🍞 Homemade Sourdough Sandwich Bread for Beginners

What you’ll need

Ingredients

100 g active sourdough starter — bubbly and recently fed
300 g warm milk
50 g warm water
30 g honey or sugar
30 g melted butter or neutral oil
500 g bread flour
10 g salt

Optional: 10–20 g extra butter for brushing the baked loaf.

Equipment

Large mixing bowl
Kitchen scale
Wooden spoon or dough whisk
9 × 5-inch loaf pan
Clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap
Cooling rack

Step 1: Make sure your starter is ready

For the best rise, your sourdough starter should be active and bubbly.

A good starter should:

Have lots of bubbles
Look slightly domed or risen
Smell pleasantly tangy/yeasty
Ideally double in size after feeding

If your starter has been sitting in the refrigerator, feed it and wait until it becomes active before making the bread.

Beginner tip: Don’t worry about the “float test.” A starter that is visibly active and reliably rises is more useful than relying on whether it floats.

Step 2: Mix the dough

In a large bowl, combine:

100 g active sourdough starter
300 g warm milk
50 g warm water
30 g honey or sugar
30 g melted butter

Mix until the starter is mostly dispersed.

Add:

500 g bread flour
10 g salt

Mix everything together with a spoon or your hands until you have a rough, sticky dough.

There shouldn’t be large pockets of dry flour remaining.

Step 3: Rest the dough

Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for about 20–30 minutes.

This short rest allows the flour to absorb the liquid and makes the dough easier to work with.

You don’t need to knead it yet.

Step 4: Knead or strengthen the dough

After the rest, knead the dough for about 5–8 minutes.

You can knead by hand:

Push the dough forward with the heel of your hand.
Fold it back toward yourself.
Turn the dough slightly.
Repeat.

At first, it may feel sticky and messy. That’s normal.

As you knead, it should become:

Smoother
More elastic
Less sticky
Easier to handle

Don’t add lots of flour just because the dough is sticky. Too much extra flour can make your bread dense.

Easier alternative: stretch and folds

Instead of kneading, you can do 3–4 rounds of stretch-and-folds during the first 2 hours.

With wet hands:

Grab one side of the dough.
Stretch it upward gently.
Fold it over the center.
Rotate the bowl.
Repeat on all four sides.

Do this every 30 minutes, for about 3–4 rounds.

Step 5: First rise / bulk fermentation

Cover the bowl and let the dough ferment at room temperature.

This is where sourdough timing can vary considerably.

Depending on the temperature of your kitchen and the strength of your starter, this may take approximately 4–8 hours.

Don’t rely only on the clock.

Look for these signs:

Dough has noticeably increased in size
Dough looks smoother and slightly puffy
You can see some bubbles
Dough jiggles a little when the bowl is moved
The dough feels lighter and airier

You don’t necessarily need it to double in size.

Important

A warm kitchen will make the dough ferment faster.

A cool kitchen will make it take longer.

Step 6: Shape the dough

Lightly flour your work surface.

Gently remove the dough from the bowl.

Try not to completely deflate it.

Shape it into a rectangle roughly the length of your loaf pan.

Then:

Fold the top third toward the center.
Fold the bottom third upward.
Roll the dough into a fairly tight log.
Pinch the seam closed.

You want a smooth, reasonably tight loaf.

Step 7: Put it into the loaf pan

Grease your 9 × 5-inch loaf pan.

Place the shaped dough into the pan with the seam underneath.

Cover the pan.

Step 8: Second rise

Let the dough rise again at room temperature.

This can take roughly 2–5 hours, depending on your starter and kitchen temperature.

The dough should become noticeably puffy and rise toward the top of the pan.

For a very soft sandwich loaf, don’t rush this step.

How do I know it’s ready?

Gently press the dough with a lightly floured finger.

If it slowly springs back but leaves a slight indentation, it’s generally ready to bake.

If it immediately springs back, it probably needs more time.

If it collapses or feels extremely weak, it may have fermented too long.

Step 9: Preheat the oven

When the dough is nearly ready, preheat your oven to:

190°C / 375°F

Give the oven plenty of time to fully heat.

Step 10: Bake

Place the loaf in the center of the preheated oven.

Bake for approximately:

35–45 minutes

The top should become nicely golden brown.

If the top gets dark too quickly, loosely cover it with aluminum foil during the final part of baking.

Internal temperature

If you have a kitchen thermometer, the center of the loaf should be around 93–96°C / 200–205°F when finished.

Step 11: Add butter for a soft crust

As soon as the bread comes out of the oven, brush the top lightly with butter.

This gives the crust a softer texture and adds a delicious buttery flavor.

Step 12: Cool completely

This is one of the hardest parts! 😄

Remove the bread from the pan after about 5–10 minutes.

Place it on a cooling rack.

Let it cool for at least 1–2 hours before slicing.

Don’t cut it while it’s very hot.

The inside is still setting, and cutting too early can make the crumb gummy.

🔪 Step 13: Slice and enjoy

Once completely cool, use a serrated bread knife to slice it.

It’s excellent for:

Toast
Grilled cheese
Peanut butter and jelly
Egg sandwiches
Turkey/chicken sandwiches
Breakfast toast
French toast

🌟 Beginner’s timeline example

If you want to make the bread over one day:

8:00 AM — Mix dough
8:30 AM — Knead/stretch and fold
9:00 AM–2:00 PM — Bulk fermentation
2:00 PM — Shape
2:15 PM–5:00 PM — Second rise
5:00 PM — Bake
5:45 PM — Cool
7:00 PM — Slice and enjoy

Your actual timing may be different because sourdough fermentation depends heavily on temperature and starter activity.

🥖 Important beginner tips

1. Don’t use an inactive starter

If your starter hasn’t risen after feeding, your bread may barely rise.

2. Don’t add excessive flour

Sticky dough doesn’t automatically mean something is wrong.

Use lightly wet or oiled hands when handling it.

3. Watch the dough, not just the clock

Sourdough isn’t as predictable as commercial yeast.

Temperature, starter strength, flour and fermentation time all affect the dough.

4. Milk makes the bread softer

The milk, butter and honey/sugar help create a soft, tender sandwich loaf.

5. Don’t slice immediately

Allowing the loaf to cool completely gives you a much better texture.

6. If your kitchen is cold

Fermentation may take considerably longer. You can put the covered dough somewhere slightly warm, but avoid very hot locations, which can damage the dough’s fermentation.

7. For overnight fermentation

After shaping, you can cover the loaf and refrigerate it overnight. The next day, let it sit at room temperature until sufficiently puffy, then bake.

🧈 How to keep your sourdough sandwich bread soft

Once completely cool, store it in an airtight bread bag or container at room temperature.

For the softest slices:

Don’t refrigerate the bread unless necessary.
Keep it sealed once cooled.
Slice only what you need.
Freeze extra slices if you won’t eat the loaf within a few days.

For freezing, slice the loaf first, place parchment between slices if desired, and freeze in an airtight freezer bag. You can toast slices directly from frozen.

The most important formula to remember

100 g starter + 350 g liquid + 500 g flour + 30 g fat + 30 g sweetener + 10 g salt

Once you’ve successfully made this basic loaf, you can experiment with whole wheat flour, seeds, oats, herbs, cheese, or a slightly sweeter version.