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
What happened to your soft sourdough sandwich bread recipe? I send people the link all the time and now it’s gone.
Hi Mike, we have never had a sourdough sandwich bread recipe—could you be thinking of another website by chance?
This is hands down the best yeast bread loaf I have ever tasted! It was super soft and was a hit with every single person in the household!! Thank you for sharing!
When using active dry yeast here, do i mix the warm water and milk together? Or first water sugar yeast, let rest for 7-10 minutes, then add to warm milk?
Hi Sabina, you can still mix the warm water, warm milk, yeast, and sugar together in step one.
This is my new favorite bread to make. It turns out perfect and soft every time. The butter flavor shines through.
Sally always comes through! Whenever I need a recipe, Sally has everything that I need. Her recipes almost always work and are super easy. I love Sally’s recipes.
The bread tastes wonderful…but it’s a bit crumbly. I’ve made this recipe 3 times now with the same result. Any advice on how to avoid the crumbly issue? I used bread flour, kneaded for 5 minutes using my KitchenAid stand mixer and followed the recipe exactly as written. It’s delicious…but crumbly. It slices beautifully, but then crumbles when eating a sandwich or piece of toast. Less sugar than called for? More liquid? More butter? Any ideas? ~Marion
Hi Marion, 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). Hope these tips help for your next loaf!
Thank you! Over-baking wasn’t the issue, so I’ll use a kitchen scale for the flour when I bake it this week.
It worked, Trina! I used my kitchen scale to measure the flour. Perfection! Thanks for your help. I make this bread twice weekly for our family’s sandwich bread.
I make the dough in my bread machine and have made it over a dozen times and it is never anything but soft and delicious. I make a lot of bread and I believe the problem is you are not measuring either the dough or the liquids correctly if the dough appears Shaggy it needs more liquid if it sticks to your finger sprinkle more flour until it stops sticking to your finger. Hope this helps.
Hi Sally, could I substitute the whole milk with oat milk? We have kids with dairy allergies. Thanks!
Hi Courtney, yes, oat milk should be fine here.
Just tried this recipe for the first time and I’m very impressed! I’ve never made a fluffier, lighter loaf of bread. Definitely worth it!
This bread is perfect!! I will not be buying sandwich bread again.
Can you use 1% milk? I don’t use whole milk for anything so I am just trying to see if there would be a difference or something else that I would need to adjust if not using whole milk.
Hi Beth, that will work in a pinch—the dough may not be quite as rich. Enjoy!
I made this bread today and have made it numerous times previously. But today something went wrong. The loaf is very much “biscuit-like”. What could have caused this? I’m baffled! Thank you.
Hi Nonna30, was the dough overkneaded by chance? Or was your flour over measured (here’s more on how to properly measure baking ingredients)? Either can cause bread to bake up a bit more dense and with a biscuit-like texture that you mentioned. Both easy fixes for next time!
Hi and thank you for this recipe. One question about the mixing. I see you have a kitchenaid stand mixer and you put it up to medium speed for a bit. I did this and my stand mixer started to shed black dust on the dough hook. I called kitchenaid and they say never to go above speed 2 with making dough. Just wondering if the speed you used was above speed 2??
Hi Lauri, I’m sorry to hear that! It definitely sounds like it’s a problem with your mixer if it’s shedding black dust!!
I have made this four times in the last five days, it is so incredible and easy! I have a long Pullman loaf pan that I would like to try doubling it for. I was curious why the ratio of butter and yeast changes for doubling in one bowl, since baking is usually so sciencey it seems like it would change the outcome of the bread. If I mixed two separate single batches, at what point do you combine them? Do you do the whole process separately and just stick them in the pan side by side? Or can you combine them into one bowl for the first rise onward?
Hi Devon, We’re not completely sure if this recipe would work in a pullman loaf pan because we haven’t tested it ourselves. It *shouldn’t* be a problem to use the recipe as is (without doubling), but again—we haven’t tested it. Let us know if you do give it a try! In general, we recommend making two loaves instead of doubling.
I usually make Sally’s wheat bread recipe which my family and I love. I was out of wheat flour so decided to try this one. This bread is excellent. It’s the softest fluffy bread. I made it with my three year old daughter so it’s very easy, she had a blast helping to knead it. Highly recommend. I won’t be able to make often because I will just want to eat all of it!
