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Baked » Recipes » Sourdough

Basic Sourdough Pan Loaf

Published: Jan 25, 2021 · Modified: Jan 4, 2023 by Baked · This post may contain affiliate links · 40 Comments

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A simple sourdough pan loaf, baked in a normal loaf tin. This is a great recipe for sourdough beginners and anyone who doesn’t have a dutch oven.

Sandwich bread on a cutting board with a knife.

While we have a sourdough sandwich bread recipe already on Baked, it includes eggs, oil, and milk. There were a number of requests from readers for a more basic sourdough pan loaf, so here it is! Four ingredients, super easy, and delicious.

If sourdough is new to you, or you’re not having the best results yet with boules, a pan loaf might be a great option. Since there’s nowhere for the dough to go but up, you won’t have some common beginner’s problems with too much spread and lack of an upward rise.

It’s a good way to go if you aren’t sure you want to invest in a large dutch oven as well. Or maybe you’d just like a square sandwich! With a slightly tighter crumb, this makes for a very nice sandwich bread (less risk of toppings falling through).

Please note than any sourdough bread baked in a tin, like this one, won’t have the same crisp, harder crust as a sourdough boule. It’s more of a thin, slightly crackly crust – equally delicious, just different.

Jump to:
  • Ingredients
  • Method
  • Tips and Notes
  • Substitutions
  • Recipe

Sourdough pan loaf in a kitchen setting.

Use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top, or scroll to the bottom of the post to see the printable recipe card with full ingredient measurements and complete instructions.

Ingredients

  • Active starter or levain
  • Water
  • Flour
  • Salt
Pan loaf ingredients.

Method

TWO NIGHTS BEFORE

Make the levain: Take out 1-2 tablespoon of your starter from the refrigerator and mix with 50g of room temperature water and 50g of white flour. Cover the bowl with a plate and leave it on the counter to ferment overnight for approximately 8-12 hours.

ONE DAY BEFORE

Once your levain is ready, combine all of it with the 350g of water. Add the flour to the water mixture and, using your hands, mix to combine. Once the dough is mixed, cover with a tea towel and let it rest at room temperature for 40 minutes.

Hands mixing the dough.

After the dough has rested, add the salt. Mix well until combined then cover with the tea towel and let the mixture rest again for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, it is time for the first fold.

Salt added to dough.

Do the first fold: Here’s a tutorial on how to stretch and fold sourdough bread. Complete 6 folds (one fold every 30 minutes) for 3 hours total.

  • Finished dough before stretching.
  • Stretching and folding dough.

Shaping the dough: Begin by taking the dough out of the bowl and letting it rest on the counter for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare your loaf pan by brushing it with a little neutral oil or butter.

On a lightly floured surface, take your dough and flatten it to a rough rectangle. Roll it up like a burrito, being sure to press out any air bubbles. Place the dough in the prepared pan, cover with a tea towel or bowl cover and refrigerate 8 hours, or overnight.

  • Stretching dough into a rectangle.
  • Rolling dough into a log.
  • Woman's hands shaping dough into a log.
  • Shaped dough placed into a tin.

Bake: The next day, take your loaf out of the fridge and let it rise on the counter for around 2 hours, or until the dough springs back when lightly touched with a floured finger. You can score the loaf if you desire, but it is not needed.

While the dough is proofing, set one rack in the middle and one on the bottom of the oven. Preheat the oven to 500°F (260°C).

Finished bread before baking.

Once the dough is proofed, reduce the temperature to 450°F (230°C) and place a cookie tray on the bottom rack. Fill it with about 2 cm (¾ inch) of water. Place your bread on the upper rack and bake for 25 minutes.

After 25 minutes, remove the tray of water and bake the bread for another 20 minutes.

Let the loaf cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to cool fully on a rack before slicing.

Side view of the bread.

Tips and Notes

Adding the pan of water to the oven during the first half of baking increases the humidity within the oven, and helps to improve the texture of the outer crust of the loaf. This is the same concept as baking in a dutch oven.

