Soft Rye Sourdough Sandwich Bread
My family is addicted to rye bread. And I always explore new ways to incorporate rye flour into breads I bake. Here is the soft rye sourdough sandwich bread recipe. Today, I want to share a great discovery. This recipe was adapted from the King Arthur website, but of course I converted it into a sourdough version.
Ingredients
Sourdough Starter
- 7g sourdough starter
- 35g water
- 35g bread flour
Dough
- 217 g water (62%)
- 105g Rye flour (30%)
- 245g bread flour (70%)
- 70g of starter (20%)
- 14g brown sugar (4%)
- 28g molasses or dark honey(8%)
- 14g dry milk (4%) optional
- 7g salt (2%)
- 0.5g yeast ( optional, to speed up the process)
- 21g soft butter (6%)
Directions
Day 1
Starter
- 10 pm add starter to the water and whisk together, add flour, mix well, cover loosely, let it sit at a room temp 74-78F for about 8-10 hours until starter reaches its peak (at least triples in volume).
Day 2
Dough
- Mix water, flour, sugar, honey or molasses, sourdough starter (70g on its peak, the rest use for future feedings), salt and all flour.
- Mix the dough on low speed of your mixing machine for 3-5 minutes, or KitchenAid on speed 3 for 7-9 minutes until well incorporated.
- Add soft butter or oil, mix for 10-15 more minutes until the dough is well incorporated. It will look sticky at the beginning (since rye flour doesn’t have as much gluten as regular flour) but eventually the dough has to come up together.
- Cover and let it proof for 2-3 hours at 78-84F/ 26-30C.
- During that time perform 2 stretches and folds.
- The dough should become puffy.
- Generously sprinkle work surface with rye flour. Dump the dough.
- Shape as desired. I rolled it into a roll same length as a baking/loaf pan.
- Transfer the shaped loaf into the loaf pan.
- Cover the dough and let it proof for 2-3 hours at 78-84F/ 26-30C until it doubles in volume.
- Preheat oven to 375F.
- Bake for 35 min until golden brown.
Soft Rye Sourdough Sandwich Bread
1741kcal
Ingredients
The Sourdough Starter Levain (Night Before)
- 7 g Sourdough starter culture
- 35 g Water
- 35 g Bread flour
The Enriched Soft Rye Dough
- 245 g Bread flour (70%)
- 105 g Rye flour (30%)
- 217 g Water (62%)
- 70 g Active sourdough starter levain (20% – From the stage above)
- 14 g Brown sugar (4%)
- 28 g Molasses or dark honey (8%)
- 14 g Dry milk powder (4% – Optional, for an extra velvety crumb)
- 7 g Salt (2%)
- 21 g Soft unsalted butter (6% – Softened completely to room temperature)
- 0.5 g Dry yeast (Optional helper pinch used strictly to speed up the rise and balance acidity)
- Caraway seeds (Optional, added to taste at the very end of mixing for traditional flavor)
Equipment
- Stand Mixer (Fitted with a dough hook attachment)
- Standard Loaf Pan
- Plastic Wrap or a damp kitchen towel
Method
Night Before – Starter Initialization
- 10:00 PM: In a clean glass jar, add your 7g of starter culture to 35g of water and whisk together cleanly. Stir in 35g of bread flour, mix well, cover loosely, and let it sit at room temperature 74–78°F (23–26°C) overnight for 8 to 10 hours until it reaches its peak and at least triples in volume.
Day 2 – The Enriched Mechanical Mix & Bulk Rise
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the 217g of water, 70g of active peak starter, 14g of brown sugar, 28g of molasses (or dark honey), and the optional 14g of dry milk powder and 0.5g of dry yeast.
- Dump the 245g of bread flour, 105g of rye flour, and 7g of salt directly over the liquids.
- Attach your dough hook attachment. Mix the dough on low speed for 3 to 5 minutes (or if using a KitchenAid mixer, run it on speed 3 for 7 to 9 minutes) until completely unified.
- The Butter Incorporation: Add the 21g of completely softened butter. Increase your mixer speed to medium-high and knead continuously for an additional 10 to 15 minutes. Note: Because rye flour doesn’t develop as much strong gluten as regular white wheat flour, the dough will look notably slick and sticky when the fat first hits it. Be patient—it will steadily gather together cleanly around the hook. If you are using caraway seeds, throw them in during the final 1 minute of mixing.
- Cover the bowl and let the dough bulk ferment for 2 to 3 hours at a warm 78–84°F (26–30°C).
- Wet your hands with water and perform exactly 2 separate rounds of structural stretch-and-folds spread evenly across the proofing window. The dough should become noticeably lighter and beautifully puffy.
