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!