Sourdough sandwich bread is a classic household staple. From melty grilled cheese sandwiches to juicy BLTs, and classic PB&Js, these sturdy sourdough slices await a variety of delicious toppings. This sourdough bread recipe is soft, easy to make, and it does not have big holes in it, making it perfect for sandwiches.
Making Sourdough Bread for Sandwiches
Here is everything you need to make this sourdough sandwich bread:
- Sourdough Starter: We have an easy sourdough starter recipe HERE. You’ll need to start this 7 days before baking.
- Flour: Bread flour is best for baking this bread. For a whole wheat option, I like to use a 50/50 mix of bread flour and rye flour.
- Water: You can use tap water to bake bread, I do. But if you prefer bottled or filtered, that works too!
- Salt: Unrefined sea salt, please! Just make sure your sea salt is unrefined and free from anticaking agents.
- Maple Syrup: I use maple syrup in my bread recipes instead of cane sugar. I just like the results better.
Sourdough Bread for Sandwiches
If you have a large family, or just eat a lot of bread (like Jon and I do), I highly suggest doubling or tripling this recipe. once your are ready to shape the dough, divide in half (or in thirds), shape, place in the loaf pans, and bake the loaves side by side. Any extra loaves can be slices then frozen in plastic wrap. I have bread bags I saved from store bought bread that I use for freezing.
Whole Wheat Sourdough Sandwich Bread
To make this bread a whole wheat loaf, just sub half the flour with whole wheat flour. I like to use sprouted rye when making a whole wheat version. Note that whole wheat flours absorb a bit more water than white flours, so you may need to add an extra tablespoon or two of water for the dough to come together.
Since sourdough ferments during a longer rise time than traditional bread, it’s much easier to digest and more flavorful. The flavor comes from the wild yeasts and bacteria metabolizing the sugars in the dough during the long rise times and producing acids as byproducts. This is also why the bread is easier to digest! Essentially the microorganisms do some of the digesting for you in this sourdough bread recipe.
Sourdough Sandwich Bread Recipe
In this recipe I use an 9 x 5 inch glass loaf pan, so you want to use the same size, or something close, to get a good sandwich loaf shape. You can use metal or glass, just watch the bread to see when it turns golden brown. Also, try preheating your oven to 500° F. Then, once you slide the bread pan in, reduce the temperature to 400° F and bake as directed. Starting the dough at a higher temperature often yields better oven spring.
Learn How to Make A Loaf of Sourdough Sandwich Bread
Sourdough sandwich bread is a classic household staple. From melty grilled cheese sandwiches, to juicy BLTs, and classic PB&Js, these sturdy sourdough slices await a variety of delicious toppings. This sourdough bread recipe is soft, easy to make, and it does not have big holes in it, making it perfect for sandwiches.
- Prep Time: 6 Hours
- Cook Time: 1 Hour
- Total Time: 7 Hours
- Yield: 1 Loaf 1x
- Category: Sourdough
- Method: Fermentation
Ingredients
- 500 grams bread flour
- 100 grams active, bubbly starter
- 275 grams warm water
- 10 grams sea salt
- 25 grams maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon butter softened
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients until just combined and let sit for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, knead the dough into a uniform dough ball.
- Place your dough ball in a large bowl.
- Allow to rise at room temperature covered for 6 hours, and periodically stretch and fold the dough
- During the rise time, stretch and fold the dough once each hour. Using your hands, stretch up the bottom of the dough, without breaking it, and fold over the top of the dough. Stretch and fold side over side, then top over bottom. As you do this you’ll notice there is more resistance stretching the dough. If you need help with this step there are a lot of great tutorials on YouTube.
- After the rise time with stretching and folding, on a well-floured surface, gently shape the dough into a loaf shape by stretching and folding once more, then tucking under the sides.
- Place the seam side down in a parchment paper lined bread pan.
- Let rise for 1-2 hours at room temperature. the dough should be just below the rim of the loaf pan.
- (optional) overnight proof in the fridge for 12 hours.
