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, 113 grams, softened or coconut oil
- 2 tablespoons honey or sugar, 42 grams for honey, If using sugar, 24 g
- 1 tablespoon salt, 15 grams
- 1 cup starter, 200 grams, active and bubbly
- 2 1/2 cups water, 590 grams
- 8 cups all purpose flour*, 1120 grams
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.
Agree with Kim, please bring back grams for measurements. I have had pretty good success with your recipe in the past but don’t remember the exact grams and I’m ready to mix now … fearful it won’t turn out the same using cups.
It’s there! You just have to toggle between the two now.
Hey Lisa!
Love this bread SO MUCH! I just did a 72 hour cold ferment and hoping that the non-gluten friendly members of my family can enjoy.
If I were to convert this recipe to Einkorn, are there any adjustments that need to be made? Thanks!
Yes, there are quite a few. Einkorn absorbs water much differently than all purpose flour. So both measurements are different. I do have several einkorn recipes on my website! Just search einkorn and you will find them.
Can I cold ferment this dough? If so, do I shape and place in pan before refrigerating or do I shape in the morning?
I would cold ferment during the first rise, then pull it out of the fridge and shape and let rise on the counter in the loaf pan before baking!
Quick question! After the bulk rise at room temp and after shaping would it be possible to put the shaped loaf in the fridge overnight, then let rise at room temp for the remaining 2hrs or so before baking?
Yes, that’s fine.
Loveee this recipe! It’s my favorite sandwich bread recipe!!! :::side not::: I have a kitchen aid professional 600 mixer and 2 loaves is definitely too much for the machine.
What happened to your recipe?!?! You had grams for everything?! I’m halfway into it and just realized you changed it!?!? Now I’m stuck! I so appreciate your sharing and I’ve learned so much from you but whhhhyyyyyyyyyy?!?! I have to throw it all out…my measurements are all wrong now….😭😭😭😭😭
Okay I’m glad I’m not crazy! I’ve made this so many times and always used grams and I thought I was at the wrong link!
It’s at the bottom. You can toggle between US and Metric.
I’m also wondering why the units of measurement have changed. I’ve been using this recipe for months and have loved it. I’m moving to a different one tonight. I feel stupid for not printing it. Please, can you at least include both units of measurement?
It’s at the bottom. You can toggle between metric and US.
There’s a button right below the ingredient list that when clicked converts back to metric or back to US customary
There is a metric tab, it has all of the measurements you need.
This threw me off too! Then I noticed at the bottom of the ingredients list you can click “metric” and it shows them as grams.
There’s a link for an option to view in metric. 🙃
Kim, I ran into the same issue. At the bottom of the ingredient list, you will see two buttons- US Customary and Metric. Select Metric and the measurements are displayed in grams.
There is an option to switch to metric 🙂
I used the stretch and fold method with this. Bulk fermented for 11 hours. It more than doubled. So I shaped. Did the second rise for maybe an hour and a half cause they were getting huge. My bread turned out with huge holes and was super soft. It was a little gummy on the edges! 😩
Just hit the Metric tab to get grams.
Where’d the grams go!! I was making this recipe before and now it’s cups for the starter and flour?!?! I’m sunk….why did you change it?!
It’s at the bottom of the ingredients! I hope you were able to find it. We changed it because when it was pictured right next to the cups, the grams would not double when people clicked on 2x or 3x the recipe! Sadly, people’s recipes were getting ruined, so we had to change it to this!
If I wanted to add more honey to the loaf. Would I have to reduce anything else?
You will need to reduce some of your water to compensate. Honey is around 20% water.
Tried it, definitely didn’t have big enough pans for how much my bread rose but the taste and consistency was impecable
Maybe a stupid question, but do you cover the dough during the bulk ferment? Like with a towel or plastic wrap?
Yes! This helps to keep the dough from drying out.
Hi Bri, I’m just another baker. If you click print at the top of the recipe, the website will allow you to convert from metric to US Customary (top right). Hope that helps. Don’t throw anything out. Oh, and if you haven’t made the fermented sourdough vanilla cake here….you NEED to! LOL. It has been devoured 4 times by family and friends…..been called wicked good amongst other things. Happy baking!
There is a button below the last ingrwdienr that says us customary or metric.. press metric! I had the same thing happen super confused
There’s a metric button at the bottom of the recipe which turns it from cups to grams 😬 hope that helps next time!