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
Mine turned out dense, how do I make it more fluffy? I used all purpose flour, would bread flour help? Taste is magnificent! Very pleased! Just want a little more fluff.
Hi Sierra, if the bread seemed dense, your dough could have been over-proofed—if it rises too long, it can collapse when baked, leading to a denser texture. Try letting the dough rise for a slightly shorter time next time, until just doubled in size. Our baking with yeast guide may be a helpful resource as well. The bread will be soft with either, but will be a bit chewier if using bread flour. Hope this helps!
Spot on! It makes perfect slices for sandwich and the flavor is great.
Best sandwich bread! So light, fluffy, and melt in your mouth delicious.
This is my one and only sandwich bread recipe, but I’m commenting today to say that I successfully made a vegan version! I wanted my vegan cousin to have homemade bread during her visit, so I swapped the butter for vegetable shortening (solid fat for sold fat) and used oat milk in the first step. Same great rise, crumb, and flavor! Thank you!
(One suggestion to make this great recipe even easier to follow: in step 2, say “Add the remaining 1 cup + 1/3 cup flour” — so we don’t have to think about what we’ve put in so far.) 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing, Alyssa! We’re glad this recipe is a favorite for you.
The “bread” after being in the oven for the recommend time didn’t even show signs of browning. It essentially was a dumpling brick.
Have you tested your oven to see if it reaches/maintains the correct temperature?
Do you usually bake bread with a different recipe; does it work?
Have you a lot of experience baking? Baking bread?
There’s so much you did not say!
This recipe makes the best sandwich bread ever! I make it weekly. I will never buy bread from a store ever again! There is just no comparison!
I’m really impressed how this came out. I made it by hand and it’s really soft and easy to slice
I love this recipe but, my bread comes out dense and firm on the sides what can I do differently?
Hi Emma, It sounds to me like your dough could have been over-proofed. Try letting the dough rise for a slightly shorter time next time, until just doubled in size. Our baking with yeast guide may be a helpful resource as well – happy baking!
I have made this bread recipe dozens of times as it’s my husband’s favorite sandwich bread. This is the first time it is partially collapsed on the sides. The only change I made was, because I live at altitude, adding diastatic malt powder. But that’s nothing that I haven’t done before. Any idea why this collapsed in on the sides. The bread is still delicious but the sides aren’t straight.
My dough felt tight after mixing. I did use my kitchenaid mixer. Is this a normal texture for this bread? I’ve never experienced this before. Thanks!
Hi Crystal! The dough should be soft. Did it seem dry? How did you measure the flour? Make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much flour into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post.
Hi I like this easy recipe.
Though i dont have any issues with the recipe, i am having issues with finding the recipe on the site. Unless i search for this specifically by name, i am unable to find the recipe from the breads menu.
May i suggest to include all the recipes under the categories for the readers to choose from please.
Makes our life easier when i want to find something and i am unable to remember the name.
Hi KD, I just triple checked your suggestion and this recipe does show up in the Breads category as well as the Yeast breads category. Currently, it’s on page 2 of the Breads category since it’s slightly older.
Came out perfect and delicious! I only had active dried yeast, it didn’t seem to be a problem though, I just let it develop a few extra minutes in the water and milk at the beginning. Aside from that the o my change I made was using honey instead of sugar.
I love this recipe it’s great!! I recently started to make it in my bread maker, and it comes out great and tastes amazing but it isn’t rising as high as it should, it just rises to the top of the bread pan. Is there something I may be doing wrong?!
HI Shy! It sounds like the dough needs longer to rise before baking.
I’ve literally never commented on any of these recipe posts but I need you to know this is the best white bread recipe I have found. I have been so scared of making bread and this recipe has sparked my confidence. Thank you!
In the bread maker are you mixing the water, milk, sugar before you put it in the bread maker or the wet ingredients at the bottom and the dry on top yeast on top ? I made the bread from scratch and it’s delicious but I received a bread maker as a gift so I won’t to try it
Best bread recipe I’ve tried! So simple and easy and bread turned out soft and delicious!
Every time I’ve made this recipe, I’ve struggled to cut the loaf without squishing it. I’ve just frozen the loaf and cut it frozen and of couree that works but I want to eat the bread right away. What am I doing wrong ?
