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This quick and easy sourdough discard sandwich bread is a great sourdough recipe to have in your repertoire for when you need to use up some discard or you need a loaf of bread in a hurry. You’ll get a super soft, light and airy crumb with a soft crust that’s easy to eat.
This bread takes around 2 to 3 hours from start to finish, depending on how warm your house is. It utilises 100g of sourdough discard and is perfect with homemade butter!
If you’d like a more artisan style sourdough discard bread, you could try this recipe.
Table of Contents
- Which Loaf Pan Should You Choose?
- Shaping Sandwich Bread
- Freezing A Sourdough Discard Sandwich Loaf
- Slicing Sourdough Discard Sandwich Loaf
- Making Sourdough Discard Sandwich Bread in the Thermomix
- Sourdough Discard Sandwich Bread Variations & Substitutions
- Equipment for Making Sourdough Discard Sandwich Bread
- Further Reading
- Sourdough Discard Sandwich Loaf Recipe
Which Loaf Pan Should You Choose?
Sandwich bread needs to be baked in a laof pan. You can use an open tin or a tin with a lid or “Pullman Bread Tin“. If you use an open tin, you’ll achieve a rounded top to your sandwich loaf. This is what I prefer to bake in.
You can however also use a Pullman Tin. This has a lid that slides on top and will yield you a square sandwich loaf, more like the bread you would buy in the supermarket.
No matter what type of tin you use, this loaf is best in a tin around 4 x 8 x 4 inches. This is the one I use (I just leave the lid off as I think it is nicer with the rounded top).
Sometimes my sourdough sandwich discard bread comes out looking like a mushroom … it makes my kids love it even more because they think it’s hilarious! Spot the squishy toddler fingers!
Shaping Sandwich Bread
Shaping sandwich bread is so so easy. Of course, like anything, there are a million ways to complicate it, however I like to stick to this simple method – it’s so easy my kids can do it!
Remember that this dough will feel different to traditional sourdough sandwich bread because it has been leavened with instant yeast. It may feel stickier than traditional sourdough, but if it is, you just need to flour your hands a little.
You need to pop your fermented dough out onto the kitchen counter so that the smooth side is underneath and the sticky side is on the top. Gently ease the dough out into a rough rectangle, with the short edge closest to you.
Then roll the dough up into a log and tuck the ends under. Try and create as much tension as you can on the top of the loaf. This will help it to develop a lovely shape and crust when it’s baked.
Then simply plop the log into your buttered tin.
Freezing A Sourdough Discard Sandwich Loaf
You can easily double or even triple this recipe (when you look at the recipe below, you can easily click the button and it will automatically calculate the measurements for you). Doubling the recipe means you can use one loaf and freeze the other.
These plastic bread bags are perfect for freezing your sandwich bread in.
This yeasted version of sandwich bread is super handy to have in your recipe collection when you realise you have to pack school lunches … and there’s no bread!!
It also freezes really well – as a whole loaf or even sliced and made into sandwiches.
To store frozen sandwiches, you can place each sandwich in a plastic ziploc bag. This makes them easy to place in lunchboxes in the morning. You could also wrap them in parchment paper and store in an airtight plastic container in the freezer if you don’t want to use ziploc bags.
Slicing Sourdough Discard Sandwich Loaf
Slicing a sandwich loaf can be tricky, especially if you want perfect slices. However, you can purchase a bread slicing guide which makes things much easier. You could even use an electric knife or electric food slicer.
Making Sourdough Discard Sandwich Bread in the Thermomix
I use a Thermomix to make this discard bread, however you could use any stand mixer. I find that using a mixer creates a super soft crumb – and makes this a quick easy recipe to use.
I use the dough function on the Thermomix (any version will work TM31, TM5 or TM6).
As with the traditional sourdough method in your Thermomix, clean up is easy – just add some water to the jug afterwards and run at speed 10 to clean the blades.
For the all the best sourdough recipes to make in your Thermomix, check out this guide.
Sourdough Discard Sandwich Bread Variations & Substitutions
There are lots of ways to jazz up this easy sourdough discard sandwich bread. Here are a few suggestions:
- Honey & Oat Sandwich Loaf – Add 20g of honey and 50g of oats to the mixture when you add the butter, sugar and salt. If you’d like to add oats to the top you should do so when you put the dough into the tin – spray the loaf lightly with water so the oats stick to the top.
- Multigrain Sandwich Loaf – Add 50 to 100g of your favorite seeds to the mixture when you add the butter, sugar and salt. Seeds like sesame, sunflower, pumpkin and flax work really well.
- Wholemeal Sandwich Loaf – Replace half the Bread Flour with Whole Wheat or Wholemeal Flour for a more hearty country style sandwich loaf. You could top with sesame seeds when you place it into the tin.
