As I mentioned a few weeks, a number of requests about how to make my mother’s peasant bread with a sourdough starter encouraged me to dip my toe into the wonderful world of naturally leavened breads. You can read more about that experiment here, which led to this simple sourdough focaccia recipe, an adaptation of my favorite yeasted, refrigerator focaccia.
It also led to this sourdough toasting bread, which is essentially the same formula, just baked in a different vessel and without the slick of oil and sprinkling of sea salt on top. I’ve been making this bread even more often than the focaccia these days because I love the shape: it’s so nice for morning toast and for sandwiches.
Simple Sourdough Toasting Bread: What You Need
- A sourdough starter. I recommend buying one (read why here).
- Time. As with the focaccia, this bread rises first for about 18 hours, then again for another 6.
- A large loaf pan. I’ve been using this 10 x 5-inch loaf pan. If you only have two smaller loaf pans, such as 8.5 x 4.5-inch pans, you’ll need to split the dough in half after the first rise.
That’s it! Ready? Here’s the play-by-play:
As always, when mixing sourdough doughs, it’s best to weigh everything with a digital scale. Start with 100 g starter. (If this looks familiar, it is: this is the same basic process for the sourdough focaccia.)
Add 10 g kosher (or other) salt.
Add 440 g water.
Stir to combine.
Add 512 g all-purpose flour.
Stir to form a sticky dough ball.
Cover with a towel or bowl cover, and let rise for 18 hours at room temperature:
After 18 hours, it will look something like this:
Drizzle the surface of the dough with a little bit of olive oil; then fold the dough inwards from the sides to deflate.
Transfer dough to loaf pan.
Let rise till dough just begins to crown the rim of the pan, about 6 hours.
Bake for about 45 minutes.
Easy Sourdough Sandwich (or Toasting) Bread
- Prep Time: 24 hours
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 24 hours 40 minutes
- Yield: 1 loaf
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Pin RecipeDescription
The makeup of this dough is the same as this sourdough focaccia. Here, the dough is baked in a loaf pan, and there is no sea salt on top.
This recipe yields one large loaf. You’ll need a 10 x 5-inch loaf pan, such as this one. If you only have two smaller loaf pans, such as 8.5 x 4.5-inch pans, you should probably split the dough in half after the first rise.
Plan ahead: This dough rises first for 12 to 18 hours or until the dough doubles in volume; then again for about 6 hour or until the dough crowns the rim of the baking vessel.
If you’re just getting started with sourdough, check out this post first. You’ll find tips there on procuring a starter as well as how to feed it and maintain it.
Water: Chlorine in water can adversely affect sourdough. Leaving water at room temperature for 24 hours will allow most of the chlorine to escape. When I am in the habit of making sourdough bread, I fill a large pitcher with water and leave it out at room temperature. I use this for my sourdough breads and starter. Truth be told, I’ve used water straight from the tap and have not noticed a difference.
Ingredients
- 100 g (about 1/2 cup) active starter
- 10 g (about 2.5 teaspoons) kosher salt
- 440 g (about 1.75 cups) water, room temperature, see notes above
- 512 g (4 cups) bread flour, such as King Arthur Flour
- a few tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- room temperature butter, for greasing
Instructions
- Place the starter, salt, and water in a large bowl. Stir with a spatula to combine — it doesn’t have to be uniformly mixed. Add the flour. Mix again until the flour is completely incorporated. Drizzle with a splash of olive oil and rub to coat. Cover bowl with a tea towel or bowl cover and set aside to rise for 12 to 18 hours or until the dough has doubled in volume.
- When the dough has doubled, grease a 10 x 5-inch loaf pan with butter (or nonstick spray). Drizzle dough with a few tablespoons of olive oil. Rub your hand in the oil to coat. Use your hand to deflate the dough: pull the dough from the sides and press it into the center. Video guidance here. Turn dough over so seam-side is down and gently stretch into an oblong shape.
- Transfer to prepared pan seam side down. Leave alone for 5 to 6 hours or until dough begins crowning the rim of the pan. Do be patient with this second rise: to get good height, the dough should be above the rim of the pan before you transfer it to the oven.
- Heat oven to 425ºF. Transfer pan to the oven and bake for about 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 375ºF. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes more or until golden all around. If you have an instant read thermometer, it should register 206-210ºF or so before removing. Remove pan from oven and turn bread out onto a cooling rack. Cool at least 20 minutes before slicing.
- Category: Bread
- Method: Sourdough/Natural Leavening
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: bread, sourdough, sandwich, toasting, natural leavening, wild yeast
Susan says
April 18, 2019 at 11:09 amHow about measurements for those of us who don’t own scales?
Thank you
alexandra says
April 18, 2019 at 12:08 pmJust added volume measurements!
Mallory Allgeier says
April 18, 2019 at 6:12 pmAn alternative to buying a starter is checking local bakeries! My local bakery gives away their starter for free. I have also had a lady who sells her bread at the farmer’s market give me a starter that she had going for several years!
alexandra says
April 19, 2019 at 4:15 amSmart! Good point. And how nice of the woman at the farmer’s market?!
Karen Sept says
April 18, 2019 at 6:49 pmWould this be what Pyrex calls a 1.5 qt loaf pan?
alexandra says
April 19, 2019 at 4:30 amI don’t think they’re quite the same, Karen. I just filled a 1.5 qt bowl with water and dumped it into my loaf pan. The loaf pan can fit about 3+ more cups of water, so I think it’s closer to a 2-qt or even slightly larger loaf pan. If you look for a loaf pan designed for a 1.5-lb loaf, you should be safe.
