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
Hi this is my second time making this recipe and it yielded great results the first time, but please adjust your metric measurements for the flour amount. It took me absolutely ages (both times) of adding more and more flour after the initial 420g to get it to actually become a dough ball instead of wet batter.
Hi Jess, it doesn’t sound like you’re doing anything wrong. Sometimes you just need to keep adding flour to get the dough to go from overly wet and sticky to tacky and kneadable–factors such as the humidity in the air can affect it. It definitely helps to knead by hand so you can get a good feel for the dough and its consistency. Just keep doing what you’re doing, if the bread turns out well then you’re making it right!
I started making this recipe a little over a year ago. I bake it twice a week. I started baking my own bread when I found a hot dog roll pushed into the back of the bread drawer. It was 5 weeks old and had no mold on it. What are they putting into our food??? This recipe is easy to make and delicious. I highly recommend it.
I made this and it came out amazing! It rose so high and was so soft and fluffy. I put some melted butter on the top while the loaf was still warm and it made the crusts softer but still chewy. Great recipe!
This bread was so easy to make and was absolutely delicious! I can’t wait to make it again. I love your recipes because they are always easy to follow and consistently taste incredible.
This bread is perfect! I make it twice a week now, and don’t buy bread at the store anymore. Thank you for sharing.
First time making this bread. I feel it was very easy and tasty , but it was a bit crumbly. Any suggestions?
Hi Lisa, 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!
I used your recipe yesterday to make my first loaf of homemade bread. It turned out great. Thank you!
Hi,
I don’t have any butter or oil at all, but I do have margarine, would that work as a substitute here? If so, should I be changing the ratios at all to account for the change or would it not matter?
Thanks!
Hi Ace, unfortunately, we don’t recommend margarine in place of the butter here.
Thank you. Thank you for your blog and your recipes! I have been meaning to comment for a couple years now. Your ingredients are spot on and I have used this recipe (and a few more *banana bread muffins* *loaf bread* and cakes) on a weekly basis. Because you have your sandwich bread recipe, I now do not buy bread anymore. It has become such a warm treat for our family. So, thank you, from a homemaker with three littles under the age of 6, thank you. I prep it in the morning and it is in the oven by 10:30am, then served fresh by lunch. You’ve made the recipes very easy to guide through, and now, masters my bread making skills. Truly, thank you for taking the time, effort, and resources in providing this tool for moms like me. Warm Hugs
Love this recipe. I was wondering if I can substitute the sugar for honey?
Hi Cat, the same amount of honey should work without any changes. Let us know if you give it a try!
I want to give this bread recipe a try but all I have is a glass loaf dish and not an aluminum loaf pan. Would I need to adjust the temperature or anything with it being in glass?
Hi Sarah! 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!).
Can you use buttermilk in this recipe, or do you have a recipe for buttermilk sandwich bread?
Hi Lisa! Yes, you can use buttermilk here.
Great recipe!! Thank you.
Bread came out soft and delicious
And.. I made it in the machine.
Had to add some extra flour. But other thsn that, such an easy recipe. A keeper
Turned out great. I substituted 1 1|3 cup white flour with King Arthur wheat flour. It had great rise and tasted fantastic. This was my first time making bread with mixer that had a dough hook, its fabulous.
Hi made my very first ever bread loaf with this recipe and it turned out great. Just one question, I want to make dough ahead and feeze it, do I thaw in the fridge then take it out to let it rise or do I remove right from the freezer and sit it on the counter to let it thaw and rise at the same time?
Hi Monica, you do not need to let it thaw in the refrigerator. On the day you serve it, let the loaf thaw and rise for about 4-5 hours at room temperature.
I just finished baking my first loaf and it looks wonderful! I’m wondering if where you say to let the dough rise until it’s 1″ higher than the side of the pan, do you mean the sides of the dough should be 1″ higher, or that the top crown of the dough should be 1″ higher? I baked when the crown was 1″ higher, and I think it might have been better to let it rise a little more. Your advice?
Hi Annette! We mean the middle. You can let it rise a little farther, but you don’t want to over-proof the dough.
If I wanted to double the recipe do I have to double the yeast as well?
Hi Brianna, 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.
My first two were perfect. Now the center keeps collapsing. Shasta should I do?
Hi Heather! Breads will collapse when over-proofed. Try a shorter rise time or a cooler spot next time.
Hi!
