26 March 2009

Sourdough White Sandwich Bread


I recently found a little and inexpensive sourdough pamphlet for sale on Amazon called Baking with Sourdough by Sara Pitzer.  Now that I have two pots of sourdough, a rye levain and a potato flour starter, I must keep them fed regularly and that means finding things to make with them.  This pamphlet has some great ideas for using sourdough.  Ever since the new year, I have been making my own bread and I think I finally found one that hubby will like to make sandwiches with, rather than just eating hunks of with soup.  It wasn't the quickest recipe, sourdough breads never seem to be, but it made two huge, beautiful loaves with good crust and nice crumb.  My potato flour starter is VERY WET, so I had to use more flour than the recipe called for.  Use your judgement when kneading, add more flour until the dough comes together in a nice smooth dough.

Sourdough White Sandwich Bread adapted extensively from Baking with Sourdough by Sara Pitzer

Ingredients:

1 c. very wet sourdough starter
1 1/4 c. high gluten unbleached white flour
1 c. warm water
1 1/2 c. whole milk
2 Tbls. honey
2 tsp. salt
2 Tbls. butter
6-7 1/2 c. high gluten unbleached white flour (depending on how wet your starter is)

Directions:

1.  The morning before you want to bake, combine the first three ingredients in a large bowl.  Cover with Saran Wrap and leave on the counter for 24 hours.
2.  The next day, combine the milk, honey, salt and butter in a small saucepan and heat the milk until the butter melts.  Allow the milk mixture to cool slightly and add it to the mixture that had been sitting overnight.  
3.  Begin incorporating the flour with a wooden spoon.  When you can no longer stir it, turn the mixture out onto a heavily floured counter and begin kneading, adding flour as necessary, until dough is smooth and elastic.
4.  Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover and allow to double in bulk, about 3 hours.  Punch dough down, cover again, and again allow to double in bulk, about 1-2 hours.
5.  Separate the dough into two or three loaves depending on the size of your loaf pans.  Dough should fill about half of the pan.  Brush the top of the dough with butter, cover and let rise until the dough is rising out of the pan, 1-2 hours.
6.  Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees, F.  Bake the loaves for 45-50 minutes until nicely browned.  Cool for 5 minutes in the pans on a wire rack, then remove the bread from the pans and let the loaves cool completely on a rack before serving.


25 comments:

Chef E said...

Lovely bread...I smell this right now! Last night friends were talking about making fresh bread, and they ask if I could make it...I said they might find me laid out on the floor with crumbs all around me :)

Cathy said...

I bet that smelt amazing while it was baking.

Netts Nook said...

Where is the butter,this bread looks great Joie. Good job.

Elyse said...

Mmm, I'm sure your hubby is super excited! This bread looks totally fabulous!! Your starters sound great, too. I really should get on the bread train...I'd love to have loaves as beautiful as your sitting around my apartment!

Wandering Coyote said...

Looks absolutely wonderful!

La Cuisine d'Helene said...

I'm sure that I would love your bread. Must smell really nice in the house.

Varsha Vipins said...

Back with a sourdough agin..Great bread Amanda..:)

Angie's Recipes said...

Sourdough....hmmmm.....I love that tangy smell...

Anonymous said...

I recently found a sourdough recipe, for for Sandwich Bread, that allows one to create the dough and refrigerate it for about a week... you just pull out a ball when you want to have some fresh bread and bake.

I'll add this to my file, but if you are interested in the other one just let me know.

jesse said...

*gasp* Your bread looks peeeerfect! They're so... round and golden and just all-round amazing, yummm!

Julie said...

Nothing makes me drool like fresh baked bread...looks divine!
I did a potato starter years ago. It was amazing!

Heather said...

this recipe makes me feel all nostalgic, like i'm in my grandma's kitchen or something. it's beautiful!

The Duo Dishes said...

Well this takes a bit of prep but could be a nice weekend fix when you're craving warm bread...

MaryBeth said...

We love homemade bread and to top it off we love sourdough bread, it can't get any better than this..unless the bread is warm dripping in melted butter.

Anonymous said...

Mmmm. Someday I'll get back on the sourdough-making train, I need to find time for that somewhere!

Reeni said...

You are becoming such a pro at bread baking! Nothing beats homemade bread!!

Sarah said...

MMMM!Fresh baked bread, there is nothing better!

Anonymous said...

This bread looks great! I would love some right out of the oven!

Anonymous said...

Sounds wonderful. I love sourdough!

Lyd Stew said...

Wow- those are some beautiful loaves! Way to go!

Joy @ Joy Of Desserts said...

Amanda, I happened across one of your comments at Cook Appeal about your grandmother's recipe box which you need to explore. I just started Vintage Recipe Thursday and would love to have you participate. Come by and check out the details.

http://joyofdesserts.blogspot.com/2009/03/announcing-new-carnival-vintage-recipe.html

Meg said...

Looks delicious!

Sam said...

As usual your bread looks amazing! The potato bread sounds interesting.

Kiezie said...

This looks fantastic! I love sourdough and I feel like I can smell it from here!! Nicely done!

Jude said...

Love the speckled crust on top. I just posted about sourdough, too and it was so good.

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