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Sourdough Sandwich Bread recipe | The most wonderful toast bread

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  1. Wayne Brinton Reply

    I made this bread and it turned out GREAT and have it on my list to make again. Thanks Wayne

  2. Donna Wilson Reply

    Hello!
    I’m making the sourdough sandwich bread and I’m running out of time, can I shaped the dough and put it in the tin and then put it in the refrigerator and bake the next day?

    Also, can I substitute a little whole wheat with the AP flour?

    Thanks for your help!

    Donna

    • Yes, you can always prolog proofing in a cold environment 🙂

      Also, whole wheat makes for a biter heartier but tasty loaf 🙂

  3. Donna Wilson Reply

    Hello again!
    Another question about the sourdough sandwich loaf. 😬
    The dough took forever to rise. I had it in a Brod and Taylor at 78 degrees for over 5 hours and finally had to bake it. The dough didn’t rise in the tin, but the crumb looked like yours and felt good. I only have a 9×5 loaf pan.

    What could I have done wrong. This is my first time making a sandwich loaf.

    Thank you so much for your help and I won’t give up! Also, I love your videos!

    Donna

  4. Joy Reply

    Hello, just wondering if you can make 2 loaves in “8 x 4 x 2 1/2” high? What would the quantity of ingredients be? I’m fairly new at the Sourdough baking, love it but find the crust quite tough for my teeth. Hoping you can help me. Thank you so much!

  5. Christine Reply

    I’ve made it successfully in one try. I had to leave the last proofing a lot longer than it is suggested. The dough did not double in size the first day; I put it in refrigerator overnight. The next day, the dough proofed in less than two hours. The texture and the taste came out great. Thank you so much for posting the method and the video.

    • Proofing is one of those things. There’s many factors that play in, but you did the right thing 🙂

  6. Gale Reply

    Hello Sune, would I need any changes if using all bread flour?

    • No, but depending on your flour it may become a bit more chewy. I’d say give it a go! 🙂

  7. Gale Reply

    Thanks for quick response, Sune. Will try it and let you know my results.
    Gale

  8. Gale Reply

    Hi Sune, well I am not having much luck with sourdough. Have been working on my starter 3 weeks and it never seems to double in 4-6 hours. I did make this recipe and let’s just say the loaves would make nice doorstops! ha ha
    I know the dough did not rise properly and not sure where I went wrong; will keep trying!

  9. Anton Reply

    I have made this bread 3 times and it’s always a success! I don’t own a kitchen aid so I instead use a wooden spoon and a strong will. Whole wheat flower requires a bit more water I found. Also, the last fold before the run cast really decide wether the dough Will ride or not so make sure to practice.
    Tack så mycket för detta grymma recept! 😉

    • Impressive that you do it with a spoon. How much whole wheat did you use 🙂

  10. Nonna Reply

    Lord have mercy! 😍 Absolutely amazing. I opted to do it with whole wheat flour. 1 loaf only, so I cut the measurements to half ( Exactly as yours.) Left it overnight inside microwave with night light on high.
    (From 8pm till 7:30 am). Because I know my oven very well, I baked it at 375°F for 35 minutes lower rack, then transferred it to middle rack for 10 mts.
    Thank you! #ILoveSourdough!

  11. Martha Reply

    Can I use olive oil and oat milk instead of milk and butter?

  12. Phyllis Van Hagen Reply

    Sourdough baking teaches important life lessons like patience, flexibility, and belief in one’s own intuition. This recipe is outstanding and the video and instructions are extremely helpful. During the pandemic, AP flour is becoming scarce in supermarkets so I used a King Arthur flour labelled “white whole wheat.” The bulk fermentation was taking too long so I let it finish in the refrigerator overnight. It rose beautifully. The final proof took slightly longer because the dough was still cold but rise it did. My only failing was I did not tent the loaves toward the end of the bake and they got a little too dark but I forgave myself when I tasted the first slice – a soft crumb and what a sandwich I had! Thanks so much.

