My current mostest favorite sourdough bread recipe

I'm not sure where I came across this recipe but I've been baking in for the last few weeks with a couple of different starters in my collection and everyone raves about it.  

I currently have 3 loaves on their final rise in the fridge now, I'll post some pictures of the final product tomorrow night when they come out of the oven.

Sourdough Whole Wheat Bread 1

List of ingredients:

**3 cups of sourdough sponge (See notes below)

3 to 3 ½ cups of unbleached white flour

¼ cup sugar or 1/8 cup honey and 1/8 cup agave syrup or ¼ cup of either (I prefer ¼ cup of honey)

¼ cup melted shortening (I use ¼ cup melted butter)

1 ½ cup milk

1 Tbsp salt

4 cups whole wheat flour

2 fresh eggs

1 cup old fashioned oats

1 Tbsp of sesame or ¼ cup sunflower seeds

**Sponge notes: Set the sponge the night before from one cup of sourdough starter, 2 ½ cups unbleached flour, and 2 cups of warm water. Be sure to put one cup of your starter back in your starter jar before you start the recipe. You will be using 3 cups of sponge in the recipe.

Let all ingredients come up to room temperature. Place 3 cups of starter in your Kitchen Aide bowl, or whatever bowl you use to make bread. Mix in one cup of the white flour and the honey/agave syrup or sugar. Add the salt and 1 cup of dry old fashioned oats, the beaten eggs and mix well with dough hook (or by hand).

Pour in the fairly warm milk and the melted butter. Mix well again. Dump in the sesame or sunflower seeds. Add 4 cups of whole wheat flower. Add about one more cup of unbleached white flour and knead about 8 minutes in the Kitchen Aide or by hand until it is ready to put on for the first rise.

Grease the inside of a large bowl with Crisco or whatever you use as a pan release agent. Put the dough in the bowl and cover with a towel. Set in a warm spot for rise for about 2 hours...then punch down, recover and let rise for 30 more minutes. Take our of the bowl, knead for about 30 seconds to get rid of any air pockets in the dough...then cut into 3 equal f you are using 4 1/2” x 8 1/2” pansor cut into two pieces if you want to make two LARGE loaves. Form into loaves (I ball the dough, flatten with a rolling pin and roll and press, sealing the edges by pinching closed) and put in non stick sprayed pans. ( I prefer Pyrex or cast iron loaf pans) The dough should just be touching the ends of the pans. Brush the tops with beaten egg white and sprinkle on some dry old fashioned oats and some sesame or sunflower seeds. Cover and let rise in a cool spot over night, or if your in a rush, in a warm spot for about a hour and a half or until ready to bake. I prefer to let mine do the final rise in the fridge over night and let it warm up on the counter for a couple of hours the next day before baking.

When ready to bake, bake in a preheated 375 degree over for about 45 minutes for 2 large loves and 40 minutes for smaller loaves. When golden brown and the internal temperature is around 185F to 195F (using an instant read thermometer), and the loaves have shrunken away from the sides, they are done. Remove from the pans and place on a wire rack, covered with a clean towel to cool. For a softer crumb, brush with melted butter when they come out of the over.