My honey oat sourdough bread has a lot going for it.
If you like crusty, thick, chewy, slightly sweet bread made with whole grains, then this is your recipe!
The crumb on this bread is surprisingly airy considering the amount of rolled oats incorporated into it. You don’t have to use only rolled oats, other rolled heirloom grains work really well. I use a combination of rolled oats, rolled barley, rolled rye, and rolled einkorn.
The addition of rolled grains gives this bread a toothy chewiness and a sweet earthy smell. You will not be disappointed!
Finding the Right Grains
I’m extremely partial to my local mill; they grow lots of heirloom organic grains and sell them whole, rolled, or ground into cereals and flours. The good news is, their wonderful selection can be ordered online by visiting Camas Country Mill.
My absolute favorite is the Triple 200 series. I call for this finely sieved whole grain flour in many recipes. It’s similar to whole wheat pastry flour but with a very airy texture and wonderful full-bodied sweet flavor.
Process:
This bread is a high hydration dough. It has extra water and rolled grains added at the time of mixing. It is then left to ferment overnight at room temperature before being shaped and baked in the morning.
I like this long fermentation process because the bread has a chance to fully ferment. This allows the rolled grains to soak up extra water. It gives the lactic acid plenty of time to develop. The high lactic acid development neutralizes phytic acid in the whole grain making nutrients more bioavailable, and it breaks down hard to digest proteins.
Homemade sourdough is the healthiest bread available!
Start Here
If you are a sourdough beginner you might want to start out by reading my free sourdough guide, Demystifying Sourdough – Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Sourdough Starter – Why It’s Better for You – And How To Start One. This guide will give you so much valuable information on my sourdough process and what I’ve learned by trial and error over the years.
I also have articles about How To Feed Your Starter for Successful Baking and How To Bake the Perfect Sourdough Boule in Your Dutch Oven with videos that will show you how to mix and shape a perfect boule!
Tools of the Trade
This Dutch oven has changed my whole baking game!
A dough whisk keeps hands clean and is great for stretch and fold mixing.
Honey Oat Sourdough
A sweet and soft sourdough bread with rolled grains and honey. This bread makes wonderful toast and incredible French toast!
Ingredients
- 120 grams (3/4 cup) rolled grains
- 200 grams (1 1/2 cup) bread flour
- 200 grams (1 1/2 cup) whole wheat flour - I use a Triple 200
- 90 grams (1/4 cup) raw honey (dark honey works well here)
- 12 grams (2 teaspoons) salt
- 400 grams (1 2/3 cup) water
- 250 grams (1 cup) starter at 100% hydration, stirred down
Instructions
The Night Before
- In a large glass bowl mix all ingredients into a wet and sticky dough. I use my dough whisk for this step because the dough will stick to your hands. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.
- Using the dough whisk do a round of stretch and fold. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes. Repeat this stretch and fold process up to five more times.
- Cover the dough and place it in a warm area of your kitchen. Ferment the dough overnight.
The Next Morning
- Uncover the dough and wet your hands. Do a stretch and fold in the bowl to deflate the dough and start the shaping process. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.
- Spread a handful of oats out on your work surface. Small rolled grains work well – rolled einkorn is pictured. Turn the dough out onto the oats. Make sure the dough lands seam side up on the oats. Quickly shape the dough into a round so that the oats are covering the dough. Place the dough seam side down and shape it further using your hands and the tension of the surface. Leave the dough seam side down on the work surface for a few minutes.
- Prepare your banneton with a light dusting of flour. I use sprouted flour, oat flour, or rice flour as it's less sticky than wheat flour. Place the dough ball seam side up in the banneton and cover it lightly. Let the dough double at room temperature.
- Preheat your oven to 450°F with your Dutch oven inside.
- Cut a square of parchment paper and turn the dough out onto it so the seam side is now down.
- Score the dough with a sharp razor blade. The oats can make it a little tricky to score so I use a nice wide cross pattern instead of something more elaborate.
- Remove the hot Dutch oven from your oven and take the lid off. Carefully pick up the dough using the corners of the parchment paper. Lower the dough into the Dutch oven and replace the lid. Place the Dutch oven back into the oven and bake covered for 25 minutes.
