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Simple soft white sandwich bread is perfect for homemade toast with butter and jam or sandwiches. How to make the perfect white sandwich bread with all-natural ingredients and no fillers!
All of my kids are back in school and so we are back to packing lunches.
I grew up with a Mom, who is a master bread maker, and would make bread several times a week for us.
So I love making my kids homemade bread for their sandwiches with all-natural ingredients and no crazy fillers. This is a soft sandwich bread but can still hold up to any type of spread you put on it.
Think of this as Wonder Bread — a fluffy, white loaf of bread made with simple ingredients. The addition of butter and milk gives it a touch of richness and creates such a soft texture.
In France, this may be referred to as Pain de Mie, which means bread of crumb.
My kids started school three weeks ago so I have been baking sandwich bread for them for breakfast and lunches, even in this Arizona summer heat.
I find that even though I don’t like firing up my oven in the summer and heating up the kitchen, the dough rises so fast. Last week, I experimented and let my bread dough rise outside, completely covered, to keep in the moisture. The bread dough rose in record time — 35-45 minutes! This is one of the perks of Arizona summers!
I love to use this white sandwich bread to make almond butter and homemade berry jam sandwiches, turkey and cheese, or simple butter and honey.
Even if you are a novice bread maker or a bread extraordinaire, I think you are going to fall in love with this easy homemade bread recipe. I am going to share all of my tips and tricks for making the best homemade bread!
This homemade bread can be cut into thick slices for butter and jam or thinner for sandwiches. You can eat it warm fresh out of the oven or let it rest. This homemade white bread keeps for days and stays moist.
What Ingredients are in the Best White Sandwich Bread Recipe:
- Bread Flour + All-Purpose Flour
- Sugar
- Whole Milk
- Active Dry Yeast
- Hot Water
- Salt
- Butter
Frequently Asked Bread Making Questions:
How to know if the yeast is working?
The key to making any type of bread recipe using yeast is to ensure the yeast is working and activated. I suggest mixing the yeast, warm water or milk (about 105-110 degrees), and a touch of sugar into a bowl. The sugar will help to “feed” the yeast and help it to activate quicker. Yeast loves sugar! The warm water or milk also helps to activate the yeast. If the water or milk is too hot, it can kill the yeast, but if it is too cool, it won’t incorporate with the other ingredients.
The yeast should start to become foamy or bubbles will begin to surface. This is a great sign that the yeast is working. Let it work for at least 5 minutes to see if it begins to proof.
If nothing happens, start again with a new batch of yeast, warm water, and sugar.
One other tip when trying to get the yeast to begin to foam and bubble, make sure to keep it away from salt as the salt can kill the yeast.
How will I know when my bread dough has risen enough?
As a general rule of thumb, most bread will have risen enough when the bread dough doubles in size. You can check to see if it has risen enough, by poking the top of the dough with your finger. Fully risen and fermented dough will retain the finger indentation as it doesn’t bounce back because the gluten has been adequately stretched.
If you love to bake bread, check out these other popular bread recipes that are so easy to make!
My Favorite Bread Baking Tools:
The photo below shows the white bread after it has had its second rise time. It should be light and fluffy.
After it is removed from the oven, get the butter ready! You want to brush on sweet cream butter all over the top of the bread.
Allow the butter to run down the sides of the bread as it keeps the bread moist and gives it flavor. I prefer to use salted butter.
POPULAR HOMEMADE BREAD RECIPES:
One Hour Whole Wheat Bread Recipe
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White Sandwich Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups Bread Flour
- 1/3 cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 2 1/4 teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
- 3 Tablespoons Warm Water
- 1 Tablespoon Sugar
- 1 cup Whole Milk
- 3 Tablespoons Butter (plus more for the top)
Instructions
- In a bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a dough attachment, combine bread flour, all-purpose flour, and salt.
- In a small saucepan, heat the milk until lukewarm (105-100 degrees). This can also be done in the microwave.
- In a small bowl, add warm water (105-110 degrees), yeast and sprinkle in the sugar, and stir it together. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes, watching to see if the yeast mixture foams up and bubbles. If it is foamy, the yeast has activated. If not, start again with a new batch of yeast and lukewarm water.
- Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture. Mix on low speed. Add lukewarm milk. Scrape the sides of the bowl often to incorporate all of the ingredients.
- Add the slightly softened butter, one small cube at a time. You don't want to add the butter all at once but only a small amount at a time. The dough should start pulling away from the sides of the bowl and look like a round ball.
- Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and place in a greased glass bowl (I suggest spreading butter all over the bowl using a pasty brush or paper towel or spraying it with non-stick cooking spray.
- Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let the dough rise until it doubles in size, about 2 hours, depending on the warmth of the kitchen.
- While the dough is rising, prepare the 9 x 5 loaf pan. Lightly spray non-stick cooking spray or brush with oil or butter to prevent sticking.
