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
Always turns out perfect. Would this recipe work for rolls? I was comparing your dinner roll recipe and they are similar but not exact.
Hi Donna, You can definitely make rolls as well. In step 6 punch down the dough, form into individual rolls, and continue with second rise. We’re unsure of the bake time needed.
I made this recipe last week and it turned out perfect. I have made bread before and never have I had such delicious, soft homemade bread like this. My husband and son are fans and now they want me to make two loaves a week every week. We are already planning to make cinnamon bread out of this recipe.
A few questions: It’s been so cold here in the South, my 2nd time making the bread it didn’t rise as high as the 1st time I made it. I placed the bowl in the microwave thinking it would be warm in there. Tips on keeping the dough warm for good rising.
Also, do you have recommendations on bread boxes and slicers. Thanks.
Hi Elle, We are so happy your family enjoyed this bread! For tips on a warm environment for dough to rise, see “Where Should Dough Rise?” in our Baking with Yeast Guide. We don’t have any particular bread slicers that we love (we just use a large serrated knife) but let us know if you find a good one.
I love this recipe but have a question about freezing the shaped loaf and then cooking. I have put it out to thaw 4-5 hours and it doesn’t rise much at all and when I bake it the center or bottom center ends up still doughy but the top is nicely browned. What do you suggest?
Hi Sarah! We would let it rise longer before baking – until it’s about 1 inch above the top of the loaf pan.
Silly question! What kind of knife do you use to cut such perfect slices?
Hi Lindsay! We always use a sharp, serrated bread knife.
First time bread maker. Followed recipe and it turned out great. Bread blows away any store bought crap. I think I found a new side hobby to make meals better. I’ll definitely be coming back to this page to try some of the other recipes. Thanks for the help in learning to make our own bread!
I tried this recipe today. It came perfect. I have tried so many times. But this is the first time I got the perfect outcome. Thank you so much
I made this bread to stale for Thanksgiving stuffing. I added poultry seasoning to the dough. After the 1st rise, I rolled out into a rectangle & sprinkled with chipped up rosemary, thyme, & scallions. After an hour rise, I baked it. We also have leftover cornbread. The combination of the two breads will make great stuffing!
Sally! I’m starting to experiment with bread baking more, and your recipes have always been successful for me to I’m going to start with this one. I just have a question about the mixing speed. When you say low, is that stir or speed 2? and which would be medium for the rest of kneading, 4 or 6? Sorry if these are silly questions.
Hi Cece, not silly at all. Speed 2 is great for low speed, and for beating/mixing and kneading at medium speed, I’d go with speed 4. That’s usually where I keep it!
Hi, this has been my go-to bread recipe for a few yrs now & I love it! (I always use bread flour and almond milk.) Can it be used to make dinner rolls for Thanksgiving, would we just shape the dough after the first rise into balls/rolls to put into a baking dish/pan for the 2nd rise? Or would they all rise into one kind of solid shape do you think? Would a muffin tin work better maybe to make dinner rolls? Thank you!
We’re so glad you enjoy it! You can definitely make rolls as well. In step 6 punch down the dough, form into individual rolls, and continue with second rise. We’re unsure of the bake time needed. Or you can follow our recipe for dinner rolls.
I made this for the first time two weeks ago with hopes of getting store bought bread out of my house. It did not disappoint! It was fantastic and easy. Now I am making it three times a week. My home can’t get enough of it. I have tried with both whole milk and two percent. Both were good but whole milk makes for a dreamy texture. Thanks, Sally
At what point in the mixer kneeding do I add more flour to the sticky dough.
Hi Ann, if the dough seems very sticky, you can add a little more flour, about a teaspoon at a time, as it kneads.
What speed do you use on your KitchenAid mixer for kneading?
Low speed.
This was so easy to make and is absolutely DELICIOUS! I will be making this regularly.
My bread looked perfect after the 2nd rise, but fell a little while baking. Reading other comments I need to reduce the rise time. My bread came out a bit dry and crumbly, any ideas how to remedy that?
I have many of your recipes on rotation, this is my most referenced baking site. Thank you for all the helpful notes and tips.
Hi Monica! If it over-proofed and collapsed while baking, that would impact the texture as well. But make sure not to add too much flour to the dough – make sure to spoon and level or use a kitchen scale to measure.
