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The last few months I’ve been working with sourdough and a variety of loaf pans and am excited to share this Sourdough Sandwich Bread with you. A white, tender bread that is perfect for toast, sandwiches, and especially tea sandwiches.
If you’ve spent much time on this recipe site, you probably know that I adore a good tea party and am especially fond of sourdough. In this post, the two go hand-in-hand.
To make a perfect tea sandwich, you want thinly sliced bread. Pepperidge Farm offers “very thin” sliced bread, but here in SE Kansas, it can be quite difficult to find. In fact, when I’m planning a tea party, I will often call on our oldest daughter to shop for this bread. Now, I can bake it myself!
My mother-in-law actually gifted me with this lovely bread pan months ago, and I finally got around to using it this past December! I worried that I would have to alter my bread recipes in order to use it. Alas, I needn’t have worried, as this recipe will make 2 nice sized loaves in a standard loaf pan and my new tea or cocktail loaf pan. It’s wonderful!
Of course, you may also make this with 2 standard loaf pans, or even a Pullman loaf pan, which Julia Child used to make Pain de Mie sandwich bread. If you have time and for fun, watch a video of Julia making this bread HERE.
More Bread Recipes to Try
- Multigrain Sourdough Sandwich Bread
- Harvest Grain Sandwich Loaf
- Sourdough Cinnamon-Swirl Raisin Bread
- Molasses Rye Bread
Ingredients for Sourdough Sandwich Bread
(See the full recipe at the bottom of this post.)
- sourdough starter (fed and active)
- warm water
- powdered milk
- butter, room temperature
- large egg
- granulated sugar
- instant yeast, optional
- kosher salt
- all-purpose flour
- brown rice flour for dusting
Equipment Needed for this Bread
To make this recipe, you’ll want to have two of the following loaf pans. A Standard Sized Loaf Pan, a 13″ or larger Pullman Loaf Pan with Lid, or a Cocktail “Tea” Sandwich Loaf Pan.
Instructions for Making This Recipe
Gather the ingredients so that you have everything close at hand on the counter or table.
Coat loaf pans with shortening and flour, or use a baking spray such as Baker’s Joy.
I have learned not to use regular cooking sprays with my USA pans, as it is very hard to remove when cleaning. Baker’s Joy works well, or use the old method of lightly spreading shortening and dusting pans with flour.
Prepare the Dough
In a large mixing bowl, combine the “fed and active” sourdough starter, warm water, powdered milk, softened butter, and large egg.
Add to this the granulated sugar, instant yeast, and kosher salt. Mix to combine.
Using instant yeast in this recipe is optional. I included it, as it helps ensure a faster rising time. If you opt not to use the yeast, you’ll need to go through the stretching and folding steps to develop the natural gluten in the dough. See more steps on doing this HERE.
Gradually add in the all-purpose flour, until the dough comes together in a ball. The dough may be fairly sticky.
Place dough in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise until doubled. This may take 1-2 hours, depending on the temperature of your kitchen.
Form Dough into Loaves
Once doubled, turn out the dough on a lightly floured workspace and divide into two pieces. Lightly punch down once or twice and spread dough into a rectangle long enough to fit the bread pan you are using.
Gently roll the dough and pinch sides and ends together to make a nice loaf. Lightly coat the dough in rice flour to prevent sticking to the pan. I like to use a Brown Rice Flour for this step for it’s grittiness and whole grain texture.
Brown Rice Flour is gluten-free and will not absorb moisture the same as all-purpose flour. It also works very well to coat a banneton when forming loaves of bread. Other options are cornmeal or semolina.
Place loaf in one of the prepared loaf pans. Repeat with the second piece of dough. Cover pans with plastic wrap coated with baking spray and allow to rise until doubled. Again, this may take 1-2 hours or more, depending on the temperature of your kitchen.
If using a Pullman loaf pan, go ahead and spray the lid with a flour-coated spray, such as Baker’s Joy. Then close the lid while the dough rises.
Prepare to Bake the Bread
Toward the end of the rising time, preheat oven to 425F degrees. You’ll want your oven to be good and hot, so allow at least 30 minutes heating time before baking. Place a pan of water on the bottom rack filled with about an inch deep of hot water. Allow this to heat while the oven warms. This will be used to help create steam while the bread bakes.