- Make this loaf into sourdough discard rolls by following these instructions.
Equipment for Making Sourdough Discard Sandwich Bread
Sandwich Loaf Pans – you’ll need a selection of sandwich loaf tins to bake your bread. Having 2 or even 4 is a great idea if you want to bake several loaves at once (and this bread freezes really well).
Plastic Bread Bags – these are a great way to store and freeze your bread and fantastic if you’re making multiple loaves at once.
Bread Slicing Guide – these are super handy if you’re wanting perfectly sliced sandwich bread.
Further Reading
If you love this recipe, you might enjoy these:
- Check out this guide to making sourdough discard sandwich bread in a bread machine.
- Prefer baking with whole wheat flour? You might prefer this whole wheat sourdough discard sandwich loaf.
- These super fast sourdough discard hamburger buns are delicious – soft, buttery and everything a burger bun should be!
- Want to make a sourdough version of pane di casa? This sourdough pane di casa is perfect (it uses discard too!).
Sourdough Discard Sandwich Loaf Recipe
Equipment
- Stand Mixer
- Digital Scales
- Bread Tin
Ingredients
- 100 g Sourdough Discard , (unfed sourdough starter)
- 250 g Water
- 500 g Bread Flour, (or All Purpose Flour)
- 10 g Salt
- 20 g Sugar
- 60 g Butter, (salted, room temperature)
- 7 g Instant Yeast
Instructions
- Combine the sourdough discard, water and flour into the bowl of your stand mixer or Thermomix and mix until it forms a shaggy dough (around 30 seconds will do it). Leave the dough to rest for 30 minutes.
- Now add the salt, sugar, butter and yeast to the bowl and knead the dough for around 3 to 6 minutes. You want the dough to be elastic, silky and slapping the sides of the bowl. Just keep the mixer going until you achieve this. If you are using a stand mixer you'll need to use your dough hook attachment for this step.
- Now you need to let your dough rise. You are using instant yeast as the leavening agent in this recipe, rather than sourdough/wild yeast, so it will rise very quickly, particularly if your home is warm. Leave it for around an hour (it will take longer if your house is cooler). You want it to double.
- While you're waiting for the dough to double, lightly butter a sandwich loaf or pullman pan so it's ready to go when the dough is shaped.
- Once the dough has doubled, tip it out onto the counter top with the smooth side underneath and the sticky side on the top. Gently ease the dough out into a rectangle. It should be quite easy to do this as the dough is very elastic.
- Now you want to shape your dough into a sandwich loaf. This is fairly easy. Make sure that the short side of the rectangle is in front of you. Fold each side of the dough into the middle, then roll the dough into a tight log with the seam underneath. Tighten the top of the dough by putting your hands at the base and pulling the dough towards you, without lifting if off the countertop.
- Once the dough is shaped, gently place it into the buttered loaf tin. Leave the dough to rise until it's just above the rim of the tin. This will take around an hour, depending on the temperature of your home.
- Once the dough has risen, you'll need to bake your loaf. Turn your oven on and set the temperature to around 180C/350F. Let it warm for around 10 minutes. Spray the top of your dough with some water mist and place into the oven. Make sure that there's plenty of room for it to grow in the oven as it will generally keep rising.
- Bake your bread at 180C/350F for around 40 to 45 minutes or until the loaf is golden brown.
- Remove from the loaf tin and allow to cool on a wire rack.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Can you use a bread machine to make this?
This is the recipe I use for my bread machine – Sourdough Discard Bread Machine Recipe – Using Bread Machine Start to Finish
I do—set it for dough. When it beeps, take out stretch and fold, then pan. Let it rise a second time; bake.
I love this recipe! Thank you for sharing! ❤️ Have you ever frozen the dough and made a loaf later? 🤔 Any tips? Thanks
So glad you love this recipe! I haven’t frozen the dough for this one, but it’s worth a try! Let me know how it goes if you do it 🙂
This is now my go to sandwich bread and a great use for my discard. I reduced the ingredients to 80% of the original recipe since my loaf pan is a bit smaller and I didn’t like the huge shroom head ;-). Recently I’ve been making pretzels using true lye water and tried brushing the top of the loaf with lye just before putting in the oven. Makes a beautiful dark upper crust with a hint of pretzel taste. I next tried dusting pretzel salt on top. It was good at first but after a day the salt absorbed water and made the crust soggy. Had to try it though.
I don’t have a mixer. Can I do this by hand?
Yes you can mix this dough by hand 🙂
Delicious bread. I am hoping my family like it so we can stop buying store bought bread. I added extra salt….probably will back off on that and try 35 minutes on baking. So glad I decided to do 40 minutes and not 45. Loving your recipes.
Can I use wheat flour instead?
