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 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
I can’t believe how easy this bread was and how good it turned out! I hate frozen bread and a lot of recipes make 2 loaves so was happy to find this recipe for 1 loaf. I reduced salt slightly and used half and half instead of whole milk (only had skim milk so figured half and half would be better. This may be a weekly bake for me!
Excellent!!! I actually put it in my older model bread maker on dough setting. Then transferred to a loaf pan for second rise. It’s a keeper.
I really love this recipe and have been making it with half the flour being King Arthur’s white whole wheat flour and the other half being King Arthur’s bread flour. I have been having one issue: the center of the bread (where I started to roll the dough into an 8” log) seems to have less structure and often tears there. It has a bit more structure near the ends of the loaf than the middle. Any ideas what I might be doing wrong?
Hi Christine, I’m so glad you enjoy this bread recipe! The center of the bread is going to be softer than the exterior. I don’t think you’re really doing anything wrong. Feel free to replace the milk with more water, which helps provide a stronger crumb.
I just baked this loaf for the second time in two weeks and we are loving it! I do have a question, though. My second rise hasn’t been very substantial either time I’ve tried. Definitely nowhere near an inch above the rim of the pan. Any idea what I’m doing wrong? I have had to add extra flour both times to be able to handle it (less than 1/4 cup), so I’m wondering if that could be causing an issue? I’m pretty new to bread baking, and it’s happened both times so I’m sure it’s something I’m doing wrong. I’m getting a shorter loaf, which isn’t the end of the world. It’s delicious, but I’d like some bigger slices!
Hi Kathryn! Sounds like your bread could use a slightly longer rise time, or a slightly warmer environment. Our baking with yeast guide has some helpful tips as well. So glad you’re enjoying this recipe!
Another excellent recipe! I made this in the food processor and had to add a little more flour than required but it turned out quite well!
As a beginning baker, I just loved this recipe. I started out a couple of months ago with The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking. This led me to make a couple of dozen loaves that everyone loved. They used only four ingredients (flour, water, yeast, salt), were tasty and chewy, so good from the get go.
But, they weren’t anything like the white sandwich loaves in the store, didn’t really toast at all, even when you left them in the toaster for a while, and compared to store bought bread were pretty dense.
This recipe introduces three new ingredients that make all the difference: milk, sugar, and butter. The bread is now much fluffier (about twice the volume), the crust doesn’t crack at all, and it makes the most beautiful toast I’ve ever had.
Now I’m not saying it’s better than the four ingredient bread, just different. But with this one recipe my universe has completely expanded and got me thinking, “Wow! What else could I do with some bread dough and my oven.?”
This recipe is the best! My whole family loves it and I’ve been making it once week for some time now. Curious though, why roll it out out to a rectangle and then into a log rather that just shaping it into a loaf and placing it in the pan? I’ve rolled it tight, but still get some holes. Thanks in advance!
Hi Sarah, we’re so glad your family is loving this bread! You can certainly shape and put it right in the pan, but doing it this way gives the bread more structure since it was rolled up tightly instead of loosely placed in. Some holes are completely normal.
Amazing results! Love it!
What bread pan do you recommend for baking bread? This recipe makes delicious bread, and I love it. My current bread pan isn’t ideal, and I’d like to buy a better one. Thank you for this and so many other amazing recipes. This is my go-to site for cookies and cakes!
Hi Jennifer! We link to our favorite loaf pans in this best baking pans post. So glad you enjoy this bread!
I thought something was off because it rose so high, but I see tour picture looks like mine. I apparently took it out of the oven a little prematurely because the center was too moist and stuck together. Wish I could post a photo. You sure get the satisfaction of a good rise. The taste is bland and lacks even any aroma of yeast. However I think it is a good basic. I will try again but I’m tempted to split it into 2 loaves. I don’t need these monster slices.
Wonderful! Good bread. I tied a different recipe, twice and both times they were epic failures. Followed your recipe and had excellent results. After my last 2″failures I almost was afraid to try again to bake a loaf of bread. So glad I found your recipe and had the courage to give another try. Wow I feel like such a success. This is an easy to follow recipe with great results. Thank you!! Now that I have my confidence back I can’t wait to try your other recipes.
