This sourdough with steel cut oats and honey is super soft and tender inside with a hint of sweetness. It is perfect for breakfast with jam or butter.
This recipe makes two large loaves. For the oats, I used Bob’s Red Mill Quick Cooking Steel Cut Oats. I cooked the 1/2 cup dry oats in water according to the package directions until they were very thick and most of the water was absorbed. Then, I added the cooked steel cut oats to the dough during one of the stretching and folding steps. For the honey, I used Trader Joes’s Multi-floral and Clover Honey, but you can use any honey you have on hand. If you are vegan or don’t want the added sweetness from the honey, you can just leave it out and still have delicious oat sourdough.
I baked these loaves in a Dutch oven. I have two Dutch ovens that I use frequently (this Cuisinart 3 qt and this Emile Henry 4.2 qt). For a full list of my favorite baking equipment, check out this post.
I hope you enjoy this sourdough with steel cut oats and honey. If you like this loaf, you might also enjoy my Sourdough with Quinoa recipe.
Sourdough with Steel Cut Oats and Honey
Equipment
- Dutch oven
- kitchen scale
- sourdough starter
Ingredients
Leaven (Levain) Ingredients
- 170 g sourdough starter
- 510 g water
- 145 g whole wheat flour
- 345 g bread flour I used Central Milling's Artisan Bakers Craft Plus
Dough Ingredients
- 250 g water
- 600 g bread flour I used Central Milling's Artisan Bakers Craft Plus
- 16 g sea salt
- 72 g dry steel cut oats (1/2 cup) Follow the instructions on the package for how to cook it. I cooked mine 1 cup simmering water until very thick.
- 1 cup water, for cooking oats
- 15 g honey
- rice flour (for dusting) optional
Instructions
Make the leaven (or levain)
- In a large mixing bowl or container like this one, weigh out the 170 g sourdough starter using your kitchen scale.
- Then, add 510 g water and 145 g whole wheat flour, and 345 g bread flour. Mix to combine.
- Cover the mixture and let rest either at room temperature or in the refrigerator until very bubbly.
Mix the dough
- After the leaven has grown in volume and is very bubbly, add 250 g water and 600 g bread flour. Mix by hand gently to combine. Some of the flour might still be dry. Cover, and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes
- After 30 minutes, add the salt and mix to incorporate. Then cover and rest again for 30 minutes. In the meantime, cook the steel cut oats if you haven't already and allow to cool slightly. I cooked 1/2 cup quick steel cut oats in 1 cup water until the oats were very thick.
- Then, perform one set of stretch and folds by gently lifting up the sides of the dough and folding toward the middle of the dough. Add the cooked oats and 15 g honey to the dough, and continue stretching and folding the dough until the oats are incorporated. Cover, and let rest for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes of resting, stretch and fold the dough again. Then, cover refrigerate it overnight or for about 12-24 hours. Take note of what your dough looks like at this point.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator. If it has visibly risen and looks soft and airy, then move on to the shaping step. If not, allow it to proof longer at room temperature.
Shape the dough
- Remove the dough from the container onto the counter and divide into two pieces. A slightly damp counter will prevent the dough from sticking.
- Form each piece of dough into a taut ball by gently pulling the dough underneath (see video). Then rest each dough ball seam-side down on the counter for 20 minutes.
- Next, transfer each loaf into bowls or bannetons lined with kitchen towls. It helps to dust the kitchen towls with flour (rice flour works well). The loaves will be seam-side up in the bannetons or bowls. Dust the loaves with flour, and cover with a kitchen towl or plastic wrap.
- Refrigerate the shaped loaves for 12-48 hours (depending on your schedule). I baked my loaves after about 24 hours of refrigeration.
Bake the loaves
- Preheat your oven and Dutch oven to 500°F. I usually preheat for at least 20 minutes after the oven says it reaches 500 °F to make sure it is thoroughly heated.
- Remove a shaped loaf from the refrigerator and slash the dough across the top to allow steam to escape during baking. Transfer to the Dutch oven, cover and bake for 25 minutes. It helps to line your Dutch oven with parchment paper to prevent sticking.
- After 25 minutes, decrease the oven temperature to 450 °F and uncover the Dutch oven. Bake for another 20-40 minutes or until golden brown.
- Allow the bread to cool for a few hours, then slice and eat!
I’ve made this recipe (sourdough with steel cut oats and honey) twice and the bread turned out great both times. The dough is very wet and it stuck to my bannetons, even though I had floured them heavily with rice flour and AP flour. That didn’t affect the end result as the loaves rose well in the oven. Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you Marianne! That is a great tip to heavily flour your bannetons.