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
Absolutely delicious. I made this because my husband prefers white bread and it was perfect. Light and fluffy and simple to make.
I just made this bread and followed the instructions to the letter.
The bread tastes good however it turned out denser than I thought it should have been.
I think it was over needed? Anyone can tell me or is this correct?
I do make bread but it’s Ukrainian bread that is more an egg bread so not use to white bread baking yet.
Hi Mariane, If the bread seemed dense, your dough could have been over-proofed—if it rises too long, it can collapse when baked, leading to a denser texture. Try letting the dough rise for a slightly shorter time next time, until just doubled in size. Our baking with yeast guide may be a helpful resource as well. Thank you for giving this recipe a try!
The recipe is great except for one thing. No matter what I do, I can’t get the dome to stay once the bread is in the oven to bake. By the time I take it out, it’s sunken in. But it always tastes great and has great texture and stability. Any advice on how to get that dome to stay?
Hi Jordan, if your loaf is sinking, it could be that it needs a few more minutes of bake time. It could also be that the dough is over kneaded or over proofed, causing it to collapse when baking. You might find this guide on How to Knead Dough helpful to review before your next batch!
Hi Sally love your recipes wondering about baking with a convection oven how does that affect time and oven temperature for bread.
Hi Anne! We always recommend conventional settings for baking (not convection/fan). The flow of air from convection heat can cause baked goods to rise and bake unevenly and it also pulls moisture out of the oven. If you do use convection/fan settings for baking, lower your temperature by 25 degrees F and keep in mind that things may still take less time to bake.
I made Sally’s Simply Sandwich Bread and it came out perfectly just like the photo in the recipe. This is one of the best breads I’ve ever had. My husband, sister, and I devoured it. Thank you Sally for sharing your wonderful recipes.
Hi Sally,
This recipe is delicious! Thank you! I have recently started milling my own flour, would i be able to use a split of hard white and Kamut wheat berries do you think?
Hi Holli, we haven’t tested this recipe with fresh milled flour, so we’re unsure of the results. Let us know if you do any experimenting!
I’ve wanted to make bread for years, but I’ve always been so intimidated. When I saw this recipe I figured it was a good place to start. I made my first loaf two weeks ago and I’ve already baked a second loaf. I did everything by hand as I don’t have a stand mixer and I was shocked by how smoothly it went. Sally’s detailed instructions covered everything. I can never go back to store bought bread again. I’m very much looking forward to trying the whole wheat sandwich bread next!
Oh my goodness, THANK YOU!!! I just recently started baking bread and none of the recipes have turned out the way I wanted/expected. I would The dough would never rise like as described…..until I followed your recipe!!! And not only does it look beautiful, it tastes amazing!! I’m pitching/deleting all of the other bread recipes I’ve saved.
How much honey and when can I add honey to my bread?
Hi Linda, you can use the same amount of honey instead of sugar without any changes. Let us know if you give it a try!
Can I use all milk instead of milk and water?
Hi Peggy, you could, but the added fat from the additional milk could make this bread more soft and crumbly. We recommend sticking with the recipe as written for best and most consistent results.
Can I use a 13×5 pan? Should I double the recipe?
Hi Ana, we haven’t tested this dough in that sized pan, but it would be a shorter loaf as written. See recipe Notes for details about doubling. Let us know what you try!
I was about to give up on making homemade bread until now. This recipe is delicious and easy to follow. I’m looking forward to making more. Thank you.
My son has a dairy allergy. Can I use plant butter and oatmilk ?
Hi Jaclyn, those swaps should work just fine, let us know if you give it a try!
I feel like I did something wrong….but it still worked perfectly!
I measured all ingredients with cups and spoons besides the flour. I used my scale to weigh out the 430g all-purpose flour. I don’t have a mixer so I did all the stirring and kneading by hand. I feel like I had to add an extra 1½ – 2 cups of flour to the dough! It was a sticky mess. I just kept adding and adding and adding until eventually it was the right feel for dough. I baked as directed and it still turned out absolutely delicious. I don’t know what happened. Baking is weird sometimes. It’s going to make THE BEST grilled cheese tomorrow!
Thank you for this wonderful l, very handy bread recipe! (I didn’t buy enough bread before the snowstorm lol)
Same for me. Measurements are inaccurate.
I had to add a lot more flour too! Glad to know it isn’t just me. Waiting for the 2nd rise now. Hoping it turns out good since I was guessing on the additional flour!
This recipes created the most immaculate loaf of sandwich bread. Thank you for sharing such a great bread recipe!
Hi! I’m brand new to baking bread and this is the first recipe I saw and tried. I thought I measured everything correctly but when I pulled out the dough to start kneading it was hard and the dough just cracked and broke when I kneaded it. Eventually I got it to a good place but if I kneaded too hard it would pull and rip. Love any tips!!!
