Sourdough Sandwich Rolls

Call it a hoagie, a sub, a grinder, or a Po’boy. Or even the Vietnamese Banh mi sandwich. Whatever you call it, these sourdough sandwich rolls are the perfect platform. They are big, soft, and fluffy while maintaining enough hardiness to be the ideal vessel for anything you want to fill them with. They are fermented overnight, making these rolls as digestible as they’re delicious. What more could you ask for?

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Below is the printable recipe card for these sourdough sandwich rolls, if you would like to dive into the topic and the recipe further, scroll down!

Why should I bake with sourdough?

Sourdough is a “wild yeast.” It’s created using a simple mixture of flour and water. When enough wild yeast is active in a flour and water mixture, it begins to ferment. Every fermentation process is the same. Fermentation is the breakdown of anti-nutrients and sugars found in all foods. In this case, the flour and water, and the wild yeasts are fermenting and breaking down the antinutrients and sugars present in the flour and releasing gas, causing bubbles and a rise. This not only creates flavor but also creates a product that is more digestible and nutrient-dense.

The aroma and flavors of sourdough bread are affected by the spirit of your sourdough starter. Do you know what this means? Bread created in your kitchen cannot be recreated; it’s one of a kind. This concept will forever fascinate me.

When you’re just getting started, the process can sound intimidating, and you might find it tedious. But baking bread is more of a meditation, a rhythmic exercise, than anything else. And once you get into the flow of that rhythm, you’ll be grooving. You might even find it therapeutic- I know I do.

What happens during sourdough fermentation?

• The yeast microbes are eating the sugars present in the flour. Through this digestive process, the microbes break down the phytic acid or antinutrients. When the antinutrients have broken down, other nutrients within the grain are now available for your body to process and use! It also weakens the gluten proteins, making it much easier for many people to digest. So basically the yeast is digesting the flour first, making it easier for you to digest later.
• The wild yeasts that are breaking down, or eating the sugars present in the flour, release carbon dioxide as they digest their food. This carbon dioxide is what causes the bubbles to form and your dough to rise.

What does honey do to bread dough?

Honey is added to these rolls to help the rolls brown nicely on the outside. It’s not added to a bread mixture for its sweetness, although it will add a little extra flavor. You can always use sugar in place of honey.

What does olive oil do to bread dough?

Fats, like olive oil work as a tenderizer. The lipids in the oil coat the flour and inhibit the gluten activity from forming large networks, creating a softer crust, and a more tender crumb. Butter is another fat that works nicely and adds wonderful flavor. However, for this recipe, I added olive oil instead of butter to lower the calories per bun.

Why is weight used instead of volume for baking?

Baking bread is based on precise ratios between ingredients, and when you measure your ingredients using volume, specifically flour, you are going to be inconsistent with those ratios. I would highly suggest investing in a kitchen scale for baking, especially when baking bread. Flour and salt are good examples of ingredients whose weights vary depending on the type that you are using. My goal for you is that you don’t get too overwhelmed by the process of baking bread. By understanding these variables, it lays proper groundwork and a comprehensive understanding of how these ingredients work together, to get the results that you want. You are likely at home cooking for your family and your rolls will turn out just fine even if you don’t have a kitchen scale, so I have put the measurements in volume as well.

What is the stretch and fold method?

You are starting with a semi-wet dough that will stick to your hands. the way to combat this is to run your hands under Luke-warm water. Starting with wet hands makes it less of a mess. During the stretch and fold process, I keep my bowl near the sink. Grab the dough from its underside and pull it up and over into the center of itself, slapping it into the middle of itself. Turn the bowl and do it again. You will continue turning the bowl while stretching and folding until you have performed stretch and folds in a full circle around the dough. This is one series of stretch and folds.

What are the benefits of long-fermentation sourdough?

Long fermentation is letting your dough ferment for more than 20 hours. Benefits include:

• Convenience– I have found that I can leave my dough sitting in the fridge for a few days. Making it extremely easy to pull the dough out whenever I’m ready to bake with it throughout the week.

• Easy to digest– When you long-ferment your sourdough you are maximizing the benefits of the fermentation process. By allowing it to sit, you are allowing the good bacteria to break down the antinutrients found in the flour grain, making the sourdough even more digestible. Many people who have gluten intolerance find they can tolerate sourdough that has been left to long ferment.

