Same Day Sourdough Sandwich Bread

The soft interior of a sourdough sandwich bread.

5 from 12 votes

Same Day Sourdough Sandwich Bread

Made with an enriched dough and a bubbly starter, this Same Day Sourdough Sandwich Bread has a thin crust and extra soft crumb, making it the perfect choice for a sandwich!

Prep Time8

Cook Time45

Total Time8 45

Course: Sourdough

Cuisine: American

Servings: slices

Calories: 194kcal

Author: Tatiana Kamakura

Equipment

1 Loaf Pan 9x5

Ingredients

125 g active sourdough starter
300 g milk lukewarm
60 g butter unsalted and melted
25 g granulated sugar
420 g all-purpose flour
7 g salt
1 g baking soda optional

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Making the dough

In a large bowl, mix lukewarm milk, melted butter and sourdough starter. Stir to combine.
Add the remaining ingredients: all-purpose flour, sugar, salt and baking soda (if using), mixing until dough is formed. Dough will be very sticky at the beginning.
Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a clean damp towel and let it rest for 30 minutes, in a warm spot of your kitchen. You can also use a proofing box, or let it rest inside the oven with the oven's light on.

Stretch and fold

Transfer dough to a clean bowl, and start with the stretch and folds. Stretch and fold the dough over itself 4 times, letting it rest for 20 minutes.
Repeat stretch and fold 3 times more, always letting the dough rest for 20 minutes between each set.

Bulk Fermentation

After the last set of stretch and fold, dough will feel softer and be a lot easier to handle. It also won’t be as sticky.
Cover the dough, and let it bulk rise in a warm spot. My dough usually doubles, or almost doubles in size. For me, it usually takes between 3 and a half to 5 hours, depending on the weather, until bulk fermentation is finished.
When done, dough will feel lighter and soft.

Shaping the dough

Lightly flour a clean counter or surface and open the dough in a rectangle with your hands or a rolling pin. Do it gently, and don’t stress about deflating the dough: sandwich bread should not have big holes, so it’s ok to lose the big air bubbles.
Roll the dough over itself loosely, and pinch it closed.

Second rise

In a 9x5 inch loaf pan lined with parchment paper, place shaped dough, pinched ends facing down. Cover lightly to avoid skin formation.
Let it rise until light and puffy: it usually takes from 1 and a half to 3 hours.

Baking

Preheat oven to 350ºF.
Bakeloaf for 40 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown on top. When ready, the crust will look golden brown, and when tapped, it will have a hollow sound. If using a thermometer, the internal temperature will be between 180-190ºF.
Remove from loaf pan, and let it cool in a cooling rack for at least 1 hour before slicing.

Video

Notes

Don't use hot ingredients! Milk needs to be lukewarm, and butter should be cooled for at least 5 minutes so it doesn't kill the starter.

If making with whole wheat flour, substitute no more than ⅓ of white flour for it, or the bread will be too dense.

Baking at a very high altitude? Pay extra attention to fermentation. In higher altitudes, fermentation occurs faster, so it’s easier for the dough to overproof. If your dough looks proofed in less time than it “should”, don’t let it proof for longer: bake it. Bulk fermentation might also take less time to happen. You can also decrease the amount of starter: instead of using 100g, use 70g.

If your dough is not rising, or taking too long to rise, it could be due to a weak sourdough starter, proofing it in a cold spot, or adding cold milk when making the dough.

Keep the dough in a warm spot during the whole process. Use a proofing box, or let the dough rise in the oven with the oven light on. If your oven has a proofing function, use it.

Always weigh your ingredients when baking bread. Adding more or less than what’s asked of an ingredient can mess the whole recipe up. Want an example? Using volume (cups) for the sourdough starter, depending on how bubbly it is, can give you 60g of active starter instead of 100g.

Nutrition