I’ve made this recipe twice now and it has become my favorite bread recipe! It’s easy and so delicious. I do have to add quite a bit of extra flour as it is far too sticky to handle without it. I do live in a fairly humid climate, so I’m attributing it to that. This is our new go-to bread recipe!
Even though I am a pretty good baker, I always shy away from sandwich bread. This was the first time I have made it and it came out beautifully.
This was an easy recipe to follow! For some reason during the 2nd proof when I unwrapped my dough it deflated quite a bit, it wasn’t over the rim it was about an inch under it. My bread wasn’t as tall as it should have been when I took it out of the oven.. Do you know why that happened? Thank you!!
Hi Karen! This will happen if the bread over-proofs (rises too long or in too hot of in environment). We would try a shorter second rise time next time.
I’m more of a stovetop cook than a baker, but I wanted to make sandwich bread at home to kill time on a rainy day and avoid all the preservatives and artificial ingredients in store bought bread. I followed the ingredients list to the letter aside from using salted butter instead of unsalted, made common sense adjustments as far as rising and baking time, and it’s the best bread I’ve ever made at home. The yeast I used was a little old but not totally dead so the rising time was longer, and I used a stoneware loaf pan so the baking time was slightly longer, but holy crap, my husband and I had to restrain ourselves from eating the whole loaf right away with some butter.
The instant read thermometer was king for me, especially as an inexperienced baker. I used King Arthur’s bread flour which I’m sure also helped a lot. It’s not a difficult recipe at all, it just takes a little extra time 🙂 This just became part of my weekly meal prep list.
This has been my favorite bread recipe to make! It is easy to make and is delicious! It’s our go-to bread in our home.
I just made my first loaf using this recipe! It looks amazing and I’m so impressed with it. Your recipe was easy to follow and I kept looking at the notes which were helpful!
Can it be used for hamburger rolls?
Hi Jamye, yes, it can! This recipe for bread bowls works well for hamburger buns, too.
Love this recipe! Didn’t use a stand mixer and It turned out great.
I loved this recipe it’s delicious and easy!!! I’ve been nervous about making bread cause I want to transition from store brought to homemade with out my kids or husband complaining but I think they’ll be wanting the homemade version more!
Hi, is there any way to make this recipe dairy free?
Hi Sandra, you would need to replace the milk and butter. Whole milk is best, but a lower fat or non-dairy milk will work in a pinch. The bread may not be quite as soft. You could try solid coconut oil or even a plant-based butter instead of butter, but results may vary.
Awesome, thank you so much!
Can this dough be shaped into hamburger buns?
Hi Laura, yes, it can! This recipe for bread bowls works well for hamburger buns, too.
Hi, just wondering, do you have to use whole milk? I only have 2% right now.
Thanks!
Hi Ashley, we recommend whole milk for the richest dough, but you can definitely use 2% milk instead if you prefer.
Ease and simplicity make this bread my favorite.
Awesome bread, in the last 4 days I’ve made 2!
Can’t wait to try this for the holidays! Are there instructions for doubling the recipe so I could make two loaves at once?
Hi MH! We would make separate batches instead of doubling for best results. Happy baking!
New to baking bread, what is best type of loaf pan to use? I have a ceramic/porcelain pan and just bought Pyrex, but I’m seeing that a lot of glass pans are bursting in oven! Thinking of returning new ones now, and getting stainless. Any suggestions? Can’t use aluminum.
Hi Patricia! We usually prefer to use metal bread pans. Stainless steel would be a good option!
HOLY MOLY this is easily the best bread I’ve ever made. I don’t have a stand mixer and used Sally’s hand kneading instructions — took a bit longer than 8 minutes, but boy am I glad I put in the elbow grease. The dough rose so much in the oven I had to take out the rack above so the top of the bread wouldn’t poke through! Can’t wait to make this over and over again.
Hi Bryanna! You can try a shorter rise time for the second rise. Are you using a 9×5 loaf pan? A 9×4 or something smaller will be too small for this recipe. Glad you enjoy the bread!
yep it’s 9×5. I’ll try the shorter rise. thanks!
If I only have salted butter, how much salt would I take out to adjust for the salted butter? Thanks.
Hi Krista, 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 won’t make a difference in the baked bread. Enjoy!