Hi Courtney, are you slicing the bread while hot? Waiting for it to cool a bit can help, as well as using a very sharp serrated knife. And are you using all-purpose flour by chance? We find the slices can be just a bit sturdier when using bread flour. Hope this helps!
Hi! Can I use 1% milk instead of whole milk? Thank you!
Hi Britt, you can, it may just not be quite as soft.
We only use low fat milks normally skim and it has turned out perfect soft and moist and delicious
Hey I absolutely loved this recipe.I wanted to make a huge batch since it is a little small for my family.Can i double or tripple this recipe successfully?
Hi Adelaide, for best results, we recommend making separate batches. So glad it was a hit with your family!
I doubled the recipe and it came out perfect! I have found that my dough is much more consistent when I weigh instead of measure the flour. Who knew? ♀️
This is my go to recipe for homemade bread! I gifted a loaf to my sister and 5 year old niece! When she was picked up from school last week, she jumped in the car and exclaimed that was the BEST sandwich I have ever had!! She went on and on and on about her love for this bread. Needless to say, I will be making her a fresh loaf of bread every week. Thank you!
I don’t have a stand mixer. Can I use a hand mixer? Or if I were to do it by hand how long would it take?
The dough can tend to get stuck in the beaters of a hand mixer, so it would be better to mix it by hand. It should take about the same amount of time. Enjoy!
I’ve got everything ready to bake! But I have a question, I’m trying to make this in a 13×5 loaf pan. Will that work? Do I need to double the recipe?
Hi Jordyn, For best results, we recommend making two separate batches. However, if you’re pressed on time and want to double in one bowl, see the recipe notes for detailed instructions.
This was super easy to make and delicious, we finished a load in less than 24 hours and typing as I bake a second batch. Made excellent French toast, grilled cheese sandwich and just toasted with butter. Thank you!
I now make this every week. It’s our go to sandwich bread.
Thank you for responding I was asking because I have whole wheat flour that I’ve absolutely no idea what to do with it, but thank you again for the best bread recipe I’ve ever tried, it was successful from the first attempt
Can’t thank you enough ❤️
Thank you for the best sandwich recipe ever, I’ve tried it with all purpose flour and it turned out amazing!!
My question is Can I use whole wheat foour for this recipe? If not can you please show me which recipe can i use whole wheat flour in?
Hi Ola! Whole wheat flour generally yields a very dense bread. You may love our multigrain bread (which uses oats and seeds!).
I love your site and have made many amazing recipes. Unfortunately this recipe gave me some challenges. The yeast bubbled as expected, I had room temperature butter and used a thermometer to gauge the temp of the liquid. However once all the break was added it was too wet. I had to add more flour and then kneed by hand for a couple of minutes. Any suggestion on what I may have done wrong? Thank you.
Hi Suzanne, this dough can be more on the wet side. There are a lot of variables that go into the consistency of dough, even down to the weather and humidity in the air. There’s nothing wrong with adding just a little more flour to bring the dough into a less sticky and knead-able consistency. Thank you for giving this one a try!
My loaf came out really pale. I’m not sure where I want wrong.
Hi Jazzy, Feel free to bake a little longer (or raise the oven rack during the last few minutes) to get a deeper brown color.
A small amount of melted butter on top before baking will give it a little more color!
This is the easiest and yummiest bread recipe that I have tried yet! I will never buy store bought again 🙂
Love this bread recipe!! Question, when you store it in the fridge, do you cut the loaf all in slices and then put in fridge. Our put whole loaf in fridge and cut slices when needed?
Hi Hannah, we wait to slice the bread until ready to eat. So glad you enjoyed it!
Wow!!! This bread is beautiful and absolutely delicious! Light, fluffy and tall! I have made bread recipes and tried many homemade sandwich breads and this is the best! So easy to make too! Sally does an awesome job laying out all the instructions in such a simple and easy-to-follow format as always. She is my go-to for everything baking, her recipes never fail! This bread recipe is definitely a keeper! Can’t wait to try her others! Thank you again Sally!!
Thank you so much for your kind review, Brooke!
I love the texture of this bread and the recipe was easy to follow! The flavor seemed a bit “yeast-y” to me though. Is it just my tastebuds? Or should I try less yeast next time? (I followed the recipe exactly.)
I loved this recipe so much!