Hi Autumn! It sounds like there would have been too much flour in your 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.
Came out great!
Was a little sad to not see this one in your baking 101 cookbook. I make it every week! Recently tried your brioche style buns and they were also phenomenal. Just wanted to give you some kudos I make many of your recipes with my 2 year old daughter, your apple bread is one of our favorites!
I’ve made this recipe twice and it tastes really great, but both times it has come out dry and crumbly. Any idea why? Thanks!
Hi Hailee, 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!
Best sandwich bread recipe I’ve tried for sure. Thank you.
how does this work for a glass pan? cannot find my metal pan anywhere!
Hi Olivia, baking in a glass pan may take just a few minutes longer. Make sure it’s a true 9×5 pan (some glass Pyrex pans are smaller!).
Absolutely delicious! What I love most about Sally’s recipes is that even if they don’t come out as picture perfect as hers (mine was NOT a pretty mushroom loaf), there’s so much information in the recipe and the notes that I know how to improve it for next time. Not to mention that a “failed” attempt still made one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had!
This is like my 1000th bread recipe I’ve followed from you lol and once again, it’s absolutely delicious! Easy instructions to follow ❤️
I was looking for a recipe for soft bread, and this is perfect!
In place of the regular water, I used potato water from when I made mashed potatoes and switched from sugar to honey – 2 tablespoons. The bread is absolutely delicious! And it’s nice that it makes one loaf since I don’t have room in my freezer for another loaf. Thank you so much for such a wonderful recipe!
I made this today and it’s the best bread i’ve ever had/made. Thank you!!
Ive made this twice and absolutely our family loves this recipe. I’m looking into milling my own flour and wondered if you have ever used freshly milled flour and if you have any advice for that with this recipe or in general. Thank you!
Freshly milled flour is fine. But you need to mill it to the same consistency. It needs to be rather fine, passing a #60 sieve. I’ve used hard red, soft and mixes over time and honestly to me it’s just a time sink. The end product is pretty much indistinguishable from unbromated, unbleached KA flour. I also found it needed strengthening because I have no good idea the protein content of the flour. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fun to do and you learn something new every time. But it’s like having a swimming pool – if you have never had one, it sounds great. Once you have it, you discover how much work it is for the result. It’s best if your neighbors have a pool
Tonight is my third time making this and my first with bread flour. Bread flour is definitely the way to go! Still great with AP flour, but bread flour takes it up another level. Not so crusty, which is good for my kids.
As always with Sally, detailed instructions and the right balance of flavors!
I have a glass bread baking dish. Should I adjust the baking time and temperature? Thanks.
Hi Nadia! Baking in a glass pan may take just a few minutes longer. Make sure it’s a true 9×5 pan (my glass Pyrex pan is smaller!).
Do you have to use whole milk? Or would 2% work fine?
Hi Britany, 2% milk can work here just fine!
The gram measurement conversions from cups are way off. 1 cup of water is 250g. 1 cup of flour is 120-125g depending on how compact it is, so 3 1/3 cups would be 400-415g of flour. I’ve balanced this recipe by feel, as I did everything by weight until I got to the flour then realized it was incorrect.
Hi Claire, the standard weight for 1 cup of water is 237g, which we round to 240g. And we use the measurement of 125g for 1 cup of AP flour, and 130g for 1 cup of bread flour. Even with using gram measurements, there are a lot of other factors that can affect how much flour or water you may need, such as humidity in the air, so the best way to do it is really to use visual cues, as well as by touch/feel. If the dough feels dry and crumbly, you may need to add a bit more water. If it’s too sticky to knead and isn’t pulling away from the sides of the bowl and wrapping itself around the dough hook, you may need to add a bit more flour. Hope this helps!
On the King Arthur website, they list 1 cup of bread flour to be 120 grams. Where are you getting 130 grams from? This is confusing. I’ve made enough bread to know many things can influence how much flour you really need to use, and touch is essential to figure that out, but your stated standard weight comment really threw me for a loop.
Do you have a recipe for a Pullman loaf pan? I have a 13in and a 7in. I did this recipe in my 9in and LOVED it but would like to do a bigger loaf, I’m just unsure how to adjust the recipe to accommodate for it.
Hi Crystal, We have never tried using a pullman pan before. Many other readers have also reported using 9×4 pullman pan with the lid off successfully, but we haven’t tried scaling this recipe for different sizes.
I made a 1.5x recipe and cooked it in my large Pullman loaf pan yesterday and it worked out great. 25 min covered and 10 uncovered at 350 (until internal tech was 190-200).