I’ve been on a mission for some time to find or create a sourdough sandwich bread that my husband is willing to use for PB & J. While we do love Pain de Mie from The Perfect Loaf, it’s nice to have a heartier go-to sandwich bread that’s still soft and chewy. My mission has been accomplished at last with this Honey Oat Sourdough Sandwich Bread!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
The blend of oats, whole wheat flour, bread flour and honey in this bread creates a loaf that’s hearty and flavorful, as well as lightly sweet. It’s soft, chewy, and perfect for all of your favorite sandwiches. You just may find that this becomes your go-to sandwich bread, as it has in our house!
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.
Tools & Equipment for Honey Oat Sourdough Sandwich Bread
- Medium mixing bowl
- Stand mixer with dough hook
- Kitchen scale: really quite recommended, though you may be able to scrape by without.
- Food processor
- Loaf pans
- Measuring spoons
Ingredients for Honey Oat Sourdough Sandwich Bread
- Ripe, active sourdough starter
- White bread flour
- Whole wheat flour
- Water
- Old-fashioned oats
- Honey
- Fine sea salt or kosher salt
- Vital wheat gluten– more on why this is included below.
- Olive oil
The Process: How to Make Honey Oat Sourdough Sandwich Bread
First, make sure to feed your sourdough starter, so that you have ripe, active starter at it’s peak when you want to build your levain!
I’ve included a baking schedule in this post, just to give you an idea of how this bread times out. Feel free to begin at a different time if that works better for you. Also, as always, sourdough timing can be difficult to predict. It is better to read the dough than strictly go by the clock- multiple factors can affect how quickly (or slowly) your dough will proof.
7 pm: Build Your Levain
The night before you wish to mix your dough, make your levain. Add 35 g ripe sourdough starter, 75g bread (or all-purpose) flour, 75g whole wheat flour, and 150 g cool water to a medium mixing bowl and mix well. Lightly cover and leave on the counter to ferment overnight/for about 12 hours.
7 am: Mix Your Dough
After 12 hours, check your levain for readiness. It should have risen appreciably, be bubbly throughout, and have a mild sour aroma. If it does not show these signs leave for another 60 minutes and check again. Your kitchen temperature will affect how fast your levain rises.
Place your oats in a food processor and pulse until ground to a coarse flour like texture.
To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, add ground oats, 240 g bread flour, 260g whole wheat flour, honey, salt, wheat gluten, and remaining 415 g water. Mix on low speed for a couple of minutes, until well blended. Increase speed to medium for 5-6 minutes (this is helping to strengthen your dough and develop the gluten). Your dough should be beginning to cling to the dough hook.
Decrease mixer speed to low and drizzle in the olive oil. After it is incorporated, increase speed to medium for a couple of minutes again. Remove the dough hook, lightly cover your bowl and leave on the counter for bulk fermentation.
7:30-11:30 am: Bulk Fermentation
After 30 minutes, perform a thorough set of stretch-and-folds. At 30 minute intervals, perform two more sets. Leave dough on the counter for 2 and a half hours, for a total of 4 hours of bulk fermentation time.
At the end of bulk fermentation, your dough should have risen in the bowl. You should be able to see a few scattered bubbles at the top and sides of the bowl. If these signs aren’t present, leave it to ferment 30 more minutes and check again. Toward the end of the bulk fermentation time, butter or grease two loaf pans.
11:30 am-2:30 pm: Shape & Proof Dough
Turn the dough out onto a clean, lightly floured work surface. Use a bench knife to divide the dough in half and gently shape each half into a round, then shape more tightly into a cylinder the length of the loaf pan. Place each loaf, pinched side down, in a loaf pan.
If desired, press the top of each loaf into a light layer of oats before setting in the pan. Lightly cover the loaf pans and leave them in a warm place on the counter to proof.
Proof until the loaves have risen nearly to the top of their pans. They will be very soft to the touch. The rise time will depend on the temperature of your kitchen, but is usually about 2-3 hours.
2:30 pm: Bake Your Honey Oat Sourdough Sandwich Bread!
Toward the end of the proof time, preheat the oven to 425 degrees Farenheit. I recommend gently scoring the top of the loaves to avoid bursting. Place the loaves in the oven side by side and bake for 15 minutes. Drop the temperature to 350 degrees and bake 15-20 minutes more, until golden brown. The internal temperature of the bread should be at least 204 degrees.
Remove from the oven and let cool in the pans for 5-10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool fully before slicing- dough with a lot of whole grain flour takes a little while to fully set.
