Milk - Rich Multigrain Sourdough

We are sourdough nuts around here. My mom and I love to scout the local bakeries (at least the ones that still make their bread in house) and farmer's markets for the latest tastes on offer, which are never the same twice in a row. Even the same sourdough recipe tastes different batch to batch, due to the dynamics of the starter, water and fermentation environment that shift from day to day. It's because of this subtle but magical change that we are drawn to more artisan style, "wild yeast" bread over conventional when shopping - and why, even though they take longer, I still bake sourdough loaves at home.

While a lot of sourdough recipes I see are relatively lean, with no added fat or eggs, I wanted to give a "milk bread" a shot after finding myself with a goodly quantity of whole milk nearing it's sell-by date. An egg adds extra richness too, and while I didn't add any fat to the dough itself (the milk does a more than thorough job of tenderizing) I couldn't resist brushing the top of the freshly baked loaf with a little butter. For a little bit of extra nutrition, though, I did opt for a 100% whole grain dough, and added extra grains in the form of an 8 grain hot cereal. The loaf had a nice tang, but was soft and ever so slightly sweet inside, perfect for morning toast as well as serving alongside a lunchtime bowl of soup. A slice is definitely a welcome addition to the lunchbox of parents and kids alike, and will keep you going for a while!

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Milk - Rich Multigrain Sourdough
Makes one loaf, 16 slices
Levain
40g sourdough starter (75% hydration), recently fed
82g whole milk
70g dark rye flour

1. Mix well, cover with a towel and let sit at room temperature for 12 hours.

Dough
All the levain (above)
440g whole wheat bread flour
45g 8 grain hot cereal
55g sugar
25g buttermilk powder
1 egg
1 tsp salt
270g whole milk
1 tbsp butter, melted, for brushing

1. Combine the levain with the whole wheat flour, cereal, sugar, buttermilk powder, egg, salt and milk, beating well. Cover and let rest 1 hour.
2. Knead for 15 minutes (I used low speed on my stand mixer).
3. Cover and rise at room temperature for 2 hours, then deflate, cover and place in the fridge overnight.
4. In the morning, deflate thoroughly, and rest for one hour.
5. Grease a 9x5” loaf pan and scrape the dough into it.
6. Cover and let rise 4-5 hours, until it crests the top of the pan.
7. Heat the oven to 375F.
8. Bake for 40-45min.
9. Brush with butter directly out of the oven and let rest 5 minutes in the pan, then turn out and cool completely on a wire rack.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 166.0
Total Fat: 2.6 g
Cholesterol: 15.8 mg
Sodium: 28.2 mg
Total Carbs: 31.3 g
Dietary Fiber: 5.2 g
Protein: 6.8 g