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.
Never mind. I re-read all tips and directions. I just need to make sure it doubles in size and that could vary. Thank you.
After the first bulk rise and you place shaped dough in the fridge until ready to bake, how long do you leave sitting out on the counter for the second rise? Longer than 6 hours due to being in the fridge (cold)?
Can this dough be put in the fridge and baked two or three days later? Like your “once a week sourdough bread making routine”? If so, would I put in the fridge shaped after the 10/12 bulk rise?
Yes, you can. Put it in the fridge after the first rise on the counter.
If you put shaped dough in the fridge after the first bulk rise. How long to you need to set it out on the counter for the second rise before baking?
1-2 hours, or until it warms a little bit.
This is my favorite sourdough recipe, but the past few times I’ve made it the loaves turn out flat and not brown on top, even with egg wash. Do you have any tips? Thank you!
It could be due to a starter that is not active enough or it could be due to over proofing the dough. Both can cause your loaves not to rise.
If I add 25g chia seeds hydrated with 100 g water to the recipe, will I need to decrease the total amount of water in the recipe? If yes, then how much?
No, you shouldn’t need to.
Easy recipe and turned out amazing 🤩
Thank you for sharing, Lisa! I find your recipes so simple and fun to make, and easily adaptable. I sub some flour for some linseed meal and chia seeds for my toddler. He eats this bread every morning!
Can I use bread flour for this recipe?
YEs.
Hi, can I Bulk ferment on counter for 5-6 hours and put it in frig after that to finish up overnight, and continue from there
6 hours might be enough to get your bread rising! You can put it in the fridge and then take it back out to rise on the counter if it wasn’t quite done.
So take it out in the morning and let it continue alittle longer, than shape it and put in my loaf pan and let rise again? I guess I mixed all this alittle too early, mixed it all at 3:00 this afternoon and I don’t stay up late lol. Thank you for getting back to me I love your page!
What size loaf pans do you recommend?
Here’s the loaf pans that I use!
This absolutely is my favorite loaf bread and the only one I use Thank you for putting everything in day to day measurements I got tired of having to convert all measurements. I love my sourdough and uncomplicated recipes.
Can you please post your pan? The pictures didn’t come through.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076QK5PQ7?linkCode=ssc&tag=onamzfarmh06a-20&creativeASIN=B076QK5PQ7&asc_item-id=amzn1.ideas.BXBA4RVZ7QNZ&ref_=aip_sf_list_spv_s_ofs_mixed_d_asin
Hello!
I use only sprouted whole wheat flour for my sourdough and also to add to whatever recipes I’d like to make…so I’m wondering what adjustments please do I need to make to this recipe, amongst most all of your other recipes please!
That should be fine. Usually whole wheat can be swapped 1:1!