These loaves will keep at room temperature, in a bag or bread box, for 3-4 days. They also freeze well. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Include Vital Wheat Gluten?
Gluten is a protein that gives bread it’s structure. Whole grain flours, like whole wheat or rye flour, are lower in gluten than white bread or all-purpose flours. Since this bread contains a lot of whole wheat flour, adding gluten will help the bread develop a more open structure and avoid a dense loaf. You can omit it if you want, but it will lead to a denser crumb. If you do decide to omit the wheat gluten, make sure to really focus on strengthening the bread.
How Should I Serve and Store Honey Oat Sourdough Sandwich Bread?
This bread is perfect for any and all of your favorite sandwiches. Go nuts!
You loaves will keep for a few days at room temperature, and for several months in the freezer.
Honey Oat Sourdough Sandwich Bread
Ingredients
For The Levain
- 35 g active sourdough starter
- 75 g white bread flour 2/3 cup
- 75 g whole wheat flour just under 2/3 cup. highly recommend weighing
- 150 g water
For The Dough
- 67 g old-fashioned oats 3/4 cup
- 240 g white bread flour 2 cups
- 260 g whole wheat flour 2 cups
- 60 g honey 3 Tbsp
- 10 g fine sea salt or kosher salt 1/2 Tbsp
- 24 g vital wheat gluten 3 Tbsp
- 29 g olive oil 3 Tbsp
- 415 g water 1 3/4 cup
Instructions
- The night before you wish to mix your dough, make your levain. Add 35 g ripe sourdough starter, 75g bread (or all-purpose) flour, 75g whole wheat flour, and 150 g cool water to a medium mixing bowl and mix well. Lightly cover and leave on the counter to ferment overnight/for about 12 hours.
- After 12 hours, check your levain for readiness. It should have risen appreciably, be bubbly throughout, and have a mild sour aroma. If it does not show these signs leave for another 60 minutes and check again. Your kitchen temperature will affect how fast your levain rises.
- Place your oats in a food processor and pulse until ground to a coarse flour like texture.
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, add entire levain, ground oats, 240 g bread flour, 260g whole wheat flour, honey, salt, wheat gluten, and remaining 415 g water. Mix on low speed for a couple of minutes, until well blended.
- Increase speed to medium for 5-6 minutes. Your dough should be beginning to cling to the dough hook.
- Decrease mixer speed to low and drizzle in the olive oil. After it is incorporated, increase speed to medium for a couple of minutes again.
- Remove the dough hook, lightly cover your bowl and leave on the counter for bulk fermentation.
- After 30 minutes, perform a thorough set of stretch-and-folds. At 30 minute intervals, perform two more sets. Leave dough on the counter for 2 and a half hours, for a total of 4 hours of bulk fermentation time.
- At the end of bulk fermentation, your dough should have risen in the bowl. You should be able to see a few scattered bubbles at the top and sides of the bowl. If these signs aren't present, leave it to ferment 30 more minutes and check again.
- Toward the end of the bulk fermentation time, butter or grease two loaf pans.
- Turn the dough out onto a clean, lightly floured work surface. Use a bench knife to divide the dough in half and gently shape each half into a round, then shape more tightly into a cylinder the length of the loaf pan.
- Place each loaf, pinched side down, in a loaf pan. If desired. press the top of each loaf into a light layer of oats before setting in the pan.
- Lightly cover the loaf pans and leave them in a warm place on the counter to proof.
- Proof until the loaves have risen nearly to the top of their pans. They will be very soft to the touch. The rise time will depend on the temperature of your kitchen, but is usually about 2-3 hours.
- Toward the end of the proof time, preheat the oven to 425 degrees Farenheit.
- I recommend gently scoring the top of the loaves to avoid bursting.
- Place the loaves in the oven side by side and bake for 15 minutes. Drop the temperature to 350 degrees and bake 15-20 minutes more, until golden brown. The internal temperature of the bread should be at least 204 degrees.
- Remove from the oven and let cool in the pans for 5-10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool fully before slicing.
- These loaves will keep at room temperature, in a bag or bread box, for 3-4 days. They also freeze well.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
Pin for Later:
What Should I Make Next?
For another fun sourdough sandwich bread, check out Sourdough Marble Rye!
Did you make this recipe? Let me know how it went in the comments! If you share on Instagram, please tag me at @sisuhomemaker. And I always love to hear from you- send questions, comments, concerns, etc to carol@sisuhomemaker.com!
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