Sourdough Seeded Bread with Tangzhong

This sourdough seeded bread with tangzhong is loaded with whole grains and fiber. Plus, it's surprisingly soft enough for making your favorite sandwiches. 

This bread may be filled with fiber and nutritious whole grains, but the flavor and the texture of the crumb appeal to any bread lover because.... after all, it's a soft and tender bread! 

While not required, I also let the dough ferment in the refrigerator overnight during the first rise. This brings out a wonderful sourdough aroma and tang. In addition, by making and adding a tangzhong with some of the flour, the crumb turned out very soft and tender. 

Plus, soaking the seeds and some of the grains before adding them to the dough further ensures that the bread will be even more squishy and soft. 

Ingredients in this Sourdough Seeded Bread:

Flours: The flours are about 2/3 whole wheat flour and about 1/3 white bread flour. In addition, there is some added wheat bran to up the fiber in this bread. You could also substitute some whole spelt, amaranth, and/or kamut flour for some of the whole wheat flour if you have some. 

Seed and Grain Soaker: This soaker contains rolled oats, sesame seeds (a combination of white and black), poppy seeds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, and nigella seeds. I used these seeds mostly because I had them on hand. You can substitute (by weight) pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, wheat germ, quinoa, and/or pine nuts for any of the soaker ingredients if they are what you have on hand. 

For the oats, feel free to substitute steel cut oats if that's what you have. You can also substitute a 7-grain or 10-grain cereal. 

Additional Ingredients: Salt, honey, water, and whole milk. You will use the milk to make the tangzhong. In addition, you will need a small amount of ripe sourdough starter to make a levain. 

For Topping the Bread: You can use sesame seeds, oats, flax seeds, and/or multigrain cereal. I used the 10-grain cereal, which contains wheat, rye, triticale, millet, oasts, brown rice, barley, corn, soy beans, oat bran, and flax seeds. 

For the pan, I used a 9 inch by 4 inch Pullman pan, without the lid. Let the dough rise in the pan until the center of the dough is about 1/2 inch below the top of the pan. 

You can also use a 9 inch by 5 inch standard loaf pan. If you use this sized pan, let the dough rise until the center crests over the top of the pan by about 1/2 inch. 

To Make This Bread:

The night before the day you are going to make this bread, prepare the levain and the grain and seed soaker and let them sit overnight. Alternatively, you can mix each of these components in the morning and let them sit all day. 

When you are ready to mix all of the dough ingredients, cook the tangzhong until you have a thick, pudding-like mixture and let it cool. 

After that, add the flours, honey, bran, water, salt, all of the levain, soaker, and tangzhong to the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on low and then medium low for about five minutes. While the dough is rising, you perform two sets of stretch and folds and then let it complete the rise until doubled. If it's mid-day, when the dough has risen, you can shape the dough for the second rise. 

If it's later in the evening, you can let the dough rise until it has risen about 75 percent, and then complete the first rise overnight in the refrigerator. This will produce a stronger sourdough flavor. 

Once you've shaped and panned the dough, let it rise about two hours, and then bake it with steam. 

Additional Tips: 

To coat the sides of the loaf with the cereal and/or seeds, spray the pan with spray oil and then sprinkle the pan lightly with the toppings. Once you've added the dough to the pan, you can spray the top of the dough with baking spray and sprinkle it with the topping. 

You could allow the shaped loaf to rise in the refrigerator overnight (instead of for the first rise). After removing it from the fridge, if the loaf has sufficiently risen, bake it right away. If it hasn't, you can let it continue to rise at room temperature. 

Start baking the loaf in a 425 degree oven. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F after 20 minutes. Bake the loaf until it has reached an internal temperature of 205 degrees F and then let it cool for at least an hour. 

If you're intrigued by using a tangzhong in yeasted and/or sourdough breads, and would like to learn more about this plus try other recipes, you will totally love sourdough milk bread, Hokkaido milk bread (perfect for white bread lovers), tangzhong whole wheat and rye bread, tangzhong whole wheat bread, and so many more. 

For our Bread Bakers' monthly bake, our theme this month is Sourdough!

