High Protein Sourdough Sandwich Bread

This soft and moist High Protein Sourdough Sandwich Bread uses cottage cheese, seeds and protein powder to get up to about 9g of protein per slice or about 18%, making it a great choice for anyone aiming to increase their protein intake while enjoying an actually delicious slow fermented bread, that is just as healthy for your gut as it is for your muscles. Plus it really tastes like a sourdough sandwich bread should: Fluffy, sturdy enough for any toppings, lots of flavor. No compromise.

 

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• Why You’ll Love This
• The Ingredients
• Substitutions
• Equipment Used
• How to Make this
• How To Store
• FAQ
• Other Recipes You Might Enjoy

Why You’ll Love This 

TL;DR

TL;DR: Love sourdough but want more protein? This bread is for you!

• High Protein Powerhouse: Get ~9g of protein per slice (18% of the bread’s weight!) thanks to cottage cheese, seeds, and protein powder.
• Seriously Delicious: Enjoy the classic soft, sturdy sourdough sandwich bread you crave, without compromise on flavor or texture.
• Gut-Healthy & Muscle-Friendly: Slow fermentation aids digestion, while the added protein fuels your muscles.
• Versatile & Easy: Perfect for any sandwich topping, and surprisingly simple to make, even with an unfed sourdough starter.

Inspired by the desire for really good bread

During my weight loss journey I discovered I need decidedly more protein than I was getting in my everyday diet. I didn’t want to increase my meat intake and am, unfortunately, not the biggest fan of legumes. So my options where limited.

Since I absolutely love sourdough bread, I wished I would find one that had a high protein content, supplementing my diet while letting me eat what I love most (well…beside desserts that is!), but wasn’t keen on the options I found. Sure, the recent hype around cottage cheese bread has a place. And it partially gave me the idea for a sourdough bread with cottage cheese and protein. But the texture and flavor of the viral version left a lot to be desired for me.
And maybe for you too, considering you found this post looking for a healthy, high protein sourdough bread recipe.

So I started experimenting, building upon my Whole Wheat Sourdough Sandwich Bread recipe.

I decided to make the first version a white loaf for versatility and to get an easy jumping off point for future recipes. It came out so fabulous, that I just have to share it with you!

Why do I use Sourdough?

I can’t count how many times I’ve said it, but I’ll say it again: Sourdough is really good for you!
Not does the slow fermentation make this an easier digestible protein bread, there are also studies showing that even people with celiac disease can tolerate it better than for example yeasted bread.

Plus sourdough bread, due to the fermentation, raises your bloog sugar slower, making it great at preventing hunger pangs shortly after eating. A fact I used to my advantage while losing 70lb in a year.
And it just has so much more flavor. 

Incorporating Protein Powder

While there are a few recipes using cottage cheese in sourdough bread, I was aiming for a decidedly higher protein percentage. Egg whites came to mind, but frankly I’d rather use fewer eggs these days if I can with the prices, availability, and chicken welfare in mind.
Also separating several eggs to have egg yolks leftover every time I’m baking bread just didn’t appeal to me.

Deciding to opt for flavourless whey protein powder, which is a very practical and shelf stable option, especially if you are using it in recipes anyway, I ran into some issues: My bread kept turning out way too squidgy inside. It looked great outside, but not matter the baking time, seemed to hold on to way too much liquid.

“Strange!” I thought, considering I was already replacing ¼ of the flour in my sweet baked recipes without any issues!

The lightbulb moment came when I researched the properties of protein powder: It holds on to water like a sponge! And while this sounds counter-intuitive at first, it meant I had to reduce the water content in my bread. Plus of course the cottage cheese acted as a fluid. As soon as I made that change, my bread baked absolutely fabulous!

Why Do I Add Protein?

You mean apart from the well known physical benefits of protein for the body like helping you to build muscle, keeping your bones strong and increasing satiation, meaning you stay fuller for longer and with that can maintain your weight easier?

Lesser known is, that it also effects the brain by helping it to effectively transport information through neuropathways using the amino acods found in Protein.
This even has been shown to help protect from age related dementia.

