Soft and fluffy sourdough sandwich bread is the perfect bread to have on hand. Made with all purpose flour, sourdough starter, butter and a little honey, this fermented bread has a lighter texture and tangy flavor.
One of the main complaints I hear about making crusty sourdough from readers is that they miss the soft sandwich loaf style of bread.
Not only is this recipe absolutely delicious (making it really hard to ever go back to store-bought bread), but it is also super simple. No strange ingredients, no stretching and folding every 30 minutes… Just mix, rise, shape, rise again, and bake.
Let it cool, slice and slather it with butter. It’s so yummy and it reminds me of a bread you would get on a breadboard from a restaurant.
Let’s be honest, though, it’s way better since it’s made from scratch and has that wonderful sourdough tang.
Make sure to save this sourdough loaf bread recipe for the future. It will be a go to for sure.
Tips:
- Use really soft butter and cube it up so it blends easier.
- Don’t over ferment the dough. It will turn into a wet sloppy disaster that won’t rise well. Still edible. Maybe. It could also be turned into sourdough croutons.
- When making the dough, using a stand mixer makes the process much easier and hands off. You can also do this with your hands.
- If you are new to sourdough, you can check out how to make a sourdough starter here, find my sourdough conversion chart, and baking glossary of terms.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure here.
Tools you may need:
Measuring cups and spoons. You could also use a kitchen scale
FAQ:
Does sourdough bread make good sandwiches?
Yes. The delightful tanginess adds to the flavor profile of the sandwich, making it a wonderful addition. You can use crusty sourdough bread or this soft sourdough sandwich loaf.
Why is my sourdough sandwich bread not rising?
There could be a few reasons for this. The most likely one is that your sourdough starter may not be active enough or is weak.
Another contributor could be the temperature of the room where you are placing your dough to rise. The cooler the temperature the longer it will take for bread to rise.
Lastly, the water you use in your dough mixture could be a factor. If the water used was too hot, it may have killed the starter. Additionally, if you are using city water the chlorine could potentially kill the yeasts in the starter.
Are sourdough sandwiches healthy?
Sourdough is one of the healthiest breads since the grains are fermented, which makes it more digestible and the nutrients more available for your body to absorb.
Top with your favorite healthy toppings and you can have a wholesome and filling meal in one sandwich.
Ingredients:
Butter (softened) or coconut oil – I prefer using butter for that savory buttery flavor. If you are wanting to make a vegan version, you can use softened (not melted) coconut oil.
Honey or sugar – I like to use honey since it is a natural sweetener.
Salt – This gives the bread so much flavor and skipping it will leave you with a tasteless loaf.
Sourdough starter – You want a nice active and bubbly starter to make bread. Starter that isn’t ripe won’t produce nice fluffy bread.
Water – Room temperature.
All-purpose flour – The best part of this recipe is that it uses good ol’ plain all-purpose flour. Nothing fancy.
How To Make Sourdough Sandwich Bread
To a stand mixer, add all of the ingredients. I like to add the flour last, so I can add a bit less or more depending on my starter’s hydration.
Knead until dough is stretchy and smooth. You want it to pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl and be smooth and elastic – about 10 minutes. It should pass the windowpane test. Grab a small ball of the dough and stretch it into a square. It should stretch thin enough to see through without breaking.
Tip: This isn’t a super hydrated dough and won’t be very wet like other doughs.
Allow to bulk rise for 10-12 hours in a warm place like on top of a stove or refrigerator. You can go longer if you want the benefit of the fermentation, but if it gets over-proofed the dough will turn into a sloppy mess!
In the summer, I ferment mine more like 8 hours but can get away with longer in the colder months.
Shape The Loaves And Rise
Grease two loaf pans or add parchment paper.
Divide in two equal parts.
Shape by rolling the dough flat into a rectangle and rolling it up.
Add to parchment lined or buttered loaf pans.
Second rise for 2-4 hours at room temperature, or until doubled. Again this depends on the temp! It could be as little as 1 hour if the house is warm and the starter active. Do not skip this step.It adds volume and strength to the dough.
Bake
You can add an optional egg wash for more browning.
Bake at 375 for 45 minutes, or until golden on top.
Allow to cool completely before slicing.
Storage:
Store in an air-tight container for up to five days for best results.
You can also freeze loaves in freezer safe plastic bags for 3-6 months.
Find More Of My Sourdough Recipes:
- Sourdough Zucchini Bread
- Easy Homemade Sourdough Pasta Recipe
- Sourdough Coffee Cake
- The Best Soft Sourdough Pretzels
- Sourdough Brioche
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love if you could come back and give it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram @farmhouseonboone .
