With step-by-step pictures, a full video tutorial, and plenty of helpful tips, learn how to make simple white sandwich bread using a few baking ingredients like flour, water, yeast, salt, and milk. Bread flour promises a super soft interior with an extra chewy crust. This recipe yields 1 loaf, so itโs perfect if you only have 1 loaf pan.
If youโre new to working with yeast, reference my Baking with Yeast Guideย for answers to common yeast FAQs. This recipe is brought to you in partnership withย Red Star Yeast.
Letโs make homemade sandwich bread. This is a basic staple in any bread bakerโs repertoire, but itโs also a recipe that shouldnโt be overlooked. Thereโs nothing on earth quite like homemade bread and my recipe is loaf perfectionโrising tall, tasting buttery-soft, and making the most epic sandwiches. Itโs truthfully the best homemade bread Iโve ever tasted and it all comes from just 7 ingredients. And if youโre nervous to bake with yeast, I guarantee you will finally feel confident with this no-fuss recipe.
This Sandwich Bread Is:
- Soft white bread with an extra chewy exterior
- Crisp right out of the oven!
- Made from 7 easy ingredients
- Golden brown with a super impressive rise
- Extraordinary on its own or as the base of a sandwich
- Simple to make
- Easy to make ahead or freeze
Looking for a no yeast alternative? Hereโs my no yeast bread.
Just 1 Loaf of Bread
Besides the simplicity of the process, youโll appreciate that this sandwich bread recipe yields just 1 loaf. You donโt need a crazy amount of flour, multiple loaf pans, and youโre not left with 2-3 leftover loaves on your hands. (Which wouldnโt necessarily be a bad thing.) Just 1 loaf to prepare, rise, shape, and bakeโconvenient, approachable, and straightforward. My recipes for multigrain bread, homemade cinnamon swirl bread, and honey oat bread both produce just 1 loaf as well.
Overview: How to Make Sandwich Bread
- Make the dough.ย Continue below to learn more about this dough recipe.
- Knead the dough. Reference my How to Knead Dough video tutorial for extra help with this step.
- Cover the dough and let it rise.ย The dough rises in about 1-2 hours in a relatively warm environment.
- Punch down the dough to release the air.
- Shape the dough into a large rectangle, then roll it into loaf.
- Let the loaf rise for about 1 hour.
- Bake for 30-34 minutes until golden brown.
As shown in the video tutorial below, the dough comes together with a mixer. You can use a paddle attachment or a dough hook. You can also make the dough by hand, but it requires a bit of arm muscle. After the dough comes together in the mixing bowl, itโs time to knead. You can continue beating the dough with the mixer for this step or you can knead the dough by hand. If youโre new to bread baking, myย how to knead doughย post and video can help with this step.
Sandwich Bread Ingredients
You need 7 ingredientsโpractically the same as my homemade cinnamon swirl bread but less sugar. Likewise, theyโre basically the same ingredients as my soft dinner rolls too, but in order to bake a bread that rises tall and has legitimate structure, weโll leave out some of the fat. Swap some of the milk for water and leave out the egg.
- Water: Liquid activates yeast. I use mostly water in this dough because we need a bread that has structure. Using all milk, like I do for my dinner rolls, would yield a flimsy bread without much texture.
- Milk: To make a soft bread, you need fat in the dough so make sure 1/4 cup of the liquid is milk. Low fat milk works too, but whole milk produces phenomenal texture.
- Yeast:ย You can use active dry yeast or instant yeast. If using active dry, the rise times will be a bit longer. I recommend Platinum Yeast from Red Star, which is an instant yeast blended with natural dough improvers. Itโs my go-to for all bread.
- Sugar:ย Sugar feeds the yeast, increases its activity, and tenderizes the dough.
- Butter:ย Butter promises a flavorful loaf. I tested this recipe with melted butter, softened butter, and even olive oil. We liked the loaf made with softened butter the best because it had pronounced buttery flavor and a softer (yet still sturdy) interior.
- Salt:ย You canโt make flavorful bread without salt!
- Flour: You can use all-purpose flour or bread flour. All-purpose flour is convenient for most, but bread flour produces a chewier crust. There are no other changes to the recipe if you use bread flour. For best taste, I highly recommend bread flour. Itโs what I always use when I make artisan bread. If you wish to use whole wheat flour, follow my recipe for whole wheat bread instead.
