Easy Sourdough Sandwich Bread
This soft and fluffy sourdough sandwich bread is made with just a few simple ingredients. All-purpose flour, active sourdough starter, a touch of butter, and a little honey.
Equipment
- 1 Kitchen Scale
- 1 Stand mixer or mixing bowl
- 1 Loaf pan
Ingredients
- 56 g butter softened, or coconut oil 4 tbsp
- 20 g honey or sugar (20g for honey or 12g for sugar) 1 tbp
- 2 teaspoons salt 10g
- 113 g active starter ½ cup
- 300 g water 1 ¼ cups water
- 480 g all-purpose flour 4 cups
Instructions
- Combine Ingredients: In a stand mixer bowl, combine all ingredients. Water (300g), starter (113g), honey(20g) (or sugar), salt (10g), and butter (56g), and then add the flour (480g) gradually to reach the right consistency.
- Knead the Dough: using the stand mixer with a dough hook, knead the dough on medium speed for about 10 minutes, until it’s stretchy, smooth, and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. The dough should be soft but hold its shape. A good test is the “windowpane test”: if you can stretch a small piece of dough until you see light through it without it tearing, it’s ready.
- Note: You can also knead the dough by hand if you don’t have a stand mixer. Knead vigorously for 10–15 minutes until you achieve a smooth, elastic dough.
- Bulk Fermentation: Once kneaded, transfer the dough to a large, lightly greased bowl. Cover it and let it rise in a warm spot for 10–12 hours. The dough should double in size during this time.
- Shape: After the bulk rise, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, flatten it into a rectangle, then roll it up tightly into a log.
- Second Rise: Place the shaped dough into a parchment-lined or buttered loaf pan. Cover and let it rise at room temperature for 2–4 hours, or until doubled in size.
- Preheat and Bake: Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). If you’d like a shinier crust, brush the tops of your loaves with an egg wash (optional). Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and the loaves sound hollow when tapped.
- Cool and Slice: the loaves to cool completely before slicing. This cooling step is essential to finish setting the crumb structure inside the bread. Now you’re ready to enjoy fresh homemade sourdough!
Notes
This recipe is easy to double or triple if you'd like to make 2-3. loaves at a time.
To prep this bread ahead of time and freeze, simply slice the loaves after it's cooled and freeze the slices in a freezer safe bag.