In the bustling rhythm of daily life, finding time for the slow, patient art of sourdough baking can feel like a luxury. That’s why I’m excited to share my recipe for Super Soft Fresh Milled Sourdough Sandwich Bread—a same-day wonder that brings the wholesome goodness of homemade bread to your table in just a few hours.
In my home, where time is often measured in the laughter of children and the clatter of pots and pans, each rise takes about 3 hours. It’s a process that fits snugly into the ebb and flow of our day, allowing us to savor the joy of freshly baked bread without sacrificing precious moments with loved ones.
This bread is more than just a recipe; it’s a reflection of our commitment to nourishing our bodies and souls with simple, wholesome ingredients. The use of fresh milled flour adds a depth of flavor and texture that is simply unparalleled, while the soft, fluffy crumb makes each slice a delight to enjoy, especially when paired with our favorite sandwich fillings.
So, if you’re looking to bring the magic of sourdough into your home without the long wait, I invite you to give this recipe a try. It’s a testament to the fact that sometimes, the most delicious things in life are also the simplest.
I love making these loaves in USA Pullman pans for a tall, beautiful loaf.
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What you’ll need to make Super Soft Fresh Milled Sourdough Sandwich Bread:
2 9inch Loaves
- 700 g Hard white wheat flour 5&1/2 cup 3&2/3c wheat BERRIES
- 420 g Water 1&3/4 cup
- 400 g Active sourdough starter 2 cup 100% Hydration
- 64 g Honey 3 Tablespoon
- 40 g Oil 3 Tablespoon
- 13 g Sunflower lecithin 1&1/2 Tablespoon Can substitute with 1 egg
- 27 g Vital Wheat gluten 3 Tablespoons optional
- 15 g Salt 3 teaspoon
1 13in Loaf
- 525 g Hard white wheat flour 4&1/4 cup 2&3/4 cup wheat BERRIES
- 315 g Water 1&1/3 cup
- 300 g Active sourdough starter 100% Hydration
- 30 g Oil 2&1/4 Tablespoon
- 48 g Honey 2&1/4 Tablespoon
- 20 g Vital wheat gluten 2 Tablespoon Optional
- 10 g Sunflower lecithin 1 Tablespoon
- 11 g Salt 2&1/4 teaspoon
Instructions:
Start by milling your grain.
Starting with the water, put everything in the mixer bowl EXCEPT the salt. Knead on speed 2 (if using KitchenAid) until all ingredients are well incorporated and a ball of dough forms. Let rest for 15-20 min covered with a damp towel or plastic wrap.
Add in the salt and continue to knead for about 8-10 minutes.
Put dough into an oiled bowl. Cover. Let rise until doubled in size. About 3 hours depending on the temperature in your home.
Once dough has doubled, punch down and divide dough in half to make 2 loaves. I like to weigh mine, but you can also eyeball it.
Shape dough into a log, making sure to build tension in the dough to increase gluten strength and oven spring. Place dough in oiled bread pans.
I am using 2 9x4x4 USA Pullman pans which really helps to produce a nice tall loaf. A 9×5 pan would work as well. 8×4 would be too small.
Let the dough rise until it has doubled in size and just over the rim of the pan. Bake at 350 for 35-40 min or until breads internal temperature is 190-200F. Immediately remove from pan and place on cooling rack. For best results, wait until bread is fully cooled to cut, about 2 hours. Enjoy!
Super Soft Fresh Milled Sourdough Sandwich Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
2 9inch Loaves
- 700 g Hard white wheat flour 5&1/2 cups FLOUR or 3&2/3c wheat BERRIES
- 420 g Water 1&3/4 cups
- 400 g Active sourdough starter 2 cups (100% Hydration)
- 64 g Honey 3 Tablespoons
- 40 g Oil 3 Tablespoons
- 13 g Sunflower lecithin 1&1/2 Tablespoons (or substitute with 1 egg)
- 27 g Vital Wheat gluten 3 Tablespoons (optional)
- 15 g Salt 3 teaspoon
1 13in Loaf
- 525 g Hard white wheat flour 4&1/4 cups 2&3/4 cups wheat BERRIES
- 315 g Water 1&1/3 cups
- 300 g Active sourdough starter 100% Hydration
- 30 g Oil 2&1/4 Tablespoons
- 48 g Honey 2&1/4 Tablespoons
- 20 g Vital wheat gluten 2 Tablespoons Optional
- 10 g Sunflower lecithin 1 Tablespoon
- 11 g Salt 2&1/4 teaspoons
Instructions
- Start by milling your grain.
