Honey Wheat Sourdough Sandwich Bread

Course: lunch, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: healthy sourdough sandwich bread, homemade sourdough sandwich bread, honey, honey wheat sourdough bread, soft sourdough sandwich bread, wheat sandwich bread

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 45

Bulk Fermentation and proofing: 10

Total Time: 11

Servings: Loaf

This honey wheat sourdough sandwich bread is light, fluffy, and full of flavor. A blend of bread flour and whole wheat flour keeps the loaf fluffy, while honey adds a touch of natural sweetness. Perfect for sandwiches, toast, or everyday slicing!

Print Recipe

Equipment

1 Kitchen Scale
1 Large mixing bowl
1 Dough Whisk
1 Bowl cover
1 Bench Scraper
2 Bread Pans or 1 Bread pan and a sheet of greased foil
1 Bread Lame
1 Spray bottle with water (for misting dough)
1 Digital Food Thermometer

Ingredients

150 g active sourdough starter fed and bubbly
325 g warm filtered water
30 g avocado oil or cooled melted butter/olive oil
50 g honey
350 g unbleached bread flour
150 g whole wheat flour
10 g fine sea salt

Instructions

Mix the Dough: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 150g active sourdough starter, 325g warm filtered water, 30g avocado oil, and 50g honey until combined. Stir in 350g bread flour, 150g whole wheat flour, and 10g salt until a shaggy dough forms. Cover and let it rest for 1 hour.
Stretch & Fold: Perform four sets of stretch and folds—one set every 30 minutes—to build structure in the dough. Spray or wet your hands with water to prevent the dough from sticking.
How to perform a stretch and fold:
With damp hands, grab one side of the dough in the bowl.
Gently stretch it upward until it resists, then fold it back down over the center.
Rotate the bowl a quarter turn and repeat on the next side.
Continue until you’ve stretched and folded all four sides.
Bulk Ferment:
Bulk fermentation is the first long rise after mixing your dough, where the sourdough starter ferments the flour, creating air bubbles and developing flavor.
Let the dough rise, covered, until it’s roughly doubled, jiggly, and bubbly. Warmer kitchens move faster; cooler ones take more time.
Typical bulk fermentation times:
80°F / 27°C → 5–6 hours
75°F / 24°C → 7–8 hours
70°F / 21°C → 11–12 hours
65°F / 18°C → 15–16 hours
Whole wheat tends to speed fermentation along, so start checking early!
Be careful not to let this stage go too long—overfermentation can cause the yeast to break down the gluten structure, leaving you with dough that’s overly sticky and hard to shape.
Shape the Dough: Turn the dough out onto a clean surface. With damp hands, gently stretch it into a rectangle. Fold the right side into the middle, then the left side into the middle, and roll it up into a log. Place seam-side down in a well-greased loaf pan.
If you prefer a more tight, closed crumb, roll the dough out with a rolling pin while it is in a rectangle. This will pop any larger air bubbles. Just keep in mind—it may need a longer proofing time when using this method.
Second Rise – Proof
You have two options:
Same day bake option: Let it proof at a warm room temperature for about 2 more hours before baking. Make sure the dough is puffed up in the pan before baking—this is more important than the time frame.
Overnight cold proof option: Let it cold proof in the refrigerator overnight or up to 24 hours. Take the dough out of the refrigerator the next morning and allow it to puff up in the pan before baking. This may take 2+ hours
Bake:
Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).
Score the top of the dough and lightly mist with water.
Cover with an inverted second loaf pan (or loosely with greased foil) to trap steam.
Bake for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake another 15 minutes at 375°F (190°C).
Check for Doneness: Bread is fully baked when the internal temperature reaches 205°F (96°C).
Cool & Enjoy: Remove the bread from the pan immediately and let it cool completely before slicing to set the crumb and keep it soft.