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
Great recipe – first loaf I’ve made that has the appropriate texture for sandwich bread
In all my years, I’ve never made my own bread. Mine turned out perfect. All because of you. Lol Everyone loved it!
This is my go to recipe for white, yeast sandwich bread! It’s very forgiving and produces a very soft and fluffy, yet sturdy, loaf. I often substitute olive or avocado oil for the butter and it still turns out lovely. If your family eats like mine I recommend going ahead and baking two loaves. I made one last night and it’s already gone so I’m in the process of making another now lol.
This is a great recipe and a wonderful bread. My only problem with this recipe is that it was supposed to last my family the whole week and it was gone in 2 days.
Such a quick and easy recipe for a wonderful loaf of bread. My only complaint was we found it very salty even though I already reduced the amount to 1 top (instead of the 1 1/2 noted). Of course, I used unsalted butter, so what else could have contributed to the too salty taste?
Hi Arlene, you can certainly reduce the salt further to your liking. We’re glad you enjoyed the bread!
One of my favorite sandwich breads I’ve made to date. I did 1/2 whole wheat and it came out soft, fluffy and tender. I’ll definitely be adding this recipe to my weekly rotation.
I absolutely LOVED this recipe. Addicting sandwich bread and was so easy to follow for my first time ever baking bread. I was wondering if it could be used in making cinnamon raisin bread? How would I adjust the recipe, or do you have a separate recipe for cinnamon raisin bread already? Thank you so much for sharing!!
Hi Jules, here is our cinnamon swirl bread. See Recipe Notes there for details about adding raisins. We hope you enjoy it!
This has become my go-to bread recipe. I have made this at least 6 times. I like to leave it in the refrig overnight and take it out in the morning and slice it all up. seems to make it slice easier. This recipe sure stays fresh for days when I keep it in the refrigerator. I also bought the yeast that was suggested. Simple, I just love this recipe. I also use the cinnamin bagel recipe and love that too.
I’ve baked a lot of loaves of sandwich bread in my 67 years but none as beautiful and delicious as this loaf! I adore your site and videos, and I love your recipes. My question is whether I can substitute half of the white flour with white whole wheat and a bit of lecithin?
Hi Dawn, we’re so glad you enjoy it! Instead, we’d recommend making our whole wheat sandwich bread recipe.
There hasn’t been a single recipe from this website that has failed me yet! From soufflés to sandwich bread, I always come to this website when trying something new. Always easy to follow along and turns out fantastic. Thank you! I had tried probably 5 other recipes off social media for sandwich bread, but this one was by far the easiest and best! Definitely a keeper!
I’ll never use a different recipe. This bread is addictive. I put butter on a slice and eat it as a snack. It’s soft and flavorful. My husband and I are obsessed.
I’ve been replacing store bought foods in our house slowly with homemade equivalents and this is by far the best bread recipe I’ve made so far! If I replace the sugar with honey, would I use the same amount?
Hi Autumn, the same amount of honey will work here. So glad you’re enjoying this recipe!
Oh my word, I am freaking out!!! I used this recipe to make bread for the first time ever, and it was fantastic!!! The loaf came out of the oven all golden brown and perfect, and the smell and taste were absolutely wonderful!!! I will definitely be making this again!!
Thank you so much for this recipe. As a grandfather with a baking problem, I really appreciate that your recipes include ingredient quantities in grams, making it really easy to scale for different size loaf pans etc. I find that this recipe makes a nice sandwich loaf in an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan with enough dough left over for about 3 hamburger or sandwich rolls. The result has been delicious and light both times I’ve tried it. I no longer buy bread at the grocery store!
Hi! This turned out lovely. I threw my first yeast/water/sugar mixture away because it wasn’t bubbling. Second time, same thing and I just decided to try it because it’s Red Star, and not expired. It worked! Does the instant rise red star heat not cause a frothy step 1?
Hi Tori, the liquid should still become frothy even with instant yeast. Is it possible your water was too cool? We’re glad you still enjoyed the bread!
Tried your banana bread last week and my family inhaled it, and i had been meaning to make sandwich bread for a while so i thought why not. Since it was my first time it didn’t come out spectacular but not bad, im sure some trial and error will happen along the way but i liked this recipe.
Great Recipe so easy to make. Taste really good.
Hi Sally. I just want to say I really enjoy your recipes. If you have a moment, do you mind trying
I’ve started trying to make food from scratch at home. I’ve used your sandwich bread recipe twice before, and it’s great. However, yesterday and today, I was trying to make the recipe again, and my bread kept falling. Yesterday, it fell when I took it out from the 2nd proof. Today, it fell during baking. I thought it could’ve overproofed yesterday, but today I did it to the exact time, and it held until the baking. I use a kitchenaid mixer and use the dough hook (worked great thev2 previous times) but now the last 2 times it’s still really sticky no matter how long it kneads for and if I add the small amounts of flour to help nothing changes. I have no idea what I am doing wrong, and it’s frustrating. Do you have any ideas what could be causing this??
Hi Cassidy! If the dough is too wet to handle, you can certainly add flour as needed. Just enough to bring it together. Otherwise, bread usually does fall during baking if it’s been over-proofed. Is it particularly warm or humid where you are? It may need a shorter rise time.
My second rise only made it about 1/2 in above pan what did I do wrong ?
Hi Brett, the bread could just need longer to rise. Is it pretty cool where you’re baking?
I really enjoy this recipe! I’ve almost got it memorized! I wanted to ask though if I can use this same dough to make hamburger buns?
Hi Denise, yes, it can! This recipe for bread bowls works well for hamburger buns, too.
What an easy and tasty recipe! This is my new favorite recipe right now but I’m going to try the multi grain so that might change! My mom baked all our bread. I’ve never had the time, but this recipe is so simple you really dont need much time. I also like the fact that it only makes a single loaf. It’s fast enough to make every 2-3 days and you’re not overwhelmed in bread!
I am dairy free and soy free. Am I able to substitute the whole milk for almond or oat milk and use plant based butter in place of dairy butter?
Hi Meagan, those swaps should work just fine, let us know if you give it a try!
This was perfect!! Very moist and perfect firmness
Recipe call for whole milk. Can 2% milk be use instead?
Hi Darlene, yes, 2% milk can work here just fine.
I took the easy way out and ran all the ingredients through the dough cycle on my bread machine, then rolled it out and let it do the second rise in a loaf pan before baking in the oven. Turned out great! I even brushed the top with melted butter during the last 3 minutes of baking. Thanks for a delicious recipe!
This was my FIRST TIME making bread and I don’t think I’ll ever buy some from the store again. Yeast recipes have always intimidating me but this is the best tasting bread I’ve ever had. BUT, I did have trouble using it for actual sandwich bread. It was so soft that it was just kind of falling apart after being sliced and wasn’t really holding its shape. Any tips?
Hi Jocelyn, so glad you enjoyed this bread recipe! 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, thank you, thank you!! Finally, I’ve made a loaf of bread that is edible. Going through the process was easy, I actually felt like you were in my kitchen with me. This won’t be the last time I try bread. Absolutely delicious!!
I used my bread machine to make the dough and the first rise. Then followed your recipe and it turned out fabulous. Best bread I’ve had since I stopped making my own bread. I’m new to the machine this was the third loaf I’ve made. It’s so good toasted.
Can I use regular salted butter?
Hi Barb, 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!
Quick question – when salt is listed is it always table salt unless otherwise stated?
Hi Julie, yes!
Love this recipe! My hubs and kid love it too. I want to add honey to extend the life a few more days, I’m thinking 25 grams. Do you, or anyone else, have any input on how much to add?