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Let’s just start off by saying, somedays require in depth stress-bakes to help you focus on something you can control. That was the inspiration behind this honey wheat sourdough sandwich loaf.

Before we even begin, you’re going to need a sourdough starter, so if you haven’t gotten yours going yet, please head over to my beginner’s guide to starter. It’s going to take you a couple of weeks to have a mature starter. In the meantime, you can use the discard for cookies or something.

Honey Wheat Sourdough that's split on the side with oats and honey in the front

Is My Sourdough Starter Ready Yet?

Sourdough is a time labor. You’ll start it, feed it, and watch it for at least a month, maybe longer, before it’s ready. But how do you know it’s ready?

Give it a smell! Is it pungent? Does it smell like Playdoh, yeast, fruit, or a little bit like a bakery? That’s a good start. If it’s really sour-smelling like vinegar or acetone, it needs a really good feeding. You’ll need to reassess after it’s been fed and risen once (usually about 4 hours).

Does it float? The float test is a fun and simple way to see if your starter is up to the task of baking. Scoop out of a teaspoon and drop it into a cup of room temperature water. If it sits on the top (floats), it’s ready. If it sinks, feed it and let it rise (usually about 8 hours), and test it again.

Overhead view of honey wheat sourdough on a cooling rack with a plate of butter and a scoop of oats

Mixing the Dough for Honey Wheat Sourdough

Once you’ve assessed that your starter is ready to use, you’ll want to feed it and let it process for 8 hours. So, before you go to bed, feed it and set it on the counter. When you wake the next morning, measure out what you need to use and put the rest back in the fridge.

For this bread, we need 1 cup of starter. I dump that into my stand mixer bowl and add in 1/4 cup of honey, 2 Tablespoons of olive oil, 2 teaspoons of pink himalayan sea salt, and 1 1/4 cup of room temperature water.

Give that all a good mix to make sure it’s smooth. Then, add in 2 cups of whole wheat flour and 2 cups of bread flour. Let the mixer do the work to bring your dough together. It should take about 5 minutes. Then, cover the bowl and let it rest for an hour.

Honey Wheat Sourdough Sandwich Bread sliced up with honey and butter in the back and a scoop of oats in the front

Giving Your Dough a Stretch

Go workout, shower, and come back. It may not look any different now, but it has spent time hydrating, relaxing, and doing bread-things. Wet your dominant hand and hold the bowl with the dry hand.

Use your wet hand to scoop under one side of the dough. Stretch it up and over to the other side of the dough ball. Turn the bowl 90º. Scoop under the dough, pull up, and stretch it to the other side.

Continue turning the bowl 90º, scooping, stretching, and folding until your dough begins to get smooth or feel tight. If it’s too tight, let it rest for 5 minutes before going back in. If it gets smooth enough for you, pick up the whole dough mass, and flip it over in the bowl so the smooth side faces up.

Cover the bowl and let it rest for 4 hours in a room temperature spot (69 to 72ºF is what I consider room temperature). It should rise some but won’t double in size.

Overhead of honey wheat sourdough on parchment paper, sliced up with a plate of butter and a scoop of oats

Preparing Your Dough for Its Final Proof

Now, turn it out onto a lightly floured counter top, and stretch it into a rectangle shape. The long side should face you. Fold the left and right sides into the center, and then roll the dough from the edge nearest to you away from you.

Aim to make this log the length of your bread pan. A standard loaf pan is 9 inches by 5 inches. This is going to help you in a couple ways. First, you’re not going to smush it into the pan and end up with lumpy ends.

Second, you won’t have to stretch it out. Stretching isn’t a permanent solution, so it will likely shrink back down and rise out and up. In other words, you’ll have a short loaf instead of a tall, full bread to slice for sandwiches.

You’ll want to cover this to let it rise a second time, but you need to be careful that the covering doesn’t impede the rise. So, lightly flour a clean dish towel and lay it loosely over the bread pan.

This will prevent the dough from sticking to the towel if it does get really big. You’ll want to let it rise for another 4 hours at room temperature. The goal is for it to rise to the level of the loaf pan’s lip.