- After 25 minutes remove the lid and continue baking for 15 more minutes. This bread should bake for 40 minutes total.
- Remove the bread from the Dutch oven and parchment paper. Place the boule on a cooling rack and let it cool completely before slicing.
Want To Learn Everything About Sourdough?
Start with this free guide:
Demystifying Sourdough – Everything You’ve Ever Wanted To Know About Sourdough Starter – Why It’s Better For You – And How To Start One
Hannah
Monday 26th of July 2021
Oh man, I was so excited for this bread and I think in over my head. The dough never shaped up, it was a soggy mess even after the overnight fermentation. I tried to power through and bake it and it didn’t rise/wasn’t good. I think I did a lot of things wrong. Would love to troubleshoot with you and show you photos of what I did so I can try this again and make a successful bread. From all the comments I’ve read this one is worth giving it another go!
Jenn
Saturday 3rd of July 2021
Hi!
Could you please specify if this recipe calls for 250 grams of ripe fed just peaked started, or starter at any phase, discard, hungry, etc?
Thank you!
Butter For All
Monday 5th of July 2021
Hi Jenn!
Typically I always use an active fed starter for bread (unless I specify discard). An active, well fed, peaked starter will give the best, most consistent results! But honestly a starter in any phase will work, it just affects the time and taste.
Hope you have great success with the recipe!
Courtney
Emily
Thursday 24th of June 2021
Made the recipe exactly as written and, yes, it is a very wet dough, but the bread came out fantastic! Two recommendations that helped me, I shaped the final dough using a bench scraper to get better tension and I cut the baking time by 4 minutes because the bottom was browning quickly. Overall this is a well written and amazing recipe to practice sourdough bread making techniques. The crumb is so soft and chewy, my 3 year old and I polished off a quarter of this very large loaf while it was still hot, bad form not waiting for it to cool, I know. Thank you so much for this recipe! I can't wait to make it again.
Butter For All
Friday 2nd of July 2021
Hi Emily!
I'm so happy to hear you had great success with this recipe! Thanks for the tip and the positive feedback!
Happy Baking,
Courtney
Belinda McBade
Friday 14th of May 2021
Hi Courtney, Belinda again, from Japan. I wanted to let you know that this has become my all-time favorite sourdough bread. I make it with muesli instead of the rolled oats. It is so amazing that I keep getting requests for it from my friends. I had to adjust the water down just a bit, but I encourage you to give it a try, if you haven't already. Thanks again for the great recipes!!
Butter For All
Friday 14th of May 2021
Hi!
Yay, that makes me so happy 😀
Mmmm muesli, that sounds like a fabulous substitution! My sister would go crazy for muesli sourdough, I'll have to surprise her with a loaf! Thank you for sharing your idea!
Bake on!
Gaby
Friday 16th of April 2021
Following the recipe left me with a very overproofed dough and completely burnt-bottom-bread despite pulling it out before the recommended 25/15 mins. (THAT surprised me since I've made dozens of sourdough loaves both at 450F and 500F in the same DO in the same oven). I am going to try this again with some modifications, including putting it in the fridge for the overnight proof.
Gaby
Tuesday 27th of April 2021
@Butter For All, thank you for your response - I did discover that I’d taken out the pan I always keep under the DO for some reason and forgot to replace it, so that explains the burnt bottom. Even so, my family ate most of the bread so the taste is worth the tweaking.
Butter For All
Monday 19th of April 2021
Hi Gaby,
I'm sorry to hear it. This recipe seems to be my most controversial, some people having great success and developing beautiful loaves and others having over-proofing issues. I think a lot has to do with the strength of the starter. The burnt bottom could be from the honey I suspect. Try putting a baking stone, cast iron pan, or other heat blocker on the rack below the DO to absorb and distribute the heat.
Only you know how fast your starter works in your climate so I would definitely support following your instinct of modification with a cold bulk ferment. You could do it two ways, mix the dough and let it double, shape it and then retard in the fridge for the following day, or mix the dough, let it get started at room temp, bulk ferment in the fridge overnight, shape and let double the following day before baking.
I hope you find a technique to use with this recipe because if you get it nailed down it is delightful bread!
Best of luck,
Courtney