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
Hello. Thank you for sharing this recipe. I made it over the weekend and it’s delicious. Do you have a recipe that make 2 loaves at the same time? First time bread maker here and kinda nervous with yeast.
Thanks,
Misty
Hi Misty! For best results, we 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.
I need help troubleshooting! My crust was still pale & inside a bit dense. I used a stand mixer to knead, I also did not have milk so I used all water for the liquid. I took it out of the oven at 32 minutes. Did I knead too long, take the bread out too early?
I always love using this website for recipes because they always turn out great. This is my first time making a sandwich bread so I have no idea what I’m doing right and what I did wrong
Hi Leonora! Sounds like the bread was under-baked. An easy fix for next time! 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).
I doubled this recipe and made two loaves. Outstanding! So fluffy and light, with a perfect texture. One loaf was gone within an hour of coming out of the oven. Easy to follow, less sugar than most recipes and no eggs required! Thank you for my new go to sandwich bread recipe!
Great crumb, super easy to make, rose beautifully even though i left it to proof an hour longer on the second round.
I’ve been making and baking bread for many years. This is the absolute best ever. It’s so easy and so light and fluffy. Squishy and oh my the taste is awesome. The only problem I have is it rises so high that it has a big poof on top of the loaf. Not a bad thing but I’m going to start cooking it in a little bit of a larger loaf pan. Or not let it rise so long for the second rise. I made a sandwich and I have to say it was the best sandwich ever. The bread holds together and is just wonderful. Thank you for sharing this recipe. I have recommended it to everyone I know that makes sandwich bread.
My son really wants sandwich rolls for bread- anyone tried to roll these up? Sally’s any suggestions on baking time changes?
Thanks for any input!!!
Hi Janine, you can definitely make rolls with this dough. In step, 6 punch down the dough, form into individual rolls, and continue with second rise. We’re unsure of the bake time needed. We’d love to know how they turn out!
6 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 12/10
I tried this for the first time a few days ago. I was so easy and turned out great! I used them to make fancy BLTs with burrata and fig jam. Is is a soft bread so I toasted it to hold up to the sandwich and it toasted really nicely!
Just got a new kitchenaid mixer (the old one was 26+ years old as it was a wedding gift!) and decided to try this out. My husband and I made it together. We happened to have a pork butt in the crockpot seasoned with a homemade taco seasoning rub. The bread came out of the oven, we sliced it, put the pork, some salsa and avocado over it and ate them as hot open sandwiches… absolutely AMAZING!!! I’m seeing how many recipes you have and I’m pretty certain I may be not be buying as much bread from the store anymore. I got a bread box today too so I can store it on the counter.
I have made this sandwich bread several times, as well as the pretzels. I especially like to put some dry ranch seasoning or crush a clove of garlic into melted butter and mix either into the pretzel dough. These recipes are top notch. Just wanted to let you know.
I think you’re recipes are the best. Do you ever make sourdough bread? I have been cooking 65 years and have never given up on any food but I have been trying to get one loaf of sourdough that is edible.I have been trying for 2 weeks.
Just cut into the bread and it came out so yummy and fluffy! I added 3 extra minutes to the baking but my oven is old/not always reliable. I did add two extra teaspoons of flour when kneading the bread. Overall it came out great for a first try!
I love this recipe, but my family says it gets too soft and falls apart for sandwiches they bring to school/camp. Any ideas?
Hi Betsy, so glad you enjoyed this bread recipe! This is a soft bread. 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!
Amazing loaf!! I followed all measurements to a T but did require almost a whole extra cup of flour to get even a slight tack so don’t feel crazy if yours isn’t working! The dough hook I have is the original kitchenaid style and a think a spiral hook may be an investment I need to make.
Same here but once I did that I got the hang of it and it was great glad to see some one had the same experience I did
It’s been a long time since I had a sandwich on white bread, and this recipe made it worth the wait! So easy and delicious. I make sourdough and multigrain breads and I’m adding this one to the list. A few comments: I found that the paddle attachment worked better than the dough hook. Also, I didn’t roll the dough out to shape. Instead I patted it into a loose oval, folded the top down halfway, smoothed the seam using the heel of my hand, turned it 180 degrees and repeated the fold, smoothing the seam again. Then I folded it in half lengthwise, smoothed the seam on the bottom, then turned it over and placed it in the pan patting it out to fit and baked it for 31 minutes, turning the loaf pan at 16 minutes for even baking. Thank you for this great recipe.
Great recipe! I can’t wait until it’s cool enough to have some. THANKYOU so much for sharing and all the tips along the way. I’ve made various breads over the years, but this will be my new favourite!
This recipe made an absolute monster of a bread loaf! It could make 2 loaves!!
