Sourdough Sandwich Bread
This same day sourdough sandwich bread is made using Tangzhong which results in an incredibly soft and bouncy loaf of sandwich bread!
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I don’t often make sourdough sandwich bread because I normally find it’s far too dry. Recently though I’ve been experimenting with sourdough sandwich bread and trying to achieve the softer dough that you expect from sandwich bread!
To do so, I’ve introduced something called a tangzhong or cooked flour into the recipe. The cooked flour is made by cooking a bit of flour in quite a bit of liquid until it thickens. By cooking the flour, you’re increasing the amount of liquid that the flour can absorb, and the higher liquid content results in a much softer loaf.
I’ve also added a bit of honey and oil to the dough both of which help to soften and sweeten the bread to give you the a truly lovely sandwich loaf.
Why make this Recipe?
Quick This same day sourdough bread is a great option when you’re looking for a quick sourdough bake!
Soft: The tangzhong or cooked flour makes for an incredibly soft loaf of bread that’s perfect for sandwiches or toast!
What Do I Need to Make this Recipe?
Flour: This recipe works best with a medium-protein flour, i.e. around 11%. Because the flour that I usually have on hand has a higher protein content, I’ve actually used roughly half high protein bread flour and half all-purpose flour. You could definitely use just all-purpose if that’s what you have on hand, or if your bread flour has a slightly lower protein range, feel free to use all bread flour.
Oatmilk (or milk or water): For the cooked flour (tangzhong) portion of the dough, you’ll need a liquid. I normally use oat milk, but dairy milk or water work well too.
Sourdough Starter: For this recipe, I use 100 g of my mature sourdough starter, which works well for me. If you don’t keep a large enough starter, or you prefer to use a levain you can definitely do that. Just combine 10 g of starter, 45 g bread flour and 45 g of water the night before you are ready to bake!
Oil: To achieve soft, springy sandwich bread, you want a bit of fat in your dough. Here I’ve chosen olive oil because I like the flavor and I think it works well in this dough.
Honey: Sandwich bread is often characterized by a small amount of sweetness. To achieve that flavor in this bread, I’ve used honey, but 10 g of brown sugar would be lovely too.
Salt: As with all my bread recipes, you’ll want a bit of salt to balance out the flavors.
Equipment:
- Loaf Pan – I really love the pans from Chicago Metallic, so if you don’t have a loaf pan you like, I’d definitely recommend this one.
- Standing Mixer – Mixing this dough by hand is possible, but it’s not easy and in general for bread dough I find a standing mixer is incredibly useful. There are a range of brands on the market, and I’ve tried the Kenwood kMix and the Kitchenaid mixers. Personally I slightly prefer the Kitchenaid but both work well!
- Proofing Container – You can absolutely use any old bowl to proof your dough, but if you bake a lot, then a container like this with markings on the side will make it much easier to judge how much your dough has risen!
How to Make this Recipe
Step 1: Feed your starter
Make sure your starter is healthy and active and will be ready to go when you start making your dough in the morning.
Step 2: Make the Tangzhong
You’ll want to combine the water or oat milk and flour for the Tangzhong in a medium saucepan and cook on a medium low heat stirring more or less constantly until it thickens. You’re looking for a thick paste like consistency. Once it’s ready spread it out on a plate or in a bowl and let it cool completely.
Step 3: Make the dough
Once the Tangzhong is cooled go ahead and combine everything in the bowl of a standing mixer and then knead it together with the dough hook for about 10 minutes.
Step 4: Stretch and fold
In order to develop the gluten in the dough you’ll want to stretch and fold the dough a few times at roughly half hour intervals.
Step 5: Bulk ferment and shape
Because we used quite a bit of starter in this dough it doesn’t need too long to bulk ferment. I just let mine sit on the counter for about an hour and a half.
Once the bulk fermentation is done you want to tip the dough onto the counter and let it sit uncovered for 20-30 minutes or until the surface of the dough feels slightly dry to the touch. At that point go ahead and shape it into a loaf and slide it into a greased loaf pan.
Step 6: Final rise
Let the dough rise again for 2 hours at room temperature or until it’s puffy and has almost filled the tin. You can also let it rise in the fridge overnight if you prefer and then just bake it in the morning.
