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
I make your Simply Sandwich Bread all the time and love it. I do not have a stand mixer so I do everything by hand and wooden spoon. I absolutely love baking bread!!! Love your recipes. Thank you!
First, I am VERY new at baking and sadly need VERY specific instructions:) and apologize ahead of time for what I am sure will be a “few” questions.
So, when you remove this from the oven to let it cool, do you take it out of the pan to a cooling rack or do you leave it in the pan to cool?
Lastly, I have tried a couple of your recipes and absolutely love them. Thank you!
Hi Robert, let the bread cool in the pan for about 10 minutes or so, then remove from the pan and allow it to finish cooling on the rack. Let us know how you like it!
All I have is a clear glass loaf pan, will this work?
Hi Ashley, You can your glass loaf pan. The bread may take a few extra minutes. Same oven temperature.
I am so happy I found this recipe. I’ve been trying to get a basic bread loaf down so I can cut costs at the grocery store and this is IT!!! I followed the recipe using bread flour exactly. I found Sally’s method of adding one cup of flour at a time really helpful; it makes the dough much more manageable. Will make again and again!
Amazing! My first time making bread and it’s exactly what I wanted!
★★★★★
Great recipe! Very simple and easy to follow. Thank you for sharing!
★★★★★
Hi Sally, I made this bread twice using 3 1/4 cups of King Arthur bread flour with a great result. Today when I weighed 3 1/4 cups I realized it was way more than 410g (1 cup was over 150g). I know I’m probably better off using the weight measurement so I’m going to try that today but I wonder why such a big difference?
Hi Julie, I usually use King Arthur Flour bread flour in bread recipes. I’ve never had 1 cup weigh 150g though. (Usually closer to 130g if spooning and leveling.) Are you spooning and leveling? Regardless, I recommend using the gram measurement listed in the recipe because that’s how it was tested. I’m glad that you enjoy the bread though. It’s one of our favorites.
Hi, this is a fantastic recipe and worked even for a Newbie like me, but since I’m making it like 2 times a week, can I substitute all purpose flour with whole wheat flour or may be do half and half
★★★★★
Aditi, I am a bread making newbie yet I’ve had success using AP flour. But don’t use the generic store brand flour. After 3 attempts using generic store brand flour my breads came out hard, dry, pure white & tasteless. Do NOT use generic all purpose flour! I finally found success using Gold Medal AP flour. I used this recipe and came out perfect after using Gold Medal. Also note, AP flour will be sticky compared to bread flour.
I started trying to make bread during lockdown and tried several recipes but this was by far the best one and the yeast and baking tips were very helpful. My first loaf came out pretty good but then I adjusted the kneading a little and the proofing a little and my fourth loaf was exceptional. It seems there are a lot of variables such as flour type, “room” temperature, kneading etc. The changes I made were : hand knead for 8 minutes instead of mixer dough hook for 2 minutes ( i found this made the dough more elastic ), proof in my samsung oven on “proof mode” for only 30ish minutes for both first and second rise. The oven on “proof mode” is about 80F. I find that deciding on if it is proofed enough or too much is the most difficult part of this.
Anyway, thanks Sally for the best recipe I have found.
★★★★★
Hi Sally,
I’ve been baking my whole life, but bread was something I never really bothered with (before Covid). I tried a bunch of different recipes, but one thing I find I dislike about bread is the inconsistencies (how temp or other things can affect it so much).
I tried this recipe a couple months ago, and while it rose and tasted good, the inside was SO soft and crumbly, it was almost impossible to slice! Well, I came back to this again recently (actually on Thanksgiving) and it turned out perfectly! I have now made it 3 times successfully! Even my husband, who is not a fan of ‘white bread’ (spoiled by our local European style bakery) said that he loved it! So, thank you!!
★★★★★
This recipe & your cheese bread recipe we’re both excellent! They turned out so much more fluffier and tasty and not heavy. My previous poor attempt was from the fleischmans yeast website. You’d think there’s would be supreme; not so. Thank you, I’ll be staying with your terrific recipes.
★★★★★
I’ve been making bread for years and have recently tried this. Have now swapped my old recipe for this! We use up 4-5 loaves per week so been making this a bit. Have tried using 200g of whole wheat instead and still turns out good.
Only thing I do different in the procedure is to knead longer until the dough–from top to bottom–completely pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
★★★★★
The bread tasted great! However, if I make it again, I will add extra butter. The dough was a bit too firm, so the liquid will do it good, and the finished bread would have tasted better if it was a little more buttery. Regardless, this is my new favorite bread recipe! Simple and delicious!
★★★★
Hi, I’ve made this recipe once (absolutely loved it), I was wondering though, what can I use to give the bread a slight flavour. My family found it a bit bland.
A couple teaspoons of your favorite dried herbs or a couple Tablespoons of your favorite chopped herbs would be great! Add either with the last bit of flour. You may also enjoy my cheese bread recipe.
Sounds good, I will definitely try that on my next batch!
★★★★★
Have made this one a few times now, and my results are deliciously consistent. It has the mouth feel of store bought bread, but the flavor of homemade. Super awesome for sandwiches! Would highly recommend this recipe – perfect as written.
★★★★★
Hello, this is the first time I baked your recipe and it is delicious. However, it is a little soft for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Any suggestions for it to be just a tad firmer?
