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–+ servings
Sliced seeded wholegrain bread on a cutting board.

Multigrain Sourdough Bread

Kate Schat
When an airy, classic loaf of sourdough bread just isn't going to cut it for making a good sandwich you need a recipe for Multigrain Sourdough Bread. This one is a hearty, seedy, whole grain twist on my regular sourdough sandwich bread.
5 from 10 votes
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Rising Time 12 hours
Total Time 13 hours 15 minutes
Course Bread
Cuisine American
Servings 24 servings
Calories 166 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 1 ½ cups active sourdough starter
  • ¼ cup sugar or 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1 Tablespoon salt
  • 2 cups water If you want a shorter rise, add warm water. Longer rise, add cold water.
  • 2 eggs optional
  • 2 cups whole wheat flour I use fresh ground hard red wheat
  • ⅓ cup small seeds such as poppy, sesame, flax, chia or millet
  • ⅔ cup big seeds such as sunflower or pumpkin seeds
  • 4 cups white flour

Instructions
 

Multigrain Sourdough Dough

  • Mix starter, sugar, salt, water, and eggs well together in a stand mixer or by hand. (I use a Danish dough whisk by hand.)
  • Add whole wheat flour and all seeds, then add white flour. (This dough is going to be a little stickier than my sourdough sandwich bread recipe, because the seeds and whole wheat take time to soak up all the liquid. It should still be a nice formed dough, just not as smooth.)
  • Mix it together just enough for there to be no dry flour, then cover and let rest 30 minutes. (This lets the whole wheat soak up the liquid and gives you a taller loaf with a softer inside crumb.)
  • Now knead it together 15-20 folds, right there in the bowl. It'll still be a little stickier because the seeds take longer to hydrate, but still a nice workable dough, not sloppy at all.
  • Now, choose your path for first rise depending on your schedule and weather. Warmth speeds up sourdough, cold slows it. This is all on counter unless specified.

Winter Rising

  • Let the dough sit for 12-18 hours.
  • Shape it and allow for a second rise of 2-3 hours. (If your house is really nippy in the morning like mine, I often preheat the oven for 2 minutes, with the bread pans in there, turn it off, then let it rise for an hour or two. This way I'm not waiting all day for them to be ready)

Alternative Winter Rising

  • Let the dough sit for 4-6 hours.
  • Shape it and put it in fridge for 12-18 hours. (Take it out an hour before baking to come to room temperatures. Our laundry room is fridge-ish temp so we put them back there.)
  • Before baking when I use this method, I put bread pans in oven, turn oven on for 2 minutes then turn it off. Let sit in warm oven an hour, take out, then preheat oven for baking. This is my current favourite method.

Summer Rising

  • Let it sit for 6-8 hours.
  • Shape and rise a second time for 1-2 hours.

Shaping Multigrain Sourdough Bread

  • After your first rise, it's time to shape! Dump your dough onto a floured surface and divide into two.
  • Press each piece of dough roughly into a 6x8inch rectangle.
  • Fold like a letter with long sides in then flip it seam side down to let rest for about 10 minutes. (This is called a preshape/bench rest and makes your loaves taller!)
  • Prepare your loaf pan by lining with parchment or greasing the pan.
  • After the bench rest, flip seam side up, press into a rectangle again but this time roll it up, and tuck sides under to make a tidy loaf, then put into the loaf pan.
  • Let rise for second rise depending on which path you choose. It's not going to be doubled, more like 1 ½x, noticeably more puffy for sure though.

Baking Multigrain Sourdough Bread

  • Preheat oven to 425°F.
  • Using your sharpest knife, slash the loaf by slicing a one inch deep line down the length of the bread. You can get artistic or just leave it at that. This allows the bread to expand and rise in the oven better.
  • Put pans into oven and bake for 25 min, turn around and then bake 20 more.
  • Remove bread from oven and put on a cooling rack. Remove from pan and let cool until around room temp. It's hard to wait but I promise its worth it! The bread is still finishing up baking as it cools.

Notes

  • You can also bake it in a boule, as instructed in my Sourdough Boule recipe! Although if you feel like the dough is a little more soft than it should be, go for the loaf pan, it's more forgiving and prevents your dough from spreading out wide as it rises and bakes.

Nutrition

Calories: 166kcalCarbohydrates: 29gProtein: 5gFat: 3gSaturated Fat: 0.4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0.001gCholesterol: 14mgSodium: 298mgPotassium: 98mgFiber: 2gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 23IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 32mgIron: 2mg
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