Sourdough Sandwich Bread
I feel like this may be long awaited. Maybe it's not though? You tell me.
I have been trying to perfect the perfect sourdough sandwich bread for months now. And I think I finally got it. It’s crucial that you have a proper starter that is ready to go!
For my starter I started out with 1/3 cup bread flour, 1/3 cup warm water.
The next day I discarded about half, and repeated the recipe.
Third day I started to see some activity (little bubbles) I discarded 1/3 and repeated the recipe again.
Day four I repeated it again.
Day five it was ready to go! You’ll know your sourdough starter is ready to go when it doubles in size within 10 hours of “feeding” it.
Whenever I’m not using my starter, I place it in the fridge so I don't have to continue to feed it everyday.
If you want more in-depth teaching and a little experiment on sourdough starter I have a highlight on this on my Instagram! Check it out.
This is simple enough to do at night, with a stand-mixer, and let it proof 10 hours over night. Get up in the morning, shape and rise again. So its pretty hands off compared to traditional sourdough.
It’s a harder crust with a SOFT center, with little to no crumbles, which has been the biggest battle for me trying to figure out how to work this bread. But I think I got it!
I feel that a stand mixer is easiest in the beginning, but you could totally do this by hand. I add everything except the flour and mix it up in the stand mixer. Then adding once cup at a time until it’s mixed in completely (total of 7 cups) After 7 cups you’ll notice it might be really sticky dough. From here I take it out of the mixing bowl and knead .5-1 cup of flour in by hand. This is my favorite part. Taking the time to feel the dough.
Place in a greased bowl over night. I generally will place a damp dishcloth over the top so the dough doesn’t dry out, but you could use just a bowl over or dish cloth if you don’t want to make it wet.
After a 10 hour rise, I take it out of the bowl (punching down the air, due to the two long proofs) Cut my dough in equal parts, lay flat and try to roll up into a loaf, slightly pulling towards me for a bit of tension.
Place in greased pans, and let it rise for 3-4 hours. Once the dough has risen/doubled in size, place in the oven for 45 minutes at 375 degrees.
This has been a go to recipe since it's easy to make at night when the kiddos are in bed and then mess with it in the morning before they wake up. If you try this let me know!
