I was working in a group in my artisan bread baking class, and our assignment was to develop a brand new rustic sourdough recipe from start to finish - the challenge being that it had to involve oats in at least one place in the recipe. We knew that we wanted a really warm, toasty flavor for this bread, so initially we toasted our buckwheat flour and simply folded oats into the dough, but it was still lacking the nuttiness that we were looking for. I've always loved the flavor of toasted oats, and suggested that we toast the oats in the oven before adding them to the dough, and that day, what is still hands down one of my favorite breads that I have ever had the pleasure of eating was born. This sourdough has many of the delicious flavor qualities of toast before it is even toasted, and due to a mixture of flours along with the toasted elements, it has layers of flavor with lots of creaminess. It is a hearty, filling bread that is still my all time perfect egg-dipping toast, and as an added plus, for reasons that have yet to be explained, the dough smells strangely similar to a peanut butter and jelly sandwich while it is mixing. It is a recipe meant for a professional grade kitchen, so it does make a large quantity of bread and calls for steaming, but I've been curious since making it as to how well it would do being cut down and simplified for home kitchens. This is easily the best thing that I made and ate this year, and I am incredibly proud of this recipe.

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