Mike says
April 19, 2019 at 1:26 amMy dough tripled in volume after 12 hours on first rising. Should I leave for full 18 hours or go with what the dough seems to be telling me?
alexandra says
April 19, 2019 at 4:14 amGo with what the dough seems to be telling you! I’ll edit recipe now.
Clare says
April 20, 2019 at 11:13 amAfter experiences with “Friendship” bread and Kombucha I was somewhat hesitant to invite another live culture into my kitchen. But, in spite of your warning and Jim Lahey’s slightly scary instructions in his Sullivan Street cookbook I decided to give it a go. I did start out with the SAF yeast in my fridge (it has been in there so long I consider it a local) but let it sit out for a few days so the ambient critters could join the party. I divided the mix in half and although they started out the same and were in the same environment, they developed completely different personalities. One developed a mellow slightly sweet smell and the other one was just vile! I am happy because I wasn’t really sure how to tell if my culture was “good”. I discarded the evil twin and this week made my first loaves with the good twin.
The recipe made 4 mini loaves (5 1/2 x 3 1/2). Because of my schedule, I let the first rise go for a full 24 hours and the second rise about 3.5 hours. I baked for 15 min at 425 and 15 min at 375. They have a really nice sourdough flavor and that shiny crumb I associate with sourdough bread. The size is perfect for appetizers, tea parties or just portion control.
alexandra says
April 20, 2019 at 1:48 pmSo interesting, Clare! I’ll have to check out Lahey’s recipe. He’s such in inspiration. And I’m so happy mini loaves worked out here for you. Love the idea of having smaller loaves on hand. And me, too: I love the shiny crumb.
JanetMoh says
April 27, 2019 at 11:24 amThis bread turned out great. It’s so simple (you just have to remember to start it the night before!). I used olive oil to grease the pan. The crust came out simply divine. It was excellent toasted as well. This will become a regular in my house! I was a little worried because when I put it in the pan it was quite a loose dough. There really was no shaping it. I think perhaps my starter is a little more liquidy? I’ll add a little extra flour next time.
★★★★★
alexandra says
April 28, 2019 at 6:14 pmSo happy to hear this! And yes, I need to make a note: I think depending on climate (and other variables, too), some people may need to use more or less water. Or, as you say, more flour. Thanks for writing.
Andreea says
May 7, 2019 at 10:01 amHi! I made this recipe three times already, and each time the crust came out pale, almost white. The first time around I followed the recipe to a tee. Next time, because I’m from Europe (Romania) and our flour usually absorbs less water, I only used 350 grams. The third time, thinking the dough had been over proofed the first and second time around, I let it rise in the fridge through the night (12 hours), then another eight at 25 degrees Celsius, in the bowl until it doubled in size, then in the pan until it hit the rim. This time around I got great oven spring, which tells me that the dough was probably not over proofed, but I still have no color in the crust. Have you got any idea what’s happening? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
alexandra says
May 13, 2019 at 4:32 amHi Andreea! Thanks for writing. Question: are you using bleached flour?
Andreea says
May 13, 2019 at 5:52 amI think I am, but it’s my usual flour with which I bake all sourdough bread, that comes out of the oven dark brown. Do you think this may be the reason?
alexandra says
May 13, 2019 at 1:24 pmHmmm, very interesting. My experience with bleached flour is that the loaves are very pale, but if you have had success with other loaves using bleached flour, then I’m a little puzzled. My suggestion would be to use unbleached flour and see what results you get using that first.
When you use bleached flour with your other loaves, are you baking them in a covered Dutch oven first? Or at higher heat? And is there any sweetener in the dough? Sugar, honey, maple syrup all contribute to browning. There is no sugar in this dough, so browning will be especially minimal when using bleached flour.
Andreea says
May 13, 2019 at 9:58 pmWell, turns out I was wrong. I did a quick search and apparently we have no bleached flour, because it’s banned in the EU. Sorry for the confusion. So no, no bleached flour, although I do use a refined flour, more suited for pastry I guess, and yes, I use higher temperatures. I bake my loaves somewhere between 464ºF and 392ºF and I use steam in the first ten minutes or so of baking. On my last try with this loaf, I used a higher temperature and it indeed browned more, but unevenly, on the top part at least. The parts that were in direct contact with the pan came out a nice golden color.
I’ll try higher temperatures and a less refined flour and come back to report on the results. 🙂
alexandra says
May 14, 2019 at 4:48 amInteresting! OK, keep me posted and good luck!
Andreea says
May 15, 2019 at 1:26 amHey! Happy to report that the combination of higher heat, steam and a less refined flour did the trick. The bread came out beautifully brown and I can’t wait to taste it. Thank you for your help!
alexandra says
May 16, 2019 at 4:00 amOh yay! So happy to hear this. Thanks for writing back. I’m feeding my starter now to make focaccia for my parents tomorrow. Can’t wait.
Sophia says
May 7, 2019 at 1:11 pmHi, has anyone tried this with whole wheat flour?
alexandra says
May 13, 2019 at 4:31 amI would try using 1 cup (or 25%) whole wheat flour to start. I’ve tried it using 100% freshly milled flour, and it was just too dense. You may be able to get away with 2 cups or 50% wheat flour.
DPLK says
May 16, 2019 at 6:18 pmSo excited to see this recipe after your teaser mention a few months ago!! Love the peasant bread recipe, and I always had wanted to tweak it to use my sourdough starter but never got around to it, and so it was a wish come true to have you adapt it for us!! I’m hoping to try this with whole wheat too, either by adapting one of the multigrain recipes in your book or just trying it with 1/2 or mostly whole wheat flour and adding vital wheat gluten to give it more bounce and lightness. If it turns out well I’ll come back to report!