Want to bake Soft Sourdough Sandwich Bread that's perfect to pile your favorite sammy fillings into? This fluffy bread is easier to bite into than crusty sourdough and is unbelievably delicious.
This simple soft sourdough bread recipe makes chewy, tender bread with that tart flavor you love in sourdough; it makes the best sandwiches and grilled cheese!
Soft Sandwich Loaf Sourdough Bread
If you've been searching for a more kid friendly recipe for sourdough bread, look no further! My soft sandwich loaf sourdough bread is ideal for all the ham-and-cheese's and PB&J's your heart desires. Listen, I love a good ol' crusty, crunchy-on-the-outside slice of sourdough, and that sort of bread certainly has its place in my heart (and on my plate). But for sandwiches? I'd go with this rendition all day. You want something soft and cushiony to bite into when making a sandwich, not crusty.
This bread is so good, though, that you could eat it as toast or just a snack with a little butter and flaky salt. How great does that sound? And even if you're a proclaimed "non-bread-baker," I've got you covered. Promise! This recipe is simple to follow; it just takes a bit of time to let the dough rise to perfection before baking. You can do this -- and you'll be happy you gave it a try once you experience the final product! Happy sourdough baking!
Ingredients Used to Make Sourdough Sandwich Bread
Sourdough starter: Have you made bread using a sourdough starter before? It's so easy! It just takes a few days to prep your starter, so if you want to make your own, plan accordingly. Here's a post all about making your own sourdough starter.
Water: The water thins the sourdough starter before adding the rest of your thick ingredients.
Sugar: Using a little bit of sugar adds a touch of sweetness to balance the tart from the sourdough flavor.
Light oil: Oil is what makes the bread really soft and tender.
All-purpose flour: Flour is the essential ingredient in making bread! I like all-purpose because it's versatile and makes a nice chewy, soft-textured bread.
Salt: Salt adds balanced flavor to the rest of the ingredients.
How to Make Soft Sourdough Bread
- Feed your starter 12 hours before you plan to make the dough.
- When you starter is fed and has grown, make the dough while the starter is still full.
- Measure out your starter into a medium mixing bowl.
- Add the water, and whisk the starter and the water together until well combined.
- Add the sugar, oil, flour, and salt to the bowl.
- Use the fork to combine well.
- Cover the bowl with a damp clean kitchen towel; let it rest for 1 hour.
- Gently pull the edge of the dough in the bowl and push it into the middle. Work your way around the bowl.
- Cover the bowl again with a damp kitchen towel; let dough rest at room temperature for 8 to 12 hours.
- Prepare a loaf pan by spraying it with cooking spray.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface.
- Roll the dough into a long log and tuck in the ends.
- Place the loaf into the pan.
- Cover with a damp towel and allow to rise for 1 to 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Bake for 40 to 45 minutes.
- Let the loaf rest 5 minutes in the pan and then let cool on wire rack.
- Store in a plastic bag for 3-5 days. It will cut best once it has cooled completely.
What If My Dough Doesn't Rise?
If the dough doesn't rise, it may be because the room it too cool. Try moving the bowl into a warmer spot in the room to activate the natural yeast. This is the most common issue I'm seeing with sluggish bread and starters!
How Do You Make Bread Lighter and Fluffy?
Using a light flour helps sourdough bread to be lighter. I like using all-purpose white flour. You can also sift your flour to make it extra light. This recipe yields a softer and fluffy bread thanks to the oil used in the ingredients, too.
How to Store Sourdough Bread
Store soft sourdough loaf bread in an airtight zipper-topped bag for up to 3 to 5 days.
How to Keep Bread from Drying Out
Keep bread from drying out by storing it in an airtight bag and not slicing it until you are ready to serve it. Slicing ahead of time lets air touch more of the bread, which can make it drier and more crumbly.
How Long Does Sourdough Bread Keep?
Homemade sourdough bread keeps for up to 3 to 5 days in the refrigerator. You can also freeze a loaf for up to 4 months. Just thaw it in the fridge overnight before you want to use or serve it!
Soft Sandwich Loaf Sourdough Bread
- Total Time: 14 hours
- Yield: 1 loaf 1x
Description
Want to bake soft sandwich loaf sourdough bread that's perfect to pile your favorite sammy fillings into and easier to bite into than crusty sourdough bread? You're in the right place!
Ingredients
- 75 grams active sourdough starter (very full ⅓ cup)
- 300 grams water (1 ¼ cup)
- 15 grams sugar (1 tablespoon)
- 15 grams light oil (1 tablespoon)
- 500 grams all-purpose flour (4 cups)
- 10 grams salt (1 ½ teaspoons)
Instructions
- Feed your starter 12 or so hours before you plan to make the dough. The timing should be such that you are using your starter at it's peak, so feed it so that it's peaked when you want to make the dough, it'll vary based on your starter and house temperature.
- When you starter is fed and has grown in size, make the dough while the starter is still tall and full, at its peak.
- To make the dough, measure out your starter into a medium to medium-large mixing bowl.
- Add the water, and whisk the starter and the water together until well combined.
- Add the sugar, oil, flour, and salt to the bowl.
- Use a fork to combine well; it'll be a little stiff but just mix it up well.
- Cover the bowl with a damp clean kitchen towel, and let it rest for 1 hour.
- After an hour, come back to the bowl, and gently pull the edge of the dough in the bowl and push it into the middle. Work your way around the bowl, pushing the dough to the center each time. Do this a few times until the dough comes together in a ball. It will look more like traditional bread dough at this point.
