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
Hi there, I’m not sure if I just missed it, but for this White Bread recipe, do you have the nutritional value per serving?
Hi Laura, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
Sally I make this weekly! My husband bought me a Pullman pan, would this recipe work for it?
Hi Bernadette, We’re not completely sure if this recipe would work because we haven’t tested it ourselves. It *shouldn’t* be a problem, but again– we haven’t tested it. Let us know if you do give it a try!
Great recipe and videos!! I just made the bread and it turned out great!!!
Tried the recipe..why does the bread is to soft couldn’t even cut the bread loaf ??
Hi Surya, This is a soft bread, so a little crumbliness is normal. The bread could be dry/crumbly if over-baked. Also make sure not to add too much flour to the dough (spoon and level or use a kitchen scale instead of scooping). Thank you for giving this recipe a try!
looks great!
i want to bake it – but – how do you warm the milk…?
Hi Hila, you can simply warm the milk in the microwave or over the stovetop.
I think I have finally gotten to a repeatable finished loaf. My wife loves it. Would the same recipe work in a 12×4.5” loaf pan? Instead of rolling the dough on the 8” side for the second rise, roll it on the long edge at 12” instead of 15”?
Hi Greg, the loaf would be a bit shorter that way, but let us know if you give it a try.
I’ve been making this as a double batch subbing whey from my homemade yogurt for the water. Turns out perfectly!
This recipe was a beautiful thing! Would this recipe make into nice dinner rolls?
Hi Peggy, we’re so glad you enjoyed it! You can definitely make rolls as well. In step 6 punch down the dough, form into individual rolls, and continue with second rise. We’re unsure of the bake time needed. Or you can follow our recipe for dinner rolls.
Delicious and easy to do!
Hi can the butter be substituted for margarine? Please advise thanks!
Hi Carly, we don’t recommend margarine as it has different baking properties than butter. You could try solid coconut oil or even a plant-based butter instead, but results may vary. For best results, we recommend sticking with butter.
Awesome Bread recipe, I want to swap out the butter for canola oil, what is your recommendation for the amount of oil I would need?
Hi Ginger, you need softened butter in this dough. You can try room temperature (solid) coconut oil in it’s place, though (expect a different taste and a slightly denser texture).
This makes the best sandwich bread I’ve ever made.
Can I swap the whole milk out for buttermilk or half & half?
Hi Amanda, half and half should be fine here.
I have spent the better part of a month trying make a bread that’s soft and similar like store bought and I finally found it.
So glad you enjoy it, Rachel!
Hello!! Awesome recipe for beginners I think it came out 99% perfect. It was soft/tender with a crisp top. Not sure what I did wrong but the center part had a bit of metallic aftertaste. I tried to look it up but nothing that made sense. Can anyone please help? It wasn’t underbaked, I used a thermometer and it was the right temp close to 200F as suggested. It was also a tiny bit deflated in the middle. Not sure if overproofing would cause the metallic aftertaste but not sure if it was even overproofed. Tried to read all comments but can’t find any. Thank you!!!
Hi Em, A chemical taste can happen with over-proofed dough, or even with dough that was not fully baked. If your loaf sunk in the middle it may have just needed a few more minutes in the oven – a simple fix for next time!
Got it. That’s what I thought. We’re still eating it and I think we’re okay? lol so I guess I’ll slice and toast tomorrow. I’ll take a note of this thank you so much!!! Highly appreciate the reply 🙂
I’ve been searching for a sandwich bread recipe for a year now…and this is it! Perfect every time. This is the only one I will ever make. Thank you!
This recipe is phenomenal! So pillowy soft while also being sturdy enough to hold up under some hefty sandwich fixings.
Let me start by saying how much I love Sally’s recipes. I’ve only done bread products of hers, but her recipes are very reliable and win rave reviews around my table.
I know this might as well be a different recipe, but want to share my experience doing some swapping around with this one:
I swapped the water / milk volumes and used buttermilk, so 1 cup of buttermilk and 1/4 cup of water and reduced the salt to 1tsp from 1.5tsp. This bread is amazing. The second rise didn’t come up as much as I wanted, but that might be because I should have cut off the first rise a little sooner, but the bread is soft and exceptionally flavorful with great crumb and a slighty crispy crust. Making grilled cheese with it tonight and very excited to see the faces of my wife and daughter as they take their first bites.
Thank you, Sally (and all of your team).
Wonderful and easy recipe! I’ve made it 3 times in the past week. Very soft with a nice crumb structure…not too dense at all. I let my kitchenaid do all of the work though. No kneading for me. I’ll definitely be making more of this in the future too!
The easiest bread ever!! This bread is so easy to make and taste so good!!! I will never buy store bread again!
This is hands-down the best white loaf I’ve ever baked! Soft, light and airy yet with a fairly crisp crust. I used salted butter, so reduced the salt to 1tsp only and it tastes great. I also made the dough in my bread machine but baked in my domestic oven – I suspect it would rise too much to succcessfully bake in my, rather aged, bread machine. I turned the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and sprinkled over a little more flour, as the dough is quite sticky, before I punched the dough down well. I folded it over on itself a couple of times and then simply used my fingers to push it out into a rectangle shape, before rolling and baking as per the instructions. As my oven is fan-assisted, I reduced the temperature slightly and baked for a little longer than specified. This recipe’s a keeper!
Amazing recipe – it was my first time making sandwich bread, and it came out great!
I followed this recipe and baked my first ever bread, and it turned out so great. No one could say it was made by a first timer. Perfectly soft, golden brown and absolutely beautiful. Thanks so much for easy recipe, i looked at many recipes online and thought this was simplest with measurement and instructions.
I finally think i got it right. Took me a few times and added a little here but it turned out perfect. Wish I could post pictures, I’m so pumped that is just looks great but the taste is phenomenal