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 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
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.Â
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 or paddle 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:Â 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 30-34 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.Â
- 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
Excellent bread. I used AP flour and it turned out exactly as I’d hoped. I have made dozens of artisan no knead loaves but it was my first experience making a sandwich loaf and I could not have been more pleased with the finished product. Thank you for the excellent instructions and pictures. All were extremely helpful.
Have made this recipe twice now. I like it because it makes a good size single loaf. I use bread flour and it’s a great taste and texture and easy enough that I will probably have to make it once a week..?
How much in grams of salt please?
Hi Brad! 1.5 tsp of salt is about 9 grams.
Amazing recipe!!!! I didn’t have a stand mixer and it still turned out perfect. I have made this bread twice now, first with regular flour and the second with bread flour. I would recommend the bread flour, but either if fine. Keeper for sure. Thank you!
What is the ratio to substitute oil for butter? (I don’t have butter)
Hi Nicole, You need softened butter in this dough so we don’t suggest an oil substitute (liquid). You can try room temperature (solid) coconut oil though (expect a different taste)!
Such a great recipe! You are my to go person for a lot of my baking “news”. And so far, you did not let me down .
This is an excellent bread Sally. Bread flour makes a huge difference. Thanks for the recipe!
This recipe is so amazing!! It’s so good that I don’t know if I could ever eat store bought bread again. Thank you!!!!
Instructions were clear and easy to follow. The tips were helpful as well. The result was a delicious sandwich bread just as advertised.
This goes into our favorites.
I have no words to describe how delicious this bread is! Beautiful, delicious, chewy bread white bread! I don’t think I can ever go back to store bought! Very easy to make, I doubled the recipe and made two loaves, while following directions to decrease yeast and butter. I followed the recipe exactly following all the tips and tricks too. Only thing I did differently was brush some melted butter on top of the loaf right before baking. Perfection! Thank you so much, this was the recipe I have been looking for!
Wow. I am so impressed by how easy this was to make and it’s insanely delicious. Your recipe made me less intimidated by bread making.
Also I forgot to rate, in my previous comment. We love this recipe.
My sister loves this bread but needs a dairy free version. Can you recommend a substitute, possibly oatmilk, or coconut full fat?
Hi Andrea, you could try using all water or a dairy-free milk in place of the milk. For the butter, you could try solid coconut oil. Expect a less soft, more dense bread with these changes. Let us know if you give it a try!
I made this bread using only water (no milk) and replaced the butter with canola oil.
It came out a little less rich than when I made it with the dairy products but was still sinfully delicious.
Excellent recipe.
Super! Of the many bread recipes that I have used, this is the best! A huge thank you to Sally for offering so many wonderful recipes and lovely photos to accompany them.
5 stars (can’t give more )
So, I made that bread yesterday. Used KA bread flour it gave a great rise each time.
AND THEN
I put it in the oven, set the timer and (relying on the timer) just forgot about it.
I DID NOT HEAR THE TIMER
and after over an hour baking finally remembered MY BREAD, and removed it from the oven. This morning, we cut into it and we have the PERFECT bread, only a little bit more crust, otherwise perfect!
Thank you Sally! That is my go to Sandwich bread from now on.
(Using KA white bread flour, and melted butter)
This recipe is the bomb dot com!! I don’t use much dairy so I subbed the milk for almond milk. Still used Kerry Gold butter. Amazing bread! Thank you so much!!
I wish I had the words to describe the baking process and then the product that came out of the oven. Miracle, maybe?? I didn’t know I was able to make something so beautiful and so delicious. The recipe was easy to follow and the bread turned out so warm and fluffy. I did mix up my flour, adding 1/2 whole wheat as well as flaxseed meal, this gave it a beautiful colour and addition flavour.
My husband thought it was store bought!
Thank you Sally for another amazing recipe!
Thank you so much for the positive feedback, we’re thrilled this recipe was a success for you!
I made your rolls they we so yummy! I just took your bread out of the oven it looks great. Could you add cheese to this bread?
Thank you
Hi Carol! Have you baked our cheese bread recipe? It’s adapted from this dough.
I wanted to try making it without the dairy products.
What should I use instead of butter and milk?
Hi Haley, although we haven’t tried it, you could try using all water or a dairy-free milk in place of the milk. For the butter, you could try solid coconut oil. Expect a less soft, more dense bread with these changes. Let us know if you give it a try!
Hi Sally. I make your artesian bread recipe almost every Sunday and my family and I love it! I have recently tried to stop feeding my kids processed foods and even bakery prepared bread at the grocery store has sketchy ingredients. I made this sandwich bread for their lunches and it turned out perfect! Thank you for such great recipes.
Just curious, I use alot of your recipes. Are you using convection bake? Or is everything you do regular bake?
Hi Jo-Ann! All of the recipes on this site are written for conventional settings. Convection ovens are fantastic for cooking and roasting. If you have the choice, we recommend conventional settings when baking cakes, breads, etc. 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 settings for baking, lower your temperature by 25 degrees F and keep in mind that things may still take less time to bake.
What if you only have salted butter? Do I reduce the salt?
Hi Sandy, no 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.
This is the most perfect fool-proof bread recipe I’ve ever come across. I’ve been searching for the perfect sandwich bread that is homemade& thought I’d never find it but then I stumbled across this recipe. I almost wasnt going to try it but I’m glad I did. It’s perfect.
I’ve tried it with AP flour & bread flour & honestly, you don’t need the more expensive bread flour for this recipe.
I use my bread maker & throw all the ingredients in on dough cycle. Then form, rise, & bake.
I make this recipe about every other week. I make this recipe so often I’ve now printed it out & it has a special place on my fridge.
This is my favourite sandwich bread recipe! It’s very consistent and very tasty 🙂
I always weigh my flour now and it comes out good every time. I’ve tried half whole wheat/half AP flour and that works well too.
I used this recipe in my bread maker and it worked great. I also used whole wheat flour instead of all purpose flour and it was delicious.
Hi! So I just tried this recipe, and it seems sort of tough… I was looking at your pictures and mine looks nothing like yours. Do you have any advice for when I try this again?
Hi Katelyn! How are you measuring your flour? Too much flour in the dough will result in tough bread. We always recommend using the spoon and level method. You’ll also want to make sure you’re kneading the dough enough. It should bounce back when you poke it when it has been kneaded correctly. Thank you so much for giving this recipe a try!
I have made this about three times already and it turns out every time! I’ve used both AP and Bread Flour and the latter makes it rise higher and has an even better texture. Sandwich bread perfection! Thanks Sally!
This recipe is great. Made it today and was easy to follow and the bread was soft and chewy. Great texture. the only thing is it was cold on the day I made it so I had the dough resting on warm water that was a bit too warm for too long and the dough got a hard layer on it which made the bread have some hard clumps after baking and was hard to roll out. But besides that hiccup, the bread tasted great.
This recipe is a keeper. Have nvr been disappointed with any of your recipes. TQ Sally.
This worked wonderfully for me!