If you’d like to read more about how and why I use protein, I wrote a blog post about it.

And another one about my weight loss journey, shedding 70lb within 1 year. Protein played a big part in that too!

Cottage Cheese, but not too much

I’ve been starting to wildly experiment with cottage cheese in my recipes recently and found it to be incredibly versatile. My Cottage Cheese Fried Pickle dip was the first I published, but you can look forward to a lot more. Next will be Cottage Cheese Overnight Oats that taste like cheesecake!

Anyway, back to this bread:
Since the cottage cheese is blended you won’t taste any of it. Instead it acts as additional fluid, replacing part of the water and providing just a tiny bit of tang together with the sourdough. Because I’m using just ½ a cup for the whole dough, it doesn’t give the intense chewiness you find in the viral cottage cheese bread recipes, but the dough remains lovely and soft. Yet it adds to the overall protein increase.

High Protein Bread Flour

Using Bread flour adds even more protein, which is used to develop a stronger gluten structure, leading to the super high rise of this loaf and its ability to hold all your favourite toppings between two slices without falling apart. Just like a proper sandwich bread should.

Seeds to add even more protein and crunch

While seeds sound like a bit of an unusual addition to sandwich bread, they do add a good amount of protein plus lots and lots of deliciously nutty flavor with a bit of crunch. Not so much that it would disturb the soft sandwich experience though.
You can adapt them to your taste (nuts would be great too) and your store cupboard contents. The recipe is very flexible that way.
Oh and they make this loaf so pretty when you add them to the top!

So how much protein do we get?

This bread clocks in with about 18% protein or about 9g per slice. The latter depends of course on the size of your slices, hence the percentage given. I’ve assumed about 24 slices for the calculation, which is pretty standard for a loaf of sandwich bread.
This is quite the jump, compared to a “classic” sourdough loaf, containing about 7-10% protein.

The Sourdough, but simple

Now, we can’t forget the sourdough, which makes this high protein sandwich bread not just delicious, but also really good for your gut due to the slow fermentation process.

During my testing I made this with fed and unfed starter (because I sometimes forget to feed but really want to bake bread!) and found as long as you give it enough time, the results will be fabulous either way.

That being said, when I talk “unfed” it means my starter was probably fed about 3-4 days ago the last time. Any longer than that and I’d probably just wait a day until it’s happy and bubbly again. The final picture here is a bread I made with unfed starter (because I’m scatterbrained).

While this one is with active starter, though taken with my mobile, hence the lack of proper lighting and quality. But I figured I show you both, so you can decide for yourself.

For me, honestly, sometimes the ability to just throw a bread together when I have a few minutes trumps the desire for “perfect”. Seriously delicious bread is good enough for me.
We have plenty to stress about in our lives. Bread really does not have to be another one of them.

Oh btw, the most I feed my very reliable starter before baking is once. The evening before. I just roughly double it, eyeballing the amounts and texture and it works.

Benefits of sourdough for protein absorption

While there is a common misconception that sourdough adds protein, the reality is a little more complex: The protein in your typical sourdough bread loaf mainly comes from the flour you use and lies between 7-10%.

What the sourdough starter does during the fermentation time is, breaking down the protein in said flour into smaller and easier digestible molecules, enhancing its bioavailability to the body.

It also reduces anti-nutrient like phytic acid, which can bind to minerals and proteins, leading to better absorption of both. Using high protein bread flour enhances all of these effects.

But more importantly: The lactic acid bacteria in sourdough are just as happy to break down the protein in whey and cottage cheese, reducing the lactose as they go.
This means that your body can use even those added proteins better (not just the ones from the flour) and the lactose will affect you less, which is great news for those of us with an intolerance to it.

In short: If you add more protein to a loaf with sourdough, your body can use it better, making it a fabulous choice for anyone wanting to grow muscle or simply increase their protein intake.

Following this, here are 10 delicious Sourdough Protein Recipes.

