Multigrain Sourdough Boule

By norsegal8

This sourdough loaf is enhanced with whole grains and a generous topping of seeds.

New to sourdough? Find the help you need for all of your sourdough baking at our Sourdough Essentials page.

Ingredients

• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 cup Harvest Grains Blend
• 2 cups ripe (fed) sourdough starter
• 1 3/4 cups King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 3/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, artisan bread topping, or your favorite blend of seeds

Details

Preparation time 35mins
Cooking time 123mins
Adapted from kingarthurflour.com

Preparation

Step 1

In a large mixing bowl, or the bucket of a bread machine, combine the Harvest Grains Blend and boiling water. Let cool to lukewarm

Add the fed sourdough starter and the remaining dough ingredients, and mix and knead — by hand, mixer, bread machine or food processor — until you've made a soft dough, adding additional water or flour as needed.

Cover the dough in the bowl, and let it rise until it's almost doubled, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased work surface, and gently fold it over a few times to deflate it. Shape it into a large round.

Place the round on a lightly greased baking sheet, and cover it with lightly greased plastic wrap. Or place in a round covered baker, about 4.2-quart and 10" diameter, that's been sprayed with non-stick baking spray and sprinkled with sesame seeds or cornmeal, and put on the cover. Let the loaf rise until it's very puffy, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 425°F.

Just before baking, brush with water, and sprinkle with seeds. Use a lame or a very sharp knife to make four slashes across the top of the loaf, in a crosshatch pattern.

Bake the bread for 40 minutes. Uncover the loaf if in a covered baker, and continue to bake 10 to 15 minutes, until the loaf is golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center registers 190°F. (A loaf baked on a baking sheet will need to bake for 38 to 45 minutes total.)

Remove the bread from the oven, let sit in the baker for 5 minutes, then turn out and cool on a rack.

Yield: 1 large loaf.