Oatmeal and Flaxseed Sourdough

One of the hardest things about baking our own sourdough bread for us has been the wait from when it comes out of the oven to it cooling down enough for us to cut it to see how we fared in terms of crumb. We often end up cutting it while it’s still quite warm and then curse ourselves about compromising the texture due to sheer impatience. So this time we decided to rid ourselves of the temptation and go out for Irani chai and samosa while the breads were cooling. When we came back, happy and satiated, our breads were ready to be cut and they turned out beautiful!

So, coming to this Oatmeal and Flaxseed bread.. both Jini and I were loving the chewy, crusty breads we were pulling out of our oven but some of our other bread eaters wanted softer crumbs more reminiscent of the breads we are used to eating. After a few trials and mistrials, we ended up with this recipe adapted from House of bakes that yielded a much softer crumb that stayed soft even the next day.

 

What you need:

• 280 gms of all purpose or bread flour
• 113 gms of whole wheat flour
• 220 gms of water
• 10 gms of salt
• 45 gms of oats (we used instant porridge oats)
• 20 gms of flaxseed
• Levain: (young starter) 340 grams @ 100% hydration (equal proportions of water & flour)

How we stir:

Soaker: Mix the oats, and flaxseed with enough water to cover them at the same time as you feed your starter, then cover with plastic and let rest.

Autolyse: Add the levain to a large mixing bowl, add the water and disperse well. Add flour and mix just until the flour is wet. It should look like a shaggy mess. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes or upto an hour. We like a longish autolyse as it helps all the ingredients get introduced to each other and start talking.

Mix: Add salt and soaker till the salt and soaker and mix till it has been incorporated into the dough.

Turn: Stretch and fold every 30 minutes for two hours and letting rest between each stretch. That is four stretches and folds. In one of our breads at the second stretch we added 40 gms of finely chopped balsamic caramelised onions. Leave the dough covered for 30 minutes or till the dough increases in volume by 30%

Shape and proof: After the bulk fermentation is concluded shape as you would normally and proof in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours or overnight as desired and as fits best into your schedule.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven with a Dutch oven inside for 45 minutes at 250 C. Carefully remove the hot Dutch oven, score the dough on a parchment, lower the bread on the parchment into the Dutch oven, put the lid on and bake closed for 25 minutes. Then remove the lid, bring the temperature down to 220C and bake for another 20-25 minutes, till the crust is a beautiful brown.

Wait for an hour for the bread to cool down to slice, slather with butter and enjoy!