Clean Rolling, Final Proof, and Golden Bake
- Generously sprinkle your workspace with a fine dusting of rye flour. Gently tip the puffy dough out of the container.
- Pat the dough down slightly into a flat rectangle, then roll it tightly away from you into a uniform, high-tension cylinder matching the exact length of your baking pan.
- Place the shaped log seam-side down inside a lightly greased loaf pan.
- Cover loosely and let proof in a warm environment at 78–84°F (26–30°C) for 2 to 3 hours until the dough completely doubles in volume and crowns proudly over the rim of the pan.
- Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). Optional step: brush the top with a quick egg wash to create an extra shiny, dark bakery crust before loading.
- Slide the pan onto the middle rack and bake at 375°F (190°C) for exactly 35 minutes until the top turns a gorgeous golden brown and the internal core temp registers 200–205°F (93–96°C). Let cool completely on a wire rack before slicing!
Nutrition
Calories1741kcalCarbohydrates326gProtein55gFat24gSaturated Fat12gPolyunsaturated Fat3gMonounsaturated Fat5gTrans Fat1gCholesterol59mgSodium604mgPotassium1463mgFiber19gSugar44gVitamin A845IUVitamin C1mgCalcium337mgIron7mg
Notes
- Why Rye Dough Stays Sticky: Rye flour contains high levels of pentosans (sticky complex carbohydrates) and lacks the gluten-forming proteins found in white wheat flour. Because of this, a 30% rye blend will naturally feel significantly more tacky and loose during mixing than standard bread flour. Do not try to “fix” this by throwing in extra flour—the 15-minute mechanical mix and subsequent stretch-and-folds will safely build the strength needed to hold its shape.
- The Aromatic Coffee Hack: For a beautiful twist that adds a rich color and a wonderful depth of aroma to your crumb, you can replace a portion of the recipe’s liquid water with a healthy splash of cooled, brewed black coffee. Simply scale your total liquid weight (water + coffee splash) to hit exactly 217g to keep your hydration balance completely intact.
- Managing Pan Shapes Without a Lid: This recipe is formulated to be baked in a standard open loaf tin without a lid. If you prefer to use a specialized Pullman pan with a sliding top lid to secure perfectly square sandwich slices, increase your overall ingredient scaling by roughly 1.5x to ensure the expanding dough completely crowds and fills the square corners of a 13×4 inch pan.
- Adjusting for an Overnight Proof: If you are running short on time on Day 2, this recipe offers great flexibility. After shaping your dough log and setting it into your loaf pan during step 10, you can cover it tightly and slide it straight into your refrigerator to cold-retard overnight for 8 to 12 hours. The next morning, simply bake it straight from the fridge—just add an extra 5 minutes to your total baking time to compensate for the chilled dough.
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Thank you for the recipe, Natasha! What is the size of the loaf pan for this amount of flour please?
I just made it. I used a 1lb loaf tin, it fitted fine!
Great!
Thank you for sharing 🙏
Thank you Stephanie
Thank you for your delicious recipes!♡ To make the levain (starter) when you call for starter in lieu of ripe starter can I use my starter straight from the fridge?
Thank you so much!
Thank you!
I prefer my starter yo be active
So I would do 3-4 refreshments after taking it out from the fridge.
The recipe is very good and it is delicious. I will add 1tsp diastolic malt to give a crispier crust.
can you second proof in the fridge overnight?
Can you second proof overnight in fridge?
I would imagine you can if you left out the yeast, and used only sourdough starter. I think the yeast would speed things up too much, even in the fridge.
It will be great within yeast too 🙏
Thank you for the recipe. I love this bread. Made it 3 times ( without yeast) already…. Wonderful flavour, delicate, a little sweet.. Perfect for this summer.
Hi Natasha, I’m wondering if you have ever tried using this same recipe for a boule instead of a loaf? Thanks for the recipe!
Hi!
If you have round pan, then yes!
Because it needs to be baked in the pan, otherwise it will spread.
Can I lower or omit the sugar & molasses in this recipe? Also if I used the Yeast in this recipe how much water to proof the yeast ? Thanks Philip
Hi!
Yes, you can omit the sugar. A d use yeast instead of starter. Do 1% from total amount of the flour
Just made it! Love the softness and flavor. First time using rye flour for sandwich and my family loves it! I made it on the afternoon and fail to save the bread for breakfast 😅
Thank you, I’m glad you liked it 🙏
Should you use the hook attachment on the KitchenAid? Or does ‘mix’ mean whisk?
Hi!
