Guides
Soft sourdough sandwich bread (Toastbrot)
A soft, fine-crumbed tin loaf enriched with milk and butter, leavened by sourdough. A tangzhong roux keeps it pillowy for days - perfect for toast and sandwiches.
Cook the tangzhong
Whisk the flour and milk in a pot over low heat until it thickens to a pudding-like paste, about 2 minutes. Cool to room temperature before using.
Mix the dough
Combine the starter, flour, milk, egg, sugar, salt and cooled tangzhong. Knead 8 to 10 minutes, then work in the soft butter until smooth and elastic.
Bulk ferment
Cover and leave warm 3 to 4 hours, until noticeably puffed. Enriched dough rises slowly - don't rush it.
Shape and cold proof
Shape into a tight log (or three balls side by side for a pull-apart top), set in the greased tin, and refrigerate overnight (8 to 12 hours).
Final warm proof
Take it out and let it come up at room temperature 1 to 2 hours, until it rises just above the rim of the tin. Brush the top with milk.
Bake gentle
Bake at 180 C for 35 to 40 minutes until golden and 88 to 90 C inside. Tent with foil if it browns too fast. Cool fully before slicing.
Soft crust, fine crumb, sourdough flavour
This is the opposite of a crusty boule: a tender, sliceable sandwich loaf with a soft crust and an even, fine crumb. Milk and butter make it rich; sourdough gives it a gentle depth and keeps it fresher than a yeasted version. The optional secret is tangzhong - a small flour-and-milk roux cooked first, which lets the dough hold more water and stay pillowy for days.
What you need
Makes one large tin loaf (about 900 g). Best started the evening before with a long cold proof.
Notes and swaps
You can skip the tangzhong - just replace it with 100 g extra milk - but the roux is what makes a sourdough sandwich loaf stay soft, so it's worth the five minutes. Enriched doughs ferment slowly because fat and sugar slow the yeast, so be patient and lean on a lively starter (feed it the day before). For dinner-roll territory try our soft rolls. Logging the long proof in Sourdough Tracker takes the guesswork out of timing an enriched dough.
FAQ
Frequently asked
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Written by
Julia Yukovich
Co-Founder + CEO
Julia is one of the Co-Founders. She handles design, development, product direction, and most of the support replies that arrive in the morning.
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