Soft Multigrain Sourdough Sandwich Bread

Make this amazingly soft and fluffy multigrain sourdough sandwich bread. It is true sourdough sandwich bread. There is no yeast in this bread. It is amazing and the flavor is perfection. With multiple grains included in the bread it is more hearty and flavorful.

Course Appetizer, bread

Cuisine American

Keyword multigrain bread, sourdough bread recipe, sourdough sandwich bread

Cook Time 30

Cold Fermentation 11

Servings loaves

Ingredients

300 grams sourdough starter active and bubbly
500 grams warm water
900 grams white bread flour
50 grams honey
40 grams olive oil or avocado oil
20 grams fine sea salt
100 grams whole wheat flour

For the soaker

40 grams multigrain cereal I use 10 grain, you can use what you can find. The kind that I use has all the other ingredients listed below so I do not add them to by dough.
160 grams water
20 grams sunflower seeds optional
10 grams old fashioned oats optional
25 grams quinoa optional

Instructions

To start I like to start this dough at night and let it bulk ferment overnight. I will give two options on how to make this bread.
Mix up your soaker 6 hours in advance. I have done it sooner with no issues, but used hot water to let it soak.
Add your water and multigrain ingredients. Let it sit and absorb the water until you are ready to make your dough.
In a large bowl, mix your fed sourdough start, soaker, water, flour, oil, honey and salt. I like to use my danish dough whisk to mix it together before then using my hands to finish combining it completely.
Next let this mixture sit covered for 1 hour.
Once it has sat for an hour, you want to do your stretch and folds. I like to do them every 20 minutes. This takes the place of the knead process that you usually do in a stand mixer. You can go as long as 30 minutes in between. But if you are in a bit of a hurry, you can do 20 minutes. You want to do 4 stretch and folds.
First Option (overnight bulk ferment)
Once you have completed your stretch and folds, cover the dough and let it sit overnight on your counter in a cool kitchen. Do not keep it too warm or it will over ferment which you do not want. I would say about 8 hours overnight is ideal.
In the morning, the dough should have doubled in size. Dump your dough out on the counter and shape it into 2-3 loaves depending on your pan size. I if I use my smaller pans I make three loaves.
Cover the loaves and let them rise until almost doubled in size. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees while they rise.
Right before baking, cut a few expansion slices in the top of the dough across the short side of the dough or a long expansion cut the full length.
Bake in the oven for about 35 minutes. When it comes out of the oven, brush butter on the top and let cool before cutting.
Second Option (Overnight Refrigeration)
Once you have finished your stretch and folds you can let your dough sit for about 3-4 hours and bulk ferment. Then put the dough directly in the fridge and leave it overnight or for 10-12 hours.
After it has been in the fridge, take it out and let it come to room temperature. This takes about 1-2 hours.
Divide the dough into two large sections if you want to large loaves. You can also cut it into 3 and makes 3 slightly smaller loaves.
Roll or stretch your dough into a rectangle. Fold it in thirds and then roll it up into itself. Pinch the ends and tuck them under. Place the dough into a greased loaf pan seam-side down. Cover with a wet towel or I like to use shower caps or plastic wrap and allow the dough to proof until it has doubled or almost doubled. I like to put it in a warm place to rise.
While it is rising, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Once the dough rises, cut some slices in the top and place in the oven. Place a pan with hot water below the bread to allow some steam. This helps with the crust and the rise of the bread.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the top is a nice golden brown. If you tap the top and it sounds hollow, it is done.
Remove the bread from the oven and carefully take the bread loaves out of the pans and let them cool on a wire rack. I like to brush butter to the tops of the loaves while they are still hot. This helps to soften the crust and adds the yummy butter flavor to it.
Cool completely and then cut and enjoy! These sandwich loaves are the perfect combination of sandwich bread and my traditional dutch oven sourdough bread!

Notes

Prior to baking, you can spray the loaves with water and sprinkle some multigrain cereal along with oats. This gives more texture and crunch to the crust and makes it look pretty too! This is totally optional.