Sourdough Sandwich Bread Recipe
A delicious homemade sourdough bread is just what you need to make your sandwiches even better. This recipe is amazing and easy to follow.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 cup starter
- 5–6 cups flour
- 2 1/2 cups of warm water
- 2 eggs
- 1 Tablespoon salt
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
Instructions
- To feed the starter: Add 1 cup each of flour and warm water
- Stir together and let ferment at room temperature for 5-7 hours, covered. sit the lid of my jar on top, but don’t tighten it. This allows gas to escape as it ferments.
- In a stand mixer, combine 1 1/2 cups of flour, and 1/2 cups of warm water.
- Add fed sourdough starter and mix well.
- Remove a cup of this mixture to a fresh jar, fit with lid, and store in the refrigerator for up to a week.
- Going back to the stand mixer, add an additional cup or two of flour until you reach a sticky dough consistency – not a batter you can pour, but not a dough you can knead either. Note: Getting the consistency just right here isn’t super important – just get close.
- This is where I like to add whole grains if I’m using them so that they get the full overnight ferment and break down the germ and bran.
- Mix together well, then remove bowl and beater from mixer, cover bowl with plastic, and let it ferment at room temperature for the remainder of the evening.
- Store in refrigerator overnight, where the fermentation will continue, but more slowly, and encourage the sweeter bacterias to grow.
- In the morning remove dough from refrigerator back to the stand mixer.
- Add eggs, salt, and sugar, and combine.
- Begin adding flour until you reach a very soft, but kneadable dough consistency.
- It is important to know that the higher your dough hydration (the less flour), the softer, and fluffier your bread will be, with a thinner crust. Lower hydration (i.e. more flour/stiffer dough) will lead to a denser loaf with thicker crust. The isn’t bad, it just depends on what you want. I like a high hydration loaf for sandwich bread. Something like pretzels or challah bread will need a lower hydration so that you can work the dough.
- After you finish adding your flour, set the mixer to knead for five minutes – with a high hydration dough, you don’t need to knead super long as the water gives the protein and gluten more mobility.
- Cover, and allow to rise until double or tripled in size. Usually 2-3 hours for me.
- Once the dough has risen, grease 4 loaf pans, your work surface, and your hands.
- Divide the dough into fourths, and shape into loaves.
- Let rise to about 2 1/2 times its original size.
- Preheat oven to 350º.
- Bake loaves for 30 minutes.
- Remove from pans immediately.
- To help keep crust soft, bag bread while it is still ever so slightly warm.
- Enjoy!