If you are brand new to sourdough

If this is your first sourdough loaf and you’d like to create your own starter, I have a super simple recipe for rye starter that is transferable to white starter made with all purpose flour. Which is what I used for this loaf.

The recipe is as simple as using water and flour in a 1:1 weight ratio, doubling it every day.

I suggest you weigh the flour and water the first week or so, to get a good feel for the right consistency. And over time you’ll just be able to estimate it. Sourdough starter is incredibly forgiving!
I once left mine for about 3 months (That was during the start of my weight loss journey and trying Keto. Failing miserably.) and it was still alive after I fed it twice.
The only thing you might want to do when you forget it for so long, is to pour out the liquid and scrape off the top layer.
Unless you find mold (in which case you should discard it and start new), you can probably revive it.

The Ingredients

Note:

Cups, due to the possibility of compacting the flour while dragging the container through it, can give you wildly different results. Use a tablespoon to gently fill the cup with flour, then drag the back of a knife over it to level. This should give you the closest to the standard 120g per cup of flour.

Alternatively, if you have kitchen scales, assume 120g flour per cup and weigh it out.

In some of my recipes I will give gram measurements for this reason, but I mostly try to accommodate the American cup system.

• Bread Flour – Often called “Strong flour” for its high protein content and great gluten development. The structure of bread using this type of flour is often more stable, as the gluten strands are stronger, helping with oven spring due to trapping the air in the dough.
• Sourdough starter – This is what will ferment, produce the air bubbles and typical gentle tang, while making the bread easier to digest
• Honey or sugar – feeds the yeast bacteria, balances the sourdough flavor and helps with browning due to caramelising
• Salt – not only enhances flavor but also strengthens the gluten network by interacting with protein molecules, allowing for a stronger structure. It slows fermentation to prevent over-proofing, which helps develop the distinctive sourdough flavor. Additionally, salt aids in browning by preserving essential sugars for the Maillard reaction and improves shelf life by retaining moisture in the crumb, slowing staling
• Butter – Is a bond-breaking component in bread dough, inhibiting gluten development, leading to a soft and tender crumb with a fine structure. Unlike “typical” sourdough bread, this serves to hold all your butter and other toppings in place instead of them falling through big bubbles.
• Cottage cheese – Provides moisture and adds to the butters gluten inhibiting ability with its fat content, leading to a more even crumb. It boosts protein, plus provides calcium and other nutrients.
• Protein Powder – Absorbs water like a sponge. Boosts protein, but not the gluten kind. It essentially acts similar to the flour, but without the gluten structure, hence we can’t use too much without risking the structure of the bread.
  The whey, due to the lactose in it, also helps with browning because of its sugar and amino acid content (even in unsweetened versions). Which leads to an absolutely beautiful crust in this loaf and a high rise as it helps feeding the sourdough bacteria.
• Mixed seeds – I chose pumpkin, sunflower, sesame and hemp seeds for both their protein content and flavor. You can leave them out or swap for other seeds, but be mindful that this will influence both the protein content and may influence the structure. Chia and linseeds for example soak up a lot of water, so you might have to add a bit more.

Optional:
Egg – as egg wash, for extra beautiful shine and browning and to attach more (also optional) seeds to the top.

substitutions

• Flour – You can use all purpose flour, but it will have an impact on the protein content and structure of this bread. Whole wheat would also work, though you’ll probably need to add a bit more water. I’ll be posting a whole wheat version in the future, but figured I’d give you the white one first, considering most people seem to prefer it.
• GF flour is a lot trickier and would, again, influence the protein content. I’d advise to consult the book “The Elements of Baking” which gives calculations for replacing ingredients for Gluten free baking.
• Butter – Coconut oil will work in place of butter, though you’ll taste the coconut. If you enjoy that, go ahead.
• Cottage Cheese – Now that’s where it gets tricky if you want to keep the protein content. Low fat Greek yoghurt might be an option, though I haven’t tried it yet. Buttermilk would work, but again: Protein is lower. For vegan options I’m unfortunately not sure, as I haven’t seen any vegan cottage cheese or similar with high protein.
• Protein Powder – Both whey and casein will work. You may try pea protein in case of a vegan diet, but I haven’t tried it myself as I just cannot stand the taste of it. If you do, I’d love to hear about it!
• Honey – I love to use barley malt syrup instead of honey. The only reason I haven’t done so here is, that not everyone has it at home. It adds a lovely malt flavor to the loaf and helps with browning. Maple syrup or coconut sugar will also work.
• Seeds – Use any seeds you like and have at home. Poppy seeds make a lovely inclusion, so do Nigella seeds with their onion-y flavor. Or finely chopped nuts like walnuts, pecans, cashews or hazelnuts.
• Salt – Please don’t replace or leave out the salt. As explained above it’s quite essential.
• Optional egg wash – You could use some melted butter or plant milk instead, both will give shine and more browning. The butter will leave the crust softer.

