Sourdough Oatmeal Bread

With hints of honey and nutty oatmeal flavors amid the classic sourdough tang, this sourdough oatmeal bread is made with whole grains and long fermented for great texture, flavor, and better digestion.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Ingredients
Tools you may need:
How to Make Sourdough Oatmeal Bread
Tips
Recipe FAQs
Baker’s Timeline
More Sourdough Recipes from the Farmhouse
Sourdough Oatmeal Bread Recipe

This easy oatmeal sourdough bread recipe is a variation of our favorite whole-wheat sandwich bread. Adding cooked oats for more multi-grain goodness, it’s another delightful, long-fermented, nutritious loaf for your family to enjoy.

It’s a great loaf to pair with homemade raw milk butter or a loaded breakfast sandwich with an over-easy egg. It’s also a healthy snack for constantly hungry kids! We love to spread it with homemade strawberry jam sweetened with honey!

The addition of oats is great for the many health benefits, like added fiber, protein, vitamins, and minerals. And when soaked, it gently blends into this loaf with a creamy texture, soft crumb, and subtle, earthy flavors.

Honey and oats are also a naturally harmonious pairing, working perfectly with the tang of the sourdough.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Whole grains – Made with oats and whole wheat flour, this homemade bread is nourishing and satisfying.

Delicious, multi-purpose loaf – It’s lightly sweetened with honey, tangy from fermentation, and easily sliced for sandwiches, toast, or a wholesome addition to your main dish.

Straightforward recipe – The steps are simple and the bulk of the time is hands-off while the dough rises and ferments. This is a good one for starting the day before, rising overnight, and enjoying freshly baked.

Ingredients

Oats – Rolled oats or quick oats work well. Steel-cut oats will not work.

Honey – Maple syrup can be substituted.

Sourdough starter – You must use an active, recently fed starter.

All-purpose flour – I prefer unbleached.

A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.

Tools you may need:

Stand Mixer

Loaf Pan

How to Make Sourdough Oatmeal Bread

oats soaking in water in a measuring cup.

Step 1: Feed your starter 4-12 hours before starting the dough. Aim to start the recipe when your starter is most active and bubbly. In a small bowl, stir together one cup of oats and 1/2 cup of hot water. Set aside for 10 minutes to soak and soften.

flour, soaked oatmeal, water, sourdough starter, sat, in a stand mixer bowl.

Step 2: Add all the ingredients the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook. You may need to add more or less flour based on the hydration of your starter.

bread dough kneaded enough in a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment.

Step 3: Knead for about 10 to 20 minutes, until the dough is pliable and smooth and can pass the windowpane test. Take a sample of the dough, stretch it into a square, and observe whether it can be stretched thin enough to see through without breaking. This shows that the gluten has been developed enough. If not, continue kneading for a few more minutes to develop the gluten further.

bread dough doubled in size in a metal bowl.

Step 4: Place dough in a large, greased bowl, cover tightly with a lid or plastic wrap, and begin the bulk fermentation for 10-12 hours in a warm place. Rise time will vary based on the maturity and activity of your starter, as well as the temperature of your home.

Step 5: Prepare a loaf pan by greasing it with olive oil or lining it with parchment paper. Transfer the fermented dough to a lightly floured work surface and shape it by rolling out a rectangle and rolling that up into a loaf. Add tension to the loaf during this process by rolling it firmly against your countertop. Add the loaf seam side down to your prepared pan, cover with a tea towel, and begin the second rise for 2 to 4 hours or until doubled. This rise will increase the volume and strength of the dough.

sourdough oatmeal bread dough in a loaf pan topped with an egg wash and dried oatmeal.

Step 6: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. If adding an egg wash, beat one egg yolk with one tablespoon of water and gently brush over the top of your loaf. Sprinkle with oats. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes or until golden brown. For best results, cool completely before slicing.

Tips

Steel-cut oats will not work in this recipe. Rolled oats or quick oats work well.
To rise the bread more quickly, place the dough in a warm, but not hot, location. You could try placing it near a wood stove, on a counter above a running dishwasher, or on top of the refrigerator.
Overfermentation occurs when the dough is left to ferment for too long, which may result in sloppy, wet, unmanageable dough.
Create tension on the outside of your loaf while shaping to ensure a good rise.
If you do not have a stand mixer, you can use the stretch and fold method. With the dough on a lightly floured work surface, grab one edge and pull up to stretch, then fold it back to the center of the dough and press. Make a quarter turn of the dough, stretch and fold again, and repeat once more. This is one round. Perform one round every 15 minutes, then perform three more rounds spaced 30 minutes apart. You will have a total of six rounds to develop the gluten in the bread dough.
If you would like to continue fermenting the dough, do so after the first rise and shaping, placing the loaf pan in the fridge, covered.
Before baking, add a sprinkle of oats to the top of the loaf after applying an egg wash for a rustic look.

Hand holding a slice of sourdough oatmeal bread.

Recipe FAQs

How should I store sourdough sandwich bread?

Sourdough bread should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to five days.
You can also freeze it for 3 to 6 months after storing in a freezer-safe bag or container. Thaw at room temperature.

Is sourdough bread good for you?

Yes! With sourdough bread, the grains are fermented, making them easier to digest and the nutrients more bioavailable. Sourdough also contains prebiotics which are important in feeding the good bacteria in your gut.

Why won’t my bread rise?

There are a few factors that can contribute to your bread not rising.
Your starter might not be active enough. Be sure it is a responsive, mature starter. If it is a new starter, feed it for a couple of weeks before attempting to bake bread with it.
Your environment may be too cool, causing the starter to slow significantly. It may rise very slowly in this case.
If the water you added was too hot, your starter’s wild yeast may have been impacted. Unfiltered water containing chlorine or other chemicals can also harm the natural yeasts, affecting the rise.

Who should avoid sourdough bread?

While fermentation makes sourdough easier to digest and lowers the gluten content, those with celiac or gluten sensitivity should avoid sourdough bread.

Is store-bought sourdough bread really sourdough?

While some smaller bakeries may sell true sourdough, many commercially sold sourdough breads are not the real deal. They are sometimes made with a very small amount of sourdough but primarily risen via commercial yeast. Combined with other ingredients to preserve freshness, prolong shelf-life, and achieve a sourdough-like flavor, the result is a less-nutritious copycat that can be produced much more quickly.

Baker’s Timeline

9 am: Feed your sourdough starter.

7-9 pm: Add all the ingredients to the stand mixer and knead until smooth and pliable. Ferment overnight until doubled.

8 am the next day: Shape and place into a loaf pan. Cover and let the dough ferment for 2-4 hours.

10 am–12 pm: Once it has doubled, bake in preheated oven until golden.

More Sourdough Recipes from the Farmhouse

If you try this recipe and love it, I would love it if you could come back and give it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram @farmhouseonboone.