Sourdough Sandwich Bread
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter, softened or coconut oil (113 g)
- 2 tablespoons honey or sugar, 42 g for honey or 24 g for sugar
- 1 tablespoon salt, 17 g
- 1 cup starter, active and bubbly (227 g)
- 2 1/2 cups water, 590 g
- 8 cups all purpose flour, 1120 g*
Instructions
- To a stand mixer, add all of the ingredients. I like to add the flour last, so I can add a bit less or more depending on my starter's hydration.
- Knead until dough is stretchy and smooth. You want it to pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl and be smooth and elastic – about 10 minutes. It should pass the windowpane test.
- Allow to bulk rise for 10-12 hours in a warm place like on top of a stove or refrigerator.
- Divide in two equal parts.
- Shape by rolling the dough flat into a rectangle and rolling it up.
- Add to parchment lined or buttered loaf pans.
- Second rise for 2-4 hours at room temperature, or until doubled.
- Bake at 375 for 45 minutes, or until golden on top. You can add an optional egg wash for more browning.
- Allow to cool completely before slicing.
Notes
- *Some people have said making two loaves is too much for their stand mixer to handle. This depends on the type of stand mixer you have. If you have a standard KitchenAid mixer, you may want to halve the recipe and make one loaf.
- Use really soft butter and cube it up so it blends easier.
- Don’t over ferment the dough. It will turn into a wet sloppy disaster that won’t rise well. Still edible. Maybe. It could also be turned into sourdough croutons.
- When making the dough, using a stand mixer makes the process much easier and hands off. You can also do this with your hands.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I’ve been making these loaves for a couple of years now. I feel like this is my go-to, fool proof recipe that works every time! I’ve made a few modifications that personally I feel makes this loaf perfection!
1. I double the salt. I was trouble shooting with my brother, saying my bread dried out too quickly and was only at its best straight out of the oven. He suggested upping the salt, since salt is “water loving.”
2. I have some whole wheat unifine flour I bought from azure that I’ve been trying to incorporate into my baking. I found that using 4 cups of this flour and 4 cups of unbleached all purpose makes the texture just perfect!
Thanks for this great recipe, Lisa!
I absolutely love this recipe, it creates a great tasting loaf. But, the recipe doesn’t mention scoring the loaves and every time I make it, it splits at either one or both edges of the loaf pan. I’ve scored the last several loaves but would love to make a loaf with a nice round top like it is in the picture in your recipe. Do you have any ideas on what I’m doing wrong that is causing it to split and what I could do to prevent it?
Normally this is due to the dough not fermenting long enough! If the dough is under-proofed, it will expand unevenly during the baking process. That is why is it splitting during the baking process.
I am wondering why when I make this bread the top is done but the bottom is still wet and undercooked, I have to basically double the baking time at which point the top is pretty much overdone. I use a Nordic ware natural aluminum loaf pan since I don’t want to use anything with a toxic nonstick coating. Any insights as to why this is happening would be greatly appreciated!
Sometimes this can be caused by a loaf that is under proofed! Also, this recipe makes 2 loaves. Are you dividing the dough into 2?
Can I use olive oil or avocado oil instead of butter?
This is the perfect recipe. My family loves this for sandwich bread.
Excited to try this recipe!!! Can you do the bulk ferment in the fridge so that you can let it ferment for a little longer? Thanks!!
You can ferment it longer in the fridge after doing your first counter top rise.
After first counter top rise and utilizing the fridge for second rise instead of 2-4 hours on counter. Would overnight be too long for the second rise in the refrigerator?
There still needs to be a 2-4 hour countertop rise in order for the dough to rise in the loaf pans. The refrigerate helps to ferment the grains and make them more digestible, but doesn’t really help your dough to rise because of the cooler temperatures. That’s why you can leave the dough in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Awesome recipe!
Love this recipe. The first rise is always perfect but when I shape and put the loaves in the pan they just don’t ever double. My house is warm. I’ve tried two time frames where I let the first rise go for 11 hours and the second one for 9 and neither rose the second rise very much at all.
You might be letting them rise for too long during the first fermentation process. Dough can only rise so much. If it is rising to its full potential during the first ferment, you may not see any rising when you put it in the loaf pans.
Love the recipes, but really dislike all the adds, page can’t load, reloads, and glitches out. Too many adds.
I am sorry.
Thank you so much!! I used your instructions for creating a starter, and just baked my first loaf of bread. It’s perfect!! I am shocked and very happy!!
Hi I am wondering how the nutrition facts works?? It doesn’t say serving size? Is one slice 200 cal? Just made my first loaf it turned out amazing!
What do I do when it doesn’t pass the window pane test? It’s not stretchy and it breaks
Keep kneading! You can also pause and give it 20 minutes of rest. Sometimes that helps!
The recipe notes that it’s for 24 servings, or 12 slices per loaf. So the nutrition info is for 1/24th of the recipe.