Dough hook 🙏
Yay! Thanks! That was what I guessed and used and it turned out so amazing! What a great recipe.
What would you do to double this recipe? Simply double all ingredients?
Valdus
Hi!
Yes!
Just double the amount of ingredients
Wonderful, I made it by hand. 4 stretch and folds, hour rest, form loaf, rise on table. about 3-4 hr. baked in Pullman pan. Put in cold oven, at 375° was perfect 205° internal at 35 min. It’s now one of my 3 go-to sourdough recipes. Thanks.
This is great!
Thank you for sharing 🙏
I have a Pullman pan I plan to use, but I’ve never started in a cold oven. Can you tell me why you do?
I just wanted to say thank you for this amazing recipe :))
It is my weekly sandwich bread and we LOVE everything about it. I double the recipe and add an egg wash for a shiny top. If I’m out of rye I do whole wheat/honey instead of my usual rye/molasses.
A perfect recipe 😊🙏🏼
I just made 2 loaves this weekend. No yeast, all happy active starter and it was perfect. I used 2 9×5 loaf pans. Just wanted to thank you for the recipe and I will definitely add this to my regular rotation. Oh and by the way, I added a splash of hot coffee to my water to make it come to the total amount (not additional liquid, in other words), not sure how much it ended up being, but literally a healthy splash. Next time, I’m going to try a bit of beer, as that’s what I’ve put in other rye breads before. Anyway, this recipe is great, not fussy, very simple. Thanks so much!
Kate!
Thank you for your feedback!
And how smart about adding coffee. I’ll try it next time.
This is my second time making this and it’s delicious. Thank you for the recipe!
I like caraway seeds in my rye. When would be the best time to add them?
Add them at the end of mixing.
Thanks, will be trying it tomorrow. I only made it once so far and it turned out great! Thanks…
It worked well, started making this bread weekly.
What’s the new backing time if you double the recipe?
Yes, it will take longer, about 45 -50 min
What is the reason for this?
If you put it in the fridge overnight, should you shape them before or after? I’ve made it before but don’t have time to bake it today. We love this recipe though!
Hi!
You can do it both ways 🙏
This has turned into my “go to” rye bread recipe. It’s is simple and gets me perfect results every time. I only adjusted the recipe by adding caraway seeds to the dough before the proofing step. I also did an egg wash and sprinkled a generous amount of caraway seeds on top just before baking.
Dear Natalya,
I just had to comment…This is the best rye bread I tried!
I did not add yeast and retarded in the fridge overnight, in the baking pan then in the morning straight to the hot oven.
Very nice.
Thank you.
Can you bake this in a 13in x 4in x 4in Pullman loaf pan? Would I need to make any adjustments to bake time or batch size?
I tried this for the first time as o r been searching for a sandwich h rye for my husband. It looked so promising, I followed your recipe exactly and I did t get much rise. In fact it was shorter after baking than before. What could be the cause of this? Should I add steam to the oven? My starter was active and bubbly.
Hi there! I’m sorry to hear that your rye sandwich bread didn’t rise as expected. There could be a few reasons for this issue. It’s possible that the dough didn’t have enough time to rise properly before baking. Rye flour can be a bit heavier than other flours, so it may require a longer rise time.
Adding steam to the oven can help create a nice crust on the bread, but it may not necessarily help with the rising issue.
Is this baked in Pullman loaf tin with lid? Can I bake and proof in loaf tin without a lid? Any adjustments without a lid?
Thanks
No, it was baked without the lid.
My dough never came together at all. I tried adding a little more flour, no luck. It was a mess. So disappointed.
I’m sorry to hear that you had trouble with the dough for the recipe. It can be frustrating when things don’t turn out as expected. It’s possible that there was an error in the measurements or technique used. I recommend double-checking the recipe and following the instructions carefully to ensure the best results next time. If you have any specific questions or need further assistance, feel free to reach out.
Can I use the starter I already have?
do you ever use cups or ounces it would be a lot easier for seniors and people with add to follow.
I used my own starter. Many bread bakers feel that grams are more accurate. If you don’t like that, I would search for a recipe that uses cup measures. There are many recipes out there that would work for you. You can convert it, but it takes a while to do.
This is my absolute favorite sourdough recipe so far. We used it to make reubens, and it makes the best PBJ!
Hi,just curious about the yeast should it be 5 gms not .5 gms?
Thank you for the recipe. Bread is delicious and simple to make. How would I get more of a rye flavor? Thank you!
If I fed my current starter and it tripled, do I still have to take out 7grams of starter plus the flour and water and let it rise again? Or can I use my starter and continue with the recipe?