Equipment Used

• Measuring cups * – For most ingredients
• Kitchen scales – While I have given cups for the flour, it’s 900g in the recipe. If you choose to use cups, please check my note below on measuring flour, as it can be wildly off when using cups.
• Blender – I’m using a Nutribullet * for this, but any blender will work to get the cottage cheese smooth and mixed with the protein powder
• Stand Mixer – A note on this for bread recipes: I recently got a brand new Kitchen Aid, thinking they last a lifetime and are made for kneading bread. Hmm yeah. About that. I had to learn the hard way that the artisan series can struggle with heavier bread dough.
  So I would recommend, if you use it, to only switch it to the first gear and stand beside it the whole time of the kneading. If you feel it strains, switch it off and finish by hand. This dough is very non-sticky and easy to work with, so that should be fine.
  Meanwhile, I’m using my over 15 years old Kenwood Major Chef, which has kneaded hundreds of bread doughs without complaints and am waiting for my Kitchen Aid to be back from its repair.
  
  I still use the Kitchen Aid glass bowl I got for pictures though, as it’s much better for showing you the dough.
  
• Loaf Pan – I’m using this Nordic Ware Loaf Pan and am very impressed with how high my bread rises and how even the browning comes out.

Measuring Cups

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Nutribullet

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Food Scale

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Kenwood Chef Titanium

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Nordic Ware Naturals Loaf Pan

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*

How to Make this

2 days before baking

In an ideal world, you would feed your sourdough 2 days before planning to bake this bread. If you didn’t don’t despair. As long as you fed it within the last, say 4, you’ll be grand. There might be a tiny bit less rise, but the bread will still be perfectly delicious, as the sourdough catches up during the overnight fermentation.

With a very active and freshly fed starter, I managed to mix the bread dough early in the morning and bake in the evening. However it needs at least 2h to cool, so plan with that. I cut into my first one too early and it resulted in an underbaked center with a hole.

1 day before baking

I usually start my bread in the evening with enough time for a few optional stretch and folds during the bulk ferment. So about 2h before going to bed/settling in with some Netflix.

Either melt your butter and let it cool completely or let it soften outside the fridge. Just don’t use it either hot or fridge cold. Both versions won’t incorporate well and have different undesirable effects for this particular dough. Put it to the side until after the autolyse.

Blend cottage cheese and protein powder

Using about ½ cup of the water in the recipe, start by blending the cottage cheese. I usually do this in my Nutribullet *, as the Vitamix * is a bit too big for the task. But any blender will work. Or in doubt even a food processor *. As long as it breaks up the curds into a smooth liquid.

Add the protein powder and honey. Briefly blend again until no lumps are left.

Now, you might be tempted to throw in the protein powder right with the cottage cheese, but from the experience of the clumped up mess I scraped out of my blender: I wouldn’t advise you to. It becomes perfectly smooth though as soon as the cottage cheese is liquified first.

Mix the wet

Stir the blended cottage cheese-protein into the remaining water and sourdough starter. I’m using a dough whisk *, but a simple spoon, whisk * or fork will do just fine.

Mix the Dry

I realise that many recipe fold in the seeds last. And sure, you can do that. Personally, I’m lazy and at least with seeds that are fairly small and don’t break apart much, I simply include them into the flour from the start. If you are using larger nuts that you’d like to keep the size they are, wait until you are shaping the loaf. Add the salt to the flour as well.

