Fruited Sourdough Sandwich Bread

Bake-a-thon 2014: Day 14

Bake of the Day: Fruited Sourdough Bread

It has been a busy Christmas weekend. We drove to Chicago to see my cousins. It was a really long drive (about 800 miles) and thankfully it went really well, though we are still recovering from the after effects. I had all the last weeks posts scheduled ahead of time and planned on baking couple of cookies for the last 2 days of bake-a-thon.

But unfortunately the hectic weekend is taking a toll on me. I can't seem to keep myself awake, so I looked through my drafts and found 2 bread recipes that I baked a while back. After the eggless ricotta loaf, here's another loaf bread using sourdough starter and fruits like apple & raisins.

This soft sourdough bread is studded with sweet raisins and tangy apple pieces. It tastes great toasted with some butter or as a grilled cheese sandwich with apple and arugula. All in all, this is a very versatile bread that tastes good any which way.

Ingredients:
All purpose Flour - 1¼cups
Wholewheat flour - 1cup (or use 2¼cups of all purpose flour)
Potato Flour - ¼cup (or use ½cup instant mashed potato flakes) 
Rolled Oats - ⅓cup 
Instant Yeast - 2tsp
Sourdough Starter - ⅔cup 

Lukewarm Water - ⅔~¾cup
Olive oil or vegetable oil - 1tbsp
Sugar - 1~4tbsp, adjust per taste (I added 2tbsp)
Salt - 1¼tsp
Granny Smith Apple - 1cup (1 small, chopped)
Raisins - 1cup

Method:

• Combine all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix and knead to form a smooth yet sticky dough. Keep your hands well greased if kneading by hand.
• Lightly grease a bowl and transfer the dough. Cover and let rise for about 90 minutes. Dough will be quite puffy, though it may not double in volume.
• Lightly grease a 8½"x4½" loaf pan.
• Gently deflate the risen dough and shape it into a log. Place it in the pan, cover it lightly and allow to rise for 60~90 minutes or until the dough crests at least 1" over the rim of the pan.
• Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Bake the bread for 40~45 minutes. Tent it with a foil after 15~20 minutes if the top is browning too quickly. When the bread is done, it should be golden brown and should register 190°F on an instant read thermometer inserted into the center.
• Remove the bread from the oven and after a couple of minutes turn it over onto a wire rack to cool. Let the bread cool completely before slicing.

Linking this to this year's Bake-a-thon event.

Bake-a-thon 2014

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