• Food Lust People Love: Fig Feta Serrano Ham Sourdough Focaccia
• Sneha's Recipe: Quick Sourdough Discard Burger Buns
• Karen's Kitchen Stories: Sourdough Seeded Bread with Tangzhong
• A Messy Kitchen : Hot Honey Sourdough 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Sourdough Multi-Grain Bread
• Zesty South Indian Kitchen: Sourdough Jewish Rye Bread

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

 

Sourdough Seeded Bread with Tangzhong

Yield: 16 slices

Author: Karen Kerr

Prep time: 30 MinCook time: 55 MinInactive time: 13 HourTotal time: 14 H & 25 M

This sourdough seeded bread with tangzhong is loaded with whole grains and fiber. Plus, it's soft enough for making your favorite sandwiches. 

Ingredients

For the Levain

• 16 grams whole wheat flour
• 16 grams bread flour
• 33 grams water
• 7 grams ripe 100 percent hydration sourdough starter

For the Soaker

• 27 grams rolled oats
• 13 grams poppy seeds
• 8 grams unsalted sunflower seeds
• 8 grams flax seeds
• 8 grams nigella seeds
• 90 grams water

For the Tangzhong

• 41 grams whole wheat flour
• 164 grams whole milk

For the Final Dough

• 230 grams whole wheat flour
• 107 grams bread flour
• 29 grams honey
• 8 grams wheat bran
• 177 grams water
• 8 grams salt
• all of the levain, tangzong, and soaker
• Optional: cereal and/or seed topping

Instructions

To Prepare the Levain

1. Mix the ingredients with a spoon in a small bowl. Cover and let rest for about 8 hours or overnight.

To Prepare the Soaker

1. Just after you mix the levain, mix the soaker ingredients, including the water.
2. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for about 8 hours or overnight.

To Make the Tangzhong

1. Prepare this the day you are making the dough.
2. In a small saucepan, whisk together the flour and milk and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick like pudding. Watch it closely.
3. Remove it from the heat and scrape it into a small bowl to let cool.

To Make the Bread

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, add the flours, honey, wheat bran, water, salt, all of the levain, tangzong, and soaker. Mix on low speed for two minutes and on second speed for 5 minutes. Let rest for five minutes and then mix on speed 2 for an addional two minutes.
2. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl or dough rising bucket, cover, and let rest for 30 minutes. Stretch and fold the dough from all sides, cover, and let rest an additional 30 minutes before repeating the stretches and folds. Cover and let rest for 2 more hours. (See post for hints for letting the dough rise in the refrigerator if you'd like to try it.)
3. When the dough has doubled, gently deflate the dough and preshape it into a pan loaf. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.
4. Spray a 9 inch by 4 inch Pullman pan with baking spray and sprinkle with the topping ingredients. Further shape the dough into a loaf and place it, seam side down, into the pan. Spray the top of the loaf lightly and sprinkle with more of the topping. Cover and let rise for about 2 hours, until the top of the center is about 1/2 inch from the top of the pan's rim.
5. Heat the oven to 425 degrees F and place a broiler pan on the bottom rack to use for steam.
6. When the dough has doubled, uncover it and, place the pan on the center rack. Add about 3 cups of ice cubes to the steam pan and close the oven door. Bake for 20 minutes.
7. Remove the steam pan and lower the oven's temperature to 350 degrees F. Bake for an additional 25 to 30 minutes, until it reaches an internal temperature of 205 degrees F. Remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack for an hour.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

131

Fat (grams)

2 g

Sat. Fat (grams)

0 g

Carbs (grams)

25 g

Fiber (grams)

4 g

Net carbs

21 g

Sugar (grams)

3 g

Protein (grams)

5 g

Cholesterol (grams)

1 mg

https://www.karenskitchenstories.com/2025/09/sourdough-seeded-bread-with-tangzhong.html

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This recipe was adapted, with a few little changes, from The Perfect Loaf. I’m such a fan and have been for years. Be sure to check out his amazing book, The Perfect Loaf: The Craft and Science of Sourdough Breads, Sweets, and More by Maurizio Leo.