Even though I have more bread recipes than any one person can reasonably hope to bake, I’m always trying new combinations of ingredients to up the nutrition and flavor for that one slice of bread I allow myself to eat every day. Now please understand, if my body would allow it, I would eat some type of bread with each of my meals. Because I love bread. Matters not if it’s in the form of a loaf, or English muffin, or bagel, or cornbread, etc. etc., I love them all. But as I’m aging, or should I say, as both Mr. C. and I are accumulating years, we absolutely need to cut down on carbs. Wahhh. But carbs are what make everything taste good. So how to handle this predicament? (It really is an unpleasant reality of growing older.)
Well, the first thing to consider is the nutritional value of the carbs that we do eat. Because truly, you can’t get away from carbs. For example, we both love sweet potatoes, brown rice, and lentils. Yes they are high in carbs, but they are none the less very, very good for us. We just need to learn to enthusiastically embrace portion control. (Like that’s ever going to happen!)
So this bread contains oats. Oats may be one of the healthiest whole grain foods on this planet. It also contains some whole wheat flour and whole milk. (BTW, since we use very little milk, we always buy whole milk.) An interesting fact about milk from the Guardian:
“Low-fat milks may contain 1% or 2% fat, while whole milk contains 3.25% fat. Cup for cup, whole fat milk contains fewer carbohydrates than low-fat or skim because more of its volume is made up of fat, which does not contain lactose. It also has slightly less protein.”
So bottom line. Yes this bread contains carbohydrates. But it has some redeeming qualities too. Besides being full blown, in your face, really and truly delectable. And undeniably easy to build.
So if there is one bread recipe I would advise a novice sourdough bread baker to try from the plethora of bread recipes that grace this site, it would be this one.
As always, stay safe, stay savvy, and stay happy. Peace and love to all.
1 c. sourdough starter discard, at room temperature
2 tsp. active dry yeast
2 T. honey
1 T. extra virgin olive oil, plus more for rising the dough
¾ tsp. kosher salt
½ c. + 2 T. whole milk
1 c. old-fashioned rolled oats
¾ c. whole wheat flour
1½ c. unbleached all-purpose flour (more or less as required)
Combine the sourdough starter, yeast, honey, olive oil, salt, and milk in the bowl of your stand mixer. Let sit for 5 minutes.
Using your dough hook, stir until combined. Stir in the oats, whole wheat flour, and enough of the all-purpose flour to form a rough, shaggy dough.
Knead the dough for about 5 minutes or until the dough comes together into a smooth ball. (There probably will still be a bit of dough languishing on the bottom of the bowl. Ignore it.) The finished dough should still be sticky, but should easily form a ball and feel elastic.
Pour a bit of olive oil over the dough, and using your hands, roll the dough (even the recalcitrant dough from the bottom of the bowl) into a ball. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for about 1½ hours. (It won’t quite double in bulk, but it should look larger and puffy.)
Roughly shape the dough into a loaf, then place in a greased 9×5-inch loaf pan. Pat the dough into the corners of the pan and flatten the top as much as possible.
Loosely cover the dough with plastic wrap that has been lightly coated with cooking spray (greased side down). Let loaf rise for 60-75 minutes or until the dough has just cleared the top of the pan.
When you see the dome of the loaf just starting to peek over the top of the pan, pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. (This should give the oven time to pre-heat before the loaf is ready to bake.)
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the loaf is dark brown and registers at least 190 degrees on an instant read thermometer.
Remove from oven and tip the loaf out onto a cooling rack. Let cool completely before slicing. Store in an airtight container.