- Starting with the water, put everything in the mixer bowl EXCEPT the salt. Knead on speed 2 (if using KitchenAid) until all ingredients are well incorporated and a ball of dough forms. Let rest for 15-20 min covered with a damp towel or plastic wrap.
- Add in the salt and continue to knead for about 8-10 minutes.
- Put dough into an oiled bowl. Cover. Let rise until doubled in size. About 3 hours depending on the temperature in your home.
- Once dough has doubled, punch down and divide dough in half to make 2 loaves. I like to weigh mine, but you can also eyeball it.
- Shape dough into a log, making sure to build tension in the dough to increase gluten strength and oven spring. Place dough in oiled bread pans.
- I am using 2 9x4x4 USA Pullman pans which really helps to produce a nice tall loaf. A 9×5 pan would work as well. 8×4 would be too small.
- Let the dough rise until it has doubled in size and just over the rim of the pan. Bake at 350 for 35-40 min or until breads internal temperature is 190-200F. Immediately remove from pan and place on cooling rack. For best results, wait until bread is fully cooled to cut, about 2 hours. Enjoy!
I tried this recipe and we adore it! I am seeking a sourdough pizza dough recipe. Can I adapt this recipe for pizza dough? Also, will you be sharing more sourdough content in the future? Thank you! We enjoy your YouTube channel and seeing others in our fresh milled FB groups using your recipes. Keep up the great work!
I’m so glad you enjoy the recipe! You can certainly use this recipe for pizza dough. After the first rise, instead of shaping into a loaves and doing the second rise, you’d flatten it into a circle, add your toppings and bake.
Another great recipe! I’ve tried so many of them! Thank you 🙂
How long does it typically take for the loaf to double in size in the loaf pan?
Any where from 2-5 hours in my experience. It depends on the room temperature and how active your starter is.
I was just about to ask the same question. My starter is new, only about a month old. It has been just over 3 hours and it has only risen about 25%. I will be patient! lol
Best sourdough loaf bread I’ve ever made. Your recipes always work out perfect for me> I’ve been milling my own flour for 10 months now and I’ve learned so much from your channel. Your a beautiful lady and I love the lord and happy to see your page and followers growing. God is good! I keep praying for the success of your channel.
Thank you so much Lisa. It’s only been by the Grace of God that I’ve been able to teach the things that I’ve learned along the way. I truly thank you for your prayers!
Awesome recipe for a sourdough sandwich bread. I used hard red wheat instead of hard white and it turned out great!
I don’t have vwg. Is there a substitute? If not how might the bread turn out without it?
The vital wheat gluten is optional. There’s no substitute for it. The vital wheat gluten just gives the bread a chewier texture, but it still comes out amazing without it. The rise is the same without the vital wheat gluten in my experience.
Loved it and rose well with hard red. Can I substitute other whole and ancient grains in equal quantities and maybe increase water a bit? Thank you for the great recipes and hope to see many more in the future!
Hi! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoy the recipe. You can use up to 15% ancient grains but for the rest of the flour I would stick with hard red or hard white if you’re looking for a tall soft loaf.
Wow!! The flavor of the Fresh Milled Whole Wheat Sourdough Sandwich Bread is exceptional. I did substitute hard red wheat for the white. And wonder if the hard red wheat is “thirstier” than the white? I did have to add about 4-5 TBS more water…and I live in the humid south. Oh my, so good. I can really taste the honey, especially in the crust. I’m already looking forward to baking these loaves again. Thanks so much for all you do. You are GREAT!
Hi Amelia,
I’m so happy to hear that you enjoy the recipe! And yes, hard red wheat can be thirstier. Thank you for your kind words!
Love the recipe! We get great results every time!
Do you have a starter recipe?
What is the purpose of waiting to add the salt?
YAY! Thank you so much for this amazing recipe! It came out perfect. Soft, fluffy and delicious! I used hot water and omitted the added gluten since I didn’t have any. It is exactly what i was hoping for. The most success I’ve had to far baking with with FMF!
Is there a particular reason for using hot water?
