Easy Sourdough Sandwich Bread
If you’re new to sourdough baking this is a great place to start. It uses less flour, requires no turning or folding, and is ready the same day you start it.
(A note from Regan: This easy recipe for a basic Sourdough Sandwich Bread assumes you have some basic knowledge and understanding of sourdough baking. If it’s all new to you and you’re like I was when you first started thinking about baking sourdough bread, which is to say CONFUSED, READ THIS POST first. It goes over the basics about feeding your sourdough starter, has some helpful tutorial & recipe links, and videos.)
Where my Sourdough Discard Banana Bread is densely chock-full of chocolate chips and sweet banana flavor, this Easy Sourdough Sandwich bread is light, almost fluffy (without the use of weird dough conditioners), and just a tiny bit tangy.
Did you pick up on that last part? It’s important. This is not the recipe that’s going to yield a deep, tart sourdough flavor. What I’ve learned is those loaves and boules require a fair amount of hand-holding to allow plenty of time for that “sour” flavor to develop.
This recipe gets you from start to finish in a fraction of the time and bonus — it’s super kid-friendly.
I’ve made loaf after loaf of this easy sourdough sandwich bread since I first started tinkering with its parent recipe — Bread Machine Sourdough Bread by King Arthur Flour. I’ve only had one loaf fail and that was user error on my part. I let it proof (the first rise) too long and started with a weak starter.
(It took me a little while to get a feel for when my starer is “ripe”. In my experience, it can best be described as having a texture somewhat like Elmer’s glue.)
If you’re new to sourdough baking (like I am) this easy sourdough sandwich bread recipe is a great place to start your sourdough baking journey. It doesn’t use a ton of flour, it’s fairly hands-off (no turning and folding and waiting) and it’s ready the same day you start it… within a few hours.
The one thing that it doesn’t offer you is a completely yeast-free bread. I know for some baking purists, that’s sourdough blasphemy. I get that but will say that this is a fun way to get your feet wet with sourdough baking. After a few successful loaves and ensuring your starter is up to the challenge, you can aim high with a traditional sourdough recipe. For now, bake this. I know you’ll love it. ~Regan
Is Sourdough Starter confusing to you?
Check out this post for helpful tips.
Easy Sourdough Sandwich Bread
- Total Time: 2 hour, 30 min
- Yield: 1 loaf
Description
If you’re new to sourdough baking this is a great place to start. It uses less flour, requires no turning or folding, and is ready the same day you start it.
Ingredients
- 300 g (about 1 1/3 cups) fed sourdough starter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 50 g (about 1/4 cup) lukewarm water (I microwave for 8 seconds to get the right temperature)
- 200 g (about 1 2/3 cups) all-purpose or bread flour (I highly recommend King Arthur Flour, but if you can’t find it whatever you have on hand will work)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt (For best flavor here, do not use Kosher or sea salt.)
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast (this is less than a full packet, so please measure it)
- 1 tablespoon non-fat dry milk powder (optional/helps with crust browning)
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl*. Using a stand mixer, knead dough until soft and smooth (approximately 10 minutes) OR knead by hand, about 15 to 20 minutes.
- Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and let rise at room temperature 1 hour or in fridge overnight (As I’ve said before, this isn’t a traditional “tangy” sourdough, but the overnight rise does seem to help develop a bit more sourdough flavor).
- Spray a 9- x 5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, gently pressing it into a free-form rectangle. Starting from the short end, roll up to form a log.
- Carefully transfer the log to the prepared pan (the dough is faily soft). Spray a piece of plastic wrap with cooking spray; cover, and let it rise in a slightly warmer than room temperature spot (an oven with the light on, but turned off works well for this) for 45 minutes, until it reaches just above the top of the pan.
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Bake bread for 30 minutes, until it’s light gold and a digital thermometer inserted into the center reads 190°F.
- Remove bread from the oven, and immediately turn it out of the pan onto a rack to cool. Cut with a serrated knife.
- Store, well-wrapped, at room temperature for several days; freeze for longer storage.
Notes
*I’ve been mixing my dough using the dough-cycle of my bread machine. It works perfectly every time. I allow it to mix and knead the dough. Then the dough rests in the machine for about an hour. After the rest, I deflate the dough by turning it out onto a floured surface. Next, I shape the dough into a loaf per the instructions below, before the second rise. If you don’t have a bread maker with a dough cycle, follow Steps 1 and 2 of these instructions.
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Rising Time: 1 hour, 45 min
- Cook Time: 30 min
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
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