' Sourdough bread is a big favorite in my family, and I love baking all kinds of different things with sourdough starter. I’ve got recipes for bread, pancakes and muffins, and I’m always on the lookout for more. I’ve made this recipe for sourdough bread twice since Labor Day. The first time, it didn’t rise at all, so while tasty, it was so dense my father-in-law had trouble cutting it with an electric knife! The second time, it turned out wonderful. In fact, Matt’s been using it for sandwiches instead of the bread I bought from the store. He says the sourness of the bread is much more full-bodied a day or so after the bread was baked, is fantastic with ham, cheese and spicy brown mustard, and is really filling. Based on that statement, I think I will be making this bread more often. 
Now, I’ve tagged this recipe as Diabetes Friendly because my blood sugar levels after eating it have been really good. I know some people find they have problems with sourdough, regardless of the kind of flour it’s made with. All I can say is this recipe for homemade sourdough bread (I even made the starter from scratch using just flour and water) has no negative impact on me, so your mileage may vary.
This recipe makes enough dough for two loaves of bread. I know you can freeze bread dough, but I’d rather bake the bread right away and then freeze one loaf. The bread I made is definitely not like any store-bought sourdough breads I’ve had. It’s not light and airy – quite the opposite in fact. It was a wonderfully firm bread, with a denseness that I love. In fact, each loaf weight a little over 2 lbs! I know I offered to mail my father-in-law a loaf, but given how heavy it is – and how delicious it is – I think I’ll just have to wait and bring over a couple of fresh loaves the next time we visit.
The bread recipe I used was About.com’s Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread. Just as a warning, it took me almost 24 hours from start to finish, though much of that time was the stuff just sitting there doing its thing. The first rise was in the fridge, and I didn’t think it had risen very much, if at all, during that time. The second rise took about five hours – 2 on the countertop, and 3 in the oven. The house was pretty cool that day, so after the first two hours, I turned the oven into a proofing box – I put the bread on the top rack of the oven, and a large pot of boiling water on the rack beneath it (and reboiled the water every hour to make sure there was enough heat and moisture in the oven). So, with the length of time needed for the rise, make sure you’re going to do this on a day when you’re going to be home.
Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread
Inactive Prep Time: 11 – 18 hours
Active Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Makes 2 loaves
4-1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3-3/4 cups warm water
1 cup sourdough starter
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp honey
1/2 cup vegetable oil
5 cups bread flour
1. On the night before you want to bake the bread, mix together the whole wheat flour, warm water, and a cup of your favorite sourdough starter in a large bowl. Cover bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let set overnight. If your house is going to be below 65F, then you might want to use a proofing box.
2. The morning you want to bake, stir down sponge. Mix in baking soda, salt, honey, and vegetable oil.
3. Mix in bread flour. The dough will be sticky.
4. Knead the dough for 5 minutes. I used my Kitchen-Aid Artisan mixer, but you can do it by hand. Oil your hand slightly with vegetable oil to prevent the dough from sticking to your hands and knead the dough inside the large bowl.
5. Let the dough sit for 10 minutes.
6. Grease two 9 x 5-inch loaf pans. Divide dough in half and place in loaf pans.
7. Cover and let loaves rise for 2 hours or until the dough has risen a little over the edge of the pan. Again, if your house/kitchen is cool, use a proofing box or the oven and boiling water method I described above.
8. Bake loaves at 425 degrees F for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 degrees F and bake for another 30 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when tapped on.
9. Turn loaves out and let cool. The bread can be bagged and frozen for up to 3 months.
