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 love your recipes and I thank you for sharing them. On this bread recipe can I use oat milk instead of regular milk. If I can should I add butter to the oat milk for the fat content. I have a few family members who have allergies. Thank you.
Hi Debbie, yes, oat milk should be fine here. We don’t think you’d need to add more butter.
This is the best recipe for bread you can make. I am hooked now that I tried it.
I’ve tried so many bread recipes and they all come out very crumbly. How do I prevent this? I spoon my flour and level it so I’m pretty sure I’m not using too much flour and I’ve adjusted bake times too. Always very crumbly. I use my Bosch mixer to knead it approximately 5 min.
Hi Robin, happy to help troubleshoot. This is a soft bread, so a little crumbliness is normal. When you knead the bread with your mixer, do you check that it’s been kneaded enough by doing the poke test or the windowpane test? It may be that you aren’t kneading for long enough. See this post and video tutorial on how to knead dough for tips. Over-baking can cause the bread to be dry/crumbly, but you mention you’ve adjusted the bake times already. You could also try using bread flour instead of all-purpose, for a little more strength/structure. Hope these tips help for your next loaf!
I loved this recipe, the bread came out beautiful, texture was great! But taste was very bland…what did I do wrong, how can i make sure its tasty next time
Can you tell me if this bread can be made in a dough machine that also baked the bread? Thanks!
Hi Maureen, a few readers have reported back with success using a bread machine with some of our bread recipes (this one included). We do not have one, so we have not tested it. We’d love to know how it goes for you!
I only use the bread machine now. The recipe works great. Put all the flour except the 1 cup in machine. When mix is ready add. You may need a little more water but works great.
Thank you for this recipe and so many wonderful recipes! I would be interested in recipes that involve using fresh milled flour, if you would consider that. Thank you again!
Thanks for the idea, Diane!
Hi, Sally. I love so many of your recipes and appreciate all the efforts you spend improving them when they are already good! 🙂
Just a suggestion, tho. I’ve made bread for years and learned a simple and easier secret to shaping loaves. This also prevents the air holes in an otherwise perfect loaf:
When shaping into a loaf, simply bunch it into a loaf shape, tucking the bottom underneath itself. Place in pan. No rolling, no airholes. (Can’t do a cinnamon-swirl loaf this way, obviously.)
Love what you do!
This was more than just any other recipe to me. It motivated me to keep learning and exploring things that seem intimidating at first but with a little patience and curiosity can form new habits and ways of living. This is so delicious and easy – you just have to wait and let the dough do its thing. I am now on a roll making different versions of the sandwich bread and can’t stop won’t stop. I am addicted! Thanks Sally and team.
Different versions? Have you tried baking it in a dutch oven instead of a loaf pan?
You do not need to proof instant yeast because of the way it is processed, (Source: Peter Reinhart). Can you explain why the instructions read to add the yeast to the water, milk and sugar in the beginning and wait 5 minutes. That’s what you do when you proof active yeast. Usually, we add the liquids together and the dry ingredients together. Is it so people can make sure their yeast is still okay? I always write the date on the lid of my yeast when I open a new jar and once it passes 3 months, It toss the rest, but I never seem to do that because bake bread nearly every week. Thank you!
Hi Michelle! This is just an extra step to ensure the yeast is active.
This will definitely be my got recipe. This is my first loaf and the texture is so soft and the taste is amazing. I did have some large air pockets or holes in bread when I cut into it. Any tips on why this happened and how to fix it?
Hi Steph, We are glad you enjoyed this recipe! Some holes are completely normal. However, if you have too many large holes in your loaf, be sure you are rolling up your dough tightly when shaping.
This truly is the best sandwich bread. I made a few different recipes before landing here and holy smokes I’m glad I did. It’s delicious.
This is a wonderful recipe! The instructions easy to follow, and the results were amazing! I had to knead in a bit more flour since the dough still seemed tacky (I used a stand mixer with a dough hook), but the first and second rise were right on target! I used a Pulman loaf pan to do the second rise as well as bake the bread! I can’t wait to try it as soon as it cools off!
My family and I love this recipe! As soon as it comes out of the oven, cools and gets sliced my kids are all over it. My question is, what am I doing wrong? After many attempts, the end result is a very soft, loose structured loaf. So soft that while it’s getting sliced it tears or falls apart when you eat it as a sandwich. What could be the cause of this and how do I correct it? Thank you for your time. I’ve used many of your recipes in the past that never fail. They always turn out great.
