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The Perfect Loaf
I’ve been working on the perfect multigrain sandwich loaf recipe for the last couple of months. My criteria for this perfect loaf? The crumb has to be super moist and the crust not too hard for kids to eat. It needs to slice easily. The shelf life has to be at least 4 days. And lots of seeds and whole grains for protein and fiber.
I started with Emilie Raffa’s recipe for a Multigrain Sandwich Bread (pg. 69) in Artisan Sourdough Made Simple. I highly recommend this book! Then I upped the whole wheat flour and modified the seeds and some techniques in the process. Seeping flax and chia creates a starchy liquid that makes the crumb extra soft and moist.
This healthy loaf meets all my criteria for the perfect Multigrain Sourdough Sandwich Bread. Toasted with salted butter and honey, it doesn’t get better, except for maybe a BLT with summer ripe tomatoes! Yum!
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Multigrain Sourdough Sandwich Bread Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 hours
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 11 hours
- Yield: 1 sandwich loaf 1x
- Category: bread
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: n/a
- Diet: Vegan
Description
I usually double this recipe to make two loaves at a time. My family can easily devour 1 of these loaves a day.
If you don’t have flax, hemp seed and chia seeds on hand, you can substitute for 60 grams of other seeds or grains like more oats, soaked quinoa, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, chopped pumpkin seeds, etc.
If you are new to making sourdough, I recommend reading my step-by-step guide How to Make Sourdough Bread.
Ingredients
300 g room temperature water
50 g active starter
20 g honey
45 g coconut oil/ melted butter/ oil
200 g whole wheat flour
300 g high protein bread flour (I use Guisto’s High Protein Performer)
In Separate Bowl
10 g salt
25 g quick oats
30 g flax seeds
15 g chia seeds
15 g hemp seed (raw, no hull)
245 g hot water
Instructions
Make your Dough
In a small mixing bowl, stir together the oats, seeds and salt. Then add hot water and stir again. Let this mixture sit at room temperature for at least 20 minutes.
In a large mixing bowl, weigh out your warm water, starter, whole wheat and bread flour, melted coconut oil (or other oil) and honey, taring the scale between each ingredient.
Form this into a rough dough with your hands. Cover and let sit for 20 minutes or so.
Check the temp on the small mixing bowl with the steeping seeds. If it is still too hot, let it sit for another 10 minutes or so or stir in an ice cube. It can be pretty warm to the touch but if it hurts when you touch it it’s too warm for your dough (90-120 is a good temperature).
Pour the contents of the small mixing bowl over the dough in the large mixing bowl. Smoosh all the ingredients together with your hands. It will feel slimy and wet at first and takes about 2 minutes of working it to get the ingredients to mix together.
Bulk Fermentation
Cover and let sit for about 30 minutes and then give a full set of turns. With wet hands, reach under the dough on one side, stretch it up and over. So the dough from the bottom on that one side is now on the top. Turn the bowl a quarter turn and repeat. Repeat until you have done 4 turns. Set your timer for another 30 minutes and repeat. Do this 2-4 times through the first couple of hours of bulk fermentation.
After 6-10 hours of bulk fermentation, oil your loaf pan and pour the dough out onto a floured cutting board. Let the dough rest about 10 minutes. This is a very wet dough and it will be sticky and a bit hard to work with but it’s worth it. You’ll need lots of flour on your hands, and to use a bench scraper/chef knife/santoku to move it around quickly on your board.
Shape the Dough
Shape the dough into an oval with a seam on one side. Place the dough seam side down in your loaf pan.
Proof/ Final Fermentation
Let the dough proof again at room temperature for 1-4 hours depending on how long your bulk fermentation was. I usually go long on bulk fermentation because I do it overnight and shorter on proofing. You’re shooting for 10-12 hours of total time.
Bake
Preheat the oven for 425 F.
With wet hands rub the top of the dough, then sprinkle with oats or other seeds.
Place loaf in the oven, reduce the temperature immediately to 400 F and bake for 55 minutes.
Cool and Enjoy!
Remove from oven and let cool before slicing.
So delicious!
Notes
I mix this dough with room temperature or cold water because we will be adding warm ingredients to it and I like a long 8-10 bulk fermentation overnight for a morning bake. If you want to start the dough in the morning and bake in the evening, you can use warm water and do a shorter bulk fermentation.
I store my loaf in the loaf pan, covered with plastic wrap and it stays nice and fresh for about 5 days.
I’ve made this bread three times now and my family is addicted! The dough is much more wet than I was used to but it turns out wonderfully each time. Thank you for sharing & I’ll definitely pass the recipe along.
Really amazing recipe! Thank you, it worked so well. It will be in our bread recipe rotation for sure!
Glad to hear it Sophie.
Is there a nutrition label available for this recipe?
Have you ever doubled the recipe and it turn out well? I would like to try and make two loafs at the same time. Thanks