Sourdough Oatmeal Wheat Bread

I love to make crusty artisan sourdough bread but soft sourdough sandwich bread is also a favorite. I developed this recipe over the last several weeks, making multiple loaves each weekend to get it just right. I absolutely love the slightly nutty taste of oats in the bread.

This recipe makes one loaf but I have also doubled it. The Kitchen Aid actually kneads it even better with two loaves. A scale is a must for thus recipe but I assume if you already make sourdough bread then you definitely have a scale. Electronic scales are very inexpensive now, mine was $30 and purchased 12 years ago.

Sourdough Oatmeal Wheat Bread

Makes 1 loaf in an 8x4 pan

PRINTABLE RECIPE CLICK HERE

193 grams warm water

132 grams sourdough starter (bubbly and active, 100% hydration*)

½ teaspoon instant yeast (optional, but it does help it rise a bit more)

55 grams honey (can do as little as 20 grams if desired)

55 grams old-fashioned oats (plus extra for coating the dough)

110 grams wheat flour (I use freshly ground hard spring wheat)

160-180 grams bread flour (start with lesser amount)

22 grams vegetable oil

11 grams salt (approx 1½ teaspoons table salt)

Place all ingredients in your Kitchen Aid mixer. Knead on speed 2 or 3 approximately 6 minutes.
You want the dough to be tacky, not too wet, not too dry. Add an extra tablespoon or two of bread
flour if needed. The way I gauge this is it should stick to the bottom of the bowl but not the sides.
Or, by touch it should feel pretty sticky but not stick too much to your hands when you pull your fingers
away from, the dough. Better to be too sticky than too dry as it will absorb more of the flour during the first rise.

After kneading for six minutes in the Kitchen Aid place in a greased bowl and let rise until close to
double in size, approximately 2 hours depending on temperature of your kitchen. I have also mixed
the dough at night and immediately placed in my refrigerator overnight. Press out dough into a rectangle
the width of the pan, roll up, coat in a few more tablespoons of oats, place in greased 8x4 loaf pan,
cover with greased plastic wrap. Let rise another 1-2 hours (or place in refrigerator overnight)  then
bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.

*I use equal parts water and flour, by weight, to feed my sourdough starter.

Cranberry & Almond Sourdough

Sourdough is about as good as it gets for bread. Homemade. Slightly tangy. Chewy crumb. And that crust. This is not a normal bread recipe with commercial yeast that is fluffy and soft, made in your mixer, and done start to finish in a few hours. This will take all day or up to 24 hours. It is mostly hands off but you do need to be around to stretch and fold the dough. It is artisan bread; made the old-fashioned way.

I don't explain how to make a starter, or how to stretch and fold dough. You can go to You Tube and look up videos on how to make sourdough bread. Or buy the book Tartine. Or educate yourself over at the blog The Perfect Loaf.  Or do all of the above like I have done. This is just my favorite version of a fruit and nut sourdough bread. It assumes you have those skills already.

THIS IS NOT A FIRST-TIME SOURDOUGH RECIPE. Not because this isn't easy (it is), but because I am scant on photos for illustrating each step.

golden raisin and almond dough

banneton baskets

loaves proofed overnight in the refrigerator

cloche clay bakers

Cranberry and Almond Sourdough

printable recipe click here

Makes 2 loaves

by Cynthia Winward

608 grams warm water*

167 grams sourdough starter

110 grams sugar**

160 grams whole wheat flour

640 grams bread flour

16 grams salt

150 grams cranberries or raisins

100 grams sliced almonds or other nut

DIRECTIONS

1. Put sourdough starter and water in bowl and mix all together with your hand. Add flour and mix until flour is all incorporated. Cover tightly.

2. Let sit 30 minutes to 2 hrs covered.

3.  Add the salt to the top of the dough and mix it up the best you can with one set of stretch and folds.

4. Do one more set of Stretch and Folds, 30-45 minutes apart. On the second Stretch and Fold, add the fruit and nuts. Don’t worry if all the fruit/nuts don’t get mixed in right now. They will on the next stretching. Do 1-2 more stretch and folds every 30 minutes. If my dough seems strong I skip the last, if it seems limp I might add another.

