How to Make Sourdough Sandwich Bread

Soft, chewy, and perfectly fermented, this simple sourdough sandwich bread is sure to be a crowd pleaser. Let’s start baking!

I could not wait to start baking sourdough sandwich bread. I remember being so excited when I mixed up the first batch of dough. Really, I had NO idea that it would literally take me years to find the perfect combination of ingredients to make a soft, fluffy loaf of sourdough sandwich bread.

This recipe has been a success every single time. It’s moist, soft, and makes the best grilled cheese. 😉

Gather Your Ingredients:

1/2 cup of oil or softened butter
2 TBS honey
1 TBS salt
1 cup of active, bubbly starter
2 1/2 cups filtered water
6-8 cups of flour

Mix Up the Dough:

Add all of the ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer. I usually add the wet ingredients first, and flour last. That is totally optional, though.
Using the dough hook, knead the dough until it is stretchy and smooth. It will pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl and be very elastic. This usually takes 10 minutes or so.
Remove the dough from the metal bowl and into a large ceramic bowl. Cover with a towel. Allow to bulk rise for 10 to 12 hours in a warm place.
Once your dough has fermented, divide the dough into two equal parts.
Shape each piece by rolling it into a rectangle, and rolling it up from the short side.
Add rolled dough to buttered loaf pans.
Let dough rise a second time for 2 to 4 hours at room temperature, or until the dough has doubled.
Bake at 375 for 40 minutes, or until golden on top.

I am certainly not a complicated cook. I love to keep our menu simple, and it is a must that my recipes are, too. It’s most important to me that our family has nutritious, homemade food, and sourdough fits the bill. I have shared a few other sourdough recipes if you’re interested in those, too.

A few notes…

I am positive you could make this recipe without the mixer. After all, that is how bread has been baked since the beginning of time. I’ve just never tried it with this recipe. I figure I’ve got the mixer, I may as well use it. 🙂

Aslo, you want to make sure you feed your starter anywhere from 4 to 8 hours before you mix this dough up. I usually feed my starter sometime between noon and two p.m. and the starter is active and bubbly by 7 p.m. I like to mix mine up at night, and let it ferment overnight.

You can know when your sourdough dough is ready by doing a window pane test. If you’ve never heard of that there is a great quick YouTube video explaining it!