Clay's Multi-Grain Sourdough Bread
Reader Clay Blackwell of Lynchburg, Virginia sent us the following note and recipe, via e-mail:
"Hi! I have really enjoyed using King Arthur products and look forward to the new catalog each month! About a year ago, I ordered the sourdough culture, and have been baking with it ever since! I make at least one loaf a week for my husband and me. I often make extras to give to friends... they make a wonderful hostess present!
"After several months of working with recipes, I have finally developed the one I like best for everyday loaves. This is a multi-grain sourdough, and it is absolutely heavenly toasted or for sandwiches! I thought you might like to try it. Hope you enjoy this as much as I do!"
Teresa, the test kitchen baker who tested this recipe, says, "This recipe is yummy if you like whole wheat; I don't even like Harvest Grains Blend, but I thought this was good. My folks (the whole-wheat waffle fanatics) thought it was WONDERFUL. It makes a nicely shaped sandwich-style loaf." While we did change the recipe slightly, we kept it pretty close to Clay's original.
2/3 cup (6 1/2 ounces) sourdough starter, fed and ready to use
2/3 cup (5 3/8 ounces) lukewarm water
2 teaspoons (3/8 ounce) olive oil
1 tablespoon (1/2 ounce) sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups (5 1/4 to 6 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour*
1/4 cup (1 1/4 ounces) potato flour
1/2 cup (2 1/4 ounces)King Arthur Traditional Whole Wheat Flour
2 teaspoons King Arthur Whole-Grain Bread Improver (optional, but helpful)
1/3 cup (1 5/8 ounces) Harvest Grains Blend OR any blend of seeds and flaked or softened whole grain kernels
1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
*Ed. Note: Since sourdough starters vary quite a bit in consistency, from thin as popover batter to thick as soft dough, it?s difficult to give an exact amount of flour. If your starter is very thin, you may need an additional 2 to 4 tablespoons of flour. The dough should be slightly shaggy during the initial 3 to 4 minutes of mixing, and soft and slightly sticky after 10 minutes of kneading.
Combine all of the ingredients—in a bowl, the bowl of an electric mixer, or the pan of your bread machine—and mix and knead to form a smooth dough. Allow the dough to rise for 1 hour; it'll become puffy, though it may not double in bulk.
Lightly grease an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch bread pan. Gently deflate the risen dough, and shape it into a log. Place it in the pan, cover it lightly, and allow it to rise till it crests about 1 inch over the rim of the pan.
Bake the bread in a preheated 400°F oven for 25 to 30 minutes, tenting it with foil after 20 minutes if it's browning too quickly. When it's done, the bread will be golden brown, and will register 190°F on an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center. Remove the bread from the oven, and turn it out of the pan onto a rack, to cool completely. Yield: 1 loaf, 16 slices.
Nutrition information per serving (1 slice, 32g): 97 cal, 1g fat, 3g protein, 17g complex carbohydrates, 1g sugar, 1g dietary fiber, 168mg sodium, 87mg potassium, 2mg iron, 12mg calcium, 51mg phosphorus.
This recipe reprinted from The Baking Sheet Newsletter, Vol. XIII, No. 4, Spring 2002 issue.
Reviews
07/12/2010
It was a huge hit with my family. A great change from some of the other sourdough recipes I usually use - more sandwich bread like and less artisanal.
06/23/2010
I've been making artisanal sourdough bread, and it's delicious but it's also time- and labor-intensive. I wanted a loaf of sandwich bread and I needed dough that wouldn't take all day, and this is it. I tossed the ingredients in the bread machine and set it for dough. When the dough was ready, I formed the loaf. It rose perfectly. This was less than 3 hours start to finish, and it's delicious. I'll definitely be making this again.
12/18/2009
Since first baking and rating this bread, I have baked it weekly. I've tried it with several combinations of flour, and all have been successful. We use it as our sandwich bread, and I can slice it fairly thin, for that purpose. To answer a previous comment, I have also baked this loaf exactly by the recipe. It has never disappointed me--a very baker-friendly recipe. I appreciate reviewers sharing the success of their various substitutions because their comments make the recipes even more approachable and spur my own creativity in baking. KAF recipes and reviewers are my favorite "go to" source for reliable information.
11/01/2009
I followed the recipe and used all of the listed ingredients - no substitutions. I used KA sourdough starter. The bread was easy to make. I wish it had stated a stand mixer kneading time. I guessed and kneaded it for 8 minutes. The bread is dense and heavy as would be expected. It has a definite sour tang. I found that I prefer wheat breads that are sweet vs. sour. This is a good bread though. It does fall apart easily if sliced too thin. I think it is best toasted and slathered with butter. It would make an interesting sandwich bread.
10/22/2009
Has anyone made this recipe without substitutions? Why do people rate a recipe when they have never followed the directions in the first place? I want to know how the bread is using the correct ingredients and no substitutions.
This is a wonderfull loaf made just as listed. I hope you will make it and then rate it. Joan@bakershotline .
09/19/2009
Though I made a few variations, this was a wonderful bread. I changed the flours a bit, using: 1 1/2 C all purpose flour, 1/4 C. red wheat flour, 1/4 C. high gluten wheat flour, 1/4 C. rye flour. When I shaped the dough into a loaf I rolled it lightly in sunflower seeds. Absolutely wonderful.
08/04/2009
I made this recipe the other day. I included everything the test kitchen recommended and made two small changes. I added 1 tsp. of citric acid for some sour and 1 Tbs of Molasis for some sweet. I would have prefered it to rise a little more. First rise was an hour and a half. Second I let go 3 hours and it did not crest the loaf pan. Other than that the taste is amazing. Great little sandwich bread. Nice for toast. If I could get a higher rise it would be a "ten"
Yoyu may have added a bit too much citric acid. It can cause the gluten to break down resulting in less rise. Mary @ KAF br />
06/09/2009
This bread is delicious! And so easy to make. My husband loves it, too. Excellent crust and texture. I substituted KAF bread flour for the a-p, and used rye flour, in place of potato. Otherwise, I followed the recipe, including adding the enhancer and the Harvest Grains. I baked it in a silicone bread pan. It made a truly beautiful loaf.
05/07/2009
I've been trying to duplicate my local artisan baker's Country Loaf for a while, and this is the closest I've come. Great texture. I've made it twice, with different substitutions. Both times I used rye flour instead of potato flour, and the second time I also used honey instead of sugar and rolled oats instead of the grains blend to make a very nice sour honey oat. Also, both times I doubled the recipe and made one big country-style round loaf. It's true that it doesn't reise as high as you might think, but the texture is very good.
04/01/2009
I made this as a sandwich loaf for my husband. I thought the slices were too small but he really liked the size. My sourdough starter is 20+ years old made from a Sunset books yogurt recipe and it still makes an excellent loaf. I did not have potato flour but did have some buckwheat flour on hand and used it.
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