Oatmeal Sourdough Rolls

I've been having a lot of fun with sourdough lately. To find more great recipes and advice on starting the starter, try this blog: http://sarahs-musings.blogspot.com/search/label/Sourdough. I love her blog, and she has lots of great recipes that aren't sourdough, too. Mostly, I've made her sourdough recipes and had great results, but I did adapt a roll recipe that I make often, and so this is the recipe for Oatmeal Sourdough Rolls:

1 c starter (mine is whole wheat)
1/2 c water
1/2 c rolled oats
1/4 c honey
1 egg
1/4 c olive oil
2 T warm water
2 tsp yeast
1 tsp salt

3 c whole wheat flour (I use King Arthur)

To start with, you need to let the oats soak in the half cup of water for at least 15 minutes. It's even better if you let them soak for several hours, or all night, but it will work with 15 or 20 minutes if the water is warm. Then add the starter, honey, oil, and egg. Mix well. In a small bowl or cup, mix the yeast and 2T warm water, then add to mixture. Add salt and about 2 1/2 c of the flour. At this point, it should be getting hard to stir with a spoon, so I throw the last 1/2 c down in my bread bowl and knead it in. (You can use a counter top just fine, but I love my bread bowl. It belonged to my great-great-grandma, and my mom has good memories of her baking.) Knead for about 5 minutes. It will be sticky, but feel free to flour your hands if that bothers you. Put it in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. It should look like this:

Cover it with a kitchen towel and let it rise for about 2 hours. It will be bigger, but not necesarily doubled in bulk.

 

Then roll the dough into 24 balls and place in greased 13" x 9" pan. Cover with towel; let rise 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 400. Bake rolls for 10-11 minutes. Enjoy!

You could make this without the yeast, if you want to. It does take HOURS for the dough to rise, though.