    • Thank you so much and great to know it also works with white wheat. It makes for a little bit of a more healthy loaf, while not skimping of the softness 🙂

  13. Acomedyoferrors Reply

    Please advise… So I heard this was a good recipe onand came here to try it. I was only looking to make one loaf so I figured I would cut the recipe in half. I’ve made bread many times, but am new to sourdough. I did everything perfectly until it came time to add the starter (I had a lot so I figured I’d go with the 150g starter option). I forgot to do half… I panicked after this and added the other half of all the other ingredients to try and save things. My scale had the battery die while doing the water weight so I had to guess if I was close enough. I have another scale but no way to figure out measurements from this point. Everything else was done and I was adding water and salt last. It’s all mixed but looks very wet, like a batter. Is this what they consistency should be or did I really mess things up? Please help haha. Thank you!

    • If you have a look at the video you can see what kind of consistency to go for. It’s tacky but not sticky. Not wet at all.

  14. Mike Reply

    Hi!

    This recipe was great! One thing I might point out- when entering the dimensions for the size bread pan I have, it gave me the ingredient amounts for one loaf, not 2 like your total recipe is for.

    I was actually dividing that dough in half and realized it was far too small to fit in 2 pans. I checked my hunch by entering in the dimensions of a pullman loaf pan and it gave me the weight you used for each loaf after divided.

    It makes sense to only give the ingredients amount for 1 pan, but you might want to note that so people aren’t dividing their dough when they shouldn’t be by using the pan dimensions calculator.

    Thanks for the recipe!

    • Thanks. I added a not near the calculator so people know what they are getting 🙂

  15. Michael oneill Reply

    My bread was very dense, any ideas what went wrong? I will try again tomorrow.

    • Did you let it rise before shaping and did it rise after being put into the tin? 🙂

  16. Sarah White Reply

    Can I replace the milk with extra water? If so, how much? I am using a 13x4x4 covered pan. Thank you for all the tutorials.

    • Yes you can. Just the same amount of water as milk 🙂

  17. Erica Reply

    Thank you so much for making this recipe available online English. I feel so fortunate to have come across this recipe as the bread is delicious- it’s so good that it’s hard to believe I actually made it! I really appreciate the precise instructions and measurements. If I were to make this with 1/2 whole wheat bread what sort of adjustments would I need to make to the other ingredients? I assume that it would require more liquid.

    • If you want to do this bread with whole wheat, I’d do it in stages. Try it out with 25% whole wheat first. The only thing you may want to change is the hydration so you get a consistency of the dough that is comparable to the one with ap-flour 🙂

  18. Cindy Reply

    Followed the recipe to the “T” did not rise and dough was too loose(sticky). Don’t think I will waste my flour on this recipe again.

    • All flour is different, so following any sourdough recipe will require some adaptation on your part. My all-purpose flour has about 10.5% protein, if yours had a much lower amount you will need watch the gluten development closely or maybe add some Vital Wheat Gluten to get to a higher amount of protein 🙂

  19. Nitika Reply

    Hi.. I plan to do stretch and fold today, then shape it and put it in loaf pans for the night in the refrigerator ( I live on the equator). Tomorrow, when I bake it, shall I bake directly from fridge ( like I do with my usual sourdough boule) or let it rise till over the height of pan? Thank you for a quick response please.

  20. Mike Reply

    I have tried this recipe 3 times now and it isn’t working for me. My final bread is dense still good but dense almost like a sweet bread. It rises both times and it domes in the oven. But neither pan has risen to the top no matter how Long I Let them rise.

    The only difference I make from the recipe is that I don’t own a mixer so I use my hands, would that be the issue?

    • It is really hard work to mix in the butter and if it doesn’t get properly distributed it can affect the rise. Otherwise it could be the lack of gluten development. How does the dough feel after you’ve finished the stretch and folds?

      How much do you let it rise during bulk?

  21. Mike Reply

    i Stretched and folded 3 times and you could feel it getting stiffer after each time.

