Sourdough Sandwich Bread

Made with the lovely, bubbly, active sourdough starter, this soft Sourdough Sandwich Bread is so easy to make and tastes so delicious. The best part is it is 100% natural and it makes the kitchen smell amazing!

Sourdough 

To make this sandwich loaf, you will need an active sourdough starter. If you don’t have one, you can easily start one for yourself. 

When starting a new sourdough starter, it will take a couple of weeks to mature to the point of being able to use it for bread.

With a sourdough starter, comes excess discard. There are many delicious ways to use this sourdough discard, while waiting for your sourdough starter to become strong enough for bread – and anytime after.

Sandwich Bread Tips

• This recipe is made using a stand mixer. If you don’t have one, the dough can be kneaded by hand on a lightly floured surface for around 8 – 10 minutes, or until it is smooth and elastic. It is difficult to under / over knead bread by hand. The main thing when kneading is to focus on the texture of the dough.
• The size of the loaf pan affects the size of the bread. A smaller pan such as an 8.5×4 inch loaf tin will give a higher loaf of bread compared to a 9×5 inch pan.
• The temperature will affect the time the dough takes to rise. If it is a warmer day, the dough will rise quite quickly, whereas a cooler day it will take more time to rise.
• As always, when making bread weighing the ingredients with a scale will give you better results.
• If you find that your dough is not rising, this could be caused by a number of reasons – Maybe your sourdough starter is not active enough, the temperature of the room will affect the final product as well as the amount of water that is used. If you live in a cool climate, the dough will take longer to rise.

Sourdough Sandwich Loaf Variations

• The sugar can be omitted if you wish, though its job is to enrich the dough. It will add a small hint of sweetness to the loaf. Try a loaf with sugar first and see how it goes before making your decision.
• You could try swapping out the sugar for honey or maple syrup or agave syrup, though you may have to adjust the water as the dough may be a little on the sticky side. Just add the water slowly, as you may not need as much.
• To make a vegan sandwich loaf, replace the butter with a plant-based, dairy-free one. You may need to adjust the salt added, depending on the saltiness of the butter.
• The plain flour can be swapped out for bread flour. Depending on the flour you use, a little more or little less water may be needed / taken away.

Baking Schedule

This bread needs time undergo a bulk fermentation. So, start in the later afternoon or early evening and leave it out overnight to do its bulk fermentation.

Though, if you are in a warm, humid climate, the dough will take less time to rise, so you could start making this dough in the morning and bake in the late afternoon / evening.

Whole Wheat Bread

This recipe is made using plain flour. You can adjust it to create a lovely whole wheat loaf, though depending on how much wheat flour you use, the loaf may be a little more dense.

Try starting with using 25% whole wheat flour and 75% plain flour or bread flour.

Then, if you feel this is not enough, try 50% whole wheat an plain flour.

If you find that the dough is a little dry, try adding 1 teaspoon of water at a time until it comes up to the correct consistency. 

Storing Sourdough Sandwich Loaf

This recipe can be stored on the bench in an airtight container, a bread bag or in a beeswax wrap. For warmer climates, I find storing it in the fridge helps to keep it fresh longer. It should last for up to 5 days when stored correctly.

This bread can also be frozen. If freezing, wrap a cold whole loaf or individual slices with cling wrap, before placing it in the freezer. When frozen, the bread should last up to 6 months.

More Sourdough Recipes

• Sourdough Starter Discard Donuts
• Tasty Sourdough Discard Recipes
• Chocolate Brownies
• Sourdough discard pancakes
• Sourdough discard blueberry muffins

Sourdough Sandwich Loaf Ingredients

To make one loaf of sandwich bread, you will need:

• 60g unsalted butter 
• 1 TBSP sugar 
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ cup active sourdough starter (bubbly) –
• 1 ¼ cups water
• 4 cups plain flour

In a stand mixer, using the dough hook, mix the water and sourdough starter.

Add the butter, sugar and salt and mix.

Lastly, mix in the flour until all is incorporated. The dough should be smooth and elastic at this stage. This may take around 10 minutes.

Cover with cling wrap or a damp tea towel and rest for around 30 minutes.

Now it is time to undergo the bulk fermentation for 10 to 12 hours, so cover the bowl with cling wrap or a damp towel and set in a warm location. The dough will be ready when it has doubled in size.

When done, grease the loaf pan with a thin layer of softened butter.

Remove the dough from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface.

Gently flatten the dough into a rectangle to release some of the air bubbles.

Then, starting at one end, roll the dough into a log the size of your pan, tucking the ends underneath.

Transfer the dough to your prepared pan.

Set the dough aside to rise for the second time. This will take around 2 – 4 hours, depending on the temperature of your room.

The dough is ready when it looks nice and puffy and no longer dense. Usually it will grow to be at least up to the rim of the pan or up to an inch over.

Preheat the oven to 190˚C or 375˚F.

Place the loaf pan in the oven and bake for 45 minutes or until golden on top. For enhanced browning, you can use an egg wash before placing in the oven.

Remove from the oven and let cook entirely before slicing.