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Perfectly Soft Sourdough Sandwich Bread – No Yeast!

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The ultimate sourdough sandwich bread recipe! This no-yeast sourdough recipe produces a perfectly fluffy white bread that is perfect for sandwiches. You can make this sandwich loaf with only a few ingredients like flour, water, a starter, milk, and sugar. It has a super soft interior that will blow any other bread recipe away.

close up picture of a slice of sourdough sandwich bread

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Today, we are baking homemade sourdough sandwich bread. This should be a recipe in every sourdough baker’s handbook. I often see sourdough lovers bake sourdough bagels and sourdough dinner rolls, but not many talk about sandwich bread… that is until now. 

This quite frankly is the perfect sandwich bread. It’s tall and fluffy on the inside. The tanginess of the sourdough balances flawlessly with the sweetness of the sugar. However, don’t take my word for it. Try it out yourself and thank me later.

This PERFECT Sourdough Sandwich Bread Is:

  • Soft and fluffy texture!!!
  • Super impressive rise. Say goodbye to dense bread.
  • Simple to make. Most of the time spent is hands-off.
  • Delicious sourdough tang that we ALL love!
  • Made from only 7 ingredients.

If you’re looking for a non-sourdough version, check out my Greek yogurt sandwich bread.

Are you worried about baking sourdough? I’ve got you covered. I am here to walk you through the entire process. It’s pretty basic and most of the time is spent hands-off.

A loaf of sourdough bread on a cutting board. There are slices of the sandwich bread

Overview: Sourdough Sandwich Bread Recipe

  • Prepare the dough and knead
  • First Rise: Cover and let the dough double.
  • Shape: Shape the dough into a rectangle then roll it into a loaf.
  • Second Rise: Let it rise in the loaf pan for 4-6 hours 
  • Bake for 30-35 minutes and enjoy.

This sourdough recipe is quite simple. Most of the steps take a few minutes and the majority of the time is spent and letting the dough rise. 

A loaf of bread on a cutting board.

Ingredients for Sourdough Sandwich Bread

You need only 7 ingredients. All ingredients are easy to find. The only one that won’t be at the grocery store is the sourdough starter, which you can make at home

  • Active Sourdough Starter: Your starter should be fed and at its peak. Feed it 1:1:1 the night before.
  • Warm Water: Don’t use cold water as that will slow down the rise of the dough. 
  • Milk: Use whole milk. Since it is higher in fat, it’ll produce a better texture.
  • All-Purpose Flour or Bread Flour: Use what you have. There isn’t a noticeable difference in the final loaf.
  • Granulated Sugar: For slight sweetness. The sugar enhances the overall flavor profile by balancing out the taste of salt and the sourdough tanginess.
  • Salt: Bread NEEDS salt! Everything needs salt!
  • Butter: That delicious buttery flavor is the cherry on top of this fluffy sourdough sandwich bread (not literally…).

Shaping the Loaf

Shaping bread dough by rolling via the "jelly roll" method.

To shape this into a log, we do the “jelly roll”! Once the dough has finished its first rise, we roll it out on a floured surface. Then, we roll it into a log and place into a loaf pan. This does NOT need to be perfect! Check out the video on the recipe card for how to shape sandwich bread.

Don’t Bake Before this CRUCIAL Step

I’m giving you a warning now, but do NOT bake until your bread looks like the picture below:

Your bread NEEDS to be rise HIGH before baking

The bread should be 1-1.5 inches above the rim of the bread pan before you preheat your oven. It doesn’t rise much (if at all) while it’s baking. So, be patient! If you bake before the bread dough looks like the picture above, you will get a flat, dense loaf.

Don’t worry about overproofing this. It’s difficult to overproof this due to two reasons:
1. Sourdough starter works slower than commercial yeast
2. This is an enriched dough, which rises slower than non-enriched dough.

Baker’s Schedule

Below are two charts for two separate baker’s schedules. There are a one-day and a two-day schedule. Pick whichever fits your schedule. I’ve done both and both work for me. However, what’s important is that your bread doubles during the first rise AND second rise before moving on to the next step.

One Day Baker’s Schedule: Same Day Sourdough Sandwich Bread

Night Before8:00 pmFeed the sourdough starter with flour and water
Day Of8:00 amPrepare the dough and knead
8:30 amFirst Rise Starts
2:30 pmShape sandwich bread into a loaf
2:45 pmSecond Rise Starts
7:45 pmBake for 30-35 minutes
One Day Baker’s Schedule: Same Day Sourdough Sandwich Bread

Two Day Baker’s Schedule

First Day8:00 amFeed the sourdough starter with flour and water 
12:00 pmPrepare the dough and knead
12:30 pmFirst Rise Starts
5:30 pmShape sandwich bread into a loaf. Loosely cover and place in refrigerator overnight.
Second Day8:00 amTake the shaped dough out of the fridge. Let it finish its second rise.
12:00 pmBake for 30-35 minutes
Two Day Baker’s Schedule
Three slices on a cooling rack.

Homemade Sourdough Sandwich Bread: Various Uses

  • Classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich
  • Garlic Bread
  • Sourdough Croutons-yum!
  • Make an Italian sub! Top it off with the Mike’s Way vegetables.
  • How about Sourdough French Toast drizzled with maple syrup? DELISH!

