It's been a while since I've done a pan loaf. I've mostly been doing crusty, hearty sourdough loaves lately. But I came across this recipe for "sourdough soft wheat rolls" and figured I'd give it a try as a pan loaf. I had intended to mix in some of the pâte fermentée that has been lying forgotten and unloved in the back of the fridge, but it wasn't part of the original recipe, so it completely slipped my mind. I've added it as an optional ingredient here. Just be warned that I haven't actually tested how it bakes up with the pâte fermentée included yet.

Soft Sourdough Bread

Slightly adapted from Northwest Sourdough

Ingredients

• 450g sourdough starter @ 100% hydration
• 113g water
• 85g fat-free Greek yogurt¹
• 28g malt syrup (or honey)
• 56g unsalted butter, softened²
• 11g coarse sea salt
• 100g pâte fermentée (optional)
• 420g all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Feed your starter very well and make sure it is nice and active.
2. Combine the starter with the water, yogurt, malt syrup, butter, and salt.
3. Break up the pâte fermentée and mix it in (if using).
4. Mix in the all-purpose flour until completely incorporated.
5. Shape dough into a ball and place in a covered bowl to rise for ~4 hours, stretching and folding every hour or so.
6. Shape dough into rolls or loaves. (I made two small pan loaves with mine.)
7. Place shaped dough into greased pan(s), cover, and place in fridge for 2-12 hours.
8. Remove from fridge and allow to proof at room temperature for 1-3 hours.
9. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for ~30 minutes for loaves or 220°C (425°F) for 20 minutes for rolls.
10. Remove from oven and brush top crust with butter.
11. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

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¹ The original recipe called for full-fat (14%) sour cream here. I only had fat-free (1%) sour cream or fat-free Greek yogurt. After giving it some thought, I decided that the yogurt would actually make a better stand-in for the full-fat sour cream than the fat-free sour cream would. (I was worried about how the stabilizers in the sour cream would affect the dough.) I'm very happy with the results I got with the yogurt, so I've written it up that way. I suspect that "light" (5%) sour cream would also work well. I'd still be wary of making it with FF sour cream, but give it a try if you're feeling adventurous! ^Back
2 My malt syrup is pretty firm at this point so I decided to warm it up in the microwave along with the butter to try to soften both of them and make them easier to mix into the dough. I ended up softening them a bit too much and completely melting the butter. But the bread doesn't seem to have suffered any for it. ^Back