Basic Sourdough Sandwich Loaf

BM# 51 -- Baking Marathon: Day 4 Bake of the Day: Breads -- Basic Sourdough Sandwich Loaf I have had sourdough starter for more than 4 years now, but as a family we are not much into crusty breads. So I don't call myself a sourdough baker, I have a sourdough starter that I use along with quite a bit of yeast to make soft, everyday not-so crusty breads. Real sourdough bakers utilize the starter itself to leaven the breads instead of relying on yeast.
As I was looking for sourdough sandwich bread, I found this beginner bread recipe on the Kitchn blog and one look at the pictures I knew this was exactly what I need to bake with my starter. I followed the recipe to the 'T' and the bread turned out just perfect. Here's my just fed, bubbly sourdough starter.

As you can see, the bread has a nice golden brown crust with a soft, fluffy crumb. Tastes great with butter or a smear of Nutella (my son's favorite way to enjoy his bread). Do give this bread a try if you are a sourdough baking newbie.  Recipe adapted from the Kitchn: Ingredients: Makes 1 8½"x4½" loaf All purpose Flour - 1¼cups White Whole wheat flour - 1~1¼cups (or use 2¼~2½cups of all purpose flour)
Sourdough Starter - 1cup, fed
Instant Yeast - 1tsp
Sugar - 1tsp
Salt - 1½tsp
Lukewarm Water - ½~¾cup
Method:

• Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl or the bowl of the stand mixer. Start with ½cup of water and more 1tbsp at a time. Mix and knead to form a smooth and pliable dough. If using stand mixer, knead the dough for 7~8 minutes. If kneading by hand, then knead for 10~12 minutes.
• Transfer the dough to a greased bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 1½~2 hours.
• Once risen, turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Shape the dough into a rough ball and rest covered for 20 minutes. 
• Grease a 8½x4½ loaf pan. Shape the dough into a sandwich loaf and transfer it into the greased loaf pan. Cover the pan loosely with greased plastic wrap and let it rise until the dough rises 1" over the rim of the pan, about 1~1½hours.
• Preheat the oven to 450°F towards the end of the rising time.
• Slash the top of the loaf with a sharp knife and bake for 10 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 400°F and continue to bake for another 25~30 minutes, until the top is deep golden brown and sound hollow when tapped. Total baking time is 35~40 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and then take the bread out of the pan on to a wire rack and let cool completely before slicing.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 51.

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