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 it’s perfect if you only have 1 loaf pan.
If you’re new to working with yeast, reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs. This recipe is brought to you in partnership with Red Star Yeast.
Let’s make homemade sandwich bread. This is a basic staple in any bread baker’s repertoire, but it’s also a recipe that shouldn’t be overlooked. There’s nothing on earth quite like homemade bread and my recipe is loaf perfection—rising tall, tasting buttery-soft, and making the most epic sandwiches. It’s truthfully the best homemade bread I’ve ever tasted and it all comes from just 7 ingredients. And if you’re 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? Here’s my no yeast bread.
Just 1 Loaf of Bread
Besides the simplicity of the process, you’ll appreciate that this sandwich bread recipe yields just 1 loaf. You don’t need a crazy amount of flour, multiple loaf pans, and you’re not left with 2-3 leftover loaves on your hands. (Which wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing.) Just 1 loaf to prepare, rise, shape, and bake—convenient, 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. 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. 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, it’s time to knead. You can continue beating the dough with the mixer for this step or you can knead the dough by hand. If you’re new to bread baking, my how to knead dough post and video can help with this step.
Sandwich Bread Ingredients
You need 7 ingredients—practically the same as my homemade cinnamon swirl bread but less sugar. Likewise, they’re basically the same ingredients as my soft dinner rolls too, but in order to bake a bread that rises tall and has legitimate structure, we’ll 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: 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. It’s my go-to for all bread.
- Sugar: Sugar feeds the yeast, increases its activity, and tenderizes the dough.
- Butter: 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: You can’t 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. It’s 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 8×15-inch rectangle:
Roll it up tightly starting with the 8-inch side, so you have an 8-inch roll to fit into your 9×5-inch loaf pan. (Unlike cinnamon rolls where you roll up the dough starting with the larger side.) Let it rise until it’s 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 Geller’s Turkey Moist-Maker Sandwich 🙂
- 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 doesn’t even compare. You can actually taste the soft and buttery toasty crumbs here. Or make an easy turkey sandwich—store-bought bread can’t make a sandwich taste as PERFECT as this.
I understand there’s a major convenience with store-bought bread and I’m 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 I’m confident there’s no better baked good than this perfect loaf. You won’t 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.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (240ml) water, warmed to about 110°F (43°C)
- 1/4 cup (60ml) whole milk, warmed to about 110°F (43°C)
- 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 420–430g) 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: Keep the dough in the mixer and beat for an additional 5–8 full minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 5–8 full minutes. (If you’re 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 finger—if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise. You can also do a “windowpane test” 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 it’s 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 9×5-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 8×15 inches. It does not have to be perfect—in fact, it will probably be rounded on the edges. That’s ok! Roll it up into an 8 inch log and place in the prepared loaf pan.
- 2nd Rise: Cover shaped loaf with aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. Allow to rise until it’s 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 350°F (177°C). (It’s best to bake the bread towards the bottom of the oven so the top doesn’t 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 195–200°F (90–93°C).
- 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 9×5-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, remove 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 | 9×5-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 don’t recommend whole wheat flour because it doesn’t 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.
- 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 don’t 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
New to bread making and I made this bread a few days ago, it was delicious. Thank you so much for your recipes. The bread came out wonderful. I made your pizza dough last night, it was terrific. I had a hard time rolling out the dough. My parchment paper kept moving as I was rolling. Please help.
I made this bread for the first time yesterday. It was delicious! There was one area of the bread, while baking, that sunk in, like a cake, although everything was cooked perfectly inside. How do I remedy this so that it looks just like yours the next time I make it?
Really nice dough to work with and a nice texture. It seemed a little salty to me but I added a little 1/2 n 1/2 to my 2% to make a 1/4 cup. I wonder if that’s why. I think I would cut back to 1 tsp salt next time. Thank you for a great recipe.
Thank you for making this recipe a 1-loaf recipe. I live alone and making two to four loaves is too much.
Hi Sally! Do you think this would work with whole wheat flour? I only have that right now lol.
Hi Barbara! See my recipe note.
Sally your recipe did not disappoint. The bread was lovely and delicious. I followed the recipe exactly using all purpose flour, but I had to add a little more flour in to get the right consistency. It baked up just like your photo – it was a proud moment. Thank you for inspiring me with your gorgeous recipes – always perfect. Happy Baking
This bread is wonderful – one of my favorites.
I can’t find yeast anywhere right now. Any recipes for bread or rolls that don’t use yeast?
Hi Joelle, The following 2 bread recipes do not require yeast for leavening. Each are personal favorites and VERY simple:
Biscuits and Irish Soda Bread.
You might enjoy my newest post on Baking with Minimal Ingredients.
I very much want to try this. I make bread all the time and love my recipe but always liking for new versions. Problem is all our stores are out of yeast. I know I could order on line but I can’t justify the shipping when we have to watch our money. So guess I have to bookmark this one and keep looking for yeast to return – gotta be 1st ones in the store during this crazy virus time. Down to 2 packages, saving for special baking. Will be making non yeast breads for now. Enjoy baking everyone!
Hi Julianne! Here are all of my quick bread recipes (no yeast). Let me know if/when you try this sandwich bread or any of my other recipes.
The hardest part of making bread right now is finding flour. Rough times we are living in right now. That being said –
This is the best sandwich bread ever.
Thank you for sharing with the world.