Mix the wet into the dry

I usually start the mixing with a wooden spoon * or spatula *. I would show you in a video, but my light broke after just 4 months of use. *sigh*. Another item waiting for a repair. You think I have bad karma around electrical devices?

Anyway, back to the dough: Once roughly mix, either knead the dough by hand for about 10 minutes or in your stand mixer * with the dough hook on low for about 5 minutes.

Assess your dough: Is it too wet? Add a little flour at a time until it comes away from the sides of the bowl.

Is it too dry? Add a little water, a tablespoon at a time until it feels pliable but not mushy.

Autolyse

Let is stand for the autolyse for about 20 minutes. This allows the flour to absorb the water and the gluten to start developing, before the addition of butter coats some of the flour and slows it down.

Again, it is possible to skip this and add the butter from the start, but the rise and gluten development will be impacted.

Add butter

With a stand mixer * this is really easy: Add the butter in 2 parts, allowing the mixer to incorporate it into the dough. At first it will look as if the dough is just sloshing around in the butter, but don’t worry, it’ll be worked in over time. Add the second half once the first is worked in nicely.

By hand, stretch out the dough a bit (I would firmly vote for just softened and not melted butter here), spread half on the butter over it, fold the dough over and knead it in. Then repeat with the second half until well incorporated.

Bulk Ferment

Now it’s time for the bulk ferment. Take your dough out of the bowl. It should be easy to work with already. Shape it into a neat ball. Spray your bowl with a bit of oil and place the dough inside. This makes it easier to take out later. Cover the bowl with cling film or a lid. The Kitchen Aid glass bowl * has a loose sitting plastic lid that I find pretty ideal for this. With the Kenwood, I often just leave it to sit there in the machine with the splash protection cover attached, but the dough hook removed.

Stretch and fold (optional)

For the very best gluten development and oven spring, you can do a stretch and fold 3-4 times every 30 minutes now. To do that, wet your hands (it’s easier that way and less messy, in case your dough is still a bit sticky), lift and stretch one side of the dough, then fold it over. Rotate the bowl by 90 degrees, repeat. Do that 3-4 times. Stop when you feel your dough becoming very resistant. That’s a good sign of the gluten forming.

You can skip this step (I have done so many times) and still get a perfectly fine loaf of bread. It just gets some more rise and oven spring when you do it.

Overnight (or day) ferment

Now leave your dough in the covered bowl in the fridge overnight or at least 6-8h on the counter until it has doubled in volume.
Alternatively you could shape it as below the evening before, put it into the loaf tin and let it rise there.

This is how it looks when it’s done:

The day of Baking

Shape

Once your dough is visibly risen (this might be quicker in warmer conditions and take longer in winter) get a silicone baking mat * or lightly flour your worktop. Some flour in an old saltshaker works marvellously for aiming. Especially, if you, like me, are very good at sprinkling your floor with flour while dusting the worktop.

Get your loaf pan * and grease it lightly or line with baking parchment.

Push or roll your dough out about 8 inches long, and about as wide as the loaf pan *. It doesn’t have to be perfect, don’t worry. Check for and big bubbles and pop them. As opposed to classic sourdough bread with its open crumb, we don’t want holes in sandwich bread!

If you haven’t included the seeds/nuts yet, sprinkle them over now, fold the dough and knead it briefly until evenly distributed. Then push it out again. You might have to let it relax for 15min after kneading.

If the seeds are already in, start by rolling up the dough tightly from the short side and pinch the seam to seal it.

Optional seed and egg wash topping

If using egg wash, crack the egg into a small bowl and whisk it briefly with a fork.
Add the mixed seeds to a large plate that will fit the loaf.
Brush the top of the loaf with egg wash, then roll in it the seeds, pushing gently, so they adhere.

Place the bread seam side down in your prepared loaf pan and cover loosely with cling film or a damp kitchen towel.