Baking Your Honey Wheat Sourdough Sandwich Bread

Start preheating your oven to 375ºF. I keep a pizza stone on the bottom rack of my oven for bread baking because it helps my oven regulate heat. For me, it helps my breads bake properly.

Now, if you want to, you can slash a line down the length of your bread for that heart-shaped top, or you can leave it alone. I prefer to use a bread lame for this. A very sharp knife will be fine, but may not actually cut deep enough.

You should also aim to make your cuts at a straight-up-and-down 90º angle. This will make sure your top splits evenly. The cut should also be about 1/2 inch deep to make sure you’ll get a dramatic result. Shallow cuts don’t turn out as impressively.

To Glaze or Not to Glaze

Finally, if you’re looking for a deeply bronzed crust, you’ll need to do a wash. Your brain might be shouting HONEY WASH, but hush it.

Honey is going to burn long before the interior of your bread reaches the required 190ºF mark. So, instead, go for a nice egg wash or even a milk wash. This will give you a darker, glossier finish.

Certainly, you can glaze with a honey syrup once it’s hot out of the oven to impart that extra honey flavor. Please note that while it makes it sweeter, it also makes it stickier. So, my ultimate advice is to skip the honey wash altogether.

I started testing this recipe from a similar one by Little Spoon Farm, and you might read through her post as well to get a better understanding of the process. She even includes times of day to do things, which is just plain helpful.

honey wheat sourdough sliced with butter and honey

Tools You’ll Need for Honey Wheat Sourdough Sandwich Bread

Here’s what you’ll need to get started:

That’s it! Let me know if you come up with any questions I haven’t covered.

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Honey Wheat Sourdough Sandwich Bread

This is no mere sourdough. It's earthy, sweet, Honey Wheat Sourdough Sandwich Bread. Perfect for hugging your favorite sammy ingredients.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Servings 12 slices

Equipment

9 in x 5 in loaf pan
Stand Mixer with a Hook Attachment

Ingredients

1 cup sourdough starter that has been fed and left at room temperature overnight
1¼ cup water 100ºF
¼ cup local honey
2 Tbsp olive oil extra virgin
2 tsp pink himalayan sea salt
2 cup whole wheat flour
2 cup bread flour

Instructions

As noted in the ingredients, feed your starter the night before you want to make bread. Then, portion out 1 cup of starter to be left at room temperature, covered with a dishtowel overnight.
In the bowl of your stand mixer, whisk together everything but the flour to make sure you have a homogenous liquid to add flour to. The oil with float, and that's okay.
Sift in your whole wheat and bread flour. Then, turn the stand mixer (fitted with a hook attachment) to low speed until a shaggy dough forms.
Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Then, turn the mixer on to medium speed for 10 minutes to build up the gluten a little bit.
Remove the dough from the bowl and tuck it in on itself to form a nice ball. Place in an oiled, covered bowl to rest for 1 hour.
Run your dominant hand under warm water until soaked. Hold the bowl with your non-dominant hand. Scoop under the dough with your wet hand and stretch one side of the dough up and over itself. Turn the bowl with your dry hand 90º. Scoop under the dough again, stretching it up and over itself.
Repeat the process of turning the bowl 90º and scooping and stretching the dough until the dough feels tight (roughly 12 quarter turns). The dough should look smoother now.
Flip the dough so the smooth side faces up, and place back in the bowl. Cover and let proof for 4 hours.
Turn your dough out onto a clean or barely floured work surface. Stretch it out into a large rectangle that is at least 15 inches wide. Fold your dough into the center 3 inches in on the left and right. Then, from the side nearest to you, begin to tightly roll the dough into a log. Pinch the seam shut.
Place your dough into a lightly oiled 9"x5" loaf pan, and loosely cover with plastic wrap or a towel for 4 hours or until the dough has risen to the lip of your pan.
Preheat the oven to 375ºF, and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Test for an internal temperature of 190ºF to make sure it is cooked through. It will sound hollow when you tap the top as well.
Cool in the pan until the pan is cool enough to handle. Then turn the loaf out onto a wire cooling rack to come to room temperature. Do not cut it open while it's still warm. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Keyword Bread, Honey, Sourdough, Wheat, Whole Wheat