After you make and knead the dough, let it rise. Then, punch it down to release the air:
Roll it out into an 8ร15-inch rectangle:
Roll it up tightly starting with the 8-inch side, so you have an 8-inch roll to fit into your 9ร5-inch loaf pan. (Unlike cinnamon rolls where you roll up the dough starting with the larger side.) Let it rise until itโs 1 heaping inch above the rim of the pan:
Bake until golden brown, about 30-34 minutes.
Uses for Homemade Sandwich Bread
- Any sandwich. Like the Ross Gellerโs Turkey Moist-Maker Sandwich ๐
- BLT or grilled cheese
- Avocado toast or bacon & egg sandwiches
- Soup dipper
- Make croutons
- French toast or Blueberry French Toast Casserole
- Or in savory recipes like Breakfast Casserole and Sausage & Herb Stuffing
But our favorite way is simply warm toast with regular butter or honey butter & jam. Honestly, toast made from mass-produced bread doesnโt even compare. You can actually taste the soft and buttery toasty crumbs here. Or make an easy turkey sandwichโstore-bought bread canโt make a sandwich taste as PERFECT as this.
I understand thereโs a major convenience with store-bought bread and Iโm not asking you to only make homemade bread for the rest of you life, but try it at least once. It takes a few hours one afternoon and most of the work is hands-off while the dough rises. Fresh-baked sandwich bread smells incredible, tastes even better, and Iโm confident thereโs no better baked good than this perfect loaf. You wonโt regret trying this.
More Easy Bread Recipes
- Focaccia
- Multigrain Bread
- Artisan Bread
- Cheesy Breadsticks
- Pizza Crust
- Homemade Soft Pretzels
- Bread Bowls
- Homemade Breadsticks
- Olive Bread
- Cranberry Nut No-Knead Bread
Sandwich Bread
- Prep Time: 3 hours, 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 32 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours
- Yield: 1 loaf
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
You only need 7 ingredients to make this simple sandwich bread. Soft and buttery with a chewy/crisp crust, this fresh loaf of bread will quickly become a staple in your kitchen. See recipe notes for freezing and overnight instructions. You can also reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.ย
Ingredients
- 1 cup (240ml) water, warmed to about 110ยฐF (43ยฐC)
- 1/4 cup (60ml) whole milk, warmed to about 110ยฐF (43ยฐC)
- 2 and 1/4 teaspoons (7g) Platinum Yeast from Red Star instant yeast (1 standard packet)
- 2 Tablespoons (25g) granulated sugar
- 4 Tablespoons (1/4 cup; 56g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons (9g) salt
- 3 and 1/3 cups (about 420โ430g) all-purpose flour or bread flour (spooned & leveled), plus more as needed
Instructions
- Prepare the dough: Whisk the warm water, warm milk, yeast, and sugar together in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Cover and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
- Add the butter, salt, and 1 cup flour. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula, then add another cup of flour. Beat on medium speed until relatively incorporated (there may still be chunks of butter). Add the remaining flour and beat on medium speed until the dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 2 minutes. *If you do not own a mixer, you can mix this dough with a large wooden spoon or silicone spatula. It will take a bit of arm muscle!*
- Knead the dough:ย Keep the dough in the mixer and beat for an additional 5โ8 full minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 5โ8 full minutes. (If youโre new to bread-baking, my How to Knead Dough video tutorial can help here.) If the dough becomes too sticky during the kneading process, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of flour at a time on the dough or on the work surface/in the bowl to make a soft, slightly tacky dough. Do not add more flour than you need; you do not want a dry dough. After kneading, the dough should still feel a little soft. Poke it with your fingerโif it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise. You can also do a โwindowpane testโ to see if your dough has been kneaded long enough: tear off a small (roughly golfball-size) piece of dough and gently stretch it out until itโs thin enough for light to pass through it. Hold it up to a window or light. Does light pass through the stretched dough without the dough tearing first? If so, your dough has been kneaded long enough and is ready to rise. If not, keep kneading.
- 1st Rise: Lightly grease a large bowl with olive oil or nonstick spray. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it to coat all sides in the oil. Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rise in a relatively warm environment for 1-2 hours or until double in size. (I always let it rise on the counter. Takes about 2 hours. For a tiny reduction in rise time, see my answer to Where Should Dough Rise? in my Baking with Yeast Guide.)
- Grease a 9ร5-inch loaf pan.