Hi Sally,
You’re one of my go-tos for baking recipes! I’m excited to try this one. Do you have recommendations for adapting this to high altitude?
Hi Libby! We wish we could help, but we have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html Let us know how the bread turns out for you!
It’s now my 3rd time using this recipe. Easy peasy! I always add ginger powder along with the sugar, yeast and warm liquids…I use a water/oat milk mix and it’s perfect. My favorite store brand bread is now$7. per loaf – so this recipe is extremely affordable and most important – delicious!!
Am I able to substitute 2% milk for whole milk?
Hi Kathleen, 2% milk will work in a pinch.
When you say in a pinch, what does it change? Taste, baking, consistency?
The higher fat content of whole milk will yield a very slightly softer bread. But 2% should work just fine!
This recipe is so fluffy and yummy. I have been searching for a sandwich bread recipe and I’ve found it. I used my bread maker though for 1.5 lbs loaf. Thank you!
Great recipe, although I definitely have to use another half cup or so of flour to get the right balance for the dough – Otherwise, it’s way too sticky and I can’t knead it properly. The bread is subtly sweet and rises to a nice height. Toasts so well in the sandwich press and holds sandwich fillings well. I’ve baked about ten loaves and the loaves are getting better and better.
My tips:
– Get the right temperature of milk and water. Otherwise you may kill your yeast if it’s too hot.
– Sift the flour – It made a difference in my loaves. Definitely more airy and light.
– I like hand kneading it, because you get a better idea of what stage the dough is at.
– Really let it rise the first time. Don’t punch it down too early.
– Definitely use aluminium foil around the 20 minute mark when baking to prevent it from colouring too much.
– I cool it completely before cutting.
I have made 12 loaves in 2 weeks. This stuff is amazing! Trying to replace the store bought stuff.
Can I successfully use evaporated milk?
Hi Amy, we haven’t tried this substitution, but let us know if you try!
This is recipe is perfect. I’ve made it 3 times in the past week! I only had buttermilk in the house and it worked just fine. I used it to make garlic rolls (spread the rolled out dough with melted butter and garlic) rolled up into pinwheels and baked in muffin tins. Results were fantastic. I love how easy and non-fussy this dough is.
Would I be able to make this at the same measurements with King Arthur white whole wheat flour?
Hi Ben, We haven’t tested this sandwich bread with white whole wheat flour so we can’t accurately predict the results. We would start by using a 1:1 substitution. Let us know how it goes!
This is the best bread I ever made. It was light and melt in your mouth. It was also sturdy enough for a sandwich. Will definitely make it again, and again. YUM!!
If I want to use quick rise yeast; what’s the method? Do I follow step 1 and add it to water first or do I add it to the flour directly ?
Hi Sonal, you can use your quick rise yeast here with no changes to the recipe. Still follow step 1 to activate it with the water, milk, and sugar.
I’d like to bake this in my Emile Henry Italian Bread Loaf Baker. I believe it is larger (volume) than a standard loaf pan and of course it has a lid. Would I need to alter anything to bake this sandwich bread using this ceramic baker?
I disappointed with this bread. I’m sure it was my issue and not the recipe but it didn’t rise the second time and was hard as a brick once I baked it. I’m not sure where I went wrong.
I wonder if the dough was overworked at all during the shaping step? Or perhaps rose for too long during the first rise? It’s concerning the dough completely stopped rising, and I’m sure that’s why the texture was off after baking. Sorry you had trouble with this one!
Could I potentially replace the butter with equivalent grams refined coconut oil and get a similar texture? I know the flavor wouldn’t be buttery but that wouldn’t bother me so much if the texture was still good. I’ve seen people comment that they just replaced the butter with liquid oil (vegetable/canola etc) and it came out okay but if they never tried it with butter I’m skeptical.
Or maybe go half butter half coconut oil?
Just to stretch butter a bit. Thank you!
That should absolutely work. Let me know how it goes!