I thought mine was too big! Glad to see I’m not the only one with a giant loaf lol
I love this recipe but as an older widow I find that this makes too much for myself.
I have a small square Pullman loaf pan. Can I ‘half’ this recipe?
We haven’t tested it, but that should be fine, Debbie!
I made this receipe today with 1 substitution. I replaced the water with whole milk. The bread was awsome!!!! Soft as any store bought and no additives. Also liked the tip on freezing. Can’t wait to try your whole wheat.
Hi,
Is there an option to make a sandwich bread without butter? Thank you for your wonderful recipes.
Hi Aarti, We don’t recommend skipping the butter here as it’s what makes the dough and the texture of the bread soft. You can try substituting a vegan butter if needed but we have not tested it. Or you can try a different recipe that doesn’t call for butter like this no-knead honey oat bread.
Awesome recipe!! It’s so soft and great with just butter. The only thing I did different is I used half orangic non bleached flour and half whole wheat flour and my son loves it we all do. I’ve tried a few different recipes for sandwich bread and my kids always like the store bought wheat bread better, until I made your recipe and did half half with the flours now I just can make this and save some money. Bonus is very easy to make and doesn’t really take alot of time!!! Thank you. For this recipes and your other great recipes as well!
Finally was successful. Had to add 50 g of flour before the dough was manageable for me as suggested by you as an answer to my question. (Failed the day before without adding flour).
Came out amazing. Soft and airy tasty.
The hardest thing was waiting an hour to cut it (but I pulled through)
THANK YOU!
Can I safely substitute Lactaid whole milk for regular whole milk in this recipe?
We haven’t tested it but can’t see why not, Peggy!
. Tried just now to make Sally’s simple sandwich bread, I was sure I can do it. Mixed water milk sugar and yeast. Then butter (room temp) salt and added flour one cup at a time untill it’s all incoparated (as the recipe says) thAn it says knead in mixer for 5-8 min. And if the dough doesn’t bounce back or window pane thing keep kneading. 8 min, sticky mess, 2 more min sticky mess. Added one tsp of flour sticky mess I thing I tried for 40 min and added 3 more tea spoons (which I hate diverting from the recipe at all) nothing works. Gone straight to the garbadge. It’s just a stick mess that I can’t hold. I’m totally clueless I can’t think of anything I can do that will change the outcome.
Hi Katyhy, it sounds like your dough needed additional flour. There are a lot of variables that go into the consistency of dough, even down to the weather and humidity in the air. There’s nothing wrong with adding just a little more flour to bring the dough into a less sticky and knead-able consistency.
How would I know what to do? It’s not in the recipe, it’s not in the video, how can I possibly have any ideas how much flour to add. The whole idea of following a recipe is because I don’t know anything.
I also added 4 spoons just before giving up which did nothing.
I did everything right, I have no idea what else I can do.
Besides temperature the biggest variable is probably your flour. Bread flour is always safe because it’s going to have a higher protein percentage and will make a stronger and springier dough. AP flour is definitely doable but it really varies. Stay away from White Lily or any sort of “light” all purpose flour. It’s great for biscuits and cakes but the low gluten content makes it almost impossible to make bread. You’ll end up with a mess. If you use another kind of AP flour and also end up with a mess then you probably chose one with a low protein percentage—they just don’t label it on APs they way they do with bread flour so it’s tricky.
What do you use to slice your bread? And what do you use to “tightly store”?
Thank you! Excited to try!
Hi Kristin, a sharp bread knife is best! We usually use a large plastic container to store bread.
Could you use buttermilk instead of whole milk? How about scoring the loaf?
Hi Tim, Yes, you can use buttermilk. This sandwich bread should not be scored to keep the loaf shape. Enjoy!
I tried this today. Followed the recipe exactly (used a scale). The dough would never come together in mixer even after adding more flour. Was a sticky loose mess. I kneaded by hand and added more flour and I it still never reached windowpane. I proofed and baked anyway. Rose super high but colllapsed on the bottom after I removed from pan (195degree). I’m not sure what went wrong. My daughter makes this with great success.
Happened to me exactly like you said today. Cut my losses and threw it away.
I loved how easy this recipe is! I would love some tips to get a softer bread mine always seems dry even when I use bread flour. I do live at 5300 ft of elevation and thought I was making all the necessary adjustments, but if you have any advice I would love to hear it!
Hi Katrina, 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. We have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
Can you use a bread machine to make this recipe?
Hi Trena, 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!
This bread is the best sandwich bread I have baked! Unbelievable texture and taste! Don’t look any further, but make this bread, you won’t be disappointed.
Could I use almond milk instead of regular milk?
Hi Lynn, yes, that will work in a pinch.
Holy cow!!!! I will no longer be buying bread from the store!!! Just made this, first time making bread at home, I’ve been making your pizza crust for a while now and LOVE it!