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.