Multigrain Sourdough Sandwich Bread with the BBB

This month, our Bread Baking Babes host kitchen has picked out a great sourdough loaf to bake!  Don't despair if you don't have a sourdough starter though, there are instructions at the end of the post for using yeast instead.  It won't be exactly the same, but still a great multigrain loaf. 

There are plenty of ways to tweak this loaf and make it your own if you so desire, I chose to use a slightly larger portion of kamut for my whole wheat and I did elect to use the optional oat topping.  I really liked what it added to the loaf in flavor and texture as well as looking nice.  You can also use your own combination of grains or cereals for the soaker.  Keep in mind that the KA Harvest blend is made of whole grains while the Bob's cereal blend is a cracked mixture.  So either cracked grains or whole are fine depending on the texture you want your bread to have.

The dough is soft and sticky but not really difficult to work with.  I did use a floured towel because I hate having to clean my counters after I use oil.  The dough had a great jiggle when fully risen, like some instagram videos of well hydrated dough I have seen!  My kids promptly demolished half the loaf and had more for breakfast toast on the way to school.  Good bread.

We would love for you to try out this recipe and join in as a buddy baker this month!  This is a great sourdough to try out, equally excellent fresh, grilled, toasted, or sandwiched.  Definitely worth making.  You don't have to have a blog to participate, a picture will do.  Just send a picture or your post of your finished loaf to Karen's Kitchen Stories by the 29th of this month.  Be sure to put BBBuddy in the subject line.  You will receive a Bread Baking Buddy graphic to keep or add to your post, and be included in our Buddy round up at the end of the month.   New recipes are posted every month on the 16th.  Check out our Facebook group to see the participants' baking results during that time.

Multigrain Sourdough Sandwich Bread
Makes 1 large loaf

50g (¼ cup) bubbly 100% hydration sourdough starter
300g (1¼ cups) warm water (I used 275g)
20g (1 tbsp) honey
45g (3 tbsp) melted coconut oil or soft butter
50g (1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp) whole wheat flour  (I used 100g stone ground kamut)
450g (3¾ cups) bread flour  (I used 400g all purpose)
9g (1½ tsp) fine sea salt

Soaker:
70g (½ cup) King Arthur Flour Harvest Grains Blend or Bob's Red Mill 10 Grain Cereal, or another mixture of grains and seeds (Bob's Red Mill blend contains soybeans, just so you know!)
240g (1 cup) hot water
Rolled oats for topping the loaf (optional)

In a stand mixer, combine starter, water, honey, oil or butter, flours and salt and mix with dough hook until a shaggy dough is formed.  Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.

While the dough is resting, pour the hot water over the multigrain in a separate bowl and let rest. Drain thoroughly in a fine sieve before using.

Add the soaked multigrain mixture to the dough and knead with dough hook to fully incorporate. The dough will be pretty wet at first but will begin to come together.  Don't add more flour.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let rise until doubled, about 6 to 8 hours or overnight.

Place the dough onto a lightly oiled surface and press it out to a rectangle. Roll the dough into a log and place it into an oiled or buttered 9x5-inch loaf pan, seam side down.  (I did use a lightly floured towel and folded the sides in a number of times to strengthen the gluten cloak.)  Cover loosely with oiled plastic wrap and let rest until the dough has crested one inch above the rim of the pan, 1 to 2 hours.  (Mine took 3 hours.)

Heat your oven to 450ºF.

If you want to top the bread with rolled oats, brush the loaf with water and press in some oats. (I brushed the loaf with some eggbeaters that needed to be used up, and pressed the oats onto that.)

Place the loaf on the center rack of the oven and reduce temperature to 400ºF.  Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until it reaches an internal temperature of 195-200ºF.  Cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing. 

 If you don't have a sourdough starter, start with a 50/50 by weight mixture of water and flour and a pinch of yeast and let it ferment for 12 to 24 hours. This may affect the timing.

The sourdough starter in this bread is 100 percent hydration.
Suggested timeline (plus or minus depending on the weather):
Day one:
Feed your starter and let it sit, covered, at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours.
Day two:
8 a.m. mix your dough and let it rise.
4 p.m. Shape the dough and let it rise
5 or 6 p.m. bake your loaf.
Alternative timeline (plus or minus depending on the weather):
Day one:
Feed your starter and let it sit, covered, at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours.
Day two:
8 p.m. mix your dough and let it rise
6 a.m. shape the dough and let it rise
7 or 8 a.m. bake your loaf.

(Timeline for my kitchen: Day 1 fed starter, that evening mixed dough around 9-10pm.  Covered and rose overnight.  Shaped next morning around 8:30-9am.  Baked around noon.)

The rest of the Bread Baking Babes

• Blog from OUR Kitchen – Elizabeth
• Judy’s Gross Eats – Judy
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories – Karen
• My Diverse Kitchen - Aparna
• Bread Experience - Cathy
• Thyme for Cooking - Katie
• My Kitchen in Half Cups - Tanna
• Feeding My Enthusiasms - Elle 

Approximate nutrition for one slice of bread: