This is inspired by one of the recipes from my bakery school. I remember how much I loved the smell of grated apples while making this bread at school. We grated about 10 kilos of apple altogether and it was incredible!
When apples start to hit the farmers market, you know it is fall! I know from practice that fruits are at their best when in season. I couldn’t think of anything else but this bread when I bought home a dozen of fresh apples. I love all sorts of apple things, like pies, cakes, sauces etc, but for now I’ll stick to the bread.
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The original recipe uses a levain to add flavor to the bread. Dry yeast is used to actually rise the dough. I though, why not use the levain to do both of these jobs, and that way, I can convert this into a complete sourdough.
Grated apples and soaked oats. Use any apple variety you like, grate using the larger side of the grater. If you grate them any smaller, it will make you dough sticker and harder to knead.
I had to give it a couple of tries to get it right! But at the end, it was all worth it. The crumb smells amazing scented with apple. And oats make the crumb softer. This loaf used an entire apple. So I think this is a great way to use up apples.
Unlike several other recipes, this bread is mixed with apple and soaked/cooked oats from the beginning. Yes this might inhibit gluten development to a certain extent, but that is expected. This was shaped in to vienna or made into a tin loaf for that reason.
You can use any sort of apple for this. But remember, some apples are juicier than others, so be mindful when adding water. The recipe only require 15% water as the moister is replaced by the apple and the soaked oats.
Bring the dough together on a floured surface. Use extra flour to dust, if necessary. The developed dough is less sticky.
Rolled oats are soaked in boiling water for 30 minutes. This will partially cook the oats and soften them. Make sure to cool it down before adding to the bread.
dough after the final fold. It has got much more strength now
The levain or the starter should be 50% hydrated. Depending on the room temperature, you can ripe it overnight. It it is warm, this might only take 5-6 hours. Make sure the levain is fully active.
I am baking this bread just like any other sourdough. I gave this extra steam though, at I wanted a good crust to form.
The previous loaf, lacked strength, so this is what I changed;
- reduced culture % and proved for longer
- did the initial mixing in the mixer
- did 3 folds at 30 minute intervals
- used steam when baking
Hope you will enjoy this bread.
Ingredients
- Oats 40 g
- Boiling water 80 g
- Apples grated 80 g
- water 80 g – 100 g
- Levain/starter 80 g
- bread flour 250 g extra 50 g
- salt 4 g
Instructions
- Make the starter the day before or 5-6 hours prior to making bread
- To make the starter, mix 15 g culture with 35 g water and 50 g flour
- You will get roughly about 100 g of starter, use 80 g from that for the recipe
- To make the oats pour boiling water to cover rolled oats, close with a lid and set aside for 30 minutes. Then let it cool down completely
- Grate the apples using the larger size of the grater
- Measure the flour and salt directly into the bowl of a stand mixer
- Mix apples, levain, oats and about 50 g of water in separate bowl
- Add it to the flour and mix on low speed until combined (use the paddle attachment)
- The dough will be very loose, if the dough is too stiff add a bit more water
- Let this sit covered for 15 – 30 minutes
- And mix again for about 2-3 minutes using the dough hook
- Use extra flour to dust the sides
- Then take the dough on to a floured surface and knead by hand ( slap and fold)
- Once the dough is developed, place it in a plastic bowl, cover and leave in a warm place to bulk for 90 minutes
- Give 2 folds at 30 minute intervals
- At 90 minutes mark, do another fold and leave for 15 minutes to rest
- Then shape the dough, cover and refrigerate for about 10 hours (overnight)
- When ready to bake, take the loaf out and leave at room temp for another 2 hours (this duration may change depending on how active your starter is, judge by doing the poke test)
- In the mean time preheat the oven to 480 F
- I use a dutch oven, you can use what ever the method you use to bake this
- Cover the top with oats or flour, slash and place in the oven
- Bake for 20 minutes (with lid closed if in DO) and then reduce temperature to 450 F and bake for a further 20 minutes (lid off)
- You can dry out for a further 10 minutes, with oven switched off
- Cool the loaf on a wire rack completely before slicing
7 comments
Hi, how would you substitute yeast for the starter?
I don’t have a recipe for that unfortunately.
The best, is to use a Yeast bread recipe and incorporate oats and apples if you are after the flavors.
What type of apples do you recommend using?
Any type works
I don’t have any bread flour. Can I try this with AP flour? What other substitutions will I have to make in that case?
Yes you can use all purpose to make any bread, but they will lack strength (gluten). So use less water (skip the 10g of water) and may be give an extra fold.
So 4 folds at 30 minute intervals. This will help build strength. Also shape like a sandwich loaf and bake this in a loaf pan (9 by 5).
Hope this helps!
Great! Will get back to you with feedback!