Final rise

Allow your sandwich loaf to rise for 1-3 h or overnight in the fridge until visibly puffed up over the top of the loaf tin.

Bake

Pre-heat your oven to 425°F/220°C, placing a baking rack in the middle and either a baking tray or a large baking dish * at the bottom.

Slice your bread dough all the way through the middle with a sharp knife * or lame * about 1cm deep. This will allow it to rise more evenly and prevent uncontrolled cracking on the sides.

If you have 2 loaf pans of the same size you can skip the bottom baking dish * and simply cover your bottom loaf pan with the empty one to create a steam trap.

Once your oven is nice and hot (I usually pre-heat for about 30min to get an even temperature throughout) add your bread and pour 1.5 cups of water into the bottom dish to create some steam.

This will create a great oven spring and that perfect crust.

Close the oven and immediately lower the temperature to 400°F/200°C.

Bake for 30 minutes, take out the bottom dish with any remaining water and turn your bread by 180 degrees if your oven browns unevenly.

Bake for another 30, checking for browning after 15. If you feel your bread has reached the browning you enjoy, cover it loosely with kitchen foil to prevent it from getting too dark.

This bread, opposed to many others I made, needs a little longer than the top browning would suggest, to get the middle baked perfectly.

Let it Cool

Take your stunning Soft High Protein Sourdough Sandwich Bread out of the oven. Let it cool in the tin for about 15 minutes, then carefully transfer it onto a cooling rack to prevent moisture from gathering in the tin while cooling. I’m absolutely serious about this one: Let your bread cool. At least 2h until completely cooled out.

I know it’s hard, because it smells and looks just SO good! But trust me you’d regret cutting into it too early. I sure did. At this point the middle is still finishing to bake and firm up. Cutting into it too early can lead to holes and underbaked centres.

Enjoy

Now that you have patiently waited for your homemade sourdough loaf to cool, slice into it. Admire how nice and evenly it slices. Enjoy with any of your favourite toppings.

I had mine with lettuce, crumbly Greek feta, fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and red onions rings sprinkled with some salt and pepper and it was glorious!

How to Serve

This bread works, as the name suggests, fantastically well as sandwich. It holds the ingredients in firmly, while being soft enough to give you an easy bite of even the highest filled sandwich. I’m very partial to the classic BLT, recently more often with rice paper bacon. (I’m working on a recipe for that one!).

And while it keeps well for 3-4 days, it’s particularly nice toasted with some honey or jam. Plus it makes an incredible PBJ sandwich!

Variations

Savory

• Onion bread – Very popular in Germany, onion bread is created by mixing about a cup of crispy fried onions (you can get them ready made for hot dogs and similar) into the dough. Usually instead of the seeds.
• Cheese – Same as above, instead of the seeds, mix in grated cheese.
• Cheese and bacon – Use half grated cheese, half crispy fried and crumbled bacon or serrano ham

Sweet

• You could even use flavored protein powder like vanilla or chocolate, to make a flavored and sweeter loaf. Just be mindful that they add sweetener too, so the flavor profile won’t be neutral anymore. I have used vanilla whey protein in many of my sourdough discard recipes like my Sourdough Apple Muffins and Lemon Drizzle Bread with Zucchini and sourdough.
• Instead or even additional to the seeds sprinkle over some cinnamon sugar before rolling the dough up for the loaf pan. If you want a cinnamon roll feel, you could even spread some cream cheese over before the cinnamon sugar sprinkle.
• Raisins or other dried fruits – Replace about half of the seeds with them. Cranberries work great, so do chopped, dried apricots or dates.
• Or chocolate chips if you like.

How To Store

This lovely soft sourdough loaf keeps really nice and moist due to the butter and protein powder, both helping with the softness. About 3-4 days in a bread tin is perfect. I would probably toast it on day 3 and 4.

It also freezes great for up to 6 months. I usually freeze half or it, as it makes a large loaf.

FAQ

Other recipes you might enjoy

Now I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

Have you tried this? Did you enjoy it?
What other recipes would you like to see?

If you enjoyed this recipe, please share. It helps me a lot.

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