If you love sourdough bread but want something a bit softer and more fit for sandwiches, you’re in for a treat! This delicious sourdough sandwich bread is the perfect blend of that classic tangy flavor with a tender, fluffy texture that’s ideal for sandwiches, toast, or just enjoying with a pat of butter. Plus, it’s easier to make than you might think. Let’s dive into how you can bake your own loaf at home!

Sourdough sandwich bread cut into slices on a platter

1.) Why Sourdough Sandwich Bread? (Click here)

2.) What You’ll Need (Click here)

3.) How to Make Sourdough Sandwich Bread (Click here)

4.) You Can Find All the Equipment I Used (Click here)

Why Sourdough Sandwich Bread?

Sourdough sandwich bread combines the best of both worlds: the unique, slightly tangy flavor of traditional sourdough and the soft, sliceable texture of a classic sandwich loaf. It’s perfect for everything from grilled cheese to PB&J, and because it’s made with natural yeast, it’s easier to digest and has a lower glycemic index compared to regular bread. Sourdough sandwich bread is healthier than regular bread because it’s easier to digest and has a lower glycemic index, thanks to the natural fermentation process. This means it won’t spike your blood sugar as much, and it’s packed with more nutrients and probiotics for better gut health.

Fed sourdough starter rising and spilling over the top of the jar.

What You’ll Need

Here’s a quick list of what you’ll need to make your sourdough sandwich bread:

Active Sourdough Starter: This is the heart of your bread. Make sure it’s bubbly and active before you start.
Flour: All-purpose or bread flour works well.
Water: Use filtered or bottled water if possible, as chlorine can affect the starter.
Salt: Just a pinch to enhance the flavor.
Honey: A little sweetness to balance the tang and help with the rise.
Oil: Avocado oil for a tender crumb and rich flavor

Ingredients for sourdough sandwich bread on a counter

How to Make the Best Sourdough Sandwich Bread

1. Feed Your Starter

Start by feeding your sourdough starter a 4 to 6 hours before you plan to bake with it. You want it to be bubbly and active. Put your starter in a warm place to help it double in size faster.

2. Mix the Dough

In a large mixing bowl, weighing out your ingredients as you add them to your bowl, combine your active starter with water, honey, and oil. Stir in the flour and salt until you have a sticky dough. You can use a stand mixer with a dough hook or mix it by hand—whichever you prefer.

3. Combining the Dough

Mix all of the ingredients together until you don’t see any dry patches of flour. The dough will not be smooth at this point. You will have a shaggy sticky dough.

4. First Hour

Cover your shaggy sticky dough with a damp towel and let the dough rest in the bowl on the counter for one hour.

5. Shape and Folds

Once the dough has rested for 1 hour, you will start a series of 4 rounds of stretch and folds each spaced 30 minutes apart. Be sure to wet your hands with water before each set of stretch and folds. This will help to minimize the amount of dough that sticks to your hands. The dough is still sticky at this point so if you do have some sticking to you, it’s completely normal. After each round of stretch and folds cover your bowl of dough and let it rest 30 minutes.

To perform 4 sets of stretch and folds, here’s what you’ll do:

First Set: With wet hands, gently grab one side of the dough, stretch it up, and fold it over itself. Rotate the bowl a quarter turn and repeat until you’ve done this on all four sides. Then cover with a damp towel.
Second Set: Wait another 30 minutes, then do the same stretch and fold routine—lifting and folding each side of the dough. It’s getting stronger and more elastic with each fold! Then cover with a damp towel.
Third Set: After another 30-minute rest, repeat the process. You’ll notice the dough feels smoother and more structured. Then cover with a damp towel.
Fourth Set: Finally, after the last 30-minute break, do one last round of stretch and folds. Now your dough is ready to rise and develop all those lovely flavors and textures.

Remember, patience is key—these stretches help build the dough’s strength for a perfect loaf!

Sourdough Sandwich Bread

Using a rolling pin to roll out sourdough bread dough.

Sourdough Sandwich Bread

6. Second Rise

Cover your bowl of dough and stick it in the fridge overnight ( 8-24 hours).

7. The Next Morning

Remove your dough from the fridge and leave it covered on the counter for an hour or two or until it comes to room temperature. Prepare two 9″x5″ loaf pans by spraying them with cooking oil.

8. Preparing Dough to Bake

Flip your bowl over and let dough release onto counter. Use a bench scraper and cut the dough in half. Move one of the dough pieces aside. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a rectangle making sure that you roll out as many bubbles as you can so you won’t have big holes in your bread loaf. Wet your rolling pin with water so that it won’t stick to your dough. After rolling out the dough and squishing out as many of the air bubbles as you can, pull on the outside edges and corners of the dough to make a rectangle.

9. Shape the Dough

To shape the bread, fold each of the long sides of the rectangle into the center. Don’t overlap them too much. Then fold the two corners to the end of the dough closest to you in on itself making something that looks like the point of an arrow. Then roll up the dough as tightly as you can all the way down the length of the dough. Once it is all rolled up, keep the seem side down and pinch and tuck the ends of the dough. This makes it more uniform and you don’t see the coils from rolling the dough. Now transfer the dough seem side down to your loaf pan. Repeat the exact same process with your second piece of dough. Then cover with a damp towel and let them rest on the counter for 1 hour.

