If you love a soft, sliceable loaf with just a touch of sweetness, this sourdough sandwich bread is going to become a staple in your kitchen. It’s tender, lightly sweet from honey, and beautifully balanced thanks to the depth of flavor from slow sourdough fermentation.
This loaf doesn’t need a swirl or mix-ins. it stands completely on its own. It’s the kind of bread that makes the best toast, holds up perfectly to sandwiches, and fills your home with that warm, fresh-baked aroma we all love.
Ingredients
For the Dough
- Active sourdough starter
- Water
- Honey
- Olive oil
- Bread flour
- Salt
Making the Dough
Begin by combining your sourdough starter and water, mixing until the mixture looks milky and fully incorporated. Add the honey and olive oil and mix again until smooth.
Next, add the bread flour and salt. Mix until a shaggy dough forms. You can do this by hand in a large mixing bowl or use a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. The dough will look slightly rough at this stage. that’s exactly what you want.
Cover the dough and let it rest for one hour.
Stretch, Folds & Fermentation
After the first rest, perform a round of stretch and folds. I like to go around the bowl twice during this first set to really help build strength in the dough.
Let it rest for another thirty minutes, then do a round of coil folds. Repeat this process two more times, allowing a rest in between each round. These folds help develop gluten structure while keeping the dough soft and airy.
Once your folds are complete, cover the dough and place it in the refrigerator overnight, or for at least eight hours. This slow fermentation develops flavor and makes the dough easier to work with the next day.
The Next Morning
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it sit on the counter for about two hours to come back to room temperature.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll it out with a rolling pin. Rolling helps release any large air bubbles
Shaping the Loaf
To shape, fold the two sides of the dough into the center. Then, starting from the edge closest to you, roll the dough up tightly into a log.
Pinch the seam and the sides closed to seal everything in. Place the loaf seam-side down into a loaf pan or bread pan.
Cover and let it rest for one more hour.
Baking
Bake at 400° for 55 minutes.
If you are using a bread pan without a lid, score the top of the dough before baking. Cover the top loosely with foil, leaving space so it forms a little bubble over the loaf. Bake covered for the first portion of time, then remove the foil and continue baking until the crust is golden brown.
If you are using a bread pan with a lid, bake covered for the full time.
As soon as the bread comes out of the oven, remove it from the pan and place it on a cooling rack. Let it cool for a couple of hours before slicing. This helps the crumb set properly and keeps your swirl clean and beautiful.
These are my Favorite bread pans!
How to Serve
This sourdough sandwich bread is incredibly versatile. It makes soft peanut butter sandwiches, perfect grilled cheese, and the most delicious buttered toast. It’s slightly sweet, beautifully tender, and sturdy enough to hold whatever fillings you love.
Simple. Classic. Reliable.
A homemade loaf that proves you don’t need anything fancy to make truly amazing bread.
Ingredients
Method
- Combine sourdough starter and water and mix until it is milky then add the honey and olive oil and combine again, next, add the bread, flour and salt and mix until you have a shaggy dough. You can do this by hand or with a stand mixer with dough attachment.
- Cover and rest for one hour and do a round of stretch and folds. I like to go around twice during the first stretch and folds.
- Rest for another 30 minutes and do a round of coil folds and repeat this process 2 more times.
- Cover and place in the fridge overnight or at least eight hours.
- In the morning, get out of the fridge and let it sit on the counter for two hours.
- Place on a lightly floured surface and roll it out with a rolling pin to get all the bubbles out.
- To shape, fold 2 sides to the center, then roll it up starting at the end closest to you, roll it up tight. Pinch the sides and the seam shut and then place in a loaf pan or bread pan seam side down.
- Cover and rest for one more hour, then bake at 400° for 55 minutes.
- If you are using a bread pan with no lid, score the top and cover the top of the bread pan with foil, leaving a little bit of space at the top almost making a bubble over it, bake for 30 minutes and then take the foil off and bake for another 25 minutes. If you’re using a bread pan with a lid, bake covered for 55 minutes.
- I like to remove it from the bread pan as soon as it comes out of the oven and let it cool on a cooling rack for a couple of hours before I slice into it
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