I’ve actually got a whole wheat sourdough discard sandwich bread recipe here that uses whole wheat flour 🙂
I’ve actually got a whole wheat sourdough discard sandwich bread recipe here that uses whole wheat flour 🙂
I love this recipe for using discard and sometimes divide the risen dough at shaping stage to make rolls. These freeze beautifully and so easy to get few out to go with homemade soups or with cheese and pickles for a light lunch,
Can you use vegan butter in the recipe?
Yes vegan butter will work in this sourdough discard sandwich bread.
I love sourdough & using active starter, however sometimes I’m in a hurry & want the boost from yeast. And who doesn’t want to use up discard? Additionally sometimes I want a sandwich loaf vs the delicious, tangy crusty loaves I often bake. I’ve tried other sandwich recipes but I think this is the easiest & the best. I made this yesterday & it’s perfect. Thanks so much Kate. And yes, a scale is cheap, easy to learn & the gram measurements are way more accurate.
This is by far the best sandwich loaf I have ever made! The rise is incredible. The loaf is soft and moist. Perfection! I’ll never use another recipe.
I am trying this today but I noticed from your video that the loaf you put into the bread tin (3 balls) wasn’t the one you took out of the oven. Any reason for this? Thanks for the great recipes, I have tried a few with success.
Definitely the same one 🙂 I’m so glad you’re loving the recipes 🙂
delicious. not sure I really know the difference between discard and non-discard, but it works! I always add a pinch of yeast, because I’ve never been able to get pure sourdough to rise.
regardless, this was delicious.
This bread is delicious
Warning: I initially doubled the recipe and it was too much dough for the KitchenAid mixer
They’re large loaves
Really easy recipe that yeilds really good bread!!
When adding the 50g of oats, do you add more water or reduce the flour by 50g?
No, I just add the oats and leave everything else as is 🙂
Is it possible to make this without a stand mixer or thermomix? I don’t own one yet.
Absolutely you can knead this sourdough discard sandwich loaf by hand without any issues 🙂
I have been baking sourdough bread and other sourdough creations for several years. Although I make a good sandwich loaf; I found your recipe and decided to try it. Your recipe is now going to be my go to from now on. The rise, texture, and look were amazing. And the flavor is outstanding. WELL DONE!!
turned out so perfect. Thank you for this recipe.
this is my go to recipe for sandwich bread.
Boy did I goof today!!! Started out to bake two loaves of Same Day Sourdough Bread. Realized AFTER everything was ready to rise that I had used sourdough discard. Looked at this recipe, realizing that the ratios were not exactly the same, so I punted. (Kate says you really can’t ruin sourdough,..) I separated the dough into almost even portions, into which I kneaded in yeast and butter (I use a butter/olive oil blend) with my 50-y.o. Kitchen Aid mixer and a stray dough hook (another story). Two loaves set to rise under a SAD light bulb (not terribly warm) in my house that’s about 30ºC, one just plain for my husband and one with nuts and seeds for me (actually, a crumbled Tosi bar). Both rose beautifully, the loaves came together well and rose well in their pans. After 40 minutes in the oven, they turned into lovely large loaves of bread that we can’t wait to eat!
Well, THIS bread beats all I’ve ever seen. It is the tallest, fluffiest, most delicious bread I’ve ever made. Congratulations, you nailed it. It’s a fantastic use of discard. Thank you.
We just finished the loaf i made from 4days ago, it remained soft and fresh in a food grade plastic bag at room temperature. I’m just a city away from Manila – considering the weather here the recipe really WORKED! My daughter likes it grilled in small amount of butter and EVO, topped with Bonne Maman hazelnut spread and chia seeds. Really life changing TYSM!
What size pullman does this recipe fit? The 9×4 or the 13×4?
Do you bake with the Lid on or off?
This fits in a 1.5 pound USA Pan or a 9 x 4 x 4 loaf pan 🙂
just a question: I don’t own a dough mixer, just knead bread dough by hand, usually 10 minutes of kneading to make regular bread. will this length of time to handle the sourdough be ok?
Yes that will be fine 🙂
Can you use active dry yeast instead of instant?
You could yes 🙂
When my sourdoughbread did not raise up. I tried placing the unbaked sourdough in the microwave with a cup of very hot water and left it there overnight and was very happy; it raised up and then I baked them at 350*F and it has good flavor! My first one!
Should we cover the dough while it’s baking like normal sourdough recipes or keep it open?
You can leave this one open since it’s in a loaf pan 🙂
made it and it went the same day my family moved it
Oh how I love this recipe! I’ve made it multiple times and the bread always turns out great!
Do you know if the loaves freeze well? If they do, what’s the best way to thaw them?
Definitely freeze well! Just pop them in a ziplock bag and into the freezer. Thaw at room temperature in the bag 🙂