When it comes to baking some really quick sourdough bread, the choice usually hits on my favorite - the Seeded bread, but hey what happened! I didn't have any seeds when I wanted to bake, but I had a package of oatmeal peeking out of the pantry. And the result was an absolutely perfect bread , come see for yourself!
This bread has a beautiful brown color that just works nicely with the oat flakes! This beautiful coloring is thanks to that little teaspoon of honey, that I add to the dough. It hardly affects the taste, but it helps to darken the crust. The bread is surprisingly filling thanks to the oats and is absolutely delicious not only fresh, but also toasted a few days later. It makes great sandwiches, bruschettas or even is delicious along some good stew.
Adding oats to sourdough bread is a great addition if you're trying to add a little more healthy ingredients to your breads. Almost anything can be mixed with the dough, but you have to know how! Because you can't just add oats to the dough. They absorb a lot of water, so you need to increase the amount of water when you add oats. This is the easiest way to add them to the great sourdough bread.
We fell in love with this simple oat honey sourdough bread at my home and I believe you will too, for its subtle nutty flavor and addictively soft crumb.
What kind of oats to add to sourdough bread?
You can use whole rolled or jumbo oats, fine or coarsely chopped oats in the bread dough. The oats are only mixed with the dry ingredients when making the dough and they soften during the rising process by absorbing some water. Once baked, the flakes are beautifully incorporated into the dough and you can't tell where they are at all. The main thing that changes is the texture of the crumb, which is more chewy and firm and has less bubbles - that's because oats are heavier than flour.
Is making sourdough bread with oats difficult?
Making the dough for this simple oat and honey sourdough bread is one of the easiest. Just mix all the ingredients in one bowl, let the dough ferment for the first time, transfer it to the tin, let it rise and it's ready to bake. The dough is quite runny right after mixing, so there's no need for any folding or shaping and actually no need for a long heating of the oven, just a few minutes to warm it up.
Do I need to make a levain for sourdough bread?
No, this bread can be made straight from the active sourdough starter you keep in the fridge.
You can find a simple method for keeping sourdough starter, as I do, HERE..
Ideally, the starter should be at room temperature and freshly bubbled, i.e. in the active phase, which is approximately 4-8 hours after feeding.
How to make a levain?
If you want, you can also make a levain the night before you make the dough. In a bowl, mix 75 g of flour (whole wheat or white), add 1 tbsp of wheat or rye starter and 75 g of water. Stir and leave covered to ferment until morning for about 8-12 hours. You can tell when the starter is ready by the fact that it has increased in volume and you can see bubbles.
How to make a simple honey oat simple sourdough bread?
As always when baking sourdough bread, we have to divide the preparation into two days.
First day in the evening make the levain. In a large bowl, combine the whole wheat flour, water and sourdough starter and mix into a thick dough. Cover the bowl with a plastic bag or plastic wrap and let it rise on the counter overnight for 8-12 hours. The resulting fermented levain is full of bubbles. If you use the method of feeding and maintaining sourdough starter like I do , just check the amount of starter in the jar the day before and feed as needed to get it nice and active and bubbly in the morning.
The next morning in a large bowl, mix 150g of wheat bread flour, 200g of plain flour, 60g of oat flakes and 10g of salt and stir. Add the levain or 175 g of active wheat active sourdough starter and approximately 330 g of water and stir to make a dough. The oat flakes and flour will absorb a lot of the water and the dough will thicken as it rises.
Cover the mixed dough in a bowl with a plastic bag or cling film and leave in a warm place to rise for approximately 2-3 hours without disturbing it. During this time the dough will rise by approximately ⅓ of its volume.
The dough will fit into an 8x18x8 cm tin. The tin can be lined with baking paper or brushed with oil.
Carefully transfer the risen dough into the loaf tin and smooth the top with a wet spatula. Immediately sprinkle the oat flakes on top for decoration, while the top is still wet, so that the oats stick well to the dough. I just love the rolled oats for this part! Cover with a plastic wrap. Let it rise for the second in the loaf tin for about 3-4 hours. When properly risen, the dough should just below the edge of the loaf tin.
