Do you prefer to make your sandwich bread at home without running to the store? Well, here is an Easy White Bread Recipe that yields two fluffy loaves perfect for toast and sandwiches.
No need for a starter or bread machine, this simple white bread can be made with your stand mixer. Basic ingredients including active dry yeast, flour, butter, milk, water, salt, and butter are the basics with a little honey sweetness added in.
This recipe is great for bread beginners! Now all you need is to figure out your sandwich toppings!!
What tools do I need to make this Sandwich Bread Recipe?
All you need are a stand mixer with dough hook attachment (or lots of hand and forearm strength) two loaf pans and the ingredients. The most common loaf pan is 9inch by 5 inches, but if yours are slightly larger or smaller thats fine too. This bread is made in a conventional oven.
How do I store Loaves?
Sandwich bread or white loaf bread is considered a ‘soft crust’ loaf bread. Which means it stores best in airtight plastic bags or wrap tightly in plastic wrap or aluminum foil and keep at room temperature for 2 days. After two days, if not eaten, keep you soft homemade bread in the fridge or freeze it.
Tips for Making Sandwich Bread:
- If you don’t have any bread flour, you substitute with all purpose flour. The texture will be a bit softer, but will not affect the taste.
- Make sure to use warm (110 F) milk when adding it to the yeast. If the milk is too hot it will kill the yeast. If you don’t have a thermometer, simply stick your finger in the warm milk to test if its just slightly warm or too hot.
- The resting periods, also known as proof or proving the dough are very important to allow air bubbles to form
- Loosely cover your bowl and then your bread loaf pans with a tea towel and place in the oven with light on during the proving periods.
- Watch the bread loaves to brown in the oven and form a crust.
- If you are unsure if the bread is done, you can test the center with a thermometer for 190 F. Or tap on the bottom of a oaf to hear a hollow sound (may be hard with a warm loaf in pan). I usually just wait for a nice brown outer crust to form and then give a little tap on the exposed side of the bread.
- Let baked loaves cool in pan on rack for 10-15 minutes. Then pass a sharp knife around the edge of pan and invert to remove. loaves
Ingredients
- 4.5 tsp Active Dry Yeast (2 packages of yeast)
- 4 Tbsp Honey
- 1 Cup (240 grams) Whole Milk warm (110 F)
- 4 Cups (500 grams) All Purpose Flour
- 2 Cups (250 grams) Bread Flour
- 2 tsp Kosher Salt
- 1 Cup (240 grams) Water room temperature
- 2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter melted, then cooled to room temperature
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, gently hand which together yeast, warm milk, and honey. Let sit for 10 minutes until frothy with bubbles.
- While yeast is activating, combine both flours and salt into a large bowl and hand whisk together.
- Add water and melted butter to the yeast mixture. Using the dough hook attachment begin mixing on medium speed.
- Slowly spoon flour mixture into liquid. Slowly increase the speed on mixer as the flour absorbs the liquid. If you turn the mixer all the way up to medium high at once, the four will kick out everywhere.
- Once flour is incorporated and a dough has started to form. Beat the dough on medium high for 3-4 minutes. The dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl but still be attached to hook and bottom of bowl.
- Dough should not be dry nor super sticky. It should feel tacky when tapped with a finger tip and just slightly stick to your skin.
- Transfer dough to a lightly floured bowl. Cover loosely with a tea towel and set in a warm place to double in size for one hour or longer if needed.
- Remove dough from bowl with hands onto a lightly floured surface. Dough should be very 'airy' and you will have to scrape from bowl with a scooped hand.
- Divide dough in half with a bench scraper or large sharp knife. I prefer to weigh out the dough for exact measurement.
- Prepare two loaf pans with a light mist of non-stick spray or line with parchment paper that hangs over the edges.
- Take each half of dough and roll out to a rectangle. The rectangle will be thick and no longer than the length of your loaf pans.
- Next, roll the rectangle long side inwardly like a jelly roll to form a log. Gently close the seems on the ends and place the long seam side down into the bottom of the pan.
- The dough will look like a little fat log laying in the center of each pan.
- Cover your loaf pans loosely with a tea towel and let rest again for a second prove. They should rise, double in size, and fill all the space of the pans.
- Once risen, remove towel and bake loaves.
- Preheat oven to 400 F (204 C). Place loaves on middle to middle lowest rack in oven and bake for 25-30 minutes util tops are golden brown.
- Remove pans from oven and place on cooling rack for 10-15 minutes.
- Invert loaves from pan and slice!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Abby Flannery
Hi I’ve tried this recipe to make bread for sandwiches but the loaf isn’t rising any where near the amount yours is in the photos. I’ve done the recipe exactly and can’t understand why it isn’t rising in the loaf tin. The first prove works perfectly but once it’s in the loaf tin it only rises to the top of the tin. Do you have any advice please? Thank you!
Jenn
Hi Abby, have you already baked the bread? It will rise more as it bakes. The second prove when its in the tin will puff and fill up the pan, then it will rise even more in the oven.
Jenn
You also want to make sure its in a warm location If you’re house is cold it make take longer to rise.
Farren
What type of bread from your recipes would you recommend for avocado toast?
Anita
I only have instant yeast due to quarantine limitations. Do I still need to proof the yeast?
I will be using only AP flour.
Thank you!
Jenn
If you choose to use Instant Yeast, use 25% less than recipe calls for and don’t worry about proving the yeast, just add it in:) The texture will be a little softer with using only All Purpose Flour, but will work just fine.
Doris Porsche
I have instant yeast. But I don’t know if it’s still good. Can I proof it to be sure. Or does proofing instant yeast affect the yeast?