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 bio available, 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 video 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 is incredible as French Toast!
Ingredients
- 120 Grams Rolled Grains, 3/4 Cup
- 200 Grams Bread Flour, 1 1/2 Cup
- 200 Grams Whole Wheat Flour, 1 1/2 Cup - I use a Triple 200
- 90 Grams Raw Honey, 1/4 Cup - Dark honey works well here
- 12 Grams Salt, 2 Teaspoons
- 400 Grams Water, 1 2/3 Cup
- 250 Grams Starter, 1 Cup - 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 5 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 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 four 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 you oven to 450° 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? Well, I have the free guide for you!
Demystifying Sourdough – Everything You’ve Ever Wanted To Know About Sourdough Starter – Why It’s Better For You – And How To Start One
Hugh
Monday 29th of March 2021
Loved the result of this recipe! I chickened out and reduced the water by 25g since you noted it was high-hydration and some commenters had trouble, but the dough behaved well and was easy to handle. I used Trader Joe's whole grain rolled cereal (wheat, oats, barley, rye) for the cereal grains, with KAF bread flour and whole wheat flour. The bulk fermentation requires patience - I used a freshly-fed starter but even so visible action didn't happen until well into the counter time, I think altogether it was around 14 hours. Proofed well in the banneton, too, in a little over 2 hours. My oven is totally unreliable for temperature, so it may have been running a bit hot, but I got a much darker, caramelized crust than your photos - but no burnt taste and the bread is really yummy! Will DEFINITELY be making this again!
Butter For All
Monday 29th of March 2021
Hey Hugh!
That's great. Sounds like you nailed it! I really appreciate you coming back to leave a review :)
Courtney
Beth
Tuesday 23rd of March 2021
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I made it with steel cut oats, and let it bulk ferment an extra 7ish hours because I hadn’t created the quantity of starter called for in the recipe (poor planning on my part). It is delicious and makes a great sandwich. I made another sourdough oat loaf a few weeks ago, but the honey in this one really makes the difference.
Butter For All
Wednesday 24th of March 2021
Hi Beth!
Thanks so much for the encouragement! It is always so nice to hear how people have success with my recipes. I appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment!
Courtney
Bryon
Sunday 7th of February 2021
This is so good. I used agave nectar instead of honey. Will be making this often. Thanks for sharing.
Butter For All
Monday 8th of February 2021
Hi Bryon!
I'm so glad you liked it! It's definitely on of our favorites around here as well. Thank you for the feedback :)
Margie Jones Hodges
Thursday 21st of January 2021
So, I really enjoyed this bread! So delicious! After reading through all the reviews, I decided I would attempt this. For me, this was a very wet dough, however, I kept everything the same but added an additional 75gr each of KA all purpose and KA whole wheat flour to the recipe because of the amount of water and also used a 12 grain mix for nuts/oats inside along w/ a Whole wheat starter. Additionally, I mixed everything in my stand mixer until I got a window pane, which took about 40 minutes or so, then I let it rise in a warm place for 3 1/2 hrs. After, I formed it and put it in the fridge to proof overnight. This was a big loaf, which was great for my 7qt dutch oven, but it it amazing and turned out beautiful!!! It's a keeper for me and I will definitely make again! Thank you for a great recipe!
Edwin Gray
Wednesday 13th of January 2021
As others have stated, my dough was over-hydrated, impossible to shape. I followed the directions by weight. My whole wheat flour was not Triple 200; rather I used fine, freshly-gound winter wheat berries, using my Mockmill 100 with the stones just touching. No vital wheat gluten was called for so I did not use any. My starter has been going strong for year or so and is 100% hydration, and the previous feeding was a 50/50 mix of finely-ground rye berries and organic all-purpose flour. For the rolled grain I used rolled oats. After the overnight proofing I did a stretch and fold. It was quite obvious that there was no way the dough would hold its shape for the next step, so I added several more stretch and fold sessions, spaced 5-10 minutes apart and incorporating a dusting of all-purpose flour at each session. Still, the dough was quite slack but I dumped it into an oblong proofing basket anyway. One hour has passed and minimal rise has taken place. I'll give it another hour and bake it regardless of the amount of rise. FYI my kitchen is about 70F.
Butter For All
Thursday 14th of January 2021
Hi Edwin,
I really appreciate your feedback. But I also wonder why you would expect the same results as pictured when you use different ingredients without adjustments? You sound like a very competent baker who knows how to adjust hydration by reducing water or adding flour. My recommendation would be to use 75% of the water by weight and only add more if your flour can take it. Every flour has a different moisture content and adjustments are standard practice when baking with starter. Especially when substitutions are made. I sincerely hope the bread is delicious and rises well in the oven!
Best of luck,
Courtney