10. Preparing to Bake

After resting, your dough should have relaxed and filled out the pans a little more. Use your bread lame to score 3 diagonal cuts into the top of each loaf. Spray the top of each loaf with water to help create steam and allow the bread to rise more before the crust forms. Now loosely cover both pans with foil that has been sprayed with cooking oil or rubber with butter so it doesn’t stick to your bread. Make sure the foil is loosely tented so the bread has room to grow.

11. Bake

Preheat your oven to 400°F. Bake with the foil on for 35. After 35 minutes you can remove the foil and reduce your oven temperature to 375˚F and continue to bake the loaves for an additional 15 minutes or until your bread is golden brown or an internal temperature of 200˚F.

Two sourdough sandwich loaves cooling on a wire cooling rack

Sourdough Sandwich Bread

12. Cool and Slice

Remove from the oven and transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely. Resist the urge to slice it right away—letting it cool ensures it slices nicely without squishing.

Delicious Sourdough Sandwich Bread

Little House Big Barn

Print Recipe

Servings 2 loaves

Equipment

1 bench scraper
1 Kitchen scale
1 Large Mixing Bowl
1 Rolling Pin
2 Loaf pan 9×5
1 Wire cooling racks
1 Lame for scoring dough

Ingredients

Sourdough Sandwich 650Bread

300 grams Active starter
650 grams Warm water
50 grams Honey
40 grams Avocado oil
20 grams Salt
1,000 grams Bread flour

Instructions

This recipe makes 2 loaves of Sourdough Sandwich Bread

Using your food scale, add to a large mixing bowl add 300g of active sourdough starter and 650g of warm water. Mix together to combine. Add 50g of honey, 40g of avocado oil, 20g salt, and 1,000g of bread flour. Mix all of the ingredients together until you no longer have any dry patches of flour. Your dough will be sticky and shaggy at this point.
Cover your dough with a damp towel and let the dough rest in the bowl on the counter for 1 hour.
Then you will do 4 rounds of stretch and folds each of them 30 minutes apart. Cover with a damp towel for the 30 minutes in between the stretch and folds. Wet your hands with water while doing the stretch and folds so the dough won't stick to you as bad.
After the 4th set of stretch and folds, your dough is more put together. Face the smooth side of your dough up in the bowl. Dust with flour and cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and refrigerate the dough overnight (8-24 hours)
The next morning, remove dough from fridge and let it come to room temperature on the counter (about 2 hours).
Prepare two 9×5 loaf pans by spraying with cooking oil or rubbing them with butter.
Dump your dough onto the counter and use a bench scraper to cut it into two equal parts. Set one aside. Wet your rolling pin and roll dough into a rectangle. Roll out as many air bubble as you can so you won't have big holes in your finished load of bread. Use your hands to pull the corners and sides of the dough to get it into a rectangle.
Fold each of the long sides of the rectangle in towards the center of the rectangle. Don't overlap them too much. Then make what looks like an arrowhead with the end of the dough closet to you and tightly roll up the dough to the end. Keep the seam side on the bottom and pinch and tuck the ends so it is more uniform and you won't see that coil shape from rolling the dough up.
Transfer dough to your greased loaf pan seam side down. Repeat that process with your second piece of dough. Cover both of your loaf pans with a damp cloth and let them rest on the counter for 1 hour.
After resting your dough will have relaxed and filled out the pans a little bit more. Score 3 diagonal slashes with your bread lame across the top of your loaf. Generously spray the tops of the your loaves with water to help create steam and allow the bread to rise more before the crust has formed.
Cover both loaf pans with foil. I spray the foil with cooking spray or rub with butter so it doesn't stick to the top of the bread loaf. You will want to cover the loaf pans as loosely as possible with the foil so the bread has room to rise.
Place both loaf pans in an oven that has been preheated to 400℉ and bake with the foil on for 35 minutes. After 35 minutes, remove the foil and reduce the oven temperature to 375℉ and continue to bake the bread an additional 15 minutes or until they are golden brown and an internal temperature of 200℉ is reached.
Remove the loaf pans from the oven. Flip your loaves out of the pans and cool them on a wire cooling rack until completely cooled before cutting into it.

Keyword Sourdough sandwich bread

Enjoy Your Sourdough Sandwich Bread

Congratulations! You’ve just baked two delicious loaf of sourdough sandwich bread! This bread is perfect for sandwiches, toast, or just enjoying on its own. Store it in a bread box, bread bag, or wrapped in a cloth to keep it fresh for several days. If you want to keep it longer, slice it and freeze it for easy access to a homemade treat anytime.

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Cooling Rack for Baking 2-Pack https://amzn.to/4dBsB8C

Stoneware Mixing Bowl https://amzn.to/4fUxUkO

The Best Sourdough Sandwich Bread

Table of Contents

Why Sourdough Sandwich Bread?

What You’ll Need