And we affirm that we can make our homemade sandwich bread with any type of bread, since, on the one hand, the RAE definition of a sandwich indicates “an open piece of bread, or a set of two slices, inside which some food is placed or spread “, from which we deduce that there is no specific type of bread for it. On the other hand, in addition, we know and have surely eaten countless sandwiches with different fillings and breads of many shapes and flavors. In other words, we can make a sandwich by cutting slices from a loaf of bread or opening more or less large individual buns, either elongated or round, or with a more or less enriched crumb. And each and every one of these breads meets the definition of the RAE to be able to call them sandwich bread.
For this recipe we will make what we all know as the snack bar, the usual sandwich bread with which we have all had a snack or replaced a meal, and which our children still enjoy. Easy to make and with fermentation on the same day.
recipe information
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- Preparation time: 30 minutes
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- Cooking time: 15 minutes
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- total time: 4 hours and 45 minutes
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- rations: 4
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- Category: loaves
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- type of cuisine: Spanish
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- Calories per serving (kcal):223
Ingredients for sandwich bread for 4 people
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- 370 g medium strength flour (W220-W300)
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- 2 g dry baker’s yeast (or 6 g fresh yeast)
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- 250-270 ml of water
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- 6g of salt
How to make sandwich bread
Put the 370 g of flour in a bowl and dissolve the 2 g of fresh yeast in the water. We make a volcano in the middle of the flour and we add the 250 ml of water, little by little, while we mix everything with our hands.
We reserve about 20 ml of the total water to incorporate when we add the salt. When we make doughs, it is not recommended to add all the water in the recipe at once, but it is better to reserve a part to add when we add the salt, so that it dissolves better and is incorporated evenly into the dough. Another reason for not adding all the water indicated in the recipe is because not all flours absorb the same amount of water. For this reason, we have to observe how the dough evolves to prevent it from being too hydrated, or on the contrary, too compact, and adjust the amount of water indicated in the recipe accordingly.
We mix everything for about two or three minutes and let the dough rest for 10 minutes, as an autolysis.
Next, we add the salt and the 20 ml of water that we had reserved.
We continue to knead and fold the dough until the gluten develops.
When we have a smooth and elastic dough left, we cover it and let it rise for two hours at room temperature.
After this first rise in block, we turn the dough on the work table and work it a bit to lower it or to degas it. Subsequently, with the help of a scraper, we divide the dough into 4 equal parts and fold the dough towards the center as if it were a bundle.
Next, rolling the dough on itself between the hands, we make balls with each one of them. We let them rest for about 10 or 15 minutes so that the dough relaxes, is more manageable and then it is easier for us to form the sandwich breads.
When this rest has passed so that the dough loses tension, we give our loaves the final shape. To do this, lightly flour the work surface and take a ball of dough. We stretch it with our hands giving it a rectangle shape. We take the upper end with the fingers of both hands and fold it in half, putting pressure on the edge.
Again, we fold in half and we shape it by pulling the top end of the dough towards the edge that is closest to us. With our fingertips we are applying pressure to seal the edges of the dough and make it tense.
Finally, we roll it on the palm of the hand to give it a cylinder shape. We are separating the hands outwards with the movement and in this way we will refine the cylinder at the edges and thus we will have our bun formed.
Carefully we are placing the buns on a cloth on which we will have sprinkled flour. So that the bars do not stick together during the rise, we will make a separation with the cloth itself, lifting it and making a hole for the bread. When we have the four bars made, we cover them with another cloth and let them rise until they double the size. Although the rising time may vary depending on the temperature and humidity of the environment, they will need at least a couple of hours.
We turn on the oven and put it at a temperature of 230 °C and when it is hot we prepare the bars to put them in the oven. We are placing them on a baking tray carefully, so that they do not fall. For this we can help ourselves with a shovel or a flat baking tray that will serve as a support. Or simply holding them with both hands, we place them on a tray.
We make some cuts with a blade, either one longitudinal or several crosswise, so that they open around when baking, and not randomly.
When the oven is hot, we put them inside and spray them with water to provide moisture, so that the crust does not form too quickly and the bread can finish rising as necessary. We bake them for 15 or 20 minutes and once they are golden, we remove them to a cooling rack.
Once cold, we have them ready to open in half and make our sandwich with the filling that we like the most.
How to preserve sandwich bread
With these amounts of dough, about four units come out, but since the kneading work and the rest times are the same to make four, eight or sixteen loaves, when we make this type of dough, we can do more to optimize the work. In this case, the ideal is to freeze them once they have cooled and in this way we always have bread available for sandwiches. We have to be aware of removing them at least half an hour before consuming, from the freezer. We can give them a heat stroke in the toaster or if we make a hot sandwich they will be perfect.
Easy preparation summary
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- We weigh and measure the ingredients and put the flour in a bowl. Dissolve the yeast in the water and add it to the flour
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- Mix with your hands and let rest for 10 minutes.
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- Add the salt and a little water
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- We knead and fold
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- When the dough is smooth and elastic, let it rise covered for a couple of hours.
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- We degas the dough, divide it into four parts and form bundles
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- We round them with tension and let them rest for 10 minutes.
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- Roll out a portion of dough into a rectangle and fold it in the middle by pressing the edge
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- Fold in half again tensing and pressing to seal the edge, making sure that the dough is tense
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- We roll the cylinder of dough between the palms of the hands, opening them towards the edges and pressing so that they are thinner
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- Place the rolls on top of a floured kitchen towel, making high folds in it to separate the loaves from each other. Let them rise covered for a couple of hours.
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- We turn on the oven to 230 °C and when it is hot we transfer the buns to an oven tray
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- We grind the loaves
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- We pulverize them with water and bake them for 15-20 minutes, after which, we remove them to a wire rack and let them cool.
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- When they are cold, we open them in half and make our sandwich with what we like best.