I made this yesterday because I was running low on bread. I didn’t have any milk so I just used water. It still came out fantastic. The bread is so soft and delicious. The minimal ingredients are perfect for being stuck at home during this time. My dough was a little sticky still with three cups of flour so I did add a little bit extra and it did the trick. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Love this bread Sally!! Can’t believe it’s taken me this long since you posted it, but I’ll be making it often for sure! So tasty, soft and delightful texture! I did add a bit more flour as some readers noted but I think it’s always important to go by feel a bit with bread, to account for weather/climate/flour differences.
I was even more over the moon the next morning, when I found it makes SENSATIONAL toast!! Thanks for another winning recipe!
What an amazing dough, so silky. I did have to add a bit more flour, but it is a rainy kind of day. I appreciate making one loaf at a time. Bread making had me some what intimidated, until now. Great recipe! What do you think about adding some cinnamon and raisins to the rolling up process?
Hi Tina! Thank you so much for trying this recipe. Here is my cinnamon swirl bread.
Can I make this with buttermilk or would it be too much fat?
Buttermilk should be fine.
Can this dough be used for hamburger rolls? Cut the dough into individual balls, form and final rise? Thanks in advance!
Sure can! You could also try my bread bowls to make hamburger buns.
After mixing for 2 minutes, my dough still seems very loose…all of my ingredients were to the temperature instructed and I measured the flour on my food scale, but it seems like it isn’t enough. Do i need more?
I would add more flour if your dough seems too sticky.
Hi Nikki, The bread won’t be quite as soft but you can use water in place of the 1/4 cup of milk. No need for extra oil.
Great thanks! I’ll keep you posted!
I decided to take up bread-making while in social = and let me tell you this recipe is fantastic! Super easy to follow for a beginner and Sally gives great tips along the way. The bread turned out fantastic and I already plan to make it again as soon as this loaf is gone! Thanks so much!
The recipe and clear instruction (print and video) made this first-timer feel like a pro. Thank you!
This bread is foolproof. I was out of bread , staying home. Finished kneading and realized I forgot to put sugar in. Didn’t want to waste ingredients so I put dough back in the mixer, squirted on some honey, added a couple tablespoons of flour and proceeded with the recipe. Turned out just fine. This is my second loaf. I feel great knowing I am can be somewhat self sufficient during these difficult times.
Amazing! This is my go to recipe now after nearly giving up on finding a great tasting bread recipe.
I used 1% milk because that was all I had and accidentally used double the yeast ( didn’t see the side note) to make two loaves.
Came out perfect!
I am watching this bake as I type, and smelling it’s wonderful yeasty aroma. I didn’t read any reviews before jumping in. My yeast didn’t active in the time specified, but it’s damp and cold today. I gave it more time. Weighed the ingredients. Followed the directions. The dough was wet and sticky, but I did not add any additional flour. Handed the dough gingerly as it was sticky. Used a dough cloth to form into a lose rectangle, rolled plopped in pan and so on. Just go it out the oven. Wonderful! Trust time and patience. Thank you for the recipe!
My family and I love this bread. It’s delicious!!! I made this 3 times and the dough never comes together as written in the recipe. I always have to add a lot of flour and last time I knead for well over 10 minutes by hand to get the right consistency . Just wondering why my dough is so sticky and I need to add extra flour all the time.
Help please!!
Hi Sally. Since I cannot seem to get bread at the market these days, I am going to try this out. I don’t have milk but i have heavy cream. Do you think that will work?? Thanks so much!
Jamie
Hi Jamie! I don’t recommend heavy cream because it is much too heavy. Instead, you can try watering it down with some water. Though I haven’t tested this so I’m unsure of the results.
I got a pretty big air bubble in my loaf. Any tips on how to prevent that? Other than that it was really good!
Hi Alex! Make sure you roll it up into a very tight 8-inch log in step 6. The tighter the layers/swirls, the less chance of an air bubble. Also, don’t over-proof the dough in either rise. (Don’t let it rise too long past necessary.)
Made my first loaf. Smells wonderful and looks great on top, but sides came out a little “airy” looking, and not browned up as nicely. And as I removed it from pan, the nicely puffed up top almost came off the loaf!! It’s on the rack cooling now. Also had to bake 47 minutes.
Um…WOW! I have tried and tried to find a recipe for sandwich bread that rises over the lip of the pan and is sturdy yet soft. Made this today and it is our winner. Everyone in the family loved it and I will probably be making another loaf tomorrow LOL! Thank you!!
My first time baking bread. It was perfect! Followed the instructions and the video was helpful too.
You have ruined store-bought sandwich bread! This recipe is amazing! I love it! I doubled the recipe to make two and we eat it for breakfast toast and sandwiches! Its amazing
Delicious homemade bread recipe. Much easier than I expected and the flavor is excellent. Thanks for sharing this recipe Sally. I’ll bake it again next week!
I signed up for the bread challenge emails, working with yeast and bread was my baking goal for this year. After making the no knead loaves a few times, I decided to try this one. After a failed attempt #1 with the yeast (liquid was too hot), I was So happy when it rose and rolled like sally said it would in the next attempt. It got huge with rise #2 and took longer to bake in my old (and electric oven) , but totally worth it! So much better than store bought bread and so satisfying that it’s homemade. Love your recipes ,videos , pics and instructions, they never fail me!
I’m so happy that you reached your goal this year, Meredeth! I love that you learned from your first loaf, suck with it, and had a great experience with it the second round 🙂