- Preheat oven to 500° F.
- After the final rise time, score the dough down the middle, egg wash the top and add toppings.*
- place the pan in the oven and reduce the heat to 400° F.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes until crust is golden brown. Time may be adjusted depending on your oven. I rotate the pan halfway through.
- Remove from oven and pan and cool on cooling rack for 30 minutes.
Notes
- Adding seeds to the top of the loaf is optional. To add seeds, brush the loaf with an egg wash and top with sesame, sunflower, and poppy seeds before baking.
Keywords: bread, sourdough, fermented sourdough
27 comments
My favorite recipe for loaf sourdough.
★★★★★
Two questions
If you use a bread maxhine to knead, do you do the whole dough cycle?
How often do you stretch and fold during the rise time and how many times?
I don’t use the whole dough cycle on my bread machine. I pull the dough out before the rise portion of the dough cycle. Sorry for not having the amount of stretch and folds in the recipe card! I didn’t realize that was missing! I’ve updated it. It’s three stretch and folds during the rise time.
Thank you for the clarification!!
If you are hand kneading, about how long do you knead?
When I hand knead, it takes about 7-10 minutes for it all to come together into a dough ball.
Delicious sourdough loaf!
★★★★★
Hi! I notice you’re using a glass baking container instead of tin… will that make a difference on the cook time/temp that you know of? Thanks!!
Hey there,
It shouldn’t make a difference, the time and temp should be about the same no matter what pan you use. Maybe just check at 20-30 minutes and every 10 minutes after just to be sure.
Do use active starter or can I use the starter right from the refrigerator?
Hey there! your starter should be bubbly and active before using in this recipe.
Hello,
If you were to use granulated sugar instead of syrup, how much would you use?
What is the difference between bread and all purpose flour in this recipe?
Bread flour is generally easier to work with because it contains a little bit more gluten than all-purpose flour. The extra gluten helps the bread rise better and hold its shape. All-purpose will work in the recipe though. You can sub granulated sugar, just use 1 tablespoon.
Can I use the same measurements for fresh milled hard red or white wheat?
Fresh milled flours contain the wheat bran and wheat germ, thus absorb more water, so the measurements wont be exactly the same. You will probably need more water or you’ll end up with a dense loaf.
Can the dough be refrigerated and finished the next day? If so, at what point in the process can this be done?
Hi! Yes, the sandwich loaf can be refrigerated, but it may not rise up as well in the oven. You can refrigerate it after step 8.
The best sandwich bread I’ve ever had, and I cannot believe I made it. This easy to follow recipe produces stunning results. Won’t be able to go back to store bough after this! So yummy.
★★★★★
My husband loves soft bread. My typical sourdough loaf is hard crusted and chewy inside. But THIS is perfectly soft! I’ve been looking for a soft loaf, long-ferment sourdough recipe for a long time. Thank you Kaitlynn!
This is our favorite sandwich bread that I make a couple of times a week. Highly recommend! This absolutely trumps store bought bread!
★★★★★
I’ve made this several times now and it is always consistently stunning and oh so delicious! Thank you!
★★★★★
I’m happy you are enjoying this recipe time and time again 🙂
What exactly should the texture of the dough be? On the first stretch, mine is pretty firm while the videos I watched show it kind of loose and sticky.
Not sure what video you are watching, as I do not have a video for this recipe. The dough is somewhat firm but still comes together easily. The loose and sticky doughs are usually for boules, and this is a sandwich loaf.
This is a staple in my house for our daily bread use. We love it. the perfect sourdough loaf for our family of 7. I make 5-7 loaves a week minimum. So soft and perfect for everything.
★★★★★
This is a staple in my house for our daily bread use. its the perfect sourdough loaf for our family of 7. I make 5-7 loaves a week minimum. So soft and perfect for everything.
★★★★★
I don’t ever leave reviews .cause I don’t have time . But boy this one is soooooo good!!! We loved it . Thank you for this easy simple recipe. I already make sourdough but it’s always too fluffy for sandwiches . But this one is a hit.
★★★★★