Sourdough Sandwich Bread with Soft Crust

Sliced sourdough sandwich on a cutting board

5 from 3 votes

Sourdough Sandwich Bread with Soft Crust

This sourdough sandwich recipe takes some of the best sourdough qualities and turns them into a delicious, easy-to-make sourdough sandwich loaf with a soft crust! Its ultra-soft crust and mild-tangy taste make it perfect for sandwiches, toast, or even French toast. I will walk you through the recipe step by step so that you can bake this delicious soft bread with sourdough starter discard from scratch.

Prep Time6 45

Cook Time35

Rest15

Total Time22 20

Course: Bread

Cuisine: American

Servings: slices

Calories: 197kcal

Author: Sabine

Ingredients

Leaven* (see note)

10 g sourdough starter
50 g bottled or filtered water
50 g organic white bread flour

Sourdough Sandwich

438 g organic white bread flour
25 g sugar
8 g salt
285 g bottled or filtered water
88 g leaven
56 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
egg wash (1 large egg yolk + 1-2 tablespoon milk)
14 g unsalted butter, melted

Instructions

Prepare the leaven

Combine the sourdough starter, water, and flour and stir until no lumps remain. Let sit in a warm spot (68-75°F / 20-24°C) until it has risen by about 75% and passes the float test, about 6 hours.

Prepare the dough

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer fitted with a hook attachment, add the flour, sugar, salt, water, and leaven, and knead on low speed until it comes together about 3-4 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl halfway through. Let rest for 20-30 minutes.
Knead on low speed and gradually add the butter until it is completely incorporated. Once all of the butter is incorporated, increase the speed to high and knead for about 5-6 minutes until the dough is smooth, releases from the sides of the bowl, and passes the windowpane test. It's a soft, smooth, and satiny dough that is slightly tacky to the touch.
Lightly spray a straight-sided container with oil and transfer the dough to the container; lightly oil the top of the dough as well. Cover and let rest at room temperature for 12-15 hours until it has at least doubled, is full of small bubbles and wobbles like jellyfish when you gently shake the container.
Spray an 8x4-inch (20x10cm) loaf pan lightly with oil or grease with butter and set aside. Also, turn on the light in the oven to create a warm environment for the dough to rise a second time. Between 75-80°F (24-27°C) is ideal.
Remove the dough from the container with a dough scraper, place it on a floured work surface, and flour the top of the dough. Roughly shape the dough into a square and deflate the dough with your fingers to pop the medium and large bubbles. That is important to create a fine and soft bread crumb. If needed, use more flour to prevent the dough from sticking, but be careful not to work more flour into the dough as necessary.
Then shape the deflated dough into a rectangle that is about 8-inch (20cm) wide and 10-inch (25cm) long. Starting from a short side, roll up the dough tightly and deflate it even further as you roll it up.
Transfer the dough to the prepared loaf pan and let rise in the warm oven for about 1.5-2 hours or until it has grown by about 50-75%.
Remove the dough from the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F (204°C) for 15-20 minutes.
Brush the dough with egg wash and bake for 30-35 minutes until the top is golden brown and it sounds hollow when you knock on the bottom of the sandwich.
Remove from the oven, brush immediately with the melted butter and cover with a clean and dry kitchen towel for 20 minutes. Then uncover, remove the sandwich from the pan and transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Video

Notes

* I feed my sourdough starter in a ratio of 1:5:5, 1 part starter, 5 parts flour, and 5 parts water and it doubles in about 6 hours. If you feed your starter in a different ratio (1:4:4 for example), I recommend preparing the leaven in the ratio you would normally do because it has to be strong enough to double in about 6 hours. Otherwise, the leaven may not grow as expected and the loaf may not rise properly.

Nutrition