Scoring isn’t needed for this recipe, but if you want to control where the bread will go as it rises during baking, you may prefer to score. If not, the loaf will usually open more on the side near the top rather than across the top.

If using starter rather than levain, skip the two nights before step. This is the time needed for the levain to become active, the same as you would feed a starter one night before baking with it.

A slice of bread with cucumber, avocado, and hot pepper.

Substitutions

This pan loaf can easily take about half whole wheat flour with no trouble. You may be able to do 100% whole wheat sourdough, but we haven’t tried it.

Another lower gluten flour, like spelt or einkorn, would add a good flavour and can replace part of the all-purpose flour.

Active sourdough starter and levain can be used interchangeably for this recipe, so go for whatever your preference is.

More Sourdough Breads

100% Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread
Sourdough Naan
Sourdough Hot Cross Buns
Sprouted Grain Sourdough Bread
Sourdough Dark Rye Bread

Sourdough pan loaf in a kitchen setting.

If you make this recipe, let us know by tagging @baked_theblog + #bakedtheblog on Instagram! We love to feel like we’re in the kitchen with you.

Recipe

Sandwich bread on a cutting board with a knife.

Basic Pan Loaf

4.6 from 8 votes
Author: Sophie Mackenzie
Yield: 1 loaf
Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 45 mins
Resting Time 10 hrs
Total Time 11 hrs
Print Recipe Pin Recipe Comments

Description

 

A simple sourdough pan loaf, baked in a normal loaf tin. This is a great recipe for sourdough beginners and anyone who doesn't have a dutch oven.

Equipment

  • Digital kitchen scale
  • Mixing bowl
  • Tea towel
  • Loaf pan
  • Parchment paper
  • pastry brush
  • Baking tray with high sides
  • Wire rack

Ingredients
 

  • 3.5 oz. active starter, or levain
  • 17.6 oz. all-purpose white flour
  • 12.3 oz. water, room temperature or 68°F/20°C
  • 0.4 oz. sea salt

Instructions
 

  • TWO NIGHTS BEFORE

Make the levain:

  • Take out 1-2 tablespoons of your starter from the refrigerator and mix with 1.8 oz. (50 grams) of room temperature water and 1.8 oz. (50 grams) of white flour.
  • Cover the bowl with a plate and leave it on the counter to ferment overnight for approximately 8-12 hours.

ONE DAY BEFORE

  • Once your levain is ready, combine all of it with the 12.3 oz. (350 grams) of water.
  • Add the flour to the water mixture and, using your hands, mix to combine.
  • Once the dough is mixed, cover with a tea towel and let it rest at room temperature for 40 minutes.
  • After the dough has rested, add the salt.
  • Mix well until combined then cover with the tea towel and let the mixture rest again for 30 minutes.
  • After 30 minutes, it is time for the first fold.

Do the first fold

  • Here’s a tutorial on stretching and folding. Complete 6 folds (one fold every 30 minutes) for 3 hours total.

Shaping the dough

  • Begin by taking the dough out of the bowl and letting it rest on the counter for 20 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, prepare your loaf pan by brushing it with a little neutral oil or butter.
  • On a lightly floured surface, take your dough and flatten it to a rough rectangle. Roll it up like a burrito, being sure to press out any air bubbles.
  • Place the dough in the prepared pan, cover with a tea towel or bowl cover and refrigerate 8 hours, or overnight.

DAY OF BAKING

    Bake

    • The next day, take your loaf out of the fridge and let it rise on the counter for around 2 hours, or until the dough springs back when lightly touched with a floured finger. You can score the loaf if you desire, but it is not needed.
    • While the dough is proofing, set one rack in the middle and one on the bottom of the oven.
    • Preheat the oven to 500°F (260°C).
    • Once the dough is proofed, reduce the temperature to 450°F (230°C) and place a baking tray with high sides on the bottom rack. Fill it with about 2 cm (¾ inch) of water.
    • Place your bread on the upper rack and bake for 25 minutes.
    • After 25 minutes, remove the tray of water and bake the bread for another 20 minutes.
    • Let the loaf cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to cool fully on a wire rack before slicing.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1g | Calories: 152kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 4g | Sodium: 325mg | Fiber: 1g
    Did you make this recipe?Let us know on Instagram @baked_theblog or tag #bakedtheblog!
    « Sourdough Naan
    Sourdough Starter Pancakes »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Amanda says

      January 16, 2022 at 11:56 pm

      What is the best way to store this loaf?