When the loaves have nearly doubled, remove the plastic wrap from the top and place each pan on the middle rack in the hot oven. Drop 1-2 ice cubes in the pan of hot water below, which will immediately create steam. Bake for 20-25 minutes until tops are golden brown.
For a Pullman loaf, check the bread after 18-20 minutes. Remove the top lid and continue baking for another 5-7 minutes until top is browned.
Remove loaves from oven and place loaf pan on its side for 3-5 minutes. Remove loaves from their pans and place bread on a wire rack to finish cooling.
For best results, allow the loaves to thoroughly cool before slicing with a bread knife. I will often wait until the following day to slice bread, especially if I want to make thin slices.
Serve with sandwiches or with butter. For ideas on how to use this bread, see my recipes for Ham Salad Tea Sandwiches, Curried Chicken Tea Sandwiches, or Egg Salad Tea Sandwiches.
This recipe will make two loaves. A standard loaf pan will make approximately 20-24 slices, depending on thickness of each slice. A cocktail “tea” loaf pan will make 44-46 thin slices, which equals 22-23 small tea sandwiches.
See more Sourdough Recipes Here. Browse Yeast Bread Recipes Here. View Tea Party Sandwiches Here.
Sourdough Sandwich Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup sourdough starter fed and active
- 1 cup warm water
- 1/3 cup powdered milk
- 2 tablespoons butter room temperature
- 1 large egg
- 2 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon instant yeast
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup brown rice flour for dusting
Instructions
- Gather the ingredients so that you have everything close at hand on the counter or table. Coat loaf pans with shortening and flour, or use a baking spray such as Baker's Joy.
- I have learned not to use regular cooking sprays with my USA pans, as it is very hard to remove when cleaning. Baker's Joy works well, or use the old method of lightly spreading shortening and dusting pans with flour.
Prepare the Dough
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the "fed and active" sourdough starter, warm water, powdered milk, softened butter, and large egg.
- Add to this the granulated sugar, instant yeast, and kosher salt. Mix to combine.
- Gradually add in the all-purpose flour, until the dough comes together in a ball. The dough may be sticky.
- Place dough in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise until doubled. This may take 1-2 hours, depending on the temperature of your kitchen.
Form Dough Into Loaves
- Once doubled, turn out the dough on a lightly floured workspace and divide into two pieces. Lightly punch down once or twice and spread dough into a rectangle long enough to fit the bread pan you are using.
- Gently roll the dough and pinch sides and ends together to make a nice loaf. Lightly coat the dough in rice flour to prevent sticking to the pan. I like to use a Brown Rice Flour for this step for it's grittiness and whole grain texture.
- Brown Rice Flour is gluten-free and will not absorb moisture the same as all-purpose flour. It also works very well to coat a banneton when forming loaves of bread. Other options are cornmeal or semolina.
- Place loaf in one of the prepared loaf pans. Repeat with the second piece of dough. Cover pans with plastic wrap coated with baking spray and allow to rise until doubled. Again, this may take 1-2 hours or more, depending on the temperature of your kitchen.
- (If using a Pullman loaf pan, go ahead and spray the lid with a flour-coated spray, such as Baker's Joy. Then close the lid while the dough rises.)
Prepare the Bake the Bread
- Toward the end of the rising time, preheat oven to 425F degrees. You'll want your oven to be good and hot, so allow at least 30 minutes heating time before baking.
- Place a pan of water on the bottom rack filled with about an inch deep of hot water. Allow this to heat while the oven warms. This will be used to help create steam while the bread bakes.
- When the loaves have nearly doubled, remove the plastic wrap from the top and place each pan on the middle rack in the hot oven. Drop 1-2 ice cubes in the pan of hot water below, which will immediately create steam. Bake for 20-25 minutes until tops are golden brown.
- (For a Pullman loaf, check the bread after 18-20 minutes. Remove the top lid and continue baking for another 5-7 minutes until top is browned.)
- Remove loaves from oven and place loaf pan on its side for 3-5 minutes. Remove loaves from their pans and place bread on a wire rack to finish cooling.
- (For best results, allow the loaves to thoroughly cool before slicing with a bread knife. I will often wait until the next day to slice bread, especially if I want to make thin slices.)
- Serve with sandwiches or with butter. This recipe will make two loaves. A standard loaf pan will make approximately 20-24 slices, depending on thickness of each slice. A cocktail "tea" loaf pan will make 44-46 thin slices, which equals 22-23 small tea sandwiches.
Notes
