Sourdough Sandwich Bread is made with milk, butter & active sourdough starter. This soft crust sourdough bread has a tender crumb and awesome flavor. It makes a perfect sandwich.
This recipe is a variation of my popular White Sandwich Bread recipe. That bread is the what you want to make if you don’t have a sourdough starter, or if you want to make a fresh loaf of bread in just a couple of hours.
If you maintain a sourdough starter, you know the incredible flavor and texture the bread gets from the long slow rise that is needed for the natural yeast in the starter to grow.
If you don’t already have one, I can show you how to make a sourdough starter and how to feed a sourdough starter.
I have made both of my white sandwich bread recipes side by side to compare the flavor. Honestly, they are both truly delicious and both make a killer BLT.
In my side by side tasting I did prefer the robust flavor and texture of the sourdough loaf. Plus, we baking geeks know how much fun it is to work with sourdough.
Although this sourdough sandwich bread recipe takes a good 8-12 hours from start to finish, the vast majority of the time is hands off.
To make this recipe even more convenient, you can let the dough rise over night. A long rise in the refrigerator does only good things for the bread.
Scroll through the step by step photos to see how to make Sourdough Sandwich Bread with a soft crust:
A timeline for making Sourdough Sandwich Bread:
- If your starter needs feeding, do that the night before or early in the morning of the day you want to make the dough.
- Mix the dough in the afternoon, allow it to ferment for 3-4 hours then refrigerate the dough before going to bed.
- Take the dough out of the refrigerator first thing in the morning, shape the loaf and set it into the pan.
- To warm up the dough, turn on the oven just until it’s barely warm. Turn off the oven and set the pan with the cool dough in the oven. Remove the pan once the dough is back to room temperature. You can skip this step, but it does speed up the rising time.
- Leave the loaf to rise for 1 1/2- 2 hours, or as long as is needed to almost double in size.
- You should have fresh bread by lunch time.
- To make and bake the dough in the same day, feed your starter the evening before so it’s active by morning. Start the dough early in the morning and it should be ready to bake by late afternoon or early evening.
Since you’ve got your starter fed, peruse the entire list of My Best Sourdough Recipes. Have fun!
I know you hate to throw away that sourdough discard. Check out these recipes that use sourdough discard.
Hey bread lover, you might also want to try these other great sandwich breads; Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread, Honey Oatmeal Bread, Milk & Honey Whole Wheat Bread, Overnight Rye Bread, Sourdough Rye Bread, Low Knead Whole Grain Bread.
If you love this recipe as much as I do, I’d really appreciate a 5-star review.
Sourdough Sandwich Bread
This loaf has a soft crust, tender crumb and awesome flavor. It makes a perfect sandwich.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (8oz, 240ml) whole milk
- 2 tablespoons (1 oz, 28g) unsalted butter
- 1 cup (8 oz, 224g) active sourdough starter (100% hydration)
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 2 1/2 cups (12.5 oz, 350g) all purpose flour
- 1 large egg for egg wash
Instructions
- Warm the milk in the microwave to until scalding hot (just before it comes to a boil.) Stir the butter into the warm milk to melt. Set the milk aside to cool until it's slightly warmer than body temp (about 100°-110°F).
- In a mixer bowl, combine the warm milk with the starter, sugar and salt and stir to combine. Add 1.5 cups of the flour and stir until the batter looks like thick pancake batter. If using a stand mixer, change to the dough hook.
- With the mixer running, slowly add the remaining flour until the dough gathers on the hook and clears the sides of the bowl. Knead for 5 minutes. If mixing by hand, stir in as much flour as you can then turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead in the remaining flour.
- Remove the dough from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface. The dough should be soft and slightly sticky. Knead to form a smooth ball. If the dough is very sticky sprinkle a little more flour as you knead.
- Place the dough in an oiled bowl, turning once to coat the dough. Cover the bowl and set it aside at room temperature.
- After 30 minutes uncover the bowl, lift one side of the dough and fold it into the middle of the dough. Repeat with the other three sides of the dough then flip the dough over. You're basically turning the dough inside-out to redistribute the yeast and strengthen the gluten. Cover the bowl and after 30 minutes repeat the procedure. Cover the bowl and after 60 minutes repeat the procedure again.
- Cover the bowl and after 60 minutes fold the dough one more time. By now the dough should be lively, elastic and airy. If the dough is still sluggish give it another hour or two at room temperature. If you want to finish making the bread in the morning return the dough to the bowl, cover tightly and refrigerate overnight. The next morning continue with shaping. Otherwise continue shaping the loaf on the same day.
- Grease a 9"x 5" loaf pan with a very light film of vegetable oil.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and without kneading out the air, gently push the dough to a 9" rectangle. Tightly roll the dough to form a log.
- Set the dough into the pan and cover with a damp kitchen towel or oiled plastic wrap. Set in a warm place and rise until the dough is doubled in size, about 1-1.5 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Use a sharp knife or razor to cut a 1/2" deep slash down the center of the loaf. Brush the loaf with egg wash.
- Bake about 30-35 minutes until golden brown and and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The interior temp should be 190°-200°F.
- Cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack. Finish cooling to room temperature before slicing,
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Jamalowa
Thursday 2nd of March 2023
How do I convert this recipe to a 4x4x4 pullman loaf pan? We don't eat much bread, but we like it fresh. I'm very appreciative.
Eileen Gray
Friday 3rd of March 2023
My go to loaf pan is a 9"x5". For a 4x4x4 I would make half a batch of dough. You could also make a full batch. Keep half the dough in the fridge while you bake the first half in the pan (it can be held in the fridge up to 2 days). Freeze the first loaf then bake the other half of the dough. If you freeze the loaf right after it's done cooling it will be as good as fresh when you defrost it later.
Jodi
Sunday 15th of January 2023
This is my go-to loaf recipe for my family. I make it using fairlife 2% lactose free milk. Comes out light and fluffy every time.
Callie Johnson
Saturday 9th of July 2022
Do you know if this recipe can be made with a milk substitute? I am looking for a good sourdough sandwich bread recipe, but my daughter can’t have milk. Could I use water or oatmilk instead?
Eileen Gray
Sunday 10th of July 2022
The milk helps give the bread it's soft crumb and nicely browned crust. Rather than water I suggest you substitute with oat milk or almond milk.
Suzann Palmour
Tuesday 1st of March 2022
This was exactly the sandwich sourdough recipe I was looking for! Though i love yeasted recipes, I love when I can use sourdough starter instead of yeast. This recipe was easy and turned out beautifully! This will definitely start being a staple in our house. Thank you!
Wendy
Monday 21st of February 2022
First I want to say, I love this recipe! I just had one question. Is there a reason we heat the milk to scalding, or is it just to melt the butter?
Eileen Gray
Monday 21st of February 2022
Yes. The whey protein in milk can weaken gluten development. Scalding the milk weakens the whey protein so you get better gluten development.