When it comes to gift giving, gifting sourdough is something sourdough bakers love to do! Sourdough brings me so much joy that I love gifting bread and my starter to loved ones on special occasions, the holidays or just because. Here are a few things I use to gift sourdough and a whole bunch of free printable labels that would be perfect for attaching to a sourdough gift.

Gifting Sourdough Bread

Gifting sourdough bread is probably what I do the most often. My sourdough artisan bread recipe makes two loaves of bread and often I’ll gift one of the loaves to a friend who’s having a birthday or bring it by for a neighbor to enjoy. Here are some tips for gifting sourdough artisan bread:

Make Smaller Loaves: You can reduce the size of your loaves if you want to make smaller loaves for gifting. For my sourdough artisan bread recipe, I make 3 or 4 loaves out of the recipe instead of two. I bake 3 loaves for 40 minutes instead of 45. I bake 4 loaves for 35 minutes. These smaller sized loaves are the perfect size for gifting! If you are baking many loaves, you may be interested in how to open bake in your oven. Check out this recipe to see how I open bake bread bowls, if you’re planning to do open bake. Open baking takes some practice and you may prefer baking one at a time in a Dutch oven instead.
Add Festive or Fun Inclusions: Add some inclusions to your sourdough artisan bread, like this cranberry pecan sourdough or make gingerbread sourdough for the holidays!
Delayed Baking: I try to bake my bread the morning I am gifting the bread, but loaves can usually stay fairly fresh for up to 24 hours if you need to bake the day before. I will also make my dough and then bake off loaves when I need them, anywhere from 1-3 days after I put the dough in the refrigerator. Just know, the longer the dough sits, the more chance of being over-proofed. Delicious, but a little over.
I use these bread bags for gifting sourdough. They look professional and are easy to close with a pretty label or sticker.

Gifting Sourdough Starter

Another unique way of gifting sourdough is to gift some sourdough starter. Many people want to get started with sourdough, but creating a starter from scratch can be a long process. Giving someone some of your sourdough starter is a beautiful gift that keeps on giving!

Feed Your Starter: Before gifting your sourdough starter, feed your starter so it’s healthy and active. Take part of that fed starter and stick it in a clear glass mason jar. Seal the jar lightly. Attach some ribbon and a stir stick with a cute tag and you’ve got the perfect gift!
A few preparation tips: Feed the starter a higher ratio (1:10:10) if you want to give yourself more time for your starter to ferment. This helps if you have to travel a few hours before gifting it. You could also prepare the jars a few days ahead of time and keep them in the refrigerator before gifting.
Looking to gift more? Check out my Amazon Storefront for all the beginner items I recommend.

Gifting Dehydrated Sourdough Starter

If you have friends interested in baking, but aren’t sure if they want to jump into the sourdough world quite yet, some of your dehydrated starter would be a great gift. It doesn’t have to be used immediately and is such a thoughtful gift.

Dehydrate Your Starter: You can find instructions for dehydrating starter in this article. Take 10 grams of dehydrated sourdough starter and stick it in an airtight bag. I think these mason jar bags are very affordable and cute for gifting. If you prefer to put the starter in a mason jar, that would also work well. Decorate the jar, add a starter stir stick and print out the label for how to rehydrate the starter.
Easy to Mail: Dehydrated starter makes a great gift for anyone traveling, or to mail to someone who doesn’t live nearby.
Rehydration Instructions on the Label: A starter rehydrates to the quality of the starter you are giving them. Make sure you feed your starter a few times before dehydrating it so it is active and strong. Add the label with rehydration instructions.

Gifting Sourdough Labels

Do you want these beautiful labels to print off for your holiday gifts? You can print these labels on card stock or 2 1/3″ x 3 3/8″ sticky name tag labels for easy gifting. Sign up for my email list and you can grab my free holiday labels. Just click the link below.

Click Here for Free Labels