    I let it bulk rise for 3 hours and it rose just over double

  22. Amy Reply

    Can I use bread flour instead of all purpose?

    • Yes, the crumb may not be as soft, but it will be fine 🙂

  23. Rohini Reply

    Thank you for the recipe. I haven’t used a bread calculator before. I want to half the qty so I can make only one loaf. Do I just half all the ingredients including those for the levain? TiA

  24. Hannah Reply

    I’ve tried this recipe twice! Both times it didn’t rise and there was no crumb. What could’ve gone wrong?

    • How active is your starter? Meaning how high does it rise after you feed it?

  25. Josip Reply

    Hello Sune!
    I have a question about the levain. Recipe says that levain has to be prepared 12h befor mixing into dough. My levain is peak after 5-6h after that it starts to drop. Do I need to feed it again and wait for the peak again and then mix into the dough?
    Best regards,
    Josip

    • No, it’s still good. It just has to have peaked in the last 12 hours 🙂

  26. TJ Reply

    couple questions
    1. Salted or unsalted butter?
    2. My first attempt was a bit dense… I got ok rise the first prove, but the 2nd one I let rise for 2 hours, then into the fridge overnight. Still a bit dense… but edible. I used recipe calculator for an 8.5×4.5×3 pan but that only called for 60g starter, can I use 100g to maybe get more rise?

    Thanks

      1. I always use salted, but I understand that Danish salted butter may not be as salty as, say, US salted.
      2. Sure. Just recalculate the hydration and weight and you’re good to go. Alternatively, just wait a bit longer than 2 hours 🙂
  27. Tom Sathre Reply

    I’m going to try this bread next week. My Pullman pan is 13x4x4. How can I adjust the recipe to fit my pan?

  28. Carling Reply

    This bread was perfect! Easy to follow recipe. I baked a bit less but the bread was still nice and dark on the crust and the right temp inside.

  29. Zack Reply

    Hi Sune and thank you for all your extremely helpful instructions and tools! Recently I made my own lard and I was wondering if I could substitute butter with this without changing the dough consistency. What do you think?
    Thanks for your help!

    • You can use whatever fat you like. Lard, butter, oil or any vegan option 🙂

  30. RJ Reply

    Oh my! I made this with some kind of big adjustments to suit my taste, and it was SOOO good. Changes I made: I used a tangzhong and increased the hydration a bit, and used some whole wheat, some coarse-ish oat flour, and a proportion of bread flour (figuring those flours would be thirstier anyway), and used coconut oil instead of butter, also barely melting it rather than beating in cubes. I fermented in the fridge overnight and baked it right on the pizza stone. I was sort of going for something in between a hearty multigrain sourdough loaf and a soft and tender sandwich loaf. And that’s what I got! One of the yummiest things I’ve ever made, I think! Thanks so much for this delicious recipe.

  31. Jairp Reply

    The bread rose beautifully but it developed a big crack on top of the bread like a sourdough. I also followed your sourdough recipe but could never get the oven spring with them. Tried making three sourdough loaves with similar results.
    How come I got the oven spring so nicely for this sandwich bread?
    Also, what do you do to prevent the cracking on top of this sandwich loaf?
    Thanks so much for your hard work. Your website and videos are excellent!

    • To avoid the cracking you need to ferment longer 🙂

  32. Linda Reply

    Hi can I add seeds into this loaf? Do you think it would be suitable, and if yes, at which step should I add the seeds? Thank you so much!

    • I’m sure it’d be delicious if seeded. Soak the seeds and add them during the first set of stretch and folds. Add a quarter for each fold.

  33. Daniele Panizzolo Reply

    Hi. I would like to add some CIA seeds to mia loaf.
    Do you have any recommendations?
    Do I need to change any of my proportions of flour/water?
    Thanks

    • Chia seeds are a bit difficult, because as they become wet they become sticky.

      I’d try with 100g at first and see how it goes. Keep hydration the same.

