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
- 2 tablespoons honey or sugar, If using sugar, note that it will be 24 g
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 cup starter, active and bubbly
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 8 cups all purpose flour*
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 was about to make this recipe and so I don’t have enough all purpose flour. I do have a big bag of King Arthur bread flour. Could I use bread flour instead?
Yes.
Works every time! Great, easy recipe!
I’m new to sourdough. I’ve tried a few times with no success but have never tried sandwich bread. Could the bread be made and put in a loaf pan and set in the fridge overnight, warmed up and baked in the morning?
Yes.
I’ve made this recipe twice, the first time halved and the second time with a full amount and my husband and I love this bread! I found the note about it possibly being too much for a standard kitchenaid mixer to be true. We have a 7 quart bowl lift and while it could technically accommodate the whole recipe, it was creeping up on the dough hook a bunch and needed a few breaks for 5-10 minutes so I don’t burn out the motor (I never go above a 2 when making dough on my KA to avoid voiding the warranty). Otherwise, the halved recipe worked great in the mixer and both batches turned out fantastic regardless. This is going to be our weekly sandwich bread moving foward 🙂
No coup folds in this recipe?
Not in this recipe.
Do you bake covered or uncovered?
Uncovered.
Ingredient comment
42 grams of honey or 24 grams of sugar.
Just makes it more clear
Have made pancakes and cinnamon rolls both will become staples. Thank you
How can I get this bread a little bit lighter? Mine turns out good but just a little bit dense. I am removing starter from fridge and feeding about 12 hours before I use it. I make the dough at night and leave covered with shower cap on top of fridge overnight. Shape loaf and leave out another 3.5-4 hrs for second rise. I start with 90g of starter then feed 90g bottled room temp water and 90g unbleached flour. It starts at 200ml and rises to between 500-600ml before I use it. Oh and only doing 1/2 recipe.
You can turn this into a brioche loaf and it will make it lighter!
I’ve been making this bread for months now. Simple and easy. Quick question Can I use oil instead of butter for this bread? I need to bake some today and ran out of butter.
Yes, I have made this successfully with olive or avocado oil.
I love this recipe! But I think my loaf pans are too small. What size loaf pans work best for this particular recipe?
These are the ones I like to use! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000SSWXPO?linkCode=ssc&tag=onamzfarmh06a-20&creativeASIN=B000SSWXPO&asc_item-id=amzn1.ideas.17FF08JP6MR53&ref_=aip_sf_list_spv_s_ofs_mixed_d_asin
I just did a 1:1 swap of oil for butter on this recipe and my loaf turned out great! Didn’t need to make any other adjustments.