- Place the dough on a lightly oiled or floured workspace and shape into a 8 to 8 1/2 inch loaf. Place the log in a lightly greased 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" or 9" x 5" loaf pan, cover the pan loosely with lightly greased plastic wrap. Allow the bread to rise for about 30-60 minutes or until it's domed about 1" above the edge of the pan. Towards the end of the rise, preheat your oven to 350°F.
- Bake the bread for 25 to 33 minutes, until it is a light golden brown color. Test it for doneness by measuring its interior temperature with a digital thermometer (it should register 190°F at the center of the loaf).
- Remove the bread from the oven, and brush butter all over the warm loaf. Cool it on a rack before slicing. Store the bread in a plastic bag at room temperature for several days or freeze for longer storage. This bread freezes beautifully!
Notes
How to know if the yeast is working?
The key to making any type of bread recipe using yeast is to ensure the yeast is working and activated. I suggest mixing the yeast, warm water or milk (about 105-110 degrees), and a touch of sugar into a bowl. The sugar will help to "feed" the yeast and help it to activate quicker. Yeast loves sugar! The warm water or milk also helps to activate the yeast. If the water or milk is too hot, it can kill the yeast, but if it is too cool, it won't incorporate with the other ingredients. The yeast should start to become foamy or bubbles will begin to surface. This is a great sign that the yeast is working. Let it work for at least 5 minutes to see if it begins to proof. If nothing happens, start again with a new batch of yeast, warm water, and sugar. One other tip when trying to get the yeast to begin to foam and bubble, make sure to keep it away from salt as the salt can kill the yeast.How will I know when my bread dough has risen enough?
As a general rule of thumb, most bread will have risen enough when the bread dough doubles in size. You can check to see if it has risen enough, by poking the top of the dough with your finger. Fully risen and fermented dough will retain the finger indentation as it doesn't bounce back because the gluten has been adequately stretched. If you love to bake bread, check out these other popular bread recipes that are so easy to make!Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I don’t have any glass bowls. Could the bread rise in a Tupperware-type bowl?
I have a question for you. I always have a problem with air bubbles in my bread. I press it out with my hands into a rectangle and push all over. I then roll it up as tight as I can but still get air bubbles. Can you help me???????????????????
See above comment.
Is there a temperature or time difference when baking this recipe as rolls?
Loved this bread earlier this week! Everything was about perfect and it was so soft.
Today I doubled the recipe because my family gobbled up the first loaf in two days 😉 and it took twice as long to bake (a solid 50 minutes). I’m not a super experienced bread baker, so it’s probably just my mistake, but since everything else about this was perfect, I might add a note that if you have 2-3 loaves in the oven, extra bake time is needed!
Love this recipe!
Can this be made in a bread maker
This is probably my new favorite bread recipe. If I had a little homemade bread willpower, I would probably make it every other day. It is that good. Only change I have made is cutting down a little on the salt IF you are using salted butter on it after it is baked. If I use unsalted butter, I make it just like the recipe. The texture of this bread is perfect!
I don’t usually comment on recipes…..but I have to comment on this bread. I love making bread and I have made it for years and years….it would be impossible for me to count how many hundreds of loaves I have made and how many different recipes I have tried. I noticed when I went to make this bread that the procedure was a little different and I almost ignored it….but decided to follow the recipe and do what it said….and I am so glad I did. This bread was absolutely amazing….probably the best I have ever made….I am so excited about it. The texture is soft, yet dense, and holds together so well it really could be used for a sandwich. Thank you MH for this wonderful recipe…I’m so excited to make it again.
What a compliment, Carrie! Thank you for your kind words. It sounds like you have made a lot of bread in your life so I appreciate the great endorsement for this homemade bread recipe.
Can I only use all-purpose flour? Thanks.
Hi Cynthia! Absolutely! I have tried it with only all-purpose flour and it is still fluffy, flavorful, and a perfect texture.
I used only all-purpose flour for this recipe and the bread turned out delicous! Thank you so much for this great bread recipe!
This easy to make white sandwich bread is amazing! So soft, flavorful and all around yummy. Totally worth the time to make it on your own home. Thanks for another incredible recipe!
Hi Josh! I am so glad you loved it. Thank you so much for trying my white bread recipe. 🙂
How much hot water??ll
Hi Sarah! I fixed the recipe — it is 3 Tablespoons of warm water. Thank you for letting me know!
The amount of water is not mentioned.
Recipe impossible to make
I apologize! It is 3 Tablespoons of water in the yeast. Thank you for letting me know. 🙂
No one can resist a freshly baked loaf of Bread of any kind, especially me.
I don’t even know if I could wait for it to cool off enough to eat it. It looks so good. I made so much bread during the pandemic I thought I would never make bread again. But I’m stuck on the tic tok Cinnamon Rolls.
I would rather make the Bread. Thank you Melissa for the great recipe and for me eating way to much of your great food….
I love it! Yes, I made so much bread during that time too! 🙂 When I was cutting this bread a few days ago, steam was coming out the homemade bread because I couldn’t wait to eat it. I am so glad you love the TikTok cinnamon rolls too. Thank you so much, Donna!