Softest Sourdough Sandwich Bread Recipe (Pain de Mie)

My sourdough cookbook is available now, grab your copy here 👇🏼

** Note that the full bake time for this recipe is 40-45 minutes (this isn't clear in the video, sorry!) **

This super-soft sourdough pain de mie makes the absolute best toast. This sandwich bread ranks as one of my all-time favorites to make, and it's so easy to put together, you might find yourself making it every week.

🍞 *FULL* INGREDIENTS:
835g White flour (11.7% protein; King Arthur All-Purpose Flour)
184g Whole milk
100g Unsalted butter
401g Water
58g Honey
15g Fine sea salt
8g Ripe sourdough starter, 100% hydration (used to make a levain w/ 75g white flour, 75g water; as seen in the video)

INGREDIENTS FOR EACH STEP:
1: Levain
75g white flour
75g water
8g ripe sourdough starter

2: Mix
760g white flour
184g whole milk
100g unsalted butter
326g water
58g honey
15g fine sea salt
158g levain (step 1, above)

LINKS
-------------------------
🫙 EQUIPMENT
My favorite starter jars (and all my baking tools):

📖 MORE BAKING GUIDES

🍞 TPL MEMBERSHIP

CHAPTERS
-------------------------
00:00 Intro
01:02 Things to look out for in this recipe
02:15 Equipment & ingredients
04:21 Why this type of levain?
05:06 Mixing
05:59 Mixing: Initial incorporation
06:54 Mixing: Strengthen dough
07:56 Mixing: Add butter
08:49 Transfer dough to bulk fermentation container
09:45 Bulk fermentation: S&F set one
11:10 Bulk fermentation: S&F set two
11:50 Bulk fermentation: S&F set three
12:14 Dividing & preshaping
16:00 Shaping & proofing
18:14 Baking
19:16 Finished loaves & tasting
20:14 Outro

#sourdough #bread #baking #sandwich #recipe

[Awesomewally]

I haven’t made this recipe yet but I can say thank you for slowing down. I was feeling like go, go, go and 2 mins into this video I started to relax, breathe and calm down. I didn’t even know I was feeling rushed 😮 thank you for slowing down and not being loud and hyped in your videos it was really enjoyable.

[arukuround]

Okay listen guys, I've made this recipe yesterday and baked it today (after a cold proof in the fridge overnight + something like 2h at room temp while my oven was preheating and baking my sourdough bread) and let me tell you this is hands down the BEST SOURDOUGH SANDWICH RECIPE I have ever tried! And I've tried a lot (and failed a lot too)

The only tweak I've done is that I subsitued while milk for oat milk cause I ran out of regular one and 250g of bread flour for whole rye flour + 20g more of milk.

It gave me the softest sandwich bread I have ever tried.

So thanks a lot for sharing this recipe! It's definitely becoming my to go recipe.

[Anienee]

Just made it today and I cannot tell you how mad I was for not making it earlier. I have been baking sourdough for about 10 years now and I finally took a detour of making this amazing Pain de Mie recipe of yours and I am totally loving it 😍. Thanks a ton!

[rubygordon]

This Bread is Absolutely love it! Made it tonight. It was easy to make!! Thank you Maurizio!! I will make again and again!!

[anakc]

OMG, Mauricio. I made this bread today and thank goodness you said I should make 2 loaves because this is THE best sandwich bread I have ever eaten. I can't get over how soft and flavorful it is. Thank you so much for this recipe and the detailed instruction video. I truly am speechless (and that's a big deal!). I think I can survive on only bread and wine now! :)
Anna

[nancyholmquist]

I have got to thank you again... I made 6 loaves this weekend. This bread is fabulous, the faint taste of honey, the crumb, its perfect!

[MockingBirdJoy]

It took about 9 hours, and they came out beautifully. The egg wash really did make them a nice deep brown. Also, letting us know to bake on the bottom third of the oven was a real game changer.

[nitishagarwal]

Hi,

I recently bought your book and have been following your recipes. I made the Ciabatta rolls and the soft milk sandwich loaf. The family absolutely loved it. I was over before we knew it. Thank you.

[ericwu]

We found your website last year in the depth of the pandemic, and we learned how to make sourdough breads mostly from you. And after making your pain de mie (along with the tangzhong method), we've stopped buying sandwich bread. It's just so good!

Just one comment: we live in a hot and humid climate (27-30°C room temperature, 70%+ humidity usually), and I find that using a stiff levain (60% hydration) gives me better control of the fermentation and helps rein in the sourness. It's so good to see you working your dough, though! We still have much to learn to coax the amount of strength you've got in our doughs.

Thank you so much for all your work and generosity!

[basiliska]

This is my third attempt at sourdough - I've previously been discouraged by the starter feeding instructions from overzealous starter providers and general inability to make the dough behave as it would when risen with commercial yeast. I made pain de mie today, after making the starter according to your instructions. My loaves came out beyond perfect. I bake with commercial yeast for friends and family and these were my bestest tasting (and looking) loaves. I love your detached, quiet but passionate technique. You are able to transmit 'intuition' and confidence. Thank you for making me fall in love with bread all over again. You're my sourdough guru! Your book is in my cart. Thank you a million times, from south India!

[ChaCeNY]

This is a fantastic walkthrough! Definitely identified what I’ve been doing wrong during the fermentation and shaping segments. Thank you!

[violahale]

Okay, made this loaf and loved it. My husband loved it too and now it’s my #1 recipe for sandwich loaf. I’ve tried other but none even come close to this recipe. Thanks!

[alrice]

I made this bread. I loved it!!! So good.

[BevCro]

❤This is now my go to bread recipe!🎉 1 day! 2 Gorgeous loaves. Its perfect. Soft tender chewy great mild flavor. Hint of sweetness. Perfect!! Thank you soooo much!!😊

[kimberleeroberts]

Thank you! I've let my breadmaking slide in the last year. This looks amazing!

[nancyholmquist]

I am making this bread today... thank you so much. So far, every one of your recipes are fabulous! Again, thank you.

[rodneyferris]

My sandwich bread recipe is similar. I have recently found that my fermentation time has significantly shortened. I’m not a great fan of the funk of long fermented sourdough. I use a regular olive oil not EVOO. And I use ½ tsp of ginger powder. I’ve learned this almost 50 years ago when I’d bake 65 loaves of white and brown bread (as we called it back then). The Monks lived that change to the recipe… and Heaven help you if there weee “holes” in the bread! That could get the hand signs going! And notes in your mail box! 🙃💨

[pierce_st_quilting]

Thank you for the great video! If I need to keep it in the fridge overnight, what would be the procedure? Thank you!

[MountaintopKitchen]

Just now I made the Pain de Mie; it’s cooling down … I’m in Mexico so I’m calling it Pan de Miel. I used the Pullman pans with lids and got beautiful perfectly square loaves. I also used the recipe from your book. I was able to shape the dough much easier than the Everyday Sandwich Bread. ¡Muchísimas Gracias! 🍞

[markwhelan]

I’m trying this recipe for the first time as we speak. Great video! One comment; the video gives the impression the total bake time is 15 minutes! I knew that couldn’t be right. The written recipe gives the full baking instructions though. Thanks.