I haven’t tried this recipe yet. Last week I attempted a different sandwich bread recipe and everything looked great until I pulled it from the oven and had virtually no rise, making the loaf like a brick. I am not a novice nor an expert, but I’m pretty convinced that I used the wrong size loaf pan…. a 9×5. Your recipe specifically calls for a 9×5 and I’m a little worried.
Hi Gayle, We can’t speak to the other recipe you tried, but yes, this recipe is written for a 9×5 inch pan. Let us know if you give it a try.
Could you substitute honey for the sugar? If so, how much and what would I need to change?
Hi Leslie, the same amount of honey will work here.
I have made this bread twice and both times it has turned out amazing. Thanks for creating instructions that are easy to understand and follow to make delicious bread.
Made our best sandwich bread loaf using this recipe- we used a 50/50 blend of white and wholemeal and it came out lovely and soft with a good crumb & is still soft several days later. Recommended recipe!
Just tried making it. Absolutely perfect and delicious! I basted the top of mine with milk to give a nice brown shine.
I made this last night and it is DIVINE, this recipe is in my rotation, thank you!
My daughter shared this recipe with me. She makes it perfectly. I’m trying for my first time right now, and have a problem… I followed all the directions,but when it came to 1st rise, I let it sit for 2 hours,and it didn’t rise.. Please help.
Hi Deann! Could your yeast be inactive? Have you baked with this batch before? Is it particularly cold by you? The dough may just need more time. Our baking with yeast guide has more pointers!
This is probably a silly question but I’m an overly curious person and no one ever addresses this. I’m sure if anyone knows the answer it’s this page! Is there a reason we butter the tops of bread when it comes from the oven?
Hi Amanda, this recipe doesn’t call for adding butter, but usually it’s just for flavor!
What is the best way to grease my loaf pan? And can this recipe be doubled or tripled?
Hi Megan, we always use a nonstick spray like Pam. We recommend making separate batches for best results.
Hi,
I love this recipe! It tastes amazing! I have a question though, can I double the recipe to make more than one loaf? Do you know if it will work?
Hi Wes, we recommend making seriate batches for best results.
Made this for the first time today. All ingredients were weighed to measure. I did not have whole milk so I used half skim and half heavy cream. I was concerned that I over mixed the dough and over proofed the first rise but all worked out well. I baked the loaf in an Emil Henry ceramanic loaf pan as that was the only loaf pan I had. I baked at 350 for only 30 minutes because an instant read thermometer read 190 degrees at that time. I probably should have left it in for a few more minutes. The bread is incredibly soft and very buttery. Would it be possible to reduce the amount of butter without affecting the texture of the bread? Or even substituting olive oil for the butter?
Hi JoAnn, you could substitute olive oil, but you may miss the buttery flavor.
LOVE this recipe. Will definitely be my go to from now on. Any idea about how many calories are in this loaf? I have a special needs daughter and to make sure she’s getting enough I have to count the calories for her! Thank you!
Hi Hope, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
Now baking isn’t just a hobby, it’s a way to save money. This is my go-to recipe for sandwich bread if I’m not using sourdough. Looks and tastes so much better than breads at the grocery store!
I just have a few basic questions. I have the artisan kitchenaid also and I’m wondering which speeds on the mixer that you use for LOW and which you use for MEDIUM to knead the dough.
I am a beginner at doughs and yeasts because i’ve always been intimidated. I appreciate your throrough explanations and videos. I am such a fan of all your recipes! Ive already preordered your cookbook and cant wait for september!
Just one more question….What if the bread dough rises too fast?
Thank You for everything!
Lynne
Hi Lynne, we usually use 2 for low and 6 for medium, but trust your best judgement for that! Always pay close attention to the dough volume, not the timer, because sometimes it will rise quickly. If it doubles faster than a recipe says, you can continue on with the recipe. You don’t want to leave the dough because it could over-proof if left too long and deflate when baked.
This is my first time making home made bread and it turned out beautifully and delicious. I’m going to make this for now on!
This is the best recipe. I tried it a few weeks ago and my college son said “ well, mom no need to buy bread at the store anymore.” I’ve been making a few loaves a week and they disappear quickly!