Bake the bread in a hot oven at 210°C for approximately 45 minutes. After baking, carefully remove the bread from the loaf tin and transfer to a wire rack to cool. If you have used baking paper, remove the paper from the bread as soon as possible.
Let the bread cool on a wire rack for at least 1 hour before slicing.
How to plan the baking of wheat sourdough bread?
- First day in the evening: 20:00 mix the levain and let ferment overnight in a warm spot
- The next morning: 7:00 make the dough
- first rise: 7:30-10:00 - then transfer the dough to the loaf tin
- second rise: 13:30 - I preheat the oven
- around 14:00: the dough is risen and I put the bread in the oven to bake
- 14:45: the bread is baked so remove it from the pot and put it on a cooling rack
TIPS:
- to accompany the flavors of wheat flour, oats and honey try adding some dried fruits - if you are not afraid to experiment, add a few finely chopped dried apricots, dates, plums or raisins to the dough
- if you like to use spices in your bread, add just a pinch of ground coriander or fennel seeds
- you can also substitute a part of water for some lukewarm milk
Recipe
Recipe for 1 small loaf
Honey oat simple sourdough bread
Ingredients:
for levain:
- 75 g whole wheat flour
- 75 g water
- 1 tbsp (25 g) sourdough starter
for dough:
- a levain
- 150 g wheat bread flour
- 200 g spelt flour or all purpose flour
- 60 g rolled oats
- 10 g salt
- 330 g vody
Instructions:
We have to divide the bread making process into two days.
- First day in the evening make the levain. In a large bowl, combine the whole wheat flour, water and sourdough starter and mix into a thick dough. Cover the bowl with a plastic bag or plastic wrap and let it rise on the counter overnight for 8-12 hours. The resulting fermented levain is full of bubbles.
- The next morning in a large bowl, mix 150g of wheat bread flour, 200g of plain flour, 60g of oat flakes and 10g of salt and stir. Add the levain and approximately 330 g of water and stir to make a dough. Instead of levain you can add 175 g of active wheat sourdough starter.
- Cover the bowl with the dough again with a plastic bag or cling film and leave in a warm place to rise for approximately 2-3 hours without disturbing it. During this time the dough will rise by approximately ⅓ of its volume. You can also put the mixed dough straight into the tin to rise for about 4-6 hours.
- Then prepare a loaf tin of size 8x18x8 cm. This can be lined with baking paper or brushed with oil (I use unscented coconut oil).
- Carefully transfer the risen dough into the loaf tin and smooth the top with a wet spatula. Immediately sprinkle the oat flakes on top for decoration, while the top is still wet, so that the oats stick well to the dough. Cover with a plastic wrap. Let it rise for the second time in the loaf tin for about 3-4 hours. When properly risen, the dough should just below the edge of the loaf tin.
- Bake the bread in a hot oven at 210°C for approximately 45 minutes. After baking, carefully remove the bread from the loaf tin and transfer to a wire rack to cool. If you have used baking paper, remove the paper from the bread as soon as possible.
- Let the bread cool on a wire rack for at least 1 hour before slicing.
Dobrý den. Pekla jsem ho včera a je opravdu výborný. A to jsem neměla pšeničnou chlebovou a použila jsem místo ní pš. celozrnnou. Doteď jsem pekla jen žitnou cihlu, tak jsem ráda, že se první pšeničný povedl. Děkuji!
Dobrý den, skvělé, že se chlebík povedl. Taky se na něj opět chystám <3
Dobrý den, chlebík jsem pekla dnes a opravdu je vynikající! Krásně se povedl, tak mám velkou radost. Děkuji za super recept 🙂
Super, moc děkuji za zpětnou vazbu. Budu se na něj muset taky zase brzy vrhnout :))