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Baking recipe · from the recipe book

Soft Honey Oat Seeded Sourdough Batard

A soft-crusted, tender batard with a milky honey-oat crumb, sweet nutty oat flavor and a toasty crunch of sesame and pumpkin seeds.

Soft Honey Oat Seeded Sourdough Batard

Ingredients

  • 3¼ cups450 gBread flour
  • 1⅓ cups110 gOld-fashioned rolled oatsdivided: 90 g for the soaker, 20 g for the topping
  • 1¼ cups300 gWaterdivided: 150 g boiling for the soaker, 150 g lukewarm for the dough
  • ½ cup (120 ml)120 gMilk, 2%lukewarm
  • 3½ oz100 gActive sourdough starter (100% hydration)
  • 1½ tbsp30 gHoney
  • 2 tbsp25 gUnsalted butterdivided: 15 g softened for the dough, 10 g melted for brushing
  • 3 tbsp25 gSesame seedstoasted
  • ¼ cup30 gPumpkin seeds (pepitas)toasted
  • 1½ tsp9 gSalt

Steps

  1. Feed the starter about 8 to 12 hours before mixing (the night before), at about 75°F (24°C); it should double and be bubbly and domed at its peak, about 6 to 10 hours after feeding.
  2. Make the oat soaker: put 90 g of the oats in a bowl, pour the boiling portion of the water over them, stir, cover and cool to lukewarm, about 1 hour.
  3. Toast the sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes until fragrant, then cool.
  4. In a large bowl, whisk the starter with the lukewarm portion of the water, the milk and the honey. Add the bread flour and mix until no dry flour remains. Cover and rest 30 minutes.
  5. Add the salt and the softened portion of the butter and squeeze and fold them in until the dough is smooth, about 3 minutes. This loaf is about 66% hydration (water plus milk, before the soaker) and 2% salt.
  6. Add the cooled oat soaker and the toasted sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds, folding until evenly spread through the dough.
  7. Bulk rise covered at about 75°F (24°C) for 4 to 5 hours, doing 4 sets of stretch-and-folds 30 minutes apart in the first 2 hours. It is ready when about 50% larger, airy and jiggly.
  8. Turn the dough out, pre-shape into a round, rest 20 minutes, then shape into a taut batard.
  9. Brush the top lightly with water and roll it in the remaining 20 g of oats. Place seam side up in a floured banneton or towel-lined bowl.
  10. Cover and cold proof in the fridge overnight, 12 to 14 hours; it should spring back slowly when poked.
  11. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) with a rack in the middle. Turn the loaf onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and score it with one long slash.
  12. Bake uncovered 40 to 45 minutes, tenting with foil after 25 minutes if the oats brown fast, until the center reads 190°F (88°C).
  13. Right out of the oven, brush the crust with the melted portion of the butter and cover loosely with a clean towel for 10 minutes to soften the crust.
  14. Cool the bread on a rack for at least 2 hours before cutting into 12 slices.

Food safety: Don't taste raw dough or batter: raw flour and raw eggs can carry germs.

Contains: Milk, Gluten, Sesame.

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Saved in the Every Helping recipe book on October 24, 2026.

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