Sourdough Honey Whole Wheat Bread Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat sourdough starter (don’t worry if you only have white starter, it’ll work as well!)
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/4 cup mild honey
• 2 large eggs
• 6 cups (divided) whole wheat flour, plus extra for kneading
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

Directions:

1. The Night before you are going to bake bread, using a large bowl make a sponge by mixing the starter with the milk and 2 cups of flour.
2. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature overnight.
3. The next morning, stir the sponge before beginning.
4. Add in the honey and eggs, stirring until incorporated.
5. Add the flour, salt and butter and stir with your hand or a wooden spoon until a rough mass forms.
6. Using a pastry scraper, scrape the dough out of the bowl and onto a lightly floured work surface.
7. Knead until smooth and elastic, dusting the work surface with only enough flour to keep the dough from sticking, 5-7 minutes.
8. Form the dough into a ball and transfer into a lightly oiled bowl.
9. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free spot until it doubles in bulk.
10. Sourdough generally takes longer to rise than commercial yeast, so expect anywhere from two to four hours, depending on the strength of the starter and the heat in your kitchen.
11. Butter two 9×5-inch loaf pans.
12. Once the dough has doubled in bulk, punch down the dough and using the pastry scraper, scrape out onto a clean work surface.
13. Cut dough in half with a sharp knife or bench scraper.
14. For each half, evenly flatten the dough with the heel of of your hand.
15. Roll the bottom third up onto itself and seal it by pushing it gently with the heel of your hand.
16. Continue rolling and sealing the dough until you have an oval log.
17. Place the log, seam side down, in the prepared loaf pans.
18. Press on them lightly to flatten them evenly into the pans.
19. Cover loosely with a kitchen towel and let the loaves rise in a warm, draft-free spot until the double in size, up to two hours.
20. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
21. Slash loaves, then immediately bake loaves until they are honey brown and sound hollow when tapped on the top, 35-40 minutes, turning the loaves once for even browning. Be careful not to overbake this bread or it will be dry.
22. Carefully remove the loaves from the pans and let cool completely on wire racks before slicing.

[Recipe Courtesy of Sarah's Musings]

You are reading Recipe: Sourdough Honey Whole Wheat Bread. This post is the property of Recipe Bay © 2008.

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