Happy to help! This is a soft bread, so a little crumbliness is normal. Over-baking can cause the bread to be dry/crumbly. Also make sure not to add too much flour to the dough (spoon and level or use a kitchen scale instead of scooping). You could also try using bread flour instead of all-purpose, for a little more strength/structure. Hope these tips help for your next loaf!
Thank you for the tips! I will keep those in mind for the next loaf. Would more flour/kneading time give it more structure or more of an elastic, bread like texture? The area near the crust turns out lighter but the center of the loaf is heavy and dense.
Update: I made another loaf using your tips and kneading it a bit longer in the stand mixer and it turned out perfect! Thank you so much for your assistance. I will definitely be making this recipe for my family weekly ❤️
This was divine!! So soft and perfect for sandwiches!! I chose to hand knead the dough and think it was worth it. Thank you!
Im new to baking, and this is the first bread recipe I’ve tried and I love it, but I’m worried I’m not kneading right. It always feels tough. And when I’m trying to roll it out the sides shrink back toward the middle. I also keep getting large air doubles in the middle of the cooked bread. I’ve made 2 loafs that I wasn’t able to use as sandwich bread because the air pocket was so large.
Hi Catherine! If it always feels tough, there may be too much flour in the dough. 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. And here’s our guide to kneading dough that may be useful as well.
I love this recipe. My easy go to for bread.
Can I incorporate whole grain flour to this recipe?
Hi Tracy! For a whole grain sandwich bread, we would use our whole wheat bread, or our multigrain bread.
I have made this three times now. Never disappointed! Thank you for providing an excellent recipe, and clear instructions. My love of baking has been renewed.
So excited to try this recipe! I love so many of your recipes! However, have you ever substituted the sugar with raw honey?
Hi Kayla, the same amount of honey will work here. Enjoy!
Any one else have to add waaaaay more flour that what the recipe calls for? 🙁 help
Hi J H, You’re not necessarily doing anything wrong– a lot of factors go into this such as mixing time, speed, weather, yeast, and temperature of water. Feel free to add a little more flour to make a soft, yet workable dough.
Thanks for so many great recipes! Can I double this one or do I have to make two separate loaves?
Hi Bonnie! It’s best to make separate batches of dough.
I used a bread machine on the dough setting then baked in the oven. Love this recipe. It cooked a lot faster though.
I love love love this recipe! It’s so easy and I wish I could leave a photo because it is beautiful!
So easy, so tasty!
This was just what I was looking for as the most common use of my bread is sandwiches.
I doubled the recipe – I make two loaves & freeze one. I also substituted Olive Oil for the butter.
Excellent recipe! Thank you!
Hi! Did you use the same amount of olive oil as the butter?
Can this be baked in an 8.5×4.5 cast iron loaf pan? Would the temp or time to bake change?
Hi Ashlie, we haven’t tested baking this bread in a cast iron loaf pan. Do you usually need to bake at a different temperature when you use it?
I wish I could share a picture of my bread! It came out beautiful and so delicious! I also made the cinnamon swirl one and it tastes so good!
Can i substitute the milk for soy milk? We have 2 people who cannot have dairy and id love to use this recipe if i can use a different milk! If theres another dairy free milk that is “fattier” that would be a better option, im open to that as well! Also, can i use salted butter and just use less salt? I know some recipes you can do that, but know others are more specific on it. Thank you! 🙂
Hi Hailey! We would try oat milk, but any “milk” should work fine here. You can use salted butter. Here’s more on salted butter vs. unsalted butter in baking. If you’re making the bread dairy free, though, you will need to use a dairy free butter substitute as well.
This recipe is so easy to follow and make! The first time I made it my yeast was expired by 2 years and it still came out great. I let it proof for the maximum time for the first and second proof. I made it again with fresh yeast and I only needed to let it proof for 1 hour for the 1st proof and 1hour for the second proof (I honestly could have put it in the oven after 30 minutes. The only thing I did differently is used soy milk instead of cows milk, and you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.
Can I use salted butter instead Of unsalted butter. I’m making the sandwich bread
Hi Sally, 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!
Can i bake this in the dutch oven?
Hi Reychel, this dough really needs the walls of a loaf pan to bake up properly. Having said that, we haven’t personally tested it in a Dutch oven to be certain. We just fear it will be very flat. You might enjoy this artisan bread instead, which bakes wonderfully in a Dutch oven.