing bowl with a floured tea towel.
• Optional: Brød and Taylor Folding Bread Proofer
  • This folding proofing box by Brød & Taylor is a game changer to keep your sourdough starter and doughs at the perfect temperature while proofing.
  • The proofer folds up easily, includes a humidity tray, is multifunctional, and can even be a slow cooker.
• Optional: Danish Dough Whisk
  • I like using a Danish dough whisk to help mix with less mess. It’s an optional but helpful tool.

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🛒 Ingredients Needed

See below for more information, variations, and possible substitutes.

• Bread Flour
  • For recipe testing, I used King Arthur Bread Flour at 12.7% protein. High-gluten flour works best for this loaf, but you can also use all-purpose flour.
• Spelt Flour (or whole wheat flour)
  • I love using spelt flour for more nutty, whole wheat flavor, such as in my Spelt Sourdough Bread and Spelt Sourdough Focaccia. It adds an earthiness that pairs well with the floral lavender.
  • However, you can easily substitute with whole wheat flour in the recipe.
• Sourdough Starter
  • Use active sourdough starter and not sourdough discard for this bread.
  • Don’t have a sourdough starter? Learn How to Make a Sourdough Starter and make a stronger sourdough starter with my top sourdough starter tips and why I maintain a small sourdough starter.
• Salt
• Water
  • I typically use warm water for autolyse so the dough is still warm when I add my levain.
• Dried Lavender
  • As mentioned above on how to bake with lavvender, you can use fresh or dried lavender in the recipe. Most people purchase dried lavender, which is quite potent, so I used that for recipe testing.
  • If you’re sensitive to lavender flavor, use a smaller amount. Remember, this is an herbal and floral loaf!
  • There’s no substitute for lavender in this recipe, but dried rose petals or other edible flowers would be good, too.
• Vanilla Paste
  • Vanilla paste has little specks of vanilla bean suspended in extract. It’s thicker than extract with more concentrated flavor. If you can’t find, use extract or you could use a whole vanilla bean if you’re feeling fancy.
  • Vanilla adds richness to the loaf, giving it a baked good-like quality without any added sugars.
• Lemon Zest
  • Adds brightness, zestiness, and a little acidity.

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⏰ Sample Baking Schedule

This is my typical baking schedule for most sourdough breads like My Everyday Sourdough Bread Recipe. It works well for a weekend bake, but many steps are flexible, depending on your own day-to-day schedule.

For example,  you can make the levain the night before (use 10g of starter and 40g of flour and 40g of water). You can also proof the dough overnight in the refrigerator for up to a day to bake on your own time.

Steps	Time
1. Make the Levain	9:00am
2. Autolyse	1:00-1:30pm
3. Add Levain & Rest	1:30-2:00pm
4. Add Salt & Mix	2:00pm
5. Bulk Fermentation (Includes folds)	2:00-7:00pm (about 5 hours after adding the levain at 78ºF)
6. Shape	7:00pm
7. Overnight Proof	7:00pm-9:00am (or up to a day)
8. Score and Bake	Next Day, 9:00am

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👨‍🍳 How to Make Lavender Vanilla Sourdough Bread

Follow this visual and step-by-step guide to help make this fragrant lavender sourdough bread recipe.

This recipe makes one large sourdough loaf, but you’re welcome to double it to make two loaves.

1. Make the Levain

Mix 30 grams of sourdough starter, 30 grams of bread flour, and 30 grams of water in an empty jar.

Cover and set it in a warm location (between 75-80ºF) for about 4-5 hours until it’s bubbly and ripe. The levain should at least double in size during this time.

2. Autolyse

About an hour before the levain is ready, mix the bread and spelt flours in a large mixing bowl and pour in the warm water.

Use your hands or a Danish dough whisk to mix the flours and water. It’s okay if some scraggly bits of flour remain, but you want most of it to be hydrated.

Cover the bowl and set it aside to autolyse for an hour.

3. Add the Levain and Rest

When the levain is bubbly and doubled in size, pour it onto the dough.

Use your hands to dimple the levain into the dough. Then, stretch and fold the dough onto itself for a few minutes until you thoroughly incorporate the levain into the dough.

You’ll do more mixing later when you add in the salt, but you want to make sure the levain is evenly distributed throughout the dough.

