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.
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: 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.
- 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
Keywords: bread, loaf, sandwich, white bread
Hi Sally
Delicious! Only had cake flour, but was fine. Only problem, the standard yeast packets we get in South Africa are 10gms. The first rise was too quick, and did it late evening intending to refrigerate the shaped loaf overnight, but it rose to the top of the tin in about half an hour in the fridge! And the kitchen was cold.
This morning the top had sunk a bit, and didnt recover when out of fridge. Anyway, it tasted good, and nice texture.
How do I increace the recipe for a 30cm loaf pan? I’ve googled to see if there is a recipe, but no joy.
Gerald
★★★★★
Tried this recipe for the first time. It was very easy to follow, very fool-proof, and turned out amazing! The inside was very fluffy and soft, even though I used all-purpose flour. The taste was perfect: a wonderful balance of butter, salt, and milk.
★★★★★
If you have always been intimidated by yeast baking (like me) this should be your ‘starter’ recipe. My bread came out soft, fluffy, tall and beautiful the first time I made it, all without a stand mixer! It is possible! I live in humid Texas and was concerned when I kept having to add flour for the dough to put away from the bowl as I stirred. I also had to add more flour as I kneaded my dough to keep it from sticking. I just kept at it until it looked like what I saw in the video. I am so confident in my bread making ability now which is something I never thought I would say! Trust the process! Make the bread! P.S. Thanks to the folks for posting alternatives/variations with this dough that will work. I want to try subbing olive oil for butter to see how that works. I will report back!
★★★★★
Just getting started converting my family to real bread since I have time on my hands! I can only find fresh yeast at a local bakery. I measure the precise amount of ingredients and then find the dough to be ways too sticky. (Is that due to the extra moisture in the yeast???) I then add up to about a half cup of flour one table spoon at a time as I’m kneading to get to the right consistency. What am I doing wrong? I looked around your site and others and no one gives a reduced measurement of liquids to account for the fresh yeast. What’s your advice? Thanks!
★★★★★
Hi Michelle, Fresh/cake yeast is difficult to find where I live so I don’t use it in my recipes. But this is a good conversion chart that I link to in my Baking with Yeast Guide: https://redstaryeast.com/yeast-baking-lessons/yeast-conversion-table/
This is my go-to bread! It tastes so good. I’ve also experimented with a few substitutions…for all of you who are wondering, here are some things I’ve tried that work pretty well. (I didn’t try all at the same time, of course!) I’ve tried:
1) doubling the recipe,
2) using 1 cup whole wheat flour and 2 cups all purpose,
3) substituting canola oil for butter (butter tastes better but canola oil works),
4) making this into a cinnamon roll loaf, and
5) using it for cinnamon buns. I doubled the recipe and used half for a loaf of bread and half for a tray of cinnamon rolls…it’s my timesaver way to get bread and cinnamon rolls done at one time! If you want the best cinnamon rolls use one of Sally’s other recipes, but if you are short on time try this!
★★★★★
I have not had much luck with making sandwich bread but this recipe made all the difference. It turned out picture-perfect, tender yet firm (and especially tasty warm out of the oven with a little butter). I will definitely be making this one again.
★★★★★
Thanks Sally! I actually made it again this morning and found the gluten didn’t develop enough during kneading. I took my time with kneading it and it turned out GREAT! I am making your poptarts as I type 🙂 always loved your blog so much and made MANY recipes but during quarantine I am extra grateful for you sharing your talents!
★★★★★
Amazing recipe! This is my first try baking bread and it worked just perfect. Thank you Sally, you saved us through Quarantine.
★★★★★
I also got a sticky soup and found that just adding a lot more flour fixed it right up.
★★★★
I have made this twice now. First time I think I used too much flour. It was kind of dense. tasted AMAZING but dense and got dry really easy. This time I used my scale and went by 375g and added a teeny bit as needed. Both times, the top sinks in as soon as I transfer to the over from its warm rise spot. Could the rise spot be TOO warm? Whats happening to my top? the taste is INCREDIBLE, but Im just not getting that nice round top. Any suggestions? (I use active dry yeast and activate it. The rises all went great though)
Hi Katie, so glad you tried this homemade bread recipe. I’m glad you enjoy how it tastes! It’s likely that warm environment is too warm. This means that the shaped dough is rising too fast, then easily deflates. Next time, let it rise in a cooler environment. The slower rise will help guarantee a sturdier top.
