Soft Sourdough Sandwich Bread

4.88 from 146 votes

Soft Sourdough Sandwich Bread

Soft, fluffy and absolutely delicious this 100% sourdough sandwich bread is the perfect sandwich bread. Tender and just a little hint of tang, this bread is our favorite for lunchbox sandwiches and slathering butter and jam.

Prep Time45

Cook Time40

Fermentation Time1

Total Time1 1 25

Course: Bread

Cuisine: American

Servings: slices (2 loaves)

Author: Amy Coyne

Equipment

Ingredients

Levain (1:10:10 overnight, takes 10-12 hours to ripen at 78-80ºF)

20 grams sourdough starter bubbly and active, see recipe notes about 4 teaspoons
200 grams all purpose or bread flour about 1 1/3 cups
200 grams water see recipe notes, about 3/4 cup plus 1 Tablespoon
20 grams granulated sugar about 4 teaspoons

Sourdough Sandwich Bread

400 grams levain about 1 3/4 cup
330 grams water lukewarm, about 1 1/3 cups
160 grams honey about 1/2 cup
1 large egg about 50 grams
50 grams coconut oil melted, or any neutral flavored oil, about 1/4 cup
20 grams salt about 1 Tablespoon
950 grams bread flour about 6-7 cups, see recipe notes

Instructions

Levain (1:10:10, overnight, ready in 10-12 hours at 78ºF)

The night before you mix the dough, mix together the levain. To a small bowl, mix together active starter, flour, water and sugar (optional for more mild flavor in the bread). Cover and let sit overnight for 10-12 hours in warm 78-80ºF place until ripe, bubbly and active.
Alternatively if you prefer mixing the levain the morning of, mix: 140 grams starter, 140 grams flour, 140 grams water and 20 grams sugar - this should take about 3-4 hours to rise at 78ºF. Ripe, bubbly, active sourdough starter can also be substituted for levain if desired.

Soft Sourdough Sandwich Bread

Mix: To the bowl of a stand mixer, add the ripe levain, water, honey, salt, egg, coconut oil and most of the flour. Reserve about 1 cup (130 grams) of flour to add in as needed. Knead for 8-10 minutes until the dough is smooth, soft and cohesive. Add the remaining flour as needed. The dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl or gather all together as it kneads. It will feel tacky to the touch, but should not be overly sticky. If it is very sticky, add a little bit more flour 10-20 grams at a time until it feels tacky and workable.
This dough can also be kneaded about 10-15 minutes by hand.
Begin Bulk Fermentation: Transfer the dough to a container and cover with a plastic shower cap or kitchen towel.
Bulk Rise: Let the dough rise about 4-5 hours (76-78ºF dough temperature) until puffed up and aerated. The dough will not have doubled in size at this point but should have filled the bottom of the container and risen a small amount. If it hasn't, let it sit in a warmer place for another hour or two.
At this point you can also stick the dough in the refrigerator after a couple of hours for a long cold bulk rise. See recipe notes.
Divide and Shape: Turn the dough out onto the counter. Separate into two equal portions of dough. Pat one of the portions out into a rectangle. Starting at the edge closest to you, roll up the dough. Take care to press in the dough at the seam after each roll and pinch the seam closed at the end. Pinch and round the ends of the dough just a bit to get a uniform loaf. Place in a greased 8.5-by-4.5 loaf pan and cover. Repeat with remaining portion of dough. You can watch a shaping video here.
Proof/Second Rise: Let the bread rise in the pan for 4-8 hours (76-85ºF dough temperature)) until the dough has risen up and over the edge of the loaf pan. Depending on time of year, temperature and how active your yeast is, the rise could be shorter or much longer. If you notice no change and no rise, put the bread in a warmer place (oven with a light on or bread proofer). Press in gently on the dough with a finger. If the dough springs back immediately, it needs a little more time to rise. If it leaves a little indentation and springs back just a little bit, it is ready to bake.
Bake: Pre-heat oven to 350ºF. Bake the loaves of bread for 40 minutes. Spread melted butter on the tops of the loaves if desired. Let bread cool for about 5-10 minutes in the loaf pans before removing to a cooling rack. Cool completely before slicing for sandwiches. Enjoy!

Video

Notes

Sourdough Starter: This recipe uses active sourdough starter to mix a levain in place of an instant or commercial yeast. If you are using sourdough starter from the refrigerator, pull it out a day or two before making this bread. Feed it once in the morning and once at night, making sure it doubles or triples in size. The more active your starter is, the better this bread will rise.

Honey/Sugar: This is a sweeter sandwich bread to counterbalance the sour flavor. You can reduce the honey if you prefer to 60-80 grams. You will need to adjust for a little less flour in the dough.

Flour: I use a 12.5% protein content bread flour in this recipe. You can substitute all-purpose flour for bread flour - you may need a little extra flour. Whole wheat flour also works well substituting for half of the bread flour - you may need a little less flour because whole wheat absorbs more water. Whole wheat loaves won't rise quite as high as ones made with bread flour.

Overnight Rise Option: Recently I've started mixing this dough together in the evening, shaping it into loaf pans and letting it rise throughout the night so I can bake it in the morning.

Overnight Refrigerated Bulk Rise: After the bulk fermentation is completed, stick the dough in the refrigerator overnight (or up to 18 hours). The next morning, proceed with the recipe by shaping the dough, letting it rise and baking the bread loaves.

Update #1: Originally this recipe called for 60 grams of honey and 850 grams flour. We prefer this bread sweet from the honey and make it with the 160 grams. As I've made it over the years I've increased the flour to 950 grams and the honey to 160 grams. If you want to decrease the honey back to the original posting, it will work well too. The bread won't be quite as sweet and may have a few more sour notes.

Update #2: The more that I've made this bread, I've changed a few things about how I do it. I no longer use the stretch and folds. I also used to use a morning levain, but now use an overnight one for easier timing with the rise of the bread. I like being able to mix the dough when I wake up in the morning. I've changed the recipe instructions to reflect this.

For those asking for the previous version:
Levain, mix 1:1:1 ratio (3-4 hours before ripe at 78-80ºF)

- 140 grams of ripe/mature starter

- 140 grams of warm water

- 140 grams of all purpose or bread flour

- 20 grams granulated sugar (optional for more mild flavor)

After 3-4 hours, add ingredients to the stand mixer. Knead dough together in stand mixer for 5-7 minutes. Perform sets of stretch and folds every half hour for the first 2 hours. Let the dough continue to rest and bulk ferment for about 2 more hours. Then shape the dough and let rise, according to the recipe instructions.

Nutrition