Hi Angie,
This recipe for Super Soft Fresh Milled Sourdough Sandwich Bread does not call for hot water. But maybe you were looking at a different recipe on the blog?
Can it work to put the loaf pans in the fridge after the dough has doubled in them? I’ve had it happen that it takes longer than I think to double and then it’s getting late and I want to go to bed ha ha. If that can work, then it would allow me to bake the following morning… thanks for any information.
Hi Kate,
You can put the shaped loaves in the fridge overnight but I don’t recommend waiting until it has doubled in size because then you run the risk of them over proofing. Try to get them into the fridge before they double in size.
Hi Belle,
I recently came across your YouTube video on sourdough sandwich bread. I made it and it turned out great!
What adjustments should I make for using an egg instead of the sunflower lectin. My dough was very wet and never really formed a ball.
Looking forward to trying more of your recipes!
Hi Heather,
If using egg, use 2 eggs and remove 80g of liquid from the recipe.
This recipe is amazing! It’s easy, healthy, and so tasty. My kids LOVE the soft crust. I am new to milling my own flour, and this recipe allowed me to nail my first loaf. Thanks for sharing your hard work. I have made several times now and always in a 13 in Pullman. I’ve never used the vital wheat gluten, but have done as written with success. Also have had success with swapping an egg for the lecithin, swapping the water for yogurt whey, and reducing honey (while replacing with an equal weight of water). Very versatile recipe that I will continue to bake on a weekly basis. Thank you!!
Can I cut the 9” recipe in half to make one loaf to make sure I like it before doing 2? Also are you using powdered sunflower lecithin or liquid? Thanks
Hi Becky,
Yes, the recipe can be cut in half. And the sunflower lecithin is powder, not the liquid kind.
Hi! Super fan over here! I’ve been freshly milling about 2 years but found your recipes about 3 months ago and every single recipe turned out amazing! I’ve been making your super soft yeast bread a couple times a week but attended a sour dough class at church yesterday and I am determined to figure out combining sour dough and FM flour. 2 questions for you. 1. Why do you feed your starter white flour? 2. How do you know how much to feed your starter before hand? Looks like I need 400g of active starter for recipe, is that the total weight by grams that starter should be before it comes active? Does that weight change with all those bubbles? Would love to hear how much your feeding your starter to get the 400g.
Hi Ariel,
I’m so happy to hear that you’ve been having success with my recipes! Combining sourdough with fresh milled flour is a very rewarding journey. Concerning how I feed my starter, I no longer feed it with white flour. I started baking sourdough well before baking with fresh milled flour and at the time of this post I hadn’t switched my starter to fresh milled flour yet.
How do I know how much to feed my starter? I feed it based on what I intend to do with it that week. So if I’m baking 2 loaves that require 200g of starter, I’ll make sure to have enough starter for that plus a little extra for the next feed.
The weight of the starter will be the same before and after it rises. the weight doesn’t change when it becomes active.
So let’s say you have 50g of starter and you need 400g for your recipe. Feed your starter 200g of flour and 200g of water. This will give you 400g for your recipe with 50g leftover to be fed and used again.
It does not matter how little starter you start with, you can feed it as much as you need to get your desired amount.
I hope this helps!
Hi, I absolutely love your recipes and watching your videos. You have such a calm, soothing voice, and you are so easy to learn from, so I have a silly question. I have been making your bread recipe that has the Yudane in it, and I love the texture!! I have not done any sourdough stuff yet, but I have a starter coming soon! I am wondering if you think adding the Yudane to this recipe would give the same strong texture as the other recipe, or if the sourdough alone will give the nice strong non-crumbly texture? Thank you so much! I Love the Lord too!!
Hi Ronda,
I think adding yudane to this would be a great idea. I do think it would make it an even better loaf. Love to hear that you love the Lord as well! Happy Baking!
I will be trying this recipe today but I have 2 cast iron loaf pans I am wanting to work with. Would I have to change anything when baking in order to do this?
Hi Bethany,
No adjustments need to be made.
I’ve not only tried it – it is my favorite sourdough sandwich bread! We love it and now I’ve gotta run – I’m getting ready to make another loaf. Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes as well as your experience and knowledge as I’m fairly new to fresh milled flour baking.
Excited to try this! How long is your second rise typically? Thanks!
Mine usually takes around 3 hours for each rise.