Sourdough Sandwich Bread

Last Updated on May 8, 2025

This Sourdough Sandwich Bread recipe is so soft and easy to make! The loaf has a soft and buttery crust with a tender interior.

Whether it’s breakfast toast, lunch sandwiches, or grilled cheese sandwiches, the soft sandwich bread is versatile, easy to slice, and full of flavor.

Making homemade sandwich bread is also great for beginners venturing into making sourdough bread.

I often recommend this recipe as a first sourdough recipe for new sourdough bakers to make. That’s because there are no complex shaping techniques; you only need a basic bread loaf pan, it’s easy to mix, and it’s made with simple ingredients that you can make gluten-free or vegan.

With minimal effort, you’ll have the best sourdough sandwich bread for you and your family!

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Why make homemade Sourdough Sandwich Bread?

Sliced bread is a hallmark of food convenience and innovation. There’s a reason why we say a new, useful product is “the best/greatest thing since sliced bread!”.

By only using sourdough as the leavening agent, homemade sourdough sandwich bread can stay fresh and last as long as store-bought sandwich bread. No preservatives or additives are needed to make your own sandwich bread loaf last just as long as store-bought bread and it’s only made with simple ingredients. 

Unlike how artisan-style sourdough breads can be somewhat intimidating or tedious for beginner bakers, making your own loaf of sandwich bread is easy.

Making homemade bread is a wonderful way to become more self-sufficient and more economical. Plus, it’s way more delicious than store-bought bread!

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Tips for Making Softer Sandwich Bread

• Use whole milk and dried milk powder for a softer bread. They help tenderize the bread and make it extra soft, and store it for days.
• For a soft crust, brush butter on before baking.
• Bake to an internal temperature of 190-200ºF (88-93ºC).
• For a taller loaf (like my brioche), bake in a pullman pan or an 8.5×4.5″ pan.
• Don’t worry too much about shaping! The dough is very forgiving and flexible.

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⏰ Sample Baking Schedule

The chart below is a sample baking schedule for this sandwich bread that works decently for my schedule. Many steps are flexible, depending on your own day-to-day schedule.

For example, you can make the levain the night before by using a smaller amount of starter and higher ratio of flour and water. You can also proof the dough overnight in the refrigerator for up to two days to bake on your own time.

Steps	Time
1. Make Levain	9:00am
2. Mix Dough	2:00pm
3. Bulk Fermentation	2:10pm-7:00pm
4. Overnight Cold Proof	Overnight
5. Shape and Final Proof	Next day, 8:00am-1:00pm
6. Bake	1:00-1:35pm

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🛠 Tools Needed

See below for the list of basic tools you need to make this sourdough sandwich bread.

• Bread Loaf Pan
  • I use this 8.5″x4.5″ standard bread loaf pan for this recipe. The smaller loaf pan size helps keep the bread taller.
  • You can use a 9×5″ loaf pan as well, but note that your bread might be a little stumpier.
• Baking Scale
  • Measure your ingredients by weight instead of volume so you get more accurate and consistent results.
• Rolling Pin
• Stand Mixer (optional but helpful)
  • The stand mixer will help mix your dough more easily, but you can also knead this sandwich bread by hand if you’d prefer.

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🛒 Ingredients Needed

This sourdough sandwich bread only uses a few simple ingredients. See below for my recommendations and substitutions.

• Bread flour
  • High-protein bread flours give breads their chewy texture. I use King Arthur and it works well for this recipe.
  • If you’d like, you can substitute with all-purpose flour and still get good results in this loaf.
• Active sourdough starter
  • Only use an active sourdough starter for this recipe, not sourdough discard.
  • Learn how to make a sourdough starter and get my top sourdough starter tips.
• Whole milk
  • Milk keeps the bread soft, rich, and flavorful. Full-fat milk works best for a softer loaf, but you can use 2% as well.
  • If you’re making this recipe vegan, you can use plant-based milk.
• Dried milk powder (optional)
  • The Dried milk powder will help tenderize your bread, help keep the bread from staling, and adds a little more concentrated milk flavor to the bread.
• Unsalted butter (melted)
  • Adds richness and softens the crust of the loaf.
  • Use plant-based butter if making vegan.
• Salt
• Granulated sugar
  • You’re welcome to substitute with coconut sugar, raw sugar, agave, maple syrup, honey, or leave it out all together.

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🥪 How to Make Sourdough Sandwich Bread

1. Make Levain

Add 50g of active sourdough starter, 50g of water, and 50g of bread flour to a clean glass jar.