Hi Diana, so glad you enjoyed this sandwich bread. To make a firmer bread, try replacing the milk with more water. You can also reduce the butter down to 2 Tablespoons.
This is the first time I have ever successfully made a loaf of bread. I’ve been trying for years. Thank you so much!
★★★★★
Bread has always seemed challenging for me but, having come across your blog and every other recipe working so well, I decided to try! Bread was amazing and so soft, I no longer feel intimidated trying more bread recipes (the bread rolls and focaccia were also 5*!)
★★★★★
I absolutely love this sandwich bread recipe! It’s so easy. I am curious can I use Buttermilk in this recipe?
★★★★★
Hi Leah, Buttermilk should be fine. Happy baking!
At 70 years of age, this recipe is so easy and delicious. Especially warm, right out of the oven with just butter.
I am wondering if adding a bit more butter ( for a richer flavor) would alter the amount of water or milk. Any thoughts on this?
★★★★★
Hi Kirk, I’m so glad you tried and enjoyed this homemade bread recipe. Feel free to add a couple more Tbsp of butter for a richer flavor. If doing so, I recommend reducing the milk or water. What may work better, however, is swapping all the water for whole milk. Use 1 and 1/4 cups whole milk instead of the water/milk combination.
Sally,
I did as you suggested, replacing the water with all milk and adding two tablespoons unsalted butter.
The results were just what I was looking for. Extra buttery flavor but still light and soft.
Question though, Why does my second rise exceed the height of my pan so the top edges droop over edge of baking pan? (It’s a 9 x 5 pan)
★★★★★
This was amazing! Super fluffy! Thank you Sally!
★★★★★
This is the best recipe! I had given up on sandwich bread in the past because it never seemed to rise well and came out too short of a loaf. I think its the “rolling” technique that sets this recipe apart. I did sub 1/2 of the flour with Whole Wheat, and it still turned out soft, fluffy, and made awesome sandwiches…and the best toast! Thanks for another great recipe Sally!
I figured out 2 major things I did wrong. one it seems i had both my milk and water at wrong temps. my water is weird it goes from the right temps then suddenly a scolding hot water in seconds. my second was not spooning the flour. I opted for bread machine though because my fingers cramps . So as I only have active dry yeast. I made sure my milk and water was around 110F infact both were about 107 to 109F added that after putting in my sugar then added my yeast into my loafpan. spooned and leveled my flour and instead of using 1 1/2 tsp of salt I used 1 amd 1/4 rth and unsalted butter. I set my machine to knead 3 times for 4 minutes each. Rise 3 x at 59 minutes each. it’s currently baking but for 45 minutes. I tried lowering the baking time yesterday my loaf was not fully cooked. I think that my breadmaker bakes at lower temps. it came out perfect crunchy crust soft inside.
★★★★★
I have come to this site for a few recipes. I don’t know what I did wrong but my dough was very dry I measured everything according to directions still a lot of flour did not mix in at all. I found it odd to roll the dough out as well then rolling it up rightly would also mean my bread would come out more like a sweet roll accept it did not have the sugary goodness in between.. . It’s frusterating because I made bread when I was younger and we did not roll it out flat then roll it up and it was good too bad I forgot the recipe.
★★★
Hi Sally,
I have made this 3 times already and they turned out great all the time. Unlike other bread recipes I have tried, the bread becomes dry or hard by the 3rd day. But this one mantained soft and fluffy. I live in a hot tropical country, so having bread that stayed soft and fluffy for days is really heaven! Even after putting it in the fridge. And I like that the recipe makes only 1 loaf. Perfect for me and my husband. Thanks again Sally!
★★★★★
Delicious and easy recipe! This also made wonderful homemade hamburger buns.
★★★★★
I like using a bread machine for the kneading and first rise parts.
I mix everything in a bowl first so I can get a feel for moisture. I make any needed adjustments, then plop it into the bread machine. After the first rise I punch it down, shape it, and put it in a bread pan. Wonderful recipe by the way. My whole family loves it.
★★★★★
Hi Sally,
I made this bread once and my husband said it was the best bread he ever had! Last night, I made it a second time and thought I did everything exactly the same, but this time my bread came out really crumbly (not dry, but when I try to slice it, it just breaks apart). Any idea what I could have done differently this time to cause that? Thanks so much!
★★★★★
60 year old male fledgling baker here.
I just made this recipe, and wow!! this bread is perfect for sandwiches!! I’m super impressed with this recipe!!
★★★★★
I felt super intimidated to make bread. This was the first bread I’ve ever made. I don’t know why I felt intimidated because it was super easy to make. It taste wonderful. I love the video that goes with this recipe.
★★★★★
Hello!! I would love to try this recipe, I have yeast and bread flour but was wondering if I could add in some stone ground dark rye flour? I have a 1 pound bag I found on sale and would like to use it =)
If it would work to add some into this recipe could you suggest an amount and if the liquid level would need to change? Also my altitude is ~5000 feet so I’m not sure if that makes a difference here. =)
I love your blog and recipes and I’ve made many of them and told others about this website! Thank you for your help Sally!
Hi Emily, We’ve never tested it with alternative grains, but you can certainly try to replace some of the all-purpose flour with your favorite. Keep in mind that you may want to slightly reduce the amount of water/milk since these grains won’t soak up as much moisture as regular flour. We have no experience baking at high altitude but I know some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
Let us know how it turns out!