What kind of salt does this recipe call for? I used regular table salt and I feel like it was just a bit too salty…tried again with less table salt and it’s just a little too bland. Wondering what salt you used so I can just follow the recipe accurately 🙂
Hi Sarah! We use table salt in all our recipes unless otherwise noted.
Do you have to have whole milk or could I use 1%? Would it make a big difference?
Hi Lila, you can use 1% milk in a pinch.
I used oat milk and vegan butter, and it’s perfect. Completely delicious, rose as it should, and fluffy and light.
Hi I only have active yeast. I’m pretty sure it will work just take a slower rise. You feel this is ok, have you tried it?
Hi Yvonne, yes, that is fine!
Yes it seems to be working, I can’t wait to taste this bread at lunch. Thank you
It’s absolutely delicious!! 10/10 will be my new sandwich bread!! Using the active not instant worked beautifully. Thank you for sharing your recipe
Absolutely wonderful! I followed the recipe pretty exactly. I weighed the water and milk, measured the rest. As is normal in my house for some reason, I had to add flour, about 4 or 5 tsp in the mixer and a bit more when I turned it out and kneaded a couple minutes more before the first rise. It rose both times in about half the times you state. I did use AP flour (3 cups) and 1/3 cup vital wheat gluten.
As always…your recipe is a winner.
I love your recipes! Thank you so much for teaching me how to bake over the past baker’s dozen years- I always look for your recipe before I look for any others!
I’ve made this a few times and I do like how it usually turns out, but he dough is always quite sticky when kneading and I have to add loads of extra flour, I dont have a mixer so do everything by hand, what am I doing wrong?
Hi Mekayla, it doesn’t sound like you’re doing anything wrong! Sometimes you just need to keep adding flour to get the dough to go from overly wet and sticky to tacky and kneadable–factors such as the humidity in the air can affect it. I made the oatmeal wheat sandwich bread from Sally’s Baking 101 yesterday and had the same issue–felt like I added loads of flour, but in the end the bread was perfect. It definitely helps to knead by hand so you can get a good feel for the dough and its consistency. Just keep doing what you’re doing, if the bread turns out well then you’re making it right!
I’m curious – how do you store your bread when not in fridge? (It will be sliced) I’m going to try placing in my Dutch oven casserole pan.
Thank you I love your recipes! I’m trying this one tomorrow
Hi Page, we usually wrap the bread tightly and store it in a container like a bread box. Hope this helps!
Does this recipe work well in a bread making machine?
Hi Kassandra, 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!
Help!! Walmart delivered Pillsbury Bread flour instead of my regular flour I use for the simply white sandwich bread recipe. Can I use it if so how? I make a loaf every 2 days.
Hi Sonja, bread flour works great in this recipe!
Thank you, for responding. So I don’t need to adjust the recipe if I’m understanding ?
I trust Ms Sally’s Baking with my life when it comes to pies and pastries…that being said, this particular bread recipe has caused me massive stress each time. I have made the batches separate, I have adjusted the ingredients according to the comments, I have tried it both in the dry summer and humid summer, as well as in the winter, with dairy and non-dairy milk, and every single time it comes out to a pancake-batter consistency. The dough turns out to runny to do anything with, and I am forced to add almost double the amount of flour every time. (If you’ve read this far, I BEG you to try all of her fall pie recipes, ESPECIALLY THE PUMPKIN!!!)
Super easy and delicious! Baked a loaf yesterday for grilled cheese sandwiches tonight.
Love all your recipes, but my favourite sandwich loaf is from you too. Perfect rise, perfect texture, scrummy taste and always a winner. Thank you.
Delicious but.. HELP please!
I made this bread about 4x already and each time, it comes out, the top half is always perfect while the bottom is always soggy and heavy. It’s still really delicious though!
I use my KitchenAid for kneading and Nordicware breadpan and bakes it for 32min.
Can you please let me know what I’m possibly doing wrong? Thank you!
Hi Skye, sorry to hear it’s a bit wet! How long did you let the bread cool in the pan? Some readers have reported that they have had success at preventing soggy bottoms by removing the bread from the pan after just a few minutes of cooling, and finish cooling it on a wire rack. We hope this helps for your next loaf!
I had the same experience of the bottom not being cooked through. I bake a fair amount of bread and have never had that happen before; I suspect it is from moving my oven rack down one level, because I have also never done that before (but was following instructions). Thoughts?