• Richer flavor profile in the bread

Equipment you will need to make sourdough sandwich rolls:

• Measuring Spoons and Cups
• Large bowl with a lid or a tea towel
• Whisk or dough whisk
• Bench Scraper
• Kitchen Scale
• Parchment Lined Sheet Pan
• Razor or Lame
• A little bowl or mason jar and a pastry brush

Ingredients you will need to make sourdough sandwich rolls:

• 1 Cup/200 grams of active and bubbly sourdough starter
• 1 Cup/225 grams of Filtered Water– We use a Berkey Water Filter in our farmhouse
• 1 1/2 tbsp./10 grams of Salt – We use Himalayan Pink Salt or a Celtic Sea Salt
• 1 1/2 tbsp./30 grams of Honey- Raw
• 1/4 Cup/60 grams of Olive Oil
• 3 Cups/480 grams of Flour– King Arthur Flour
• Butter– optional
• Sesame Seeds– optional

Step One: Measure + Mix:

Start by measuring your room-temperature filtered water in a large mixing bowl. To that, add the active and bubbly sourdough starter. An active and robust starter will float on top of the water. Whisk until fully incorporated. To this add honey, salt, olive and flour. Using your hands, mix until a shaggy, wet dough forms. This sandwich roll dough is stickier than other doughs. This is good, in the end, it will create a fluffy, softness in the final product.

Step Two: Autolyse:

Autolyse is a fancy word for letting the flour absorb the water for at least 15 minutes, preferably 30 minutes. Professional bakers will tell you not to add the other ingredients until after this autolyze time. I have worked with both methods, and would say, with small-scale, home kitchen baking I have not seen a big difference. However, I would encourage you to autolyze your dough for the full 30 minutes, with or without the other ingredients added in. This autolyze time does make a difference in the stretchability of the dough, specifically in the stretch and fold process.

Step Three: Stretch + Fold:

Now that you have let your dough autolyze, perform a series of 3-6 stretch and folds, waiting a half hour between each set. Scroll up for a brief understanding of how to perform stretch and folds.

Step Four: Bulk Ferment

After you have performed a series of 3-6 stretch and folds, cover the bowl with a lid or tea towel leave it to ferment, and rise on the countertop for 6-8 hours. You are waiting for your dough to double in size. This rise is dependent on a few important variables:

• Dough temperature
• Ambient Temperature
• Time
• Maturity of your starter

My advice to you is to be patient. Recognize time and temperature as ingredients, just like your starter is an ingredient. When you give your dough time to rise you are not only allowing for gas bubbles to form and a rise to occur, but you are also maximizing the flavor potential in your bread. So be patient and take note of the temperature in your kitchen.

Step Five: Shaping Your loaves or a long fermentation option:

At this point, you have two options. If you want these rolls on the table for dinner the same night you started your dough, then you will go ahead and shape the rolls. If you want a long-fermented version of these sourdough sandwich rolls then you will now put the bowl of dough, with a lid, beeswax wrap, or plastic wrap in the fridge until the next day.

When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

To shape these loaves, I like to weigh my dough and then divide by 6, so I know the weight I need for each roll. Remember you are working with a high-hydration dough, which means it will be sticky, so flour your work surface accordingly.

Lay each chunk of dough on your work surface and shape it into a flat rectangle.

Take the ends of the long side of the rectangle and start to roll it into itself, pinching the edges and the seam closed. With a bench scraper, flip the roll onto the parchment-lined sheet pan, seam side down. Repeat with the remaining 5 dough balls.

Cover with a tea towel for a second rise. Again, time is dependent on a few variables, a major one being temperature. This second rise will take anywhere from 1-3 hours.

At the end of this second rise, slash each roll down the middle with a razor.

Step Six: Bake

With a spray bottle, give the rolls a few sprays right before placing them in the oven. Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake for a total of 20 minutes until slightly golden brown. Then turn the oven off, and let bake for another 5 minutes. Remove from oven. Rub each roll with butter and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool. ENJOY!

Did you try these sourdough sandwich rolls? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below.

Here are more sourdough bread recipes for you to fall in love with! Thanks for joining me.

• Sourdough Focaccia
• Sourdough Ciabatta Rolls
• Easy Sourdough Boule
• Sourdough Baguette
• Sourdough Pizza Dough