After the most trial and error, I’ve got your soft, easy-slice sourdough sandwich bread needs COVERED with this easy single loaf recipe. It’s truly simple to make, and yields one gorgeous (egg free) loaf perfect for slicing up and serving to your family through the week. Need more? Double (or triple) the recipe easily! This bread is truly perfect and a household favorite.

If you love the simplicity and health benefits of traditional homemade sourdough but wish it was easier to slice, had a soft crust, and could make the perfect light sandwich bread… THIS IS IT.

My sourdough sandwich bread is light, soft, and very subtly sweetened with a touch of honey or maple syrup. This recipe is egg free for allergy friendliness and simplicity’s sake, and that also makes it really easy to multiply if you do indeed want to prep more than one loaf at once.

We love this bread MOST because of its versatility. It makes the perfect buttered toast, avocado toast, cinnamon toast, sandwiches, paninis, french toast, croutons, bread crumbs…. it’s truly the best and my kids especially LOVE the soft, thin crust.

This recipe requires very little “magic touch” and very little hands on skill. Just give it some mixing and some time, and let the magic happen.

My favorite schedule with this is to start the dough at night, let it ferment while I sleep, and then bake the next day. It’s perfect any day but especially on a weekend so you’ll have fresh homemade bread for the whole week!

Cannot wait for y’all to try this one! Let me know how it goes – here in the comments or over on IG @justjessieb!

PS: Looking for loaf pans? I use inexpensive non-stick ones from Amazon (I’ll link them!) but have a couple of other recommendations as well! Any 9 x 5″ loaf pan will work great especially with the “parchment sling” method.

Print Recipe

Single Sourdough Sandwich Loaf

An easy, overnight sourdough sandwich bread loaf with a light, fluffy crumb and thin, soft crust. Perfect for toast, sandwiches, and more – with very little hands on time!
Cook Time28 minutes
Servings: 16 slices

Ingredients

  • 135g active sourdough starter
  • 200g warm filtered water
  • 20g avocado oil or melted butter
  • 50g honey or maple syrup you can use less or none if you prefer! this gives a very subtle sweetness
  • 6g salt
  • 400g organic unbleached all purpose flour

Instructions

In The Morning or Early Afternoon

  • Feed your starter so it's active and bubbly by the evening when you're ready to start the dough. I typically feed a 1:2:2 ratio (60g starter, 120g water, 120g flour) for baking.

In The Evening

  • Combine the starter, water, avocado oil or melted butter, honey or maple syrup, and salt in a mixing bowl or stand mixer.
    Add the flour, using your hands to incorporate the last bit (if not using mixer).
  • Knead the dough with the mixer (hook attachment) or your hands for about 5-8 minutes or until the dough is super smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl easily.
  • Cover the dough with a lid, plastic wrap, or light towel and allow to rise overnight until at least doubled.

The Next Morning

  • Line a 9 x 5" (1.5 qt) loaf pan with a strip of parchment paper cut to fit the widest side of the pant and long enough to hang over the edges & act as a sling, to easily remove the loaves. Set aside.
  • Turn the fermented dough out onto a large, lightly floured surface. Gently tuck in the sides and roll up into a loaf shape, and place in the lined loaf pan.
  • Cover with a light towel, and allow to rise until doubled (about 3 to 5 hours, can speed up in the oven on "proof" setting if you have it! but always follow the "doubled" visual).
    The loaf will rise more in the oven, but you're looking for the dough to be plump and smooth and filling up the sides of the loaf pan; almost to the top edge.

In The Early Afternoon

  • Or once your loaf has doubled in the pan, preheat the oven to 400ยบF. Transfer the loaf to the oven and bake for 28-30 minutes or until golden on the outside and an internal temperature reads 180ยบF (the temp read helps so much!)
  • Transfer to a cooling rack right away and allow the bread to fully cool to room temperature before slicing.
  • Store the bread in an airtight container or ziploc bag. We typically keep at room temperature for the first 3-4 days then transfer to the refrigerator or freezer to keep it fresh.

Notes

After shaping your dough into a loaf and placing in the loaf pan, you can always hit the “pause” button by transferring to the fridge.ย  Just be sure to bring the loaf out and resume with the next step about 3-5 hours prior to when you’re ready to bake:ย  letting it proof at room temperature.
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