How to Make Honey Oat Sourdough Bread

This Honey Oat Sourdough Bread is a delicious recipe that creates a gorgeous, artisan loaf everyone will enjoy! It is a simple twist on your traditional sourdough bread, that is easy to make, and tastes incredible.

I am a sucker for a loaf of bread that has a bit of texture in it. Anything with seeds or grains and I am all over it! This Honey Oat Sourdough Bread is great way to get in some whole grains and texture, in a way that the whole family (including your kids) will still love. It has just a hint of sweetness from the honey, making it truly perfect in my eyes.

To make this bread, you are basically following my classic sourdough bread recipe. However with addition of whole oats and honey, the hydration is adjusted as the oats soak up more moisture in the bread. You mix your dough as normal, do your folds and let it bulk rise. Because of the honey in the dough, that sugar makes the dough rise quicker so make sure you keep an eye on it!

I love this honey oat bread for breakfast. It makes some of the most delicious toast, French toast and is even delicious with eggs. It is a super easy way to switch up your sourdough loaves, without having to add inclusions. This bread freezes well if you want to make a couple loaves at a time, and makes beautiful gifts too.

Tips for Making Honey Oat Sourdough Bread

1. As always, you want to use a strong, active sourdough starter that has been fed a 1:4:4 ratio about 8-10 hours before you make the dough. This ensures you will get a nice beautiful rise in your bread.
2. The dough will seem very wet and sticky when you first mix it. This is what you want. Add the dough sits and rises, the oats soak up moisture in the bread so the extra liquid to start is needed. Keep your hands wet for folding and it’s easy to work with.
3. Because of the sugar from the honey in this dough, it will rise faster than a plain loaf of sourdough. Whatever your standard bulk rise time is for your sourdough bread I recommend cutting that down but an hour, maybe even more, depending on the warmth of your home.
4. The faster rise also goes for the cold proof. I often will leave my bread in the fridge for a couple days before baking. With this loaf, I find the sweet spot is about 5-6 hours before the dough over proofs because of the bit of sugar in it.

Honey Oat Sourdough Bread Ingredients

Sourdough Starter– As mentioned above, you want to use a strong and active sourdough starter that was fed a 1:4:4 ratio about 8-10 hours before making your dough.

Flour– Whichever flour you typically use for sourdough is great. Unbleached all purpose or bread flour.

Oats- You want whole rolled oats and now quick oats for this recipe.

Honey- Any kind of honey you like is great.

Salt– A fine salt of your choice.

Water– Room temperature water.

The Steps

Make the Dough

1. Start by whisking together the water, starter and honey in a large bowl until milky.
2. Once mixed, add in the oats, flour and salt. Stir until well combined and you have a sticky, shaggy dough.
3. Then, cover the bowl with a tea towel and let it rest on the counter for 45 minutes.

Fold & Bulk Rise

1. After 45 minutes, perform a set of stretch and folds or coil folds. Cover the dough back up and let rest 30 minutes.
2. Repeat this process 2 more times for a total of 3 sets of coil folds over a couple hours.
3. Once you have finished all your folds, cover the dough with a damp tea towel of plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for 5-6 hours.

Shape

1. After the dough has about doubled in size, and has some bubbles near the surface, dump it out onto a clean counter.
2. To shape the dough, gently stretch it into a rectangle. Then take the top third and fold it into the middle. Followed by the bottom third folded into the middle, over top of the top fold. You should have a log type shape now.
3. Take one end of the log, and roll it up, then pinch the sides of the dough together to seal it up.
4. Then, take your shaped dough, and push it away from you on the counter, and gently pull it back toawards you in the shape of a candy cane. Do this about 4-6 times and it helps create surface tension on the top of your loaf.
5. Finally, place a large handful of oats into a shallow dish, and gently flip your bread ball over into to oats to get the top of your loaf, coated in oats. Gently pick up the loaf, and place it oat side down into a banneton or a bowl with a tea towel.
6. Next, you are going to stitch the dough, This is where you pinch the dough and pull it into the center, around all sides of the dough.
7. Lightly sprinkle the dough with flour then cover loosely with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for about 6 hours.

Bake

1. When you are ready to bake the bread, preheat your oven with your dutch oven inside to 450F.
2. Then, flip the bread out of the banneton and onto a sheet of parchment or a bread sling. Score a nice big slit along the top of the bread using a bread lame.
3. Lift the bread into the hot dutch oven, place the lid on and bake for 20 minutes.
4. After 20 minutes, remove the lid, and turn the oven down to 410F. Bake for another 20 minutes or until your preferred golden color.
5. Allow the honey oat sourdough bread to cool for 1-2 hours before slicing and enjoying!

If you give this recipe a try, leave a comment or recipe review below!

Looking for more sourdough bread recipes to try?

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https://cmbarndominium.com/hot-honey-charcuterie-sourdough-focaccia-bread/

https://cmbarndominium.com/cheesy-garlic-artichoke-sourdough-bread/