5. Let the covered dough ferment on the counter or in the oven with the light on in the same bowl for another 2 hours until it is about 1.5 times the size. If my kitchen is cold I can let it go 3 hours.

6. Divide dough in half,  pre-shape the dough on a lightly floured board into a round.

7. Let sit for 20 minutes covered.

8. Shape loaves as desired and put into well floured banneton baskets or floured cloth lined bowl. (Cloth should be a tea towel or other lint free towel.)

9. Place bannetons in a plastic bag that you “blow up” with air, secure it close with twist tie. Put it fridge overnight to bake the next day.

Or to bake the same day, let it rise another 2 hours then bake right away.  

10. 30-45 minutes before you are going to bake turn oven to 475 degrees and place baking vessels  in the oven. (Either a dutch oven, combo cooker or cloche). I use cloche bakers.

11. Score the loaf and place bread in pan. I use parchment paper to transfer to the pan.

12. Bake covered at 475 for 25 minutes and remove cover. Turn oven down to 400 degrees. Continue to bake for 15-20 minutes until bread reaches internal temp of 205. (You might need to play with the temp and time depending on your oven.)

*This is a 76% hydration dough, increase or decrease to your desired percentage.

**To make this a regular sourdough, eliminate sugar, fruit, and nuts.

Pork Tamales in Red Chile Sauce

My mom is the greatest tamale maker.  Ever. She taught me to make them when I was a teenager and together with my siblings, we would help her make them to sell as fundraisers for our various church youth camps every summer. And we'd eat them too. I don't know where my mother got her amazing heart because I would not do this for my kids. I'd tell them to go babysit and pull weeds. Thankfully, I learned a valuable skill that makes my tummy happy year after year.

Flashback to June 2011: Ilene, my Mom (Tina), and Me

June 2011: Teaching Ilene to make tamales

June 2011: My amazing mom Tina

To make tamales you  need three different components: the sauce, the masa (corn dough), and the meat. My mom often makes the sauce one day, the pork carnitas another day, and assembles them all in one day. I did everything in one day. I started at 8am and finished by 3pm. I did this alone but having a helper will mean you can make more or be done faster. I wasn't in the kitchen the entire time, but I did need to be at home an entire day, no running around on this day. You can easily double this recipe but for my small family this was enough for dinner, leftovers, and plenty to freeze for 3 more dinners.

This recipe will yield approximately 4-5 dozen tamales depending on how big you make them.

Red Chile Sauce 
Makes 7 cups. Use this for tamales and especially as an enchilada sauce. Easily doubles; freezes well.
California chiles, dried, 6 ounce package (photo below)
1 large onion, chopped
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
4 garlic cloves
1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
1 quart of chicken broth, pork broth, and/or water

Boil the pork first (see below recipe) so that you can use the leftover broth in this recipe.

Using kitchen scissors, cut off the stems of the chile pods, split down the middle with your fingers, rinse off seeds and pull off the stringy veins. You don't have to pull of all the stringy veins, just do your best as that's where all the heat is located. If your hands are sensitive, wear gloves. I don't. But I did sneeze and cough a little from the peppery 'fumes'. Saute one onion in oil with cumin and oregano about 5 minutes, then add garlic cloves, the cleaned chiles, tomato sauce, then enough pork broth or chicken broth to cover by an inch. (I added all the pork broth leftover from boiling the pork, and still I needed to add a little more water to cover by about an inch.) Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer for 30 minutes. Let it cool for 30-45 minutes then puree in blender in 2-3 batches until smooth. Add salt to taste.

California chiles are not very spicy. 

Cleaned chiles: 'Fresh' dried chiles should feel malleable like fruit leather, not dry and crumbly.

Add just enough broth to cover by an inch.

You should get about 7 cups of thick sauce.

Pork Carnitas
yields 3 pounds
Pork shoulder, approximately 5 pounds.
2 onions (divided)
4 teaspoons cumin (divided)
2 teaspoon oregano (divided)
garlic
1 tablespoon kosher salt (use half if using regular table salt)
2 tablespoons oil

I used maybe a 1/3 of this giant roast!