Cover the bowl and rest it in a warm location for 30 minutes.

4. Add Inclusions, Salt & Mix

After 30 minutes, sprinkle the salt, dried lavender, vanila paste, and lemon zest onto the dough.

Dimple in the ingredients and begin mixing. Stretch and fold the dough for about 5 minutes until it’s smoother, mostly holds its shape, and the ingredients are distributed throughout.

If the dough is sticking to your hands too much during mixing, mist them with water.

Cover the bowl and rest for 30 minutes.

5. Bulk Fermentation and Folds

After mixing in the salt and inclusions, bulk fermentation will take about 5 hours at 78ºF.

If your dough and environment are colder, bulk fermentation will take longer. Conversely, in warmer conditions, the dough will ferment faster.

Perform at least four sets of stretch and folds, separated by 30-45 minutes each. If you notice that the dough is still very slack after a few folds, you may want to add more folds in.

The dough rests for the remainder of time until shaping.

Bulk fermentation is complete when this dough has doubled in size, feels full of air, is smoother, and has some visible bubbles on top of and around it.

6. Shape

Lightly flour your surface and banneton (rice flour is helpful to prevent sticking) and use a bench scraper to shape the dough into a boule (round) or batard (oval).

To shape into a batard, dump the dough out onto your floured surface and used floured hands to shape it into a square (image 1 below). Then, use a bench scraper and your hands to gently lift and stretch one side up and over to the center of the dough (2). Repeat on the other side, fold it over the first fold (3). Finally, roll the dough up into a taut packet from the top down (4).

Lift the dough and place it seam-side up into the banneton. If necessary, stitch the dough to strengthen it. To do this, I pinch two ends of the dough and cross them over each other down the middle of the dough to create the stitch.

If you notice that the dough is very slack when you turn it out of its bowl, add an extra preshaping step to strengthen it further.

7. Overnight Proof

Cover the banneton and place it in a cold refrigerator overnight and up to 48 hours.

The overnight proof, or retard, will give additional flavor to the dough and slow down fermentation so you can bake it on your own schedule.

8. Score & Bake

Place an empty Dutch oven inside the oven and preheat it at 500ºF (260ºC) for an hour.

After an hour, remove the cold dough from the refrigerator and turn it out onto a small piece of parchment paper.

Then, score the dough using a sharp bread lame.

I usually score with one long slash for a batard (oval). For a boule (round), score the dough with a cross pattern in the center of the dough or another design.

To help increase the chances of a sourdough ear, the score should be about ¼”-½” deep at a slight angle. If interested, I often share scoring videos on my Instagram.

Carefully place the scored dough with parchment or a reusable baking bread mat into the Dutch oven and immediately cover it with the lid.

Bake

I follow the same routine to bake most of my sourdough breads, such as My Everyday Sourdough Bread Recipe.

Bake at 500ºF (260ºC) for 20 minutes.

Remove the lid, turn the oven down to 450ºF (232ºC), and bake with the lid off for about 15 minutes. The loaf should become very fragrant halfway through baking!

Cool the loaf on a wire rack for at least an hour before slicing.

Finally, enjoy cutting into this delicious lavender sourdough bread!

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How to Store & Serve

I like to store sourdough bread cut-side down once sliced. This helps the loaf retain moisture so it doesn’t dry out and become stale.

To slice, cut the bread in half, turn it cut-side down, and then slice it with a sharp, serrated bread knife.

Then, wrap the loaf in a tea towel and place it in a bread bag, bread box, or brown paper bag, where it will stay fresh for about three days. After a few days, you may need to reheat or toast slices.

Unsliced, the bread will last another day or two without staling or losing too much moisture.

Finally, you can freeze emer bread by placing slices in a freezer-safe bag where it will keep for months. To thaw, reheat the frozen slices in a toaster oven, toaster, or oven.

Lavender sourdough bread is particularly good served with butter and a drizzle of honey, or other creamy things such as fresh ricotta, burrata cheese, cream cheese, whipped feta, or cultured butter.

For dishes to pair with, I recommend Mediterranean recipes, roasted vegetables, spring and summer salads, hummus, fatty stews to cut through the richness, fish, chicken, lamb, or turkey.

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❓FAQs:

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