“Bees N’ Seeds” Honey Sourdough Bread
Honey Sourdough Bread
It’s pretty gratifying when hard work is rewarded with recognition. In this case, it is Amanda’s own “Bees and Seeds” honey sourdough bread, which captured first place and a blue ribbon at the North American Honey Show in Louisville Kentucky, January 2024.
Since the win, she had been inundated with requests for her recipe, which she developed on her own using sound sourdough baking principles.
One of the key secrets to this was the fact she used a beeswax cloth wrap to keep the bread fresh for the four days between when it was made and judged. We use these wraps for keeping all kinds of foods fresh; you can find the recipe for making your own beeswax wraps here.
We didn’t have the forethought to create photos of the making and baking process, but we’ll add them afterwards when we do another loaf.
Note from Amanda, a self-described “beekeeper and sourdough enthusiast.”
“I hope you have fun making this Bees and Seeds Honey Sourdough Bread. I am not an expert recipe writer so please excuse any the imperfections in writing this recipe.”
Ingredients
- 300 grams active sourdough starter
- 300 grams white flour
- 150 grams Khorasan flour *
- 150 grams spelt flour *
- 500 ml of water
- 150 grams rolled oats
- 150 grams honey
- 50 grams of warm water
- 30 grams Himalayan Salt
- 40 grams sunflower seeds
- 40 grams pumpkins seeds
- 20 grams of flax seeds
- 20 grams of hemp hearts
*You can substitute any kind of flour, rye, whole wheat, red hard wheat
All ingredients are measured by weight except the water which is measured by volume.
Directions
Mix sourdough starter, white flour, Khorasan, spelt and flour in a mixing bowl. Mix well and cover with a tea towel and let sit for one hour.
In a separate bowl combine honey and 50 g of warm water, stir together to loosen up the honey add the oats and mix and let this sit for the same time as the starter, flour and water mixture.
After one hour sprinkle 30 grams of Himalayan salt over the top of the flour and water mixture. Pour the honey and oat mixture over top of the salt.
Next, create a layer of seeds on top of the honey and oat mixture.
Take your fingers and poke holes from the top layer down to the bottom of the bowl. Keep doing this until the dough has many punctures from top to bottom. You want to poke the ingredients in so it is well distributed throughout the bread.
Next, run your hand down the side of the bowl and fold the dough over top of itself. Keep doing this, turning the bowl in quarter increments. The seeds and the oat and honey mixture are going to start to fold into the flour mixture. Fold the dough with your hands instead of mixing it with a spoon. Place a tea towel over the bowl and let sit for 30 minutes.
Come back to the dough and stretch and fold the dough again until the dough loses elasticity. Repeat the process every 30 minutes for 3 hours. This will equal six times that you will stretch and fold the dough. After the final stretch and fold place towel over the bowl and place in the refrigerator for 24 hours. (You can leave it longer than 24 hours if needed. I’ve left it for two days and it came out fine.)
Next Day
The next day preheat your oven to 500 degrees. Take the dough out of the bowl and fold and shape it into a ball.
Line a large Dutch Oven with parchment paper, and place the dough into it.
Score the top of the loaf approximately 3 cm deep. Place lid on the Dutch Oven and bake for 40 minutes. Reduce heat to 450 degrees and bake for another 20 minutes. Take the lid off the Dutch Oven and bake for 10 more minutes or until it reaches your desired color of golden brown.
Total baking time is 70 minutes. I check the internal temperature with a probe thermometer; it should be 200 degrees F.
Remove from oven place on cooling rack. Enjoy.
Note: There are many videos online that demonstrate the stretch and fold technique, as well as the final shaping for sourdough bread. There are also videos that show you how to score the sourdough and create a fancy design. You are only limited by your imagination!
Our honey sourdough bread won first place at the North American Honey Show in Louisville, KY
Amanda with her winning “Bees N’ Seeds” honey sourdough bread.