  34. Meghan Reply

    Hello! I’m looking forward to making this bread, but I had a question about the sugar. Does it add very much sweetness to the bread? I prefer my sourdough to be on the tangy, sharp side, but I don’t have any bread flour or wheat flour with which to make the more traditional sourdough bread.

    • Then leave out the sugar. The sugar does speed fermentation up a bit, but nothing crazy, so you can just drop it 🙂

  35. Zack Reply

    Should this be salted or unsalted butter? Thanks!

  36. Hello Sune – I don’t have a pullman loaf pan so I used two 9×5″ loaf pans. They just came out of the oven and smell rather intoxicating 🙂 Can’t wait to cut into them and have a taste. Thanks so much, Sune, for this recipe and all your videos and blog posts!

  37. Jason Reply

    Hello! Does it matter if my levain is back to it’s original height? It doubled overnight and I missed it. Thank you!

    • It’s okay as long as it’s about 12 hours since it peaked 🙂

  38. Lisa Reply

    Love this user-friendly website! I made this twice now. The first time, I substituted coconut oil for butter, as I was out of butter. It did not rise; I realized that coconut oil is antibacterial and must have killed the microbes! It had good oven spring though, and made a mini, domed loaf that still tasted good. Today I made another loaf using butter, and it turned out perfectly. So there you have it: don’t use coconut oil in sourdough!

    • That’s a good tip 🙂

      I love butter too much to substitute it, so I’ve never tried 🙂

  39. Mike Reply

    I have not tried this recipe yet and I wanted to check something with you before I do. I have plain flour (10g protein content) not AP flour. Can I use this or do I need to add some bread flour, say 50%, to up the protein content?

  40. Diane Lim Reply

    Hi! I want to follow this recipe but I don’t have cane sugar. Is it okay to use brown sugar instead? Thanks!

    • Yes, you can use any kind of sugar you like. I just happen to like cane sugar more than the others 🙂

  41. Nicole Nielsen Reply

    Thank you for the great recipe. I used the steam bake setting on the oven–the loaves are beautiful and delicious. Can’t wait to try the rest of your recipes:)

  42. Mami Reply

    Hi, Thank you for recipe and calculation🙏. I try it today and the texture is really really great but….too sour. Is it come from my starter?

    • When do you use your starter in the process? It shouldn’t be very sour if you use it when it’s at its peak.

  43. Cole Reply

    Followed the recipe to a tee. Even used the calculator for the 4x4x13 pan. It worked perfect and made the best sourdough loaf my wife and I ever had. I wish I could post a picture of how it turned out. Thank you!

    • That’s wonderful to hear! 🙂

      You can send me an email to my business email which you can find on my youtube about page 🙂

  44. Jonathon Moreira Reply

    Hi,

    I am having trouble with very moist crumb that is rather gummy in texture.

    I’ve tried cooking it a bit longer both covered and uncovered.

    Where do you suggest I troubleshoot this issue?

    Thanks!

    John

    • It sounds like the dough might have proven for too long.

  45. Mikael Evander Reply

    I make this almost every week using 50% freshly milled wholegrain flour of different kinds (emmer, spelt, einkorn) and roughly half the sugar. It’s my kids’ favourite bread and I’m in deep trouble if we go too many days without it. Great for making toasted sandwiches with and matches perfectly with a nice tomato soup

  46. Sune! Hi !! Namaste! It’s Meghna here from India.
    I am so delightful. The way you’ve guided through this process has helped me so wonderfully so far, in making my absolute first scrumptious sourdough sandwich bread! 🙂 I’m half way through already! Nevertheless Sune, may I ask, since I don’t eat eggs and don’t like them either, what can I substitute the egg yolk bit just before baking?

    Thanks. Hope you receive my message sooner than.

    Gratitude,
    M.

    • Hello Meghna,

      You can omit the egg. It’ll be fine. Just less rich in flavor. 🙂

  47. Rick Reply

    Hi Sune. I’m going to attempt this using a Tangzhong. When I use the calculator, it removes all the milk (I’m using buttermilk) and just has water. Can I still use 200 grams of milk?

