Soft Honey Whole Wheat Sourdough

I had taken a little hiatus from making bread recently, for no particular reason. But then I finally picked up a cookbook on sourdough bread that I’d had my eye on for some time now and I was completely inspired and recharged. Over the past few weeks I have made large pans of crisp and oily focaccia twice, a gooey camembert bread wreath, multiple iterations of thick crusted pizza (which included two separate pizza parties), two loaves of crusty Dutch oven bread, a pan of cinnamon rolls and finally this lovely every so slightly enriched honey whole wheat bread. Phew. I bought a 25 lb bag of flour about a month ago and it’s pretty much gone!

This whole wheat sourdough loaf is lightly sweetened with a little bit of honey, and adds a small amount of whole wheat flour for a little nuttiness, as well as a little nutrition. It is risen with 100% sourdough, no commercial yeast at all which means the rise time is longer, but is so easy. You hardly have to do anything other than mix the ingredients together and let them sit for hours. Almost all hands off. That’s my kind of bread.

I chose this bread for the small Christmas morning brunch I made for my parents. We had scrambled eggs, toast with butter and jam, orange juice and coffee. It was perfect! Merry Christmas!

Soft Honey Whole Wheat Sourdough
Adapted from Artisan Sourdough Made Simple by Emilie Raffa
Ingredients

• 150 grams (3/4 cup) bubbly, active starter

• 270 grams (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) warm milk

• 30 grams (2 tablespoons) warm water

• 40 grams (2 tablespoons) honey

• 30 grams (2 tablespoons) oil

• 120 grams (1 cup) whole wheat flour

• 360 grams (3 cups) bread flour - or all purpose in a pinch

• 1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt

• 14 grams (1 tablespoon) butter, melted

Directions
Make the Dough: In a large bowl, whisk the starter, milk, water, honey and oil together. Add the flours and salt. Mix to combine until a rough dough forms. Cover and let rest for 45 minutes to 1 hour. After the dough has rested, gently work it into a semi-smooth ball, about 15 to 20 seconds. The dough will feel supple and smooth when it comes together.

Bulk Rise: Cover the bowl with a damp towel and let rise at room temperature until double in size, about 6 to 8 hours. The dough will look nice and domed when ready.

Shape: Remove the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Gently dimple the surface with your fingertips to release any large air bubbles. Roll the dough into a log, tucking the ends underneath. Let rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, lightly coat a 9x5 inch loaf pan with oil. With floured hands, cup the dough and pull toward you to tighten its shape. Place into your loaf pan, seam side down.

Second Rise: Cover the dough and let rest until it has risen about 1 inch above the rim of the pan, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, depending on temperature.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Bake: Bake the dough on the center rack for 40 to 45 minutes. When finished, remove the loaf from the oven and brush the crust with the melted butter. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer the loaf to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Sourdough English Muffins

Growing up I loved Thomas' English Muffins. Who can resist those nooks and crannies - so good! I loved spread butter on a hot, freshly toasted muffin and watch it melt into little pools of goodness. More recently I decided that it was time for me to create my own version, a better version; fresher, cleaner ingredients, more flavor. You get the idea. I wanted to make a sourdough version so I could use my sourdough starter, and to add even more flavor. After a couple attempts I think I've nailed it. These sourdough English muffins are amazing; super soft and delicious. No, they don't have quite as many nooks and crannies as the Thomas', but honestly I don't miss them. These are just too good, fresh, soft, light and airy. Perfect for a breakfast sandwich topped with eggs, meat and cheese, or a little simpler with just a good pat of butter, some peanut butter, or some nice melty cheese. I'm never going back to the store-bought version again.