Sourdough Recipes You’ll LOVE

NYC-Style Sourdough Cinnamon Raisin Bagels
Easy Fried Sourdough Beignets
Quick Sourdough Flatbread with Discard
Delicious Skillet Sourdough Fry Bread
Easy Soft Sourdough Dinner Rolls (No Yeast)

A close up shot of a loaf of sourdough sandwich bread
5 from 13 votes

Perfectly Soft Sourdough Sandwich Bread

The ultimate sourdough sandwich bread recipe! This no-yeast sourdough recipe produces a perfectly full white bread that is perfect for sandwiches.
Xena Kai
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Rise Time 10 hours
Total Time: 11 hours
Servings: 1 Loaf

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Recipe Card

Ingredients
 
 

  • 1/2 Cup Active Sourdough Starter (100 grams) Fed the previous night and at its peak
  • 3/4 Cup Warm Water (plus one tablespoon) (190 grams)
  • 1/4 Cup Milk (60 grams) room temperature
  • 3 1/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour or Bread Flour (390 grams)
  • 2 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar (25 grams)
  • 1 ½ Teaspoon Salt
  • ¼ Cup Unsalted Butter (56 grams) room temperature

Instructions
 

  • Knead the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the sourdough starter, warm water, milk, flour, sugar, and salt. Knead on medium-low speed with the dough hook attachment. Add the butter once the dough comes together and continue to knead for five minutes.
  • First rise: Lightly grease a large bowl. Place the dough in the bowl, cover it, and let the dough rise in a warm place. You are ready to move on to the next step when the dough has doubled, which will take roughly 5-7 hours. (See notes section "Rising Times").
  • Lightly grease a 9×5-inch loaf tin.
  • Shape the bread dough: Punch the dough down to release air once it has doubled. Lightly flour your work surface, a rolling pin, and your hands. Place the dough onto your work surface. Roll the dough out into a large rectangle, roughly 8×15 inches. Roll it up into an 8-inch log and place it into the 9×5-inch bread pan. This is called the "jelly roll". (See the video on the post for a visual.)
  • Second rise: Spray a piece of plastic wrap with oil (this helps prevent sticking). Loosely cover the shaped bread dough with the plastic wrap. Allow the bread to rise until it's about 1-1.5 inches above the top of the loaf pan, roughly 4-6 hours.
    Overnight: If you're crunched for time, place the loaf inside the fridge overnight. The next morning, take it out and let it continue to rise until it's 1-1.5 inches above the rim of the pan. (See picture in blog post for a visual). For best results, do NOT bake until the bread is at this level.
  • Once the bread has finished Adjust the oven rack to a lower position. Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C).
  • Bake the bread: Remove the plastic wrap. Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown on top. If the top of the sandwich loaf is browning too quickly, loosely cover the bread pan with aluminum foil. The bread is ready when the internal temp of the center of the bread is 195°F (90°C).
  • Remove from the oven and allow the bread to sit in the pan for five minutes. Then, remove it from the pan and let it cool down on a wire rack before slicing.

Video

Notes

  • Sourdough Starter: Your sourdough starter should be at its peak. Feed it the night before you bake at a feeding ratio of 1:1:1. Refer to my guide on how to make a sourdough starter from scratch.
  • Rising Times: Rising times are HIGHLY dependent on your environment. Your dough may rise slower than the times listed in the recipe. What is important is if the dough doubles. If the dough has not doubled, do NOT move on to the next step!!!! I recommend investing in a clear Cambro container to measure the first rise accurately.
  • Baker’s Schedule: Depending on the environment and how fast your dough rises, you can bake this in one day or spread it out over two days. For more details, refer to the “Baker’s Schedule” section on my blog post. 
  • Adding Instant Yeast: Turn this into a sourdough discard recipe by adding 2 ¼ teaspoon of instant yeast. You’ll shorten the time of the recipe and the loaf will be ready within four hours. The first rise will be roughly an hour; the second rise is also roughly one hour.
  • Special Tools (affiliate links): Stand Mixer | Cambro Container (for accurate bulk rise) | 9×5-inch Loaf Pan | Rolling Pin | Instant Read Thermometer | Wire Cooling Rack
  • Storing Instructions: Place the bread in an air-tight container and store it at room temperature for 2-3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 10 days. It can be stored in the freezer for up to three months. You can reheat it when you’re ready to eat it.

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12 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Bread is a weakness of mine and so are sandwiches. I have yet to dive into sourdough bread but this recipe looks easy and delicious, so I think it’s time for me to give it a try. Can’t wait.

  2. 5 stars
    love how simple it is to make a bread, this recipe looks very simple, have never tried making my own sour dough before but definitely want to now.

  3. 5 stars
    Hi! I did the second rise and when I went to place it in the oven I bumped the pan and it instantly deflated! Will it’s come back up or should k just bake it as is?

    1. 5 stars
      Yes, you can definitely double this recipe. The first rise may differ slightly since there is more dough. Just make sure to watch the dough and not the clock!

  4. 5 stars
    I don’t know if I messed up but my dough was more like a soup then a dough. I added more flour when mixing it. Then had to add 1-2 cups more when I was suppose to be shaping it.

5 from 13 votes (1 rating without comment)

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