- Shape the bread: When the dough is ready, punch it down to release the air. Lightly flour a work surface, your hands, and a rolling pin. Roll the dough out into a large rectangle, about 8ร15 inches. It does not have to be perfectโin fact, it will probably be rounded on the edges. Thatโs ok! Roll it up into an 8 inch log and place in the prepared loaf pan.
- 2nd Rise:ย Cover shaped loaf with aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. Allow to rise until itโs about 1 inch above the top of the loaf pan, about 1 hour. (See video and photo above for a visual.)
- Adjust oven rack to a lower position and preheat oven to 350ยฐF (177ยฐC). (Itโs best to bake the bread towards the bottom of the oven so the top doesnโt burn.)
- Bake the bread: Bake for 32-36 minutes or until golden brown on top. If you notice the top browning too quickly, loosely tent the pan with aluminum foil. (I usually add aluminum foil over the loaf around the 20 minute mark.) To test for doneness, if you gently tap on the loaf, it should sound hollow. For a more accurate test, the bread is done when an instant-read thermometer reads the center of the loaf as 195โ200ยฐF (90โ93ยฐC).
- Remove from the oven and allow bread to cool for a few minutes in the pan on a cooling rack before removing the bread from the pan and slicing. Feel free to let it cool completely before slicing, too.
- Cover leftover bread tightly and store at room temperature for 6 days or in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Prepare recipe through step 6. Place shaped loaf in a greased 9ร5-inch loaf pan or disposable loaf pan, cover tightly, and freeze for up to 3 months. On the day you serve it, let the loaf thaw and rise for about 4-5 hours at room temperature. Bake as directed. You can also freeze the baked bread loaf. Allow the bread to cool completely, then freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature, then reheat as desired.
- Overnight Instructions: Prepare the recipe through step 6. Cover the shaped bread tightly and refrigerate for up to about 15 hours. At least 3 hours before you need the bread the next day, removeย from the refrigerator, keep covered, and allow to rise on the counter for about 1-2 hours before baking. Alternatively, you can let the dough have its 1st rise in the refrigerator overnight. Cover the dough tightly and place in the refrigerator for up to 12 hours. Remove from the refrigerator and allow the dough to fully rise for 2 more hours. Continue with step 5.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Stand Mixer or Large Glass Mixing Bowl with Wooden Spoon / Silicone Spatula | 9ร5-inch Loaf Pan | Rolling Pin
- Yeast: Platinum Yeast from Red Star is an instant yeast. Any instant yeast works. You can use active dry yeast instead. Rise times will be slightly longer using active dry yeast. Reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
- Flour: You can use all-purpose flour or bread flour. All-purpose flour is convenient for most, but bread flour produces a chewier loaf of bread and I highly recommend it. The bread is still soft no matter which you use. Either flour is fine and there are no other changes to the recipe if you use one or the other. I donโt recommend whole wheat flour because it doesnโt have the same baking properties as white flour or bread flour (the gluten levels are different). If you wish to use whole wheat flour, try my recipe for whole wheat bread instead.ย
- Doubling this recipe: For best results, I recommend making two separate batches of dough. However, if you want to double the recipe all in 1 mixing bowl, double all of the ingredients except for the yeast and butter. Use 3 and 1/4 teaspoons yeast and 6 Tablespoons of butter.
- Bread Machine Questions: I donโt own a bread machine so I have not tested it, but some readers in the comments section have had success.
- Adapted from Homemade Cinnamon Swirl Bread
Reader Comments and Reviews
We donโt eat refined sugar, would I be able to sub in honey or maple syrup in place of the granulated sugar? Thanks!
Hi Lexi, you can use the same amount of honey instead of sugar without any changes. Let us know if you give it a try!
Sally, I make this bread all the time. So easy and flavorful. The last few times, however, the crust wrinkles after cooling. Any suggestions?
Hi Sue, weโre so glad you enjoy this bread! It could be the moisture from the air thatโs creating the softer, wrinkly crustโ as well as the breadโs top settling down (totally normal!), but make sure not to over-proof your dough because that can weaken the gluten structure leading to more wrinkles.
Sorry, another question. For 2 loaves, I would double the flour from 3 1/3 to 6 2/3 cups?
Is that correct? Seems like a lot>
See recipe Notes! For best results, I recommend making two separate batches of dough. However, if you want to double the recipe all in 1 mixing bowl, double all of the ingredients except for the yeast and butter. Use 3 and 1/4 teaspoons yeast and 6 Tablespoons of butter.