Cut pork roast into 4-5 big chunks and cover with water in a dutch oven or large pot. Add one of the onions (just quarter the onion), 2 tsp cumin, 1 tablespoon kosher salt and 1 tsp oregano. Bring to boil then lower to simmer for 2-3 hours, until it shreds easily. Shred meat. It's very fatty so don't be worried at how much you throw out. Strain the broth and save for sauce!

Saute the last onion in oil, 2-3 cloves garlic and 2 teaspoons cumin and 1 tsp oregano, 5 minutes in a skillet. Add meat and cook another 5-7 minutes, stirring until meat starts to brown. The meat is fatty so frying it gets rid of that greasy taste and browns it nicely. Taste and season with salt.

Fry the carnitas after boiled for added flavor.

Add just enough red chile sauce to the fried carnitas to moisten the meat, approximately 2-3 cups.

Masa Preparada* (Prepared corn dough)
Buy 6 pounds

If at all possible buy fresh prepared masa from a Latin American market. I buy mine from Rancho Market in Provo, Utah. I usually have to call a day in advance and order the dough but at Christmas they keep it out, ready to buy. Prepared masa is made from ground corn/hominy, pork lard, baking powder and salt. Your market may not add the baking powder, so you might have to add 1 tablespoon per 5 pounds. Make sure you taste it to see if there is enough salt. Mine was almost too salty so I was worried but it turned out fine. It just tastes like a raw torilla or raw cornbread at this point.

Lots of masa at the Mexican market!

You'll need approx. 6 pounds 

*If you can't buy already prepared masa, you'll have to buy powdered masa harina and follow the directions on the package to make your own dough with pork lard. For the love of all that's holy and decent, don't use shortening. Fresh pork lard from a butcher is best, but Manteca brand lard is also found on the shelf.

Pull masa from the fridge about 1-2 hours before you need it as it will be softer and easier to work with at room temperature. Or if like me you forget....adding the still-warm red chile sauce will warm it up fast. Which brings me the next step: you must flavor the masa with your sauce. This is what will set it apart from basic (meaning gross) tamales. Add just enough sauce, approximately 2-3 cups to moisten dough. You still want the dough thick, but more spreadable than before. Just add 1-2 cups of sauce, mix, and add more if needed. Use your hands, no spoon will mix the sauce into the very thick masa, so get dirty! Wash hands well unless you want them stained orange! Don't stress about adding the exact right amount of sauce. If you don't add enough, it's ok! Basically you want a nice orange-colored dough.

At this point you have sauced your meat and sauced your dough. You will have leftover sauce--it freezes well. I like to pour it over shredded rotisserie chicken for a fast taco dinner. Great for enchiladas as well.

Masa dough before adding red chile sauce.

Corn husks
Buy a one pound package of corn husks. You will not even use half of this package. It's nice to have extra so you can use the biggest ones and throw out the wimpy smaller ones.

Soak the entire package, in two large bowls, in warm water 30-60 minutes. Use something heavy to weigh them down because otherwise they just float. Remove from water, shake off excess, and get ready to assemble.

soak the corn husks

Finally you are ready to assemble! Using a spoon, spread a thin layer over the entire half of the best and biggest corn husks. Spread some pork in the middle, then fold into thirds over the meat, then in half. (Watch video.) It's ok if some are small and some are huge. I like having different sizes depending on how hungry I am. :) Stack upright in a 9x13 pan until ready to steam or freeze.

Flashback to 2011: If desired, you can add a slice of carrot and potato as well.

At this point, they are ready to steam. Place them upright, in a steamer basket (I use my pasta pot), fill the bottom of the pot with water but don't let the water touch the tamales! Bring to boil and lower to a simmer. Steam/simmer for 1 hour, checking pot towards the end so water doesn't run out. I have done this before and burned my pot! Turn off heat and let them sit for another 30-60 minutes in the pot. You could eat them now but like a cake, it's best to let them firm up a bit before eating them. (video below)

To freeze: Place raw tamales in large freezer bags and freeze upright so the filling won't spill out while they are freezing. Let thaw overnight in refrigerator and steam as directed above.

frozen tamales

To reheat one already-cooked tamal: Soak a paper towel or napkin in water, wrap around the cold tamale and microwave approx. 2 minutes. If you try to just microwave it without the steam of the paper towel you will dry it out. Don't do it!!!