Mix and cover with a loose-fitting lid. The levain should be ready in about 5 hours or until the levain is active, doubled, and bubbly.

2. Mix the Dough

Add all of the sandwich bread ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment (or mix by hand).

Mix on medium speed until all of the ingredients come together into a shaggy dough.

If you’re mixing by hand, the dough will be quite sticky at first.

Cover the bowl with a towel and let it rest for 10 minutes. This quick rest will allow the flour to fully hydrate and for the gluten to relax.

Continue mixing on medium speed until the dough is tacky (not sticky) and you can stretch a piece of the dough into a thin layer without it tearing (aka “the windowpane test”).

Mixing should take about 7-10 minutes.

If mixing by hand, follow the same indicators as above and knead the dough on a lightly floured countertop.

3. Bulk Fermentation (First Rise)

Place the dough in a lightly oiled medium bowl and cover.

Let the dough proof for 4.5-5 hours in a warm location for its bulk rise.

I keep my dough and starter in my Brød and Taylor Folding Bread Proofer and it keeps it at a steady temperature that you can adjust along with a humidity tray. I keep my bread proofer set at a constant 78ºF.

At the end of bulk fermentation (first rise), the dough should at least double in size, be domed, and feel full of air.

4. Overnight Proof

Transfer to the refrigerator to proof overnight or up to 48 hours.

A cold proof, or retard, allows your bread dough to ferment at a much slower rate and will give added flavor to your bread and make shaping easier.

The cold proof also gives you more flexibility to bake your bread at a later time.

5. Shape

The next day, remove the dough from the refrigerator and butter or oil a 8.5″x4.5″ bread loaf pan.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and very lightly flour the surface of the dough.

Press the dough into a square shape with your fingers. This will deflate the dough.

With a rolling pin, evenly roll the dough out into a long oval (mine is typically about 8.5″ wide and 17″ long).

Starting from the short end closest to you, use your hands to roll up the dough into a log. The dough should still be cold and easy to handle. If there is any sticking, lightly flour your hands.

Pick up the dough log and place it seam-side down into the bread loaf pan. The dough should fit snugly.

6. Final Proof

Cover the bread loaf pan and place in a warm location at 75-80ºF to proof for 4.5 to 5 hours.

The final proof is complete when the dough has filled up the bread loaf pan and rises about 1 inch above the bread loaf pan.

At the end of proofing, the dough should look swollen and feel full of air if you lightly press on it with a floured finger.

You can use the “finger-poke test” to assess if the dough is finished proofing. To test, use a lightly floured finger to press about 1/2-inch into the dough. If it springs back immediately, then it needs longer to proof. And if the dough leaves a small indentation that slowly fills in, then it’s ready!

7. Bake

Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC).

Once preheated, brush the top of the sourdough sandwich bread with a tablespoon of melted butter.

Brushing the bread dough with melted butter helps give it a softer crust and contributes more flavor and color to the crust.

Bake for 35-40 minutes.

The bread is done when the top crust of the bread is evenly and lightly browned and the internal temperature reads between 190-200ºF (88-93ºC).

Place the loaf on a wire rack and let it cool for about 5 minutes in the pan. After 5 minutes, turn the still-hot bread out of the pan (use gloves!) and let it cool completely on the wire rack.

Letting it cool completely out of the bread loaf pan will help ensure that your bread is not gummy.

Slice and enjoy!

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How to Store

It’s easy to store this loaf with a couple of options: at room temperature or frozen. The use of sourdough helps preserve the loaf longer than other yeasted breads.

At room temperature, keep the bread covered or wrapped in aluminum foil to keep it from staling. It will stay fresh for up to five days. If it does stale any, warm it up or toast it for a couple of minutes in a toaster oven.

You can also store it wrapped in a tea towel and in a paper bag to stay fresh longer.

To freeze, slice the bread and store the slices in a freezer-safe ziplock bag. Place in the freezer to store for at least two months.

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What to Make With Sourdough Sandwich Bread

This recipe is so easy and flexible- it can be used for many things!

The texture and flavor of this bread are similar to grocery store white sandwich bread (although the flavor is much more complex!), so it’s interchangeable with any of the ways you would use store-bought sandwich bread.

Homemade sandwich bread can be used for sandwiches like grilled cheeses, PB&J’s, BLTs, and other lunch sandwiches.

Additionally, I enjoy it as a morning toast with butter and jelly like Concord Grape Jam with Vanilla or dunked with tomato soup. You could even use it as the base for bread pudding, dried croutons, and the list goes on.

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❓ FAQs:

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