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.
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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.
Well I have been trying to get my sourdough to work……finally two beautiful loaves. If you have been struggling do not give up. There is a learning curve but the journey is so worth it.
Woo hooo! That is so great to hear.
Mine has only been rising for around 5 hours but has more than doubled – should I still wait 10-12 hours
I would shape it and let it do the second rise. If you let it go longer you run the risk of it over fermenting.
Definitely a hit. I use a 1:1:1 starter that I just developed and this was the first sourdough recipe I tried. The dough hydration was perfect. This recipe will be my go-to sandwich bread. The crumb was soft and held together nicely. I did substitute 2 cups of fresh milled hard red wheat flour for AP and used a total of 7.5 cups of flour. I plan to increase the amount of fresh milled flour with each baking as I learn the characteristics of the dough eventually using 100% fresh milled flour.
So glad you enjoyed it!
Can you use einkorn sourdough starter with this recipe? I always wonder if you can mix einkorn starter with other flours besides einkorn.
Yes, that should work just fine. Normally you can’t just substitute einkorn flour one for one in recipes, but if it is just the starter and it is the same consistency as a regular starter, it should be fine.
I love this recipe. NO more storebought bread! I have a couple of questions: First, I don’t understand the “windowpane test”… Is it possible to over-knead the dough? I never feel like it’s stretchy like you describe. It bakes up delicious, so I guess I’m doing it right(ish). I have substituted warm milk for the water and the bread is sooooo soft! Also, I use 3 pans and make 3 loaves. My bread is fairly dense… it’s still wonderful and delicious, but am I doing something wrong?
That is wonderful to hear. The windowpane test is testing to see if there has been enough gluten formation. You should be able to pull apart a small piece into a square shape and see through it without it breaking. I find it nearly impossible to over-knead. I’m sure you could. Milk is a great choice. I’m guessing if it is dense, it either needs to be needed longer or it hasn’t risen enough or too much. Not super helpful, but its hard to determine without seeing everything.
Does this work in the bread machine dough cycle?
It would probably be too much dough for a bread machine, but I do have a recipe for that: https://www.farmhouseonboone.com/bread-machine-sourdough-bread-recipe
In past recipes without starter, I read that the dough consistency should feel like an earlobe. Is that still relevant here? I’m not sure if I should just follow the recipe for flour or go by consistency
I have never heard that comparison, but it should be soft and glossy when you’re done kneading.
My sandwich bread turned out pretty dense and not fluffy. I used about 6-7 cups of flour. It sat overnight for the first rise. What could my problem be?! It tastes great it’s just dense
hmmm … it could have been a kneading timing issue. Did the dough pass the windowpane test?
Was your sourdough starter ready and passed the float test? Did you knead it until it passed the windowpane test was reached? Could it have over fermented? There are so many variables with bread.
Hey. Love your channel. It’s inspiring. My kitchen aide is very mad at me because I over filled it and whew what a mess. Can I half this recipe? Any special instructions on that? Thanks!
Yes! It seems those that have the tilt head mixer have an issue with the recipe being too much dough. Half the recipe and it will work just fine.
Wondering if I could bake this in a toaster oven? Or would the elements be too close to the dough?