Hi Sally, I love your recipe and have enjoyed baking fresh bread quite a bit lately. It always tastes great and comes out fluffy and chewy, but I can’t seem to get the beautiful domed top. I let it go through the 2nd rise for at least an hour and sometimes a little longer trying to get it up to one inch. It’s got a rounded top when it goes into the oven and when it comes out, but then always goes flat or misshapen upon cooling. Any idea what I might be doing wrong? I’m using AP flour, and I’m always afraid of over or under-proofing. It also usually hangs over the ends of the pan, like kind of bakes over the edges. Any ideas? Thanks so much for the great recipe!
Hi Stephanie, I’m so glad that you enjoy this sandwich bread recipe. Thank you for the feedback! I’d love to help you figure out the shape/deflating issue. This can happen is the dough over-proofs during that second rise. And it could be likely that the warm environment (for rising) is too warm. This means that the shaped dough is rising too fast, then easily deflates before/during/after baking. Next time, let it rise in a cooler environment. The slower rise will help guarantee a sturdier top.
I have made this recipe probably 10 times now (usually doubling or tripling to make more at once) – I’m making a batch as I type! It has turned out excellent every time, and has saved me from having to go to the store more than necessary since we are a bread eatin’ family like no other!
★★★★★
Hi Sally,
Is there any substitute for milk and butter? As my son is allergic to dairy.
Thank you!
Sally, I made your Sandwich Bread after using the basic King Arthur’s recipe for the last year. There are slight differences but I thought I’d try it, glad I did. We decided it’s The One! Any little thing that makes getting thru this pandemic a bit better is worth a lot! Next, the Lemon Pudding Cakes, and Cinnamon Swirl Bread..I have time 😉
Is this in your cookbook?
Mixing it up & (hopefully) Rising
Thanks
★★★★★
I’m so happy you enjoyed this bread, Joni! Most recipes in my cookbooks live exclusively in the books 🙂
Hi, Sally. Thank you for this recipe It’s terrific. I have never made bread before and decided to try something new during this quarantine. My grandchildren loved it. One question: can I make dinner rolls with this recipe? How would I do this?
Thank you again.
Isabel
★★★★★
Sure can! In step 6 punch down the dough, form into individual rolls, and continue with second rise. I’m unsure of the bake time needed. Or you can follow my recipe for dinner rolls.
This is the best white bread recipe we have ever had. Got the recommendation from my brother who tried it first and loved it! I have doubled the recipe each time (just used a larger mixing bowl) and had perfect success. So glad to have found this. My whole family loves it and I don’t think we can go back to store bought white bread. We love homemade whole wheat bread as well, but it’s nice to have a variety. Thanks for an awesome recipe. I love the rolling technique too- never made a bread recipe like that (that wasn’t for cinnamon rolls!) makes the bread so fluffy and delicious! 🙂
★★★★★
Another amazing recipe from your website !!!
★★★★★
Absolute sandwich perfection! The structural integrity needed for a sandwich without a too-chewey crust. Literally sandwich perfection.
★★★★★
This is by far the BEST recipe I have used to date. Such an easy recipe to follow with amaizing results. I modified this recipe slightly to suit the needs of my son and I, used a stand mixer, cashew milk instead of cow, organic unbleached all purpose flour, active dry yeast, and baked on 325 in a greased glass bread pan for 42 minutes turning about half way through. This bread and method was perfection. I used your same method, and even thought I altered some ingredients it still turned out better than I could have anticipated. Thank you for sharing it with us! Only wish I could share a picture, I am sure you would be proud.
★★★★★
Hi Sally,
Read your notes on doubling the recipe, could you explain the theory why we should not double the yeast and butter too?
Also if the dough is too sticky, how much more bread flour can we add?
Thanks!
-Catrina –
★★★★★
Hi Catrina! It would simply be too much butter and yeast for 2 sandwich bread loaves. The results weren’t ideal, but the tested doubling method (in the recipe notes) works like a charm, maintaining the same texture and taste.
