Sandwich Bread

4.9 from 835 reviews

Author: Sally Prep Time: 3 hours, 20 minutes

Cook Time: 32 minutes Total Time: 4 hours Yield: 1 loaf

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

1 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.
2 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!*
3 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.
4 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.)
5 Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan.
6 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.
7 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.)
8 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.)
9 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).
10 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.
11 Cover leftover bread tightly and store at room temperature for 6 days or in the refrigerator
for up to 10 days.
Notes
1 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.
2 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.
3 Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Stand Mixer or Large Glass Mixing Bowl with Wooden
Spoon / Silicone Spatula | 9×5-inch Loaf Pan | Rolling Pin
4 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.
5 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.
6 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.
7 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.
8 Adapted from Homemade Cinnamon Swirl Bread

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