Name: Sourdough Sandwich Bread
Prep time: 90 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 190 min
Ingredients: 435 g All Purpose Flour; 2 g Kosher Salt; 40 g Sugar; 8 g Dry Active Yeast; 300 g Filtered Water; 142 g Active Sourdough Starter (80% Hydration)

Having a good sandwich bread in your repertoire of recipes is always a good call. Although classic rustic sourdoughs, and other crusty breads are amazing, they aren’t always what you want. For sandwiches, grilled cheese, and simple French toast, a dense and chewy sourdough sandwich bread is exactly what you need. This recipe is fast compared to other sourdoughs, and comes together easily.

For sandwiches, grilled cheese, and simple French toast, a dense and chewy, sourdough sandwich bread is exactly what you need.

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I wanted to include some photos and videos that follow along with this process, so this post will be a bit longer than my normal recipe posts. And I’ll be walking through the entire sourdough sandwich bread recipe. There is a printable recipe card at the bottom of the post, but all the reference photos and videos will be up here.

You will need a kitchen scale for this recipe, and if you don’t have one already I really recommend getting one. They aren’t big or super expensive, and they’re really good to have on hand, even if you don’t use them too much. If you don’t have a sourdough starter, you can get one started by checking out my post Here. It will need to be fed about 6-8 hours before you start this recipe. Meaning the dough can be fed on a Friday night, and mix the dough on Saturday morning. All that said, let’s jump into it!

Equipment You Will Need:

Large Mixing Bowl
Small Bowl
Kitchen Scale
2 cup Measuring Cup
Dough Scraper
Loaf Pan

Ingredients:

435g All Purpose Flour
2g Salt
40g Sugar
8g Dry Active Yeast
300g Filtered Water
142g Active Sourdough Starter, 80% Hydration

Step 1: Assemble the Parts

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour and the salt. weigh out the 142g of starter into a small bowl. In a 2 cup measuring cup, combine the water, sugar, and yeast. Stir the water, sugar, and yeast, then let rest for 10-15 minutes to bloom and become foamy.

assembling the sourdough sandwich bread dough

Step 2: Pre Ferment

Once the yeast has bloomed, add it to the flour and salt. Stir it together until you get a ragged dough.

Allow it to sit for 10-30 minutes to let the gluten relax, and to build flavour.

Step 3: Add the Starter

Scrape the starter onto the dough.

Going from around the outside, lift and fold the dough up and over the starter, all the way around the bowl. See video below.

Next, pinch the dough between forefinger and thumb to ‘cut’ the dough into a few pieces. Then fold those pieces back together using the same method used to cover the starter. Dip your hands periodically into water to help prevent the dough becoming too sticky. Repeat this for 5-6 minutes, until the dough and the starter are fully mixed. See the video below.

Dipping your hands in water throughout the process will help prevent sticking. I didn’t in this video because I didn’t want to jostle my camera man.

Partially mixed sourdough sandwich bread dough — The dough after it’s pinch and folds.

Step 4: The Folds

This dough needs 3-4 “folds” to help it build strength and elasticity. So cover the fully mixed dough and let rest for 15 minutes, then uncover it and give it another fold. This time it doesn’t need any pinching, and it only needs a few folds. The video below is the whole process.

Excuse the bowl moving, my camera man had to step out!

Repeat this fold every 15 minutes, 2-3 more times. Each time you will notice the dough becoming easier to work with, and gain more strength. The video below is the 3rd fold, and you can see the big difference in texture from before.

Step 5: Let it Rest

Now that you’ve done your 3-4 folds, your dough should be much stronger, and have nice elasticity. So it’s time to let it rest and rise. Cover the bowl tight, and let it rise in a warmish spot for about an hour, or until doubled in size.

Step 6: Shaping

Once the bread dough is doubled in size it’s time to shape it.

Scrape the dough out on to a lightly floured surface. Flour the dough a little bit, and flour your hands. Using both hands, flatten the dough out to a rough rectangle (doesn’t need to be perfect). Fold in both sides, into thirds, like folding a letter, and flatten slightly. Grab the folded short ends, and rotate 90 degrees. Stretch out the dough a little, then fold into thirds again. Next roll the dough into a log from the edge closest to you up. Seal the roll by tugging it back towards you while pressing down gently, this should give you a tight-ish log. Lay the log into a greased loaf pan. Video below shows this process.

Step 7: Final Rise (And Heat the Oven)

Oil the top of the loaf lightly, and cover with plastic wrap. Leave in a warm place to rise again. This rise will take 40 minutes to an hour depending on the temperature of your kitchen. Now is a good time to Heat your oven to 375F.

The dough will once again double in size. And when poked gently, the dough won’t spring back immediately.

Step 8: Bake!

Transfer your risen loaf to the oven and bake for about 35-40 minutes. It’s done when the top is golden brown, and when it sounds hollow when you tap on the bottom. (The tap test is a great way to determine doneness. Gently tip the loaf out of its loaf pan into one gloved hand, hold it to your ear, and tap the underside with a finger. If it sounds hollow it’s cooked through! Any further baking is only to darken the crust to your liking.)

Step 9: Enjoy Your Bread!

Allow the bread to cool fully on a wire rack. Store in the fridge for maximum shelf life! We get roughly 14 slices out of one loaf, which gets us about 10 days. Wrapped in plastic in the fridge, this loaf is good for 2-3 weeks. If you slice the whole loaf, then bag it, it can be kept in the freezer for even longer. Just take out and toast however many slices you want! The perfect Sourdough Sandwich Bread.

For more bread recipes check out this other super simple No-Knead Bread, or for something a little more rustic, how about this Hearty Wholegrain Bread. Happy Bread Baking!