Sourdough Farmhouse Sandwich Loaf

Soft and fluffy sourdough bread is the perfect bread to have on hand. Made with white and wholemeal bread flour, active sourdough starter, butter and a little sugar, this fermented bread has a lighter texture and tangy flavour.

Not only this recipe absolutely delicious ( making it really hard to ever go back to store-bough bread), but it is also super simple. No strange ingredients, no stretching and folding every 30 minutes.....Just mix, rise, shape, rise again and bake!!!

Let it cool, slice and slather it with butter. It is so yummy and it reminds me of a bread you would get on a breadboard from a restaurant.

Let's be honest, though, it is wat better since it's made from scratch and has that wonderful sourdough tang. 

Ingredients:

• 270g warm water
• 85g warm milk, can substitute with plant-base milk
• 45g sugar
• 120g active sourdough starter
• 50g butter, melted and cooled, can substitute with plant-base butter
• 400g white bread flour
• 200g wholemeal bread flour
• 12g salt

Method:

Premix and autolyse: Add the milk, water and sugar in a large mixing bowl and stir until the sugar dissolved.  

Now add the sourdough starter to the liquid ingredients and stir to dissolve it a little.

Now add the rest of the ingredients; bread flours, salt and melted butter. Mix them together until a shaggy dough forms. Cover with a shower cap or a tea towel and let it sit for an hour.

Kneading the dough: You can knead this by hand or a stand  mixer. If kneading by hand, knead the dough for 10 minutes or until it is soft and elastic. The dough should feel slightly sticky but not be a big mess.

If using stand mixer, which is my favourite. You need to use the dough hook. Knead for 2-3 minutes, then give the mixer a rest for 2 minutes. Repeat this process in total 3 times. The dough should come away from the side of the bowl when it is done.

Bulk ferment: Once the dough is kneaded sufficiently, you need to bulk ferment the dough. If you are using a stand mixer, it is fine to leave it in the mixing bowl. At this point you can just leave the dough as it is, covering it with shower cap or tea towel to stop it drying out. 

As with any sourdough bread, the bulk ferment time depend on the temperature in your kitchen and of course the strength of your starter.  You are  looking for your dough to be just UNDER double.

Shaping: Once the dough has finished its bulk ferment you can shape your dough. Before you start shaping, lightly butter or oil the loaf pan.

ease the dough out the bowl using a silicone dough scraper, remembering to have the smooth side on the counter and the sticky side facing up. You shouldn't need any flour for this as your dough shouldn't stick.

Gently ease your dough out into a rough rectangle, with the shortest side in front of you.

Pop any large bubbles and gently flatten the dough using your fingertips.

Then roll the dough up into a log and tuck the ends under. Leave the dough to sit and relax for around 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes. tighten up the log by pulling the dough a little, using the sticky underside to create tension. Then simply plop the log into your oiled tin.

Second rise: Once the bread has been shaped and is in the tin, you will need to let it rise again so that it fills up the shape of the tin.

This should only takes a few hours but like bulk ferment, this will depends on the strength of your starter and the temperature  of your kitchen.

You will know it is done when it's risen above the lip of the tin (if you are using an open tin) It will be rounded on the top. When you poke it, it will leave a slight indent but spring back nice and slowly.

If you shaped it quite tight, you will see some tension on top of the dough as it's risen.

Baking: Preheat the oven around 180ºC. Let the oven warm for around 1o minutes and then place the sandwich loaf tin in the oven and bake for approximately 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Once the dough is baked, remove it from the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack. Brush the top with some melted butter for a richer flavoured and soft crust.

Ideally, leave it for at least 90 minutes before you cut into it.

Enjoy!!!