BEST EVER SOURDOUGH OATMEAL BREAD

Best Ever Sourdough Oatmeal Bread image

Provided by Renee Pottle

Categories Bread

Time 50m

Yield 1 loaf

Number Of Ingredients 7

2 cups active sourdough starter
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1½ cups rolled oats (either old-fashioned or quick)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1½ tsp salt
3 Tbsp honey
1 - 1¼ cups lukewarm milk

Steps:

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl or your stand mixer bowl.
Combine until a loose dough forms. Cover and let sit 30 minutes.
Knead dough 5 - 10 minutes or until dough is smooth. The dough will still be quite wet. That's ok if you are using a stand mixer. If you are kneading by hand you my need to add a little more flour to keep the dough from sticking. Just add as little as possible as we want to keep this a soft dough.
Place dough in a greased bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place, about 2 hours.
Shape dough and place in a large greased loaf pan. Cover and let rise for an additional 1 - 1½ hours.
If you are using a regular metal or glass loaf pan bake at 375 degrees for 50 - 55 minutes or until the interior reaches 200 degrees (I use my trusty digital thermometer for this). If you are using an unglazed terra cotta pan (like I do, shown above) follow the directions that come with the pan. For example, I soak the pan in water for 15 minutes and then place the bread in a cold oven, set the temperature to 475 and bake for about 50 minutes.
When done, remove from pan and let cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting. This is important to let the crumb set so you will get nice even slices.