My husband made this bread today. He mistakenly grabbed the medium rye flour and didnโt notice until everything was mixed and he was kneading it. He figured it was too late to do anything except finish it. Worst case scenario, we would just throw it out. It turned out fine, but didnโt rise as high as you pictured due to the reduced amount of gluten in the rye. The taste was great.
I also forgot to ask if you donโt have unsalted butter do you adjust the added salt ?
Hi Carole, you can use salted butter with no other changes to the recipe needed. The slight flavor of salt in the 4 Tbsp of salted butter wonโt make a difference in the baked bread. Enjoy!
Never seen anyone answer so fast. Impressed! Thank you for answering both my questions.
Hands not good enough to knead by hand. How long do you let it knead all the way through with Kitchenaid? and
You do not pinch seams shut when you have rolled it out?
Hi Carole! See step 3: โKeep the dough in the mixer and beat for an additional 5โ8 full minutesโฆโ Since you place the rolled dough seam-side down, you donโt need to pinch it.
Hello! I was curious if the weather affects this recipe? I have been making this bread for several months and it has always come out amazing every time. However, the last several times (I generally make it once a week), it has turned out to be still very sticky after kneading in my mixer, and doesnโt rise/bake quite the same. I have tried adding a bit more flour, but havenโt noticed a difference. I live in Oklahoma where it is both humid and hot, so I was wondering if that was the cause as I havenโt done anything differently than I was before. Any advice?
Hi Whitney, yes, humidity definitely affects bread-baking! Donโt be afraid to add a little more flour until the dough reaches a kneadable consistency.
I donโt want to double the recipe but I want to be able to spread the dough over two loaves which Iโve been able to do but wanting just a little bit extra so could I half more of the ingredients into the original amount? If that makes sense
Hi! I make this recipe often and love it. The only issue Iโm running into is with the stability of my loaves. It turns out too soft and a bit crumbly. Okay for ham and cheese sandwiches, unusable for pb&jโs. Where am I going wrong?
Hi Jordan, weโre so glad this is a favorite for you! Itโs definitely a softer bread, but if the texture feels a little too soft, there are a few small tweaks you can try next time. You can bake it a few extra minutes for a slightly sturdier crumb. You can also switch to all water instead of mostly water and some milk. And/or you can reduce the butter a bit. Let us know if you try it again with any tweaks!
I live in Colorado at 6500 above sea levelโฆ.. making bread is always a quiz. I followed your recipe exactly and found the rose to be stickyโฆ not tacky. I punched down and kneaded it some more with flour, waiting for a second rise. Really donโt know what Iโm going to get since I havenโt baked it yet but Iโm not very hopeful. I was hesitant to go too far on the first kneadโฆโฆ should I have kneaded it more for more elasticity?
Hi Jean! I wish we could help, but have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
Hi! Iโm a day late, so youโve probably already figured it out, but Iโm also in Colorado (Denver Metro), and I made this recipe earlier this week. I followed the recipe as written, and only had to add about an extra pinch or two of flour while kneading. I did have to knead it for a decent amount of time before it passed the windowpane test, though. Rising times were the same as in the recipe (about an hour for each rise) and I think the baked loaf ended up coming out okay!
Ali, from Little Hill Homestead, said she created this exact recipe.
So, who gets credit for it?
Is it your recipe or hers?
Either way, Iโve been using it for years and its great
Hi Marcella, So glad you enjoy the bread! We first published this recipe back in 2019. We arenโt sure when the other one was published, but with so few ingredients there are probably many similar recipes out there!
This may have already been asked, so if so I apologize!
I do not own any loaf pans, but I do have a cast iron Dutch oven. Can I make this into a boule and bake in the Dutch instead? And if so, do you have recommendations for changes I might need to make to oven temp/bake time?
Thanks! Excited to try this regardless!
Hi Claire! This recipe really needs a loaf pan. For a Dutch oven bread recipe, we would use our artisan bread recipe instead โ see Notes after the recipe for Dutch oven details.
I made this in my bread machine, and it turned out great! I used Cycle 1 (Basic), Medium setting for crust, and 1.5 pound loaf size setting. I added all the liquids (slightly warm water, milk, butter, cut into 1 T squares), then the dry (flour, salt, sugar), and last, the yeast. I used bread machine yeast, and the exact measurements from the recipe on all ingredients. Turned it on, and scraped down the sides with a rubber spatula during the first mix. The crust is lightly crisp, the texture is fine, and the taste is excellent! Keeper!
Love all of your baking! Thank you for sharing