  48. Shawn Gould Reply

    I’ve tried 2-3 other sourdough sandwich breads but didn’t get the desired result. I heard about your recipe in the reddit forums I think. I used your dough size scaler and doubled it to fit my two aluminum loaf pans, and it turned out perfect! My bulk fermentation took several hours longer than yours, but it is the middle of Winter, so maybe that was a factor. I did have it in the over with the light on around 85 F. I really appreciate the time and effort you went to, to provide the tool and the recipe. The whole family loves it. The top egg-wash was a nice finish. Next I’m interested in adding some raisins – I have to think about that.

  49. Brett Baglien Reply

    Made this in a 13 inch pullman pan and it was amazing!

    Only thing that I changed was using straight starter instead of making a dedicated levain. My starter is fed with whole wheat so I figure my loaf was about 8% whole wheat.

    The bread is soft and springy, rich and buttery, and slightly sweet with a good tang.

    I would recommend to use VERY soft butter to help incorporation. That’s how I make my brioche, I’ve done it with slightly harder butter, and it is not fun trying to get those clumps to break down.

    This is a really great recipe and I will decimal be making it again. Thank you!

    • I’ve gone away from using levains unless I need to change the composition of the starter 🙂

      Great tips. Thank you <3

  50. Phyllis Van Hagen Reply

    I love this bread! Since it does take a while to complete the recipe, I have found it very effective to ferment the loaves overnight and bake in the morning. The rise is superb and the spring is plentiful.

  51. Bill Abrams Reply

    Sune, Can I use bread flour instead of AP ?

  52. harrygabriel91 Reply

    Thank you for the recipe! I’ve just baked two loaves, they are still cooling down. 🙂 One thing I noticed is that the bottom side of the loaves are a bit curved inwards / upwards. Is that a sign of something? I’m guessing underproofing…

    • That happens on mine a lot too. I don’t think it means anything 🙂

  53. Nicole Reply

    I have been using this recipe for over a year and it is my favourite. I live at a high elevation; I’m not sure if that’s why I’ve found doubling the levain makes the perfect loaf or if it has something to do with my starter or my process. This is my go-to weekly bread recipe with that minor modification. I have added whole wheat and rye and the bread is still perfect.

    • It’s quite possibly the elevation. Do whatever works 🙂

  54. Janine Reply

    I have an 11 inch Pullman pan. Will the recipe work for one large loaf?

    • Use the calculator in the article to calculate the dough size for your pan 🙂

  55. Christin H Reply

    Excellent, excellent results!! Didn’t change a thing, and though I put it in the oven when I thought it was not quite ready (was afraid I’d overproof it – my nemesis, haha!!) I got good oven spring and great interior. Super tasty, too! Thank you for the recipe!

  56. Maya Reply

    Could oil be used instead of butter in a 1:1 ratio? Or would I need to decrease the amount of oil as it’s a liquid? Thank you!

  57. Kim Reply

    Can I substitute honey for the sugar?

  58. Gary Reply

    Can I use sourdough discard for this recipe? The discard has been sitting in the fridge for 1-3 days.
    If so, should I add a pinch of instant yeast, approx 1-2g per loaf.

    • In my experience, you can use month-old discard directly in a dough with only minimal bad effects 🙂 Even without extra yeast 🙂

  59. doug jones Reply

    I am using bread flour mostly because you call for bread flour in the step by step but in the video and the ingredients list you say all purpose flour. I will hope for the best. oh also in the step by step you don’t mention letting the dough sit for 20 minutes before putting it in the tin for final proofing. I made note if these things for my next batch.

    • Oops. It should be all-purpose, although I think it’ll be fine with bread flour 🙂

  60. Nitika Reply

    Hi! So I make the original version of this every week . This one has no stretch and folds at all?

  61. Vyrl Reply

    After you divide the dough, could you freeze half of the dough to bake at a later date?

    • Absolutely, but let it thaw in the fridge to avoid over proofing.