Such a special meal at Christmas time!

I hope this inspires you to make your own! They are a labor of love but so tasty it's worth every hour of work and every dirty pot and pan. Buen provecho!

Quick Cinnamon Buns

I have loved this quick cinnamon roll recipe for a good 10 years now. It is from the book The New Best Recipe but I have also seen it on the Cooks Illustrated website. I can't believe that the cinnamon roll gods can be cheated with this fast recipe. No yeast, no rising, no delay to cinnamon roll happiness. Give yourself 45 minutes, start to finish, to get these made and baked. I would say the texture of these buns are a cross between a muffin and a biscuit. So good.

My family of five can devour all 8 in one sitting so I made these last night and again today. My high school kiddos run track so they eat a lot these days! Especially my son Nathan who is 18. He ate 2 or 3 last night!

They are similar to these canned cinnamon rolls but a thousand times better. Okay I've never actually tasted these, just assuming that homemade is always better.

You start out by making the biscuit dough. Once stirred together you'll knead it a few times on the counter and then pat it out to a 9"x12" rectangle. I always keep a ruler in my baking drawer for this sort of thing.

Dump the cinnamon sugar mixture on the dough and press firmly into dough. I love this part--you really smell that scant 1/8 teaspoon of cloves in the mix. 

It is kind of sticky so you'll want to use a bench scraper or a spatula to help you scrape and roll the dough. Flouring the counter does help but the dough is really tender unlike a yeast dough that is stronger.

Use plain (not mint!) dental floss and cut up the dough into eight pieces. First cut in half, then cut each half in half to have 4 pieces. Then cut those 4 pieces in half again to have 8 uniformly sized rolls. I keep dental floss in my baking drawer as well. My motto is to always be prepared to make cinnamon rolls. You can use a serrated knife if you want to but floss works way better.

Place in buttered pan and bake. Drizzle with icing and eat while warm.

PRINTABLE RECIPE CLICK HERE

QUICK CINNAMON BUNS

Melt one stick of butter and then just measure out what you need for each step.

CINNAMON-SUGAR FILLING

¾ cup dark brown sugar (packed, 5 ¼ ounces)

¼ cup granulated sugar (1 ¾ ounces)

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

⅛ teaspoon ground cloves

⅛ teaspoon table salt

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

BISCUIT DOUGH

2 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour (12 ½ ounces), plus additional flour for work surface

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon table salt

1 ¼ cups buttermilk

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

ICING

2 T. cream cheese, softened OR 2 T. sour cream can be substituted

2 T. buttermilk

1 cup powdered sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Pour 1 tablespoon melted butter in 9-inch nonstick cake pan or comparable oval pan; brush to coat pan.

2. To make cinnamon-sugar filling: Combine sugars, spices, and salt in small bowl. Add 1 tablespoon melted butter and stir with fork or fingers.

3. To make biscuit dough: Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. Whisk buttermilk and 2 tablespoons melted butter in measuring cup or small bowl. Add liquid to dry ingredients and stir with wooden spoon until liquid is absorbed (dough will look very shaggy), about 30 seconds. Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface and knead until just smooth and no longer shaggy.

4. Pat dough with hands into 12 by 9-inch rectangle. Brush dough with 2 Tablespoons melted butter. Dump sugar mixture onto dough and press into dough. Cut with dental floss into 8 rolls, and arrange buns in buttered cake pan. Brush with 2 tablespoons remaining melted butter. Bake until edges are golden brown, 23 to 25 minutes. Use offset metal spatula to loosen buns from pan; without separating, slide buns out of pan onto greased cooling rack. Cool about 5 minutes before icing.

5. To make icing and finish buns: While buns are cooling, line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper (for easy cleanup); set rack with buns over baking sheet. Whisk cream cheese and buttermilk bowl until thick and smooth (mixture will look like cottage cheese at first). Sift powdered sugar over; whisk until smooth glaze forms, about 30 seconds. Spoon glaze evenly over buns; serve immediately.