Sourdough Sandwich Bread

One of the recipes I get asked for the most is a soft sourdough sandwich bread made in a loaf pan. After trialling many inclusions and getting my family to vote on the best one, this easy recipe has become our family's go to soft sourdough sandwich loaf. Easy to bake and freeze, as well as the perfect toasting loaf, I'm sure you and your family will love it too!

Why You'll Love This Recipe!

Soft, Closed Crumb - A good sourdough sandwich bread needs to have a closed crumb (so the fillings don't fall out) and a light airy texture. I personally like a softer crust on my sandwich bread, but you can certainly make this sandwich loaf with a crustier crust.

It's So Forgiving - Unlike other sourdough bread where you have to be a little more gentle to preserve the bubbles and shape, this sourdough sandwich loaf is totally forgiving and needs no special treatment!

Makes Perfect Sandwiches - Always soft, never crumbly, this soft sourdough sandwich loaf makes the perfect sourdough sandwiches!

Ingredients

• Bread Flour - I prefer to make my sandwich loaves with protein rich bread flour rather than all purpose flour. If you're looking for a whole wheat flour alternative, I recommend this whole wheat sourdough sandwich bread.
• Sourdough Starter - You'll need active sourdough starter. I generally use 100g of starter in this loaf and don't have any issues bulk fermenting overnight, so long as the temperature isn't above 21ºC (69.8ºF). If you want to leave your sandwich loaf to bulk ferment overnight (and it's a bit warmer where you live), I recommend using just 50g of starter. You don't have to adjust anything else in the recipe. You can read about the effect of the starter amount on your sourdough.
• Water
• Butter & Sugar - To give this sourdough sandwich bread it's light, airy crumb I've added some butter and sugar. The butter and sugar help to give the bread a softer crust, perfect for a sandwich loaf. You can use the same weight in olive oil or coconut oil as butter if you want to make the loaf dairy free. You can use maple syrup instead of sugar, or leave it out altogether if you wish, but this will change the flavor and texture of the loaf.
• Salt

Equipment 

Bread Pans - you'll need a selection of sandwich loaf pans to bake your bread. Having 2 or even 4 is a great idea if you want to bake several loaves at once. I love using USA pans and almost always bake this loaf in a USA Pan Pullman Pan (I do not use the lid) measuring 4"D x 4"W x 9"H or USA Pan 1.5 Pound Loaf Pan measuring 5"D x 10"W x 3"H.

Plastic Bread Bags - these are a great way to store your bread and fantastic if you're making multiple loaves at once. I do freeze my bread in these if I'm not freezing it for long, but if you are going to freeze your sourdough sandwich loaves for a few months, I recommend using freezer safe Ziplock bags.

Bread Slicing Guide - these are super handy if you're wanting perfectly sliced sandwich bread, although just having a great bread knife can be just as important to get even slices.

Overview: How To Make Sourdough Sandwich Bread

This sourdough sandwich bread recipe is written for a stand mixer (or Thermomix), which makes the process so much easier and saves time—something I appreciate with three kids in the house! There’s no stretching and folding involved, just straightforward kneading, which is perfect if you’re short on time. That said, you can absolutely knead this dough by hand. It does take a bit more effort to work in the butter and sugar, but it’s completely doable. However you knead it, the dough should be silky and elastic by the end, with no stickiness since this is an enriched dough.

Sourdough sandwich bread is a little different from a traditional sourdough loaf. The crumb is tighter, the crust thinner, and it doesn’t require a cold ferment. Instead, it goes through a bulk ferment followed by a second rise after shaping, where the dough fills the loaf pan at room temperature. You can delay baking by placing the dough in the fridge once it has filled the pan, though I wouldn’t leave it more than 24 hours. For the best results, it’s usually better to bake it right away.

Shaping a sourdough sandwich loaf is wonderfully simple. Once your dough has finished its bulk ferment, tip it onto the counter with the smooth side down and the sticky side up. Ease it into a rough rectangle with the short edge facing you, then gently pop any large bubbles and press it out lightly with your fingertips. Roll the dough into a log, tucking the ends under neatly, and let it rest on your work surface for about 30 minutes. After resting, tighten the log slightly by pulling it against the counter to create surface tension, then place it seam side down into a buttered loaf pan. Unlike shaping a boule or batard, you don’t need to overthink this step. If the top isn’t perfectly tight, don’t worry—the loaf will still rise beautifully above the rim of the pan and taste absolutely delicious when it comes out of the oven.

You'll find step by step instructions in the recipe card at the end of this post, as well as a video.

Baking Timeline

You can easily make this sourdough bread fit your schedule, it just needs a little tweaking. But since we are all about easy sourdough on any schedule here at The Pantry Mama, I've got your back! Here's the schedule I follow when making this sourdough sandwich loaf. A few things to note when thinking about tweaking this schedule:

• Bulk Fermentation - this is a low hydration loaf, as well as an enriched loaf, hence bulk fermentation and proofing will be fairly slow.
• Proofing - this loaf involves allowing the dough a second rise and you'll want to ensure the dough rises about the lip of the pan.

Flavor Variations

While this recipe will never do you wrong, you can always add a few variations to make it a little more exciting! Try some of these: 

• Hawaiian Loaf – Replace the water with pineapple juice for a delicious variation. It tastes quite similar to these sourdough Hawaiian rolls.
• Honey & Oat Sandwich Loaf – Add 20g of honey and 50g of oats to the mixture when you add the butter, sugar and salt. If you’d like to add oats to the top you should do so when you put the dough into the tin – spray the loaf lightly with water so the oats stick to the top.
• Multigrain Sandwich Loaf – Add 50 to 100g of your favorite seeds to the mixture when you add the butter, sugar and salt. Seeds like sesame, sunflower, pumpkin and flax work really well.

How to Store + Freeze

I make a lot of this sourdough sandwich bread! So here's how we store and freeze it in my home:

Store at Room Temperature - I use large ziplock bags or these plastic bread bags to store sliced loaves at room temperature. It lasts around 48 hours at room temperature once sliced. After that, it's suitable for toast.

Freezer - I store unsliced loaves in large ziplock bags for convenience. I tend to slice them once thawed. 

Sandwiches - If you're a mama and you're making school lunches, this bread works so well! I even make a big batch of sandwiches and freeze them, making school mornings so much easier!

Things like ham and cheese, plain ham, peanut butter and jelly, honey or jam work the best when freezing. They defrost easily and you wouldn't even know they were frozen! To store frozen sandwiches, you can place each sandwich in a plastic ziplock bag. This makes them easy to place in lunchboxes in the morning.

Frequently Asked Questions

Share the sourdough love!