Easy Sourdough Discard Sandwich Bread Recipe (2024)

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.

Which Loaf Tin Should You Choose?

Sandwich bread needs to be baked in a tin. You can use anopen tinor 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 oneI 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.

Theseplastic bread bagsare 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 abread slicing guidewhich makes things much easier. You could even use anelectric knifeorelectric 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 Tins– 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:

• Want to make this sourdough discard loaf in a bread machine? You'll find a how-to-guide here.

• Prefer baking with whole wheat flour? You'll find a whole wheat version of this recipe here.

• 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!).