  62. Gena Nadeau Reply

    I’ve made this bread twice now and both times, there was virtually no oven spring. It increased about 25% on the bulk fermentation, which also took a bit over 3 hours, maybe 4. I let it more than double in the Pullman pan, but it didn’t rise beyond that in the oven. Fermentation time in the pan was over 6 hours at 78-80° F. My starter was at peak (about 8 hours since last feeding). I followed your recipe exactly. Should I expect oven spring? How long is your usual second rise? Could I have over-proved it? Help! Would really like to perfect this for sandwiches and toast. It does taste great, but light is not a word I would use to describe it. Thanks for all your great videos!

    • The recipe says to let it grow 50-75%, and doubling is 100%, so you over proved it. I’m sure if you go for 50% you’ll have a much better spring.

  63. Kudzayi Reply

    I made this over the weekend and I was blown away by how delicious, soft and springy it is. I’m currently feeding my starter to make another loaf in order to do a sandwich platter for guests. Really looking forward to that (more than they are!!).

  64. Sim Reply

    Hi, I made the sourdough sandwich bread for the first time. I used 80% white bread flour and 20% whole wheat flour. It didn’t rise much at all in the oven, is there anything I can do? Can’t wait to try it :-).

    • How much did you let it rise before putting it in the oven?

  65. Yves Davignon Reply

    Tx for all your wonderfull insights in bread making.

    I have my 2 loafs in the fridge at the moment (1st time using my pullman loaf pan). Do I let them come to room temperature and rise before baking or do I put them directly in the oven.

    Yves

    • It really depends on when you put it in the fridge. If it rose enough just bake it right away, if it needs to rise more let it rise until it’s good.

      Be aware that it will rise faster and faster when it comes up to temperature 😊

      • Yves Davignon Reply

        Tx for the quick answer Sune.

        Since I woke up to a pre warmed oven, I tried one of the loaf straight from the fridge this morning. It rose to the cover of the pullman loaf pan, I just lowered the oven temperature for the final 10-15 minutes final bake without the cover.

        I will bake the second one after work today.

        Have a nice day,

        Yves

  66. Don Reply

    In this recipe and in the video there is no mention if stretching and folding. Is the gluten development strictly from the proofing?

    • Yes, most of my newer recipes skip stretching and folding since it’s unnecessary. It does take a little more pre-shaping to align the gluten, though 🙂

  67. Jennifer Reply

    5 stars
    Absolutely delicious loaf of bread. I have had many fails in my sourdough journey, one just last week attempting to make a different sourdough loaf recipe. This came out great. Mine rise time was double yours but I don’t have a place to let it rise under constant temperature. My loaf cracked on the side when baking. It had roses more than 50% and I was afraid it was becoming overproofed. Was it a sign of underproofed dough? Also, thank you for the calculator as I didn’t want to bake two loaves and waste ingredients of it was a fail. It made things very easy on this novice baker. I’ll be making this again.

    • The cracking is a sign of under proofed dough, at least for this type of bread. It’s what you’d want if you want oven spring in your regular sourdough bread.

  68. Pen Reply

    Hello 🤗. May I ask 2 questions
    1. Can I replace the sugar with honey instead? What will be the equivalent?
    2. If my loaf pans are L19cm x W10.2cm x H11cm, will I use same amount of flour?
    Thank you in advance

      1. 90 grams of honey
      2. Enter the dimensions into the calculator underneath the dough ingredients, and the recipe will scale
  69. Nasiba Reply

    Dear Sune, thank you for your dedication! Your detailed recipes and simple approach helped me finally getting that perfect sourdough bread. I ruined so many kgs of flour and my own nerves until finding your website and YT!

    Yet, I failed with this sandwich bread. It took 12 hrs to rise before baking and it turned out quite sour, although the texture, softness and crumb are perfect. Could it be the result of me kneading the dough actively after combining ingredients? (your directions also don’t have “knead”, only “mix”).

    • Yes, it doesn’t need kneading. The long fermentation will work as an extended autolyse.

      What was your ambient temperature when fermenting? It sounds like you over-proofed the dough.