- Cover the bowl again with a damp kitchen towel, and let the dough rest at room temperature for 8 to 12 hours, depending on your schedule.
- Prepare a loaf pan by spraying it with cooking spray or greasing well with butter.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Don't punch it down or be too rough with it -- it's worked for hours to rise -- no need to deflate it on purpose.
- Roll the dough into a long log and tuck in the ends. Use your hands to gently press the loaf into an even shape, pressing along the bottom of the loaf near the work surface.
- Place the loaf into the pan, smooth side up. I like to use an 8x3 inch loaf pan for this recipe, slightly smaller than a 9x5 loaf pan as it helps the top dome up more.
- Cover with a damp towel, and allow to rise for 1 to 2 hours or until it has risen a ½ inch or so above the rim of the pan. How quickly it rises will depend a lot on the temperature of your house.
- While the bread is rising, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- When the dough is ready, bake it for 40 to 45 minutes. The loaf will be a deep brown color.
- Let the loaf rest 5 minutes in the pan, and then remove it and let it cool on a wire rack. Let the loaf cool at least an hour before cutting.
- Store in a plastic bag for 3 to 5 days. It will cut best once it has cooled completely.
Notes
- I love this easy loaf so much. It's our favorite sandwich bread and it makes great toast.
- New to sourdough? You can learn how to make a starter here.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Bread
- Method: bake
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: soft sourdough bread, sourdough sandwich bread, white sourdough bread, homemade bread, easy bread recipe
More great sourdough and other bread recipes to bake today:
- Mom's 4 Loaf Wheat Bread
- Homemade Subway Bread
- The Best Orange Cranberry Bread
- Easy Sourdough Bread Recipe
- How to Make a Sourdough Starter
- Super Simple No-Knead Bread
- Rustic Italian Bread
Homemade soft sourdough bread is so tender, chewy, and delicious and it's easy to make as long as you have your sourdough starter and a few simple ingredients!
Ðeb
Hi! Do you have a sourdough bread recipe with wholewheat and white bread flour?
Melissa
I do in my sourdough cookbook!
Tawnya
Hi! Just wondering if I can substitute some of the flour for white whole wheat and if so what percentage of the total flour. I plan to use bread flour for the other portion. Also, how long to proof if I'm using a warming device (such as instant dutch oven that I can program to be at 77° F). I keep hearing that temperature dictates time, but I'm not sure what I'm looking for with regard to when it's ready. Thank you!!
★★★★★
Melissa
I'd make it a few times to get a feel for it before switching up the flours and the times mentioned should be similia when using a warming device!
Hollie
Since finding this recipe, I haven't bought bread from the store in months. We love it! I do slice after completely cool as thin as I can, then carefully restack the slices into the loaf and place in a large ziplock bag and push out all excess air before sealing. Then I store it in the fridge. I find that it lasts us a week! (If we haven't eaten it all before that time is up.)
★★★★★
Nisa Andersson
After trying your regular sourdough recipe over and over with great success I wanted to try the sourdough loaf. The flavor is fantastic, but found it a little dense. Any advice for softer less dense inside?
Thanks
Melissa
Just let it rise longer in the pan! That'll fix that right up, wait until it's even with the top of the pan or just over, it could take several hours in a winter kitchen.
Heather M.
So easy and so delicious! I love being able to whip up the dough for an overnight rise, and then it's pretty much ready to bake in the morning with only a few bits of kneading and shaping. Saves me so much time and I still get delicious homemade bread at the end! Thank you!
★★★★★
Jo-Ann
I have made this recipe a couple times and your regular sourdough recipe numerous times. I love both. I do have a question. I make my dough when my starter is at at it’s hughesthighest highest. Something that means I will be baking at 1 in the morning! Can I let it sit in the fridge overnight? Either in the pan or not? Thanks
★★★★★
Melissa
Sourdough is not that fussy, you can even use starter that hasn't been fed at all! You for sure can make this fit to your schedule more, it's really not as fussy as it's made out to be!
Bibiana Moreno
By far the best sourdough sandwich bread. I've made this a few times and never fails... Perfect! I've done the bare minimum time of letting the dough rest for 8 hours and I've done it where it rest more than 12 hours and it's still perfect.
★★★★★
Kellene
Sourdough newbie here! I tried making this recipe. And it did not get the rise. I've got a young starter... only about a month old. I fed my starter and it had doubled by 8 hours so I started my dough for this bread. Measured and mixed everything using a scale. Let it rest for an hour. Did the fold and thought the dough was feeling good. Let it rest overnight. (8 hours) Formed into loaf but I only had 9 x 5 pan. Let it rest and it didn't do much. A little but not much. I know its colder here, especially this week. So I let the loaf rest on the stove while the oven was on warm hoping that would give enough heat. I had it resting about 4 hours and it was about 3/4 in to 1 inch from the top of the pan and, since it had been more than double what the recipe said, I thought maybe it wouldn't get higher because of the bigger pan. So after 4 hours I baked it hoping for good results but it didn't come above the pan at all!
Any idea where I went wrong? Is my starter just too young? Should I have rested it longer but I'm always afraid of overproofing. I'm not giving up. I want this to work and I see that so many people have had success with this recipe. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!
Melissa
It sounds like you are right on track! I think that it's just cold at your house and that's the main issue. Does your oven have a bread proofing option? Sourdough is very hard to over proof, so I think next time I would just let it rise longer in the pan until it's about an inch above the rim. That does it make it more sour in flavor though, something to consider. How was the texture of the small loaf?