Step 7: Bake
This loaf needs to bake for about 50 minutes which is a reasonably long bake. The reason for this is that the Tangzhong can leave the bread soggy and wet in the middle if it’s not fully baked.
If your loaf is starting to get too brown in the last 20 minutes of the bake then just cover it loosely with tin foil.
Expert Tips
Coat the loaf in seeds or oats
If you’d like to do so you can roll your loaf in oats or seeds before placing it in the loaf pan! This looks nice and can add a nice texture!
Let the loaf fully cool before slicing
As with all bread, you need to let this one cool completely before you slice into it. The reason is that the crumb inside the dough needs to fully set before you slice into it.
Recipe FAQs
The tangzhong method involves cooking together water or milk and flour in a saucepan until it reaches a thick consistency. This method allows you to cook more moisture into the flour than you would be able to normally and results in a softer bouncier bread dough.
There are two main ways you can make your sourdough a bit more sour. The first option is to make a levain using rye flour which tends to lead to a more acidic levain. To do so combine 10 g starter, 25 g rye flour, 20 g white bread flour and 45 g of water in a small jar.
The second option (and the more effective option) is to let your dough rise overnight. The extra fermentation time will deepen that sourdough flavor. Simply place your shaped loaf in the fridge overnight and then bake it in the morning.
Other bread recipes you might like:
- SAME DAY SOURDOUGH RECIPE – WITH WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR
- SAME DAY SOURDOUGH RECIPE
- BASIC SOURDOUGH BREAD RECIPE
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Sourdough Sandwich Bread
Equipment
- Kitchen scales
- loaf pan (mine is 4” x 8”)
Ingredients
Cooked flour:
- 40 g AP flour
- 150 g oat milk or whole milk or water
Bread:
- 200 g bread flour
- 175 g AP flour
- 30 g olive oil
- 20 g honey
- 175 g water
- 8 g salt 1.5 tsp
- 100 g active starter
Instructions
8 AM: Make the Tangzhong
- In a medium sauce pan, combine the 40 g of flour and 150 g of liquid for the cooked flour portion of the recipe. Stir frequently over a medium heat until the mixture has significantly thickened. This will take about 5 minutes. Let it cool.
9 AM: Make the bread dough
- In the bowl of a standing mixer, combine the Tangzhong along with the remaining bread ingredients. Use the dough hook to knead for 8-10 minutes on low speed with a standing mixer.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover for half an hour.
10 – 11 AM: Stretch and fold
- After the dough has rested for half an hour, perform one set of stretch and folds. Repeat this process twice more at half hour intervals for a total of three sets.
11 AM – 1 PM: Bulk ferment.
- Let the dough raise for an hour and a half at room temperature, and then tip it onto the counter and let it raise for another half an hour uncovered on the counter.
1 PM: Shape
- Lightly grease a loaf pan and then shape the dough into a loaf and place it smooth side up in the loaf pan.
1:15 – 3:15 PM Final Proof
- Let the loaf proof for two hours, or until it’s soft and well risen. If you poke it gently, you should find that the dough doesn’t bounce back.
- During the last half hour of the proof preheat your oven to 400 F and prep it for steaming. To steam the dough I use an old roasting pan on the bottom shelf of the oven which I add a cup of ice cubes to when I put the bread in the oven. Feel free to use your preferred method.
3:15 PM: Bake
- Bake with steam for 25 minutes, then remove the steaming trays and continue baking for 30 minutes. Check the bread during the last 15 minutes and if it’s getting too dark, cover it loosely with tinfoil.
- The bread is ready when its internal temperature reads 205 F.
- Once it’s ready, remove from the oven and gently take it out of the loaf pan. At this point, you can choose to return it to the oven for a couple of minutes if you want to ensure it crisps on the sides and bottoms. After that, let it cool completely before slicing.
Notes
If you’d like to, you can place the shaped bread loaf in the fridge overnight and then just bake it in the morning.
Test
This sounds like a wonderful recipe, and I will start it today. I’ve been looking for a sandwich bread that doesn’t call for 300 grams of starter!