      Reply
      • Alexandra Daum says

        January 17, 2022 at 10:07 am

        However you would usually store sourdough bread. I wrap mine in a tea towel and keep it in the oven, but you could keep it in a large airtight container, wrapped in paper, in a breadbox – whatever works best for you and your space. It depends on ambient humidity and how long you’ll be storing, for example, so it’s hard to give a perfect answer.

        Reply
      • Sherryt says

        January 21, 2022 at 5:58 pm

        Have always made the Boyle’s in a cast iron pot, but they don’t fit well in the toaster. This was my first successful sourdough in a loaf pan. I really like your method of containing the mess in the bowl, much neater.
        The bread baking setting on my oven only goes to 230c & the bread was still a bit dark on the crust for my liking. Any suggestions please?

        Reply
        • Sophie Mackenzie says

          January 22, 2022 at 5:11 pm

          Hey Sherry, if you are finding the loaf too brown, try moving your oven rack lower down (farther from the top element). You could also tent (or cover the top of the loaf) with some tin foil after the first 25 minutes. Enjoy :)

          Reply
    2. Yvonne says

      February 27, 2022 at 3:01 pm

      Can I bake this in a a loaf pan with slide on lid?

      Reply
      • Alexandra Daum says

        March 01, 2022 at 4:08 am

        We haven’t tried with that style of pan but it should work well!

        Reply
    3. Darlene Smith says

      May 17, 2022 at 11:30 am

      My dough was too wet to handle, is this normal and 10 grams of salt made it too salty

      Reply
      • Alexandra Daum says

        May 18, 2022 at 4:47 am

        Hi Darlene, did you change anything about the recipe? This dough shouldn’t be too wet but it can be a bit sloppy, like any sourdough, if the stretches and folds needed a little more work. You might want to try using half bread flour if it’s tricky with all-purpose. 10g of salt is unfortunately necessary for the yeast production in the bread, but you could try reducing slightly to your personal taste. Hope this helps!

        Reply
    4. Rachel says

      July 06, 2022 at 4:55 pm

      I’ve made this loaf countless times over the last 6 months and every time it turns out great! I love making sourdough but haven’t invested in a Dutch oven yet, so this is the perfect recipe for me! I love that it just uses all purpose flour too. Overall a simple and pretty failproof recipe!

      Reply
    5. Leah says

      July 12, 2022 at 5:31 pm

      I’ve made this two times & both times the outside is so hard! Would a shorter cook time solve this?

      Reply
      • Sophie Mackenzie says

        July 13, 2022 at 11:24 pm

        It would, but you could run the risk of having a doughy middle. I would try lowering the rack in your oven and tenting the loaf with some tinfoil while it bakes. It should also soften a bit if your store the cooled loaf in a plastic bag over a cloth one.

        Reply
    6. Casi says

      October 12, 2022 at 11:21 pm

      5 stars
      This has become my new go-to everyday bread. Perfect chewy crust, fluffy soft slices, excellent loaf shape. I work at home and the easy shaping and schedule make it easy to bake fresh bread any day. Turns out great every time!

      Reply
    7. Matt says

      December 06, 2022 at 8:55 pm

      What size loaf pan does this recipe use? I have a few Pullman pans which are 13”x4”x4”, will they be to big?

      Reply
      • Sophie Mackenzie says

        January 03, 2023 at 9:41 pm

        we used a standard 9×5 inch loaf pan for this recipe. A pullman would make a thinner longer loaf and would need slightly different cooking times.

        Reply
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