These little muffins are really simple to make, but they do take a little time with the shaping of the individual buns, the rising, the grilling and the final baking. I don't have enough griddle space to grill them all at once so it takes a couple batches. Trust me, it's worth the time. You can make these guys as big or small as you want. I like my English muffins nice and thick so that's how I shape them, but you can also shape them a little thinner and wider in diameter depending on your preference and what you want to do with them. This recipe does not use English muffin rings. I didn't have any, so I looked for a recipe for a thicker dough so that I didn't have to go buy a new tool. I'm guessing that with a wetter dough, and the help of these rings you would probably have more luck creating those yummy nooks and crannies, but honestly I don't even care. These will work just perfectly for me!

Sourdough English Muffins
Adapted from King Arthur Flour
Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon (12 grams) brown sugar
• 3/4 cup (6 ounces) warm water
• 1/4 cup (2 ounces) whole milk
• 1 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1/2 cup (120 grams) sourdough starter, fed or unfed; fed will give a more vigorous rise
• 2 1/2 cups (300 grams) all purpose flour
• 1 cup (120 grams) whole wheat flour
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/8 teaspoon citric acid, optional; for enhanced sour flavor
• Cornmeal, for coating

Directions
Combine all of the dough ingredients, except the cornmeal, in a large bowl. Mix and knead — by hand, electric mixer, or bread machine — to form a smooth dough. The dough should be soft and elastic, but not particularly sticky; add additional flour if necessary.

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and set it aside to rise for about 1 1/2 hours, until it's noticeably puffy. Alternatively, for most pronounced sour flavor, cover the bowl, and immediately place it in the refrigerator (without rising first). Let the dough chill for 24 hours; this will develop its flavor.

Gently deflate the dough, turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface, cover it, and let it sit for a few minutes, to relax the gluten. Divide the dough into 12 equal sized pieces. Shape each piece into a round ball, then flatten each ball into a 2 inch round. 

Place the rounds, evenly spaced, onto cornmeal- or semolina-sprinkled baking sheets. Sprinkle them with additional cornmeal or semolina, cover with plastic wrap, and let them rise until light and puffy, about 45 to 60 minutes. If the dough has been refrigerated overnight, the rise time will closer to 2 hours.

Carefully transfer the rounds (as many as a time that will fit without crowding) right-side up to a large electric griddle preheated to 350°F, or to an un-greased frying pan that has been preheated over medium-low heat.

Cook the muffins for about 6-8 minutes on each side. The edges may feel a bit soft. Transfer the muffins to a baking sheet and place in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 8-10 minutes to finish cooking through. 

Yield: 12 English muffins.

Dutch Oven Sourdough

I have been making bread for years now, and am now consistently happy for the most part with the loaves I turn out. While I'm no pro, I can bake up some pretty tasty loaves and rolls whenever I feel like it. One thing had been eluding me however, an artisan-type loaf with a deeply golden, crackling crust, one that shatters into millions of shards when cutting in. I've tried so many different recipes in the past, but they invariably turn out pale, anemic looking loaves with a soft, uninspiring crust. Well, no more! I finally did it, out of my own home oven I pulled this gorgeous, crusty loaf. I may have heard angels singing...

This is a beautiful and simple recipe, there is mixing involved but no real kneading. It takes a bit of time to rise, seeing as there is not commercial yeast involved, as well as the fact that my apartment is sometimes  a bit chilly, but there is very little hands on time at all. 

I have seen plenty of recipes in the past that call for baking bread in a Dutch oven and how well this can mimic a commercial steam-injection oven, but for whatever reason I never got around to trying it before. When I came across this recipe on The Clever Carrot however, and saw her beautiful finished loaves I decided that it was finally time to try it for myself. I can now say that it worked! I was able to pull out of my very own oven, a blistered, deeply golden brown boule of sourdough bread. As it cooled on the counter I was even able to hear the crust "cracking" as it cooled, music to my ears and such a happy sound. 

I know the instructions below are quite long, but it truly is not a difficult recipe. It looks more intense than it actually is, in reality it's actually quite a simple recipe. Check out The Clever Carrot for if you'd like some great photos to go along with the instructions below. Happy Baking!