This was fabulous and easy and I felt accomplished at all steps!
Followed the recipe exactly using all purpose flour and got a near perfect loaf. Didn’t have a dough hook so used my mixer’s paddle attachment with success. No sticky dough issues either. Wonderful – thank you Sally!
★★★★★
This recipe is excellent. It bakes up PERFECT. The crumb looks exactly like commercial white bread. During quarintine Ive been making bread recipes for weeks and this one is by far the BEST. I started the recipe at 4:30 in the afternoon and was eating warm bread by 7:30pm.
★★★★★
I love this recipe! I’ve probably made it at least ten times now. My toddler loves it! I just want to say that I always do half white whole wheat flour all the time (my attempt at getting something healthy in him) and it works out really well.
At first I was not kneading it enough which made a really crumbly texture but now that I got that sorted it’s great.
My sister never compliments my stuff but I gave her a loaf and she says “there couldn’t be a more perfect sandwich bread than this!”
★★★★★
Do you have calorie contents and nutrition facts per serving for this amazing bread? I have made 3 loaves now and its going to be my go to for sure. Im on a weight loss journey so I was just curious if you had done that or know how to do that ? Thanks!
★★★★★
Hi Ashley! I’m unsure of the nutritional info of this recipe, but there are many great online calculators like this one: https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp
So glad you love this bread recipe!
I LOVE this recipe – it has turned out as amazing chewy pillowy perfection every time, and now I am happy to report that it turned out well with (my only available options) regular all purpose flour and instant yeast, too. I got much more of a rise this time (both times), that then settled back down more than usual to slightly flat during baking (proofing issue?), which hasn’t happened before, and I did bake it a little longer, but I’m very happy with the texture and taste as usual.
★★★★★
I love this recipe. This was only the second time I’ve tried sandwich bread and the recipe/result is so much better than my first attempt. I followed exactly as written. It baked up beautifully and we ate half of the loaf before dinner! I posted a photo on Instagram and tagged you.
Thanks, I won’t be looking for another sandwich bread recipe. This is it for me.
★★★★★
This actually the best bread I have ever made in 32 years of marriage. It was so easy as well. I have found my new go to recipe and am happily ditching the Teflon panned bread machine.
★★★★★
I am a pretty new bread maker and this recipe was great! I don’t have a mixer so I did it by hand and while it was some elbow grease it wasn’t so bad. I also didn’t have milk but I had kefir so I used that and it turned out awesome. I really trust this website and have made many awesome recipes from it. Thank you!
★★★★★
Absolutely amazing recipe. Baked this last night and already half the loaf is gone!! This bread is perfection with crusty top and soft, pillowy interior. Thanks so much Sally For sharing this 🙂
★★★★★
I’ve made this several times in the past few weeks. I don’t have bread flour or unsalted butter but didn’t seem to make a difference. I was using active dry yeast. Loaf that is baking right now is with rapid rise yeast. So far every loaf has turned out great even when I had to sub items slightly. I’ve never had problems with sticky dough. I use a hand mixer with the bread hook
Attachments. I’m cooking a turkey today and my husband special requested a loaf of this bread for turkey sandwiches tomorrow. I love this recipe! Thanks Sally!
★★★★★
Hi Sally,
I’m in need of a little direction. I’ve made this recipe probably 10-12x. Sometimes it comes out perfectly dough-y, lifts right out of the mixer easy and stays together. Other times it is extremely sticky, and I’m practically scraping the bottom of the mixer with my nails. The only variable I can think of is slight temperature differences in the water and milk, but I always make sure they’re right around 110. It’s always been the same amount of flour, too. Thoughts? Thank you in advance!
★★★★★
Hi Mary! I’m so glad you love this sandwich bread recipe as much as I do. There are a lot of variances that go into the consistency of dough, even down to the weather and humidity in the air. I made another dough recipe last week and again this morning and I had to add another 1/4 cup of flour this morning. I owe it to the humidity. There’s nothing wrong with adding just a little more flour to bring the dough into a knead-able consistency. Just remember that the dough is supposed to be a little soft, so don’t over-flour it.