Italian Submarine Sandwich Bread
Italian Submarine Sandwich Bread is so easy to make and super low effort. I show you how to make them in this post.
Making submarine sandwich bread is my new favorite way to show my family some love. I am certain that homemade bread is better than anything I could get at the store because I control the ingredients. Store bought bread is often made with those nasty seed oils I refuse to consume as well as preservatives and who knows what else. I learned a lot whe making these baguettes and am sharing it with you now.
Bloom yeast
Honestly, this step is optional. I have had just as good of luck adding the ingredients in order and letting it rise. However, other people will say this step is necessary, so if you are not sure if you should then don’t skip this step.
Yeast likes a little sugar to feed on. I usually use honey, which is what I did here. You can also use white sugar if you would prefer. Give the water and honey a little stir to start it dissolving before adding your yeast. The water should be between 100-103℉. Too hot and the yeast will die before you get started. Too cold and it won’t come out of hybernation. Use a thermometer the first time and put a little on your wrist so you know what that temperature feels like.
Yeast before Blooming 
Yeast After Blooming
Knead the submarine sandwich bread dough
You want to knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic. A fingerprint in the dough will bounce back into place in a second when it has been kneaded enough. It will take 5-6 minutes in a stand mixer. Longer if doing it by hand, 10-12 minutes. I suggest setting a timer, because you will want to quit long before it is kneaded enough if doing it by hand.
Proof the dough
You want the yeast to make your dough nice and airy so don’t skimp on this step. You want it to double. This time, mine tripled in size. The yeast must have really liked my dough!
Its important when you are making bread to get a smooth dough ball for the first rise. I do NOT grease my bowl. I think it never needs it and all the grease does is make it so that my bread doesn’t come together when I am trying to shape it. You do you, but I am in the NO-GREASE camp on this one.
Put the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Start by taking a bit of the dough from the side near the bottom and folding it over to the middle and pinching it in. Then go around the dough ball, pulling and stretching the pieces, pinching them each into the center until the sides are smooth. Turn it over and it should be a nice pretty globe almost. You want to the dough semi taught when you put it in the bowl, so use your palms and press the dough underneath itself if you need to. Then put it in your bowl, cover it with a clean kitchen towel and put it in a warm place to rise. I tried turning the bulb on in my oven to make it warm, but I think my oven has an air conditioner because it sat there for 2 hours and did not rise. It rose when I took it out and put it on my counter. Play around with it and see what conditions your yeast wants to work in.
Shape the dough
Dough ball -
proofed Dough Ball tripled in size -
Dough cut into 8 pieces
To make the hoagie’s, I cut the dough ball into 8 pieces. Then to shape, take a little at a time and fold it all into the center of the dough bowl until the other side is round and smooth. Then start rolling from the center out until the dough elongates and becomes smooth. I’m not super great at this but am getting better. Practice will eventually pay off.
Egg wash
Brush the egg wash on the hoagies before baking and halfway through. This ensures you get that deep golden color we are all used to when we think hoagie. It also adds a really pretty shine to the dough. Don’t skip this step… although you can skip this step. But don’t. You can see in the after baking image below how it makes the bread a nice golden brown color.
NOTE: These are WAAAAYYYY too big. Make sure you split your dough into 8 equal parts and shape them into longer hoagie shapes.
Lessons learned in the kitchen
I adopted this recipe from my italian bread bowls but only made four from that recipe which was a mistake. The dough was way too big as you can see in the pictures above. So, my advice is to split this up into at least 6-8 hoagies instead of four or you will have a lot of bread for your sandwiches.
Its important when you are making bread to get a smooth dough ball for the first rise. I do NOT grease my bowl. I think it never needs it and all the grease does is make it so that my bread doesn’t come together when I am trying to shape it. You do you, but I am in the NO-GREASE camp on this one.
More Buns and Things
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Italian Submarine (Hoagie) Sandwich Bread
Equipment
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
- Dough knife
- Parchment Paper
Ingredients
- 2½ cup warm water
- 2¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
- 2 teaspoon honey
- 7 cup all purpose flour
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg white
- 1 tbsp water
Instructions
- Activate the yeast by adding 2½ cups warm water (110-115°F), 2 ¼ tsp active dry yeast, and 2 tsp honey to the bowl of your stand mixer. Let it sit until the yeast is frothy.
- Once the yeast is frothy, add 4 cups of the flour, 2 tbsp avocado oil, and 2 tsp salt to the bowl. Mix with the dough hook attachment until a shaggy dough forms.
- Add 1 cup of additional flour at a time, mixing well between additions.
- Knead the dough with the dough hook for 5-6 minutes or until it appears smooth and bounces back when you press a finger into it.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Start grabbing pieces of dough, folding and stretching them into the center of the dough, pressing them in until the dough ball is smooth. Place the dough back into the stand mixer bowl.
- Let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently deflate. Cut the dough into 8 roughly equal size pieces using a knife or bench scraper. Shape each piece into a hoagie shape by folding and stretching the sides underneath the dough and pinching together. Then roll them out into a long tube shape by starting in the middle and rolling outwards. You should have 8 tight hoagie-shaped dough sections.
- Place the hoagies on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean dish towel and allow to rise until roughly doubled in size.
- Preheat your oven to 400℉.
- In a small bowl, mix 1 large egg white and 1 tbsp water together. Brush the mixture on each hoagie for a nice golden color.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack until completely cool before using.
Notes
- I do not oil my proofing bowl on purpose. When you add oil it makes the dough not want to come together and my bread loaves never end up looking like I want them to. I never have issues with it sticking or being too dry so I don’t do it.Â
- Calorie Count assumes you are eating half of the hoagie.