Dutch Oven Sourdough
From The Clever Carrot
Ingredients

• 5.35 oz / 150g active, fed starter
• 8.80 oz / 250g water, preferably filtered
• .90 oz / 25g olive oil
• 17.65 oz / 500g bread flour (not all purpose)
• .35 oz / 10g fine sea salt
• fine ground cornmeal, for dusting

Directions
To make the dough: In a large bowl, combine the starter, water, olive oil and bread flour. Squish everything together with your hands until all of the flour is absorbed. It will be a fairly firm dough. Cover and rest (autolyse) for 30 minutes.

Add the salt + ½ tsp. of water (to help it dissolve). Lift and fold the dough over itself several times, and squish with your hands to incorporate. The dough will tear slightly as you fold, and the salt will not fully dissolve. Don't worry- this is normal. Work the dough as best you can until it comes back together into a rough ball. At this point, you shouldn't feel any grains of salt beneath your hands.

Bulk fermentation: Cover your bowl with plastic wrap and leave it in a warm spot to rise. Your dough is ready when it no longer looks dense, and has increased in volume about 1½- 2x its original size. This can take anywhere from 3-12 hours depending on the temperature of your ingredients, the potency of your starter and surrounding environment. (Check out The Clever Carrot for her Winter Weekend Baking schedule if interested in a more detailed schedule). 

Stretch & folds: During bulk fermentation, you have the option to perform a series of 'stretch & folds' to strengthen the dough. Simply gather a portion of the dough, stretch it upwards and then fold it over itself. Rotate the bowl ¼ turn and repeat this process until you have come full circle. Do every 30 minutes for 2 hours. Although this step is not mandatory, it will increase the total volume of your bread.

Cutting & shaping: To cut and shape the dough, divide your work surface in half; lightly flour one side (for cutting) and leave the other half clean (for shaping).

Remove the dough from the bowl, and place onto the floured section so that it does not stick. You do not need to 'punch down' the dough; it will gently deflate as you fold and shape it.
Cut the dough in half to make 2 loaves, or leave it whole for a single loaf.

To shape, use a bench scraper to move your dough to the non-floured section (if there is any flour present, it will be difficult to shape- brush away any excess). Gather the dough, one side at a time, and fold it into the center. Flip the dough over and place it seam side down. Using your hands, gently cup the sides of the dough and rotate it, using quarter turns in a circular motion. You can also pull it towards you to even out the shape. Repeat this process until you are happy with its appearance. *See note below.

Second rise: Coat the bottom of your Dutch oven with cornmeal. Place the dough inside for a second shorter rise, about 1 hour. It is ready when the dough is slightly puffy, try not to over-rise the dough at this point or it will lose some of its strength, and will not get the boost it needs to produce a nice, round loaf. 

Preparing the oven: About half an hour before you're ready to bake, preheat your oven to 450 F.

Slashing the dough: Right before your bread goes into the oven, make a shallow slash about 2 inches long in the center of the dough. Use a bread lame, a sharp pairing or serrated knife.

Place your bread into the oven (lid on) and bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 400 degrees and continue baking with the lid on for 10 more minutes. Remove the lid, and continue to bake (uncovered) for an additional 40 minutes or until deep, golden brown, rotating the pot halfway through. Keep in mind that all ovens are different; you might have to make minimal adjustments to these temperatures.

During the last 10 minutes of baking, crack open the oven door. This allows the moisture to escape, leaving your bread with a crisp crust. You can also take the internal temperature of your bread to double check that it is done. For sourdough, it should read about 205 F.

Cooling: Remove the bread from the oven, and cool on a wire rack for at least an hour before slicing. Don't cut too soon or else the inside will have a gummy texture!

NOTES
*When shaping, the idea is for the dough to catch enough surface tension on a non-floured area in order to create a tight ball. If there is flour present, it will slide around...and drive you nuts.