I cannot take credit for coming up with this recipe on my own. This recipe is from the hopewellheightsblog.com. She has tons of great recipes and information on her blog you should check out.
Jump to RecipeThis post is so far over due, but better late than never, right?
Have you tried all the sourdough sandwich bread recipes but they come out dense and tough? This was me before I found this recipe and I cannot say enough good things about this sourdough sandwich bread. It’s super simple to make, I always have the ingredients on hand, and the prep work is quick. The longest part of the recipe is the bulk ferment but you do not have to do anything during this time. You can do a series of stretch and folds, but I don’t. I have never found it necessary and why add more work?
To start off with, you have to have an active sourdough starter for this recipe. If you don’t have a sourdough starter yet, but you have been wanting to get into the sourdough world, check out my post on how to make your own sourdough starter. Sourdough can be finicky in the beginning, but if you are willing to give it a try and stick with it, you will find what works best for you and be making fresh bread and all the delicious treats in no time!
This bread is a simple bread that everyone will love! It’s great for sandwich bread and lasts at least a week. I say this because we usually eat prior to the week time frame. This recipe makes three loaves of bread at a time. I know that sounds like a lot but they are a bit smaller than commercial loaves and we usually eat all our loaves within the week. If we end up not eating all of the bread, I usually use any up for French toast, croutons, bread crumbs, or toasted garlic bread and then start a new fresh batch.
I make this bread weekly! It is that good! And, you don’t have to feel bad for eating ALL THE BREAD because it is strictly a sourdough bread and sourdough bread is healthy! The leavening in the bread all happens from wild yeast that is trapped in your starter. This bread has a long fermentation process which allows the enzymes released during that time to pre-digest the flour basically making all the beneficial nutrients available to us. I have heard of several people with a gluten intolerance who are able to eat sourdough bread for this reason.
I really love making this bread too! It is a simple recipe to make and kneading bread dough is therapeutic to me haha. You can use a stand mixer with a dough hook, however, I simply knead with my hands. Whatever works best for. you! Now onto how to make this delicious bread!
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm filtered water
- 1 cup warm milk
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 olive oil
- 1 cup active sourdough starter
- 2 tsp salt
- 6 cups flour ( I use all purpose flour but I have used bread flour too and both work great)
Instructions
First, start off by warming your milk and water in a small saucepan on the stovetop. You don’t want this boiling or anything, just warm enough to the touch.
While your milk/water mixture is warming, in a large mixing bowl add your oil, honey and salt.
Once your milk/water mixture is warm, add that and your active sourdough starter to the bowl and mix everything together until the starter and salt are well incorporated.
Once everything is well incorporated, start adding your flour. I usually add 4-5 cups and get that mixed in. Then I add my 6th cup and start kneading with my hands. You may have to add a little more flour than the 6 cups if your dough is still very wet. Do so a very little at a time so as not to make the dough too stiff. It should be a sticky sloppy dough. Mix just until the flour is incorporated.
Allow dough to rest 30-40 minutes.
Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead until it forms a sticky dough ball. About 10 minutes of kneading. If dough is sticky, you can sprinkle flour over it, just do a little at a time. You don’t want to get the dough too stiff. You can also use your stand mixer and mix around 6-7 minutes until dough forms a ball and starts pulling away from the sides.
Bulk Ferment. Leave dough ball in a bowl and cover with a moist towel and allow to ferment for 12-24 hours. (Mine usually takes the 12-24 hours, depending on temperature). You want the dough to double in size.
Once the dough has doubled, punch it down or “dimple” it. This will release the air. Your dough should be elastic and pass the window pane test here. The window pane test is where you can take a small piece of dough and stretch it without is breaking and slightly see through it when stretched.
Turn the dough onto your counter and divide into three equal pieces.
Stretch each piece and roll into your loaf. Place into a buttered or greased bread pan seam side down.
Allow the loaves to rise and double in size. This usually takes 3-4 hours.
Once loaves have doubled, bake them at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
Butter tops when they come out of the over and take them out of pans to cool on a wire rack. Wait to slice for at least 30 minutes.
Slice and enjoy! Store in an airtight
Equipment
- Pullman Loaf Pan (I have two of these and one regular glass pan) I do not bake with the lid on.
- Glass Bread Pan
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Dough Whisk
- Dough Scraper (What I use to divide my dough for my loaves)
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Easy Sourdough Sandwich Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm filtered water
- 1 cup warm milk
- 1 cup active sourdough starter
- 1/2 cup Honey
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 2 tsp salt
- 6 cups flour
Instructions
- Start off by warming your milk and water on low heat in a saucepan. No perfect temperature here, you just don’t want it cold when mixing with the starter. Should be warm to the touch.
- While your milk and water are warming, add the oil, honey, and salt to a bowl.
- Once the milk/water mixture is warm, add this to the bowl with the sourdough starter and mix together with a dough whisk, wooden spoon, or if using your mixer the whisk attachment until the starter is mixed in and everything is well incorporated.
- Start adding the flour to the mixture. I add 4-5 cups, mix and then add my 6th cup. I like to mix with my hands but you can also mix in your mixer with a dough hook. Your dough will be sloppy but you don’t want it too wet. Mix four 2-3 minutes until flour is just incorporated.
- Allow dough to rest 30-40 minutes.
- Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead until it forms a sticky dough ball. About 10 minutes of kneading. If dough is sticky, you can sprinkle flour over it, just do a little at a time. You don’t want to get the dough too stiff. You can also use your stand mixer and mix around 6-7 minutes until dough forms a ball and starts pulling away from the sides.
- Bulk Ferment. Leave dough ball in a bowl and cover with a moist towel and allow to ferment for 12-24 hours. (Mine usually takes the 18-24 hours, depending on temperature). You want the dough to double in size.
- Once the dough has doubled, punch it down or “dimple” it. This will release the air. Your dough should be elastic and pass the window pane test here.
- Turn the dough onto your counter and divide into three equal pieces.
- Stretch each piece and roll into your loaf. Place into a buttered or greased bread pan seam side down.
- Allow the loaves to rise and double in size. This usually takes 3-4 hours.
- Once loaves have doubled, bake them at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
- Butter tops when they come out of the over and take them out of pans to cool on a wire rack. Wait to slice for at least 30 minutes.
- Slice and enjoy!