The loaf came out really well for the most part, great texture, rise, smell, taste, everything seemed great. I ended up using about 28g of unsalted butter, 10ish grams of salted butter w/olive oil spread, 20+ grams of room temp coconut oil. Around 65g total. The butter was extremely soft and a little melted from slight over-warming in the microwave. The dough mixed together and kneaded great, everything was proceeding exceptionally I thought.. but I must not have rolled it quite tight enough. When I finally cut into it for toast there was a giant air pocket running all under the top of the crust. It’s a shame because the body of the bread is just perfect, soft and airy but firm and really delicious smelling. I’m not sure where I went wrong but I’ll have to be more careful next time.
oh my god!!! this bread is phenomenal! it’s soft and chewy and subtly sweet and somehow gets better with every bite. it rose beautifully, was quick and easy to make, and i’m so excited to try this bread with different toppings! i subbed full fat oatly + unsweetened soy milk for the whole milk, and used vegan butter – worked like a charm!
This bread tastes great! Sometimes I have trouble slicing it though; it gets crumbly and falls apart. Any ideas what I might be doing wrong?
Hi Stephanie, we’re so glad you enjoyed this bread recipe! If the bread was overly crumbly/not sturdy, it’s possible it was simple over baked a bit. Be sure to also spoon and level your flour to ensure it isn’t over measured. Both over baking and over measuring the flour can dry out the bread and make the slices a bit delicate. Hope these tips help for next time!
Would adding a little garlic or onion powder to the dough be crazy? Like 1.5-2 tsp garlic powder, or is that too much? Or any other x-factor ingredients to spice these up a bit? Made several times and they’ve been great every time, going to make more today. Thanks!
Hi James! Garlic powder is quite potent – we would start with 1/2- 1 tsp and add more to taste. You could add some fresh herbs or Italian seasoning as well like we do in these sea salt & herb skillet rolls. Let us know what you try!
I had two tabs open and meant to post this on the Soft Pretzel recipe! I could have sworn I did. Couldn’t imagine putting garlic in this bread but to each their own. Today I put some honey+butter+sesame seeds on top of my loaf and it came out beautiful. Big fan of this recipe. Thanks!
The bread is delicious! However hoping someone can help me. My bread is not study enough to hold a sandwich. As soon as I cut it the inside is so soft that I definitely wouldn’t be able to use it for a sandwich. I want this to be my go to recipe as thr taste is great but trying to figure out my user error on this one.
I’m so glad you enjoy this recipe. Have you tried the recipe with bread flour? I do find the slices hold shape better. You can try extending the bake time, or reducing the butter by 1 Tablespoons, and/or replacing the milk with more water. (For a stronger crumb.)
LOVE THIS RECIPE!!!! Tried it the first time yesterday and it was amazing!!!
Question – and sorry if you’ve answered it – there is no way to search comments 🙁
Any chance you have a conversion if we want to make in a 13x4x4 Pullman Loaf pan? My teacup human is particular about bread shape HAHAHAH
Keep up the great work!!
Hi Jenn, we don’t have a specific recipe for pullman bread. We’re not completely sure if this recipe would work because we haven’t tested it ourselves. It *shouldn’t* be a problem, but again– we haven’t tested it. Let us know if you do give it a try!
Would substituting half or all of the butter with
room temperature refinedd coconut oil be a feasible move?
What about increasing the amount of butter/fat in the loaf by just a little bit, say from 60 to 75-90 grams.. would it be a crazy change? Or just a richer loaf? Next batch will use a cheaper all purpose flour instead of bread flour and I’d like to try to rich it up a bit if possible.
Made this twice already with bread flour and came out great, we’ve all been enjoying. I like mine with almond butter and raspberry spread. Also made some yummy turkey and ham sandwiches.
Hi Steve, I haven’t tried the dough either way but you can certainly test it. Adding more butter/fat will make a richer, softer bread. Glad you enjoy this recipe!
I love this recipe but can anyone tell me why sometimes it deflates a little. Peeking to soon maybe! …would like to know, tho taste is still amazing..
Hi Wendy, We are so glad that you enjoy this sandwich bread recipe! We’d love to help you figure out the shape/deflating issue. This can happen if the dough over-proofs during that second rise. And it could be likely that the warm environment (for rising) is too warm. This means that the shaped dough is rising too fast, then easily deflates before/during/after baking. Next time, let it rise in a cooler environment. The slower rise will help guarantee a sturdier top. Hope this helps!