This homemade white sandwich bread is the best sandwich bread you’ll ever eat—and it’s easier to make than you think! With just a few everyday ingredients, you can make fluffy white bread with a perfect golden brown crust.
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Pin RecipeIf you’re thinking, “Why should I make sandwich bread when I could just buy a loaf at the grocery store?” I get it. I used to think that way, too! Then, I started making my own bread, and let me tell you: homemade white sandwich bread tastes so much better than store-bought because it’s not loaded with fillers and preservatives.
Making homemade bread feels like an accomplishment, and once you master working with yeast, you’ll want to branch out to dinner rolls, French bread, pizza dough, and sweet, gooey cinnamon rolls.
There’s also the fact that making homemade bread is fun. Yes, I promise!
Homemade White Sandwich Bread Recipe
Unlike quick bread recipes such as banana bread and pumpkin bread which use baking soda and baking powder as leavening ingredients, white sandwich bread is leavened with yeast. As a result, it requires more time in order for it to rise.
This means that you’ll have to put some thought into the timing when you’re making this white bread recipe. Depending on the temperature of your home, you could need up to 4 hours for the bread to rise, plus an additional 40 to 55 minutes of baking time.
Is it worth it? Oh yes, it definitely is!
This homemade white sandwich bread is springy, soft, and fluffy. With buttery flavor and just a touch of sweetness, it has a golden brown crust just like the bread from your favorite bakery or local grocery store. Give it a try, and you’ll be making this every weekend for school lunches and breakfast toast.
Ingredients For Homemade White Sandwich Bread
See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
- All-purpose flour – I like using King Arthur flour, but any type of all-purpose flour is fine.
- Instant yeast – This recipe was developed with instant yeast, so I haven’t tested it with active dry yeast.
- Granulated sugar
- Butter – It’s important that the butter is soft; this will allow it to mix in with the dough. Unsalted butter is best.
- Kosher salt
- Whole milk – Whole milk gives you a nice, tender bread.
- Water
Measure Carefully
It’s very important to be accurate when you’re measuring dry ingredients for bread. Never scoop your measuring cup into the flour! Instead, use a food scale or the scoop and level method, lightly spooning flour into your measuring cup. Then, use a butter knife to scrape off the excess. Too much or too little flour can affect how your white sandwich bread turns out.
How to Make Homemade White Sandwich Bread
- Combine the dry ingredients. Add all the dry ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Blend the ingredients on low speed, and slowly pour in part of the milk. Once it is combined, add water.
- Mix the dough. Gradually increase the speed to medium, and mix until the dough starts to stretch and pull away from the sides of the bowl. Add in the reserved water as needed.
- Knead the dough. Transfer the bread dough to a floured surface, and knead it by hand until it starts to come together in a smooth ball.
- Rest the dough. Transfer the ball of dough to an oiled mixing bowl, and cover it loosely with a damp towel or plastic wrap. Place the bowl in a warm place, and allow the dough to rise until it doubles in size.
- Cut the bread. Gently turn the dough on a floured surface, and shape it into a rectangle. Be careful not to deflate it! Then, cut the rectangle into two equal-sized pieces.
- Roll and rest the dough pieces. Roll each piece of white bread dough into a log, pinching down the seams to create a seal. Transfer each log into a greased loaf pan, and set them aside to rest and rise. They should reach close to the top of the pan.
- Bake. Brush the tops of each loaf with the leftover milk, being careful not to deflate the loaves. Then, transfer them to a preheated oven, and bake until the loaves are golden brown in color.
- Cool. Transfer the baked white sandwich bread loaves to a wire rack, and allow them to cool completely before slicing. This is crucial to prevent them from drying out!
Quick Tip
If you want to make even slices, I recommend getting out a ruler and setting it right on your cutting board so you can see where you want to make your cuts. Use a serrated knife, and saw back and forth gently, using very little downward pressure to avoid smashing the bread.
How to Store Homemade White Sandwich Bread
Once your bread has cooled completely, you can store it in a plastic bag or airtight container at room temperature; it will stay fresh for several days. (Use any stale bread to make French toast!)
If you want your loaf of bread to last a full week, you might want to consider purchasing a dough enhancer or conditioner, which is added to the dough to improve texture and make the finished bread last longer.
FAQs
White sandwich bread is typically made with all-purpose flour, yeast, sugar, butter, salt, and milk. Some white bread recipes may include honey, egg, or dry milk powder, while others may use bread flour instead of all-purpose flour, which has a higher gluten content.
Sandwich bread is just a type of white bread that is tender and fluffy, making it ideal for sandwiches. It has a soft crust, rather than one that’s crispy or flaky.
Yes, white bread is made with wheat flour, but not whole wheat flour.
This white bread can be frozen for up to 3 months. Wrap it tightly before placing it in the freezer. When you’re ready to use it, the bread thaw overnight in the fridge before slicing and serving.
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White Sandwich Bread
Equipment
- Stand Mixer Fitted with a Dough Hook Attachment
- Mixing bowl
- (9×5 Inch) Loaf Pans
- Wire Rack
Ingredients
- 7 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 tsp instant yeast
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 4 tbsp butter softened
- 1 tbsp kosher salt
- 1 ¾ cup whole milk divided, room temperature
- 1 – 1 ½ cup water room temperature
Instructions
- Add all the flour, instant yeast, sugar, butter, and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. With the machine on a low speed, let the ingredients blend together, then slowly pour in 1 ½ cups of the milk. Next, slowly pour in one cup of the water.7 cups all-purpose flour, 4 tsp instant yeast, 2 tbsp granulated sugar, 4 tbsp butter, 1 tbsp kosher salt, 1 ¾ cup whole milk, 1 – 1 ½ cup water
- Once the mixture is fairly combined, gradually increase the speed to medium. If the dough looks very dry or the machine starts to labor, add in the reserved water.
- Mix until the dough is smooth and starts to stretch and pull away from the sides of the bowl.
- Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and knead by hand for a couple of minutes or the dough starts to come together into a smooth ball.
- Place the dough into an oiled mixing bowl and cover loosely with a damp towel or plastic wrap. Put in a warm place and let rise until it is roughly doubled in size, about 1 to 2 hours.
- Gently turn the dough onto a floured surface and form into a rough rectangle, taking care not to deflate the dough too much. Cut into two equal pieces.
- Roll each piece into a log, roughly 9 inches long, pinching down the seam to seal.
- Place each log into a greased 9×5 loaf pan, making sure the seam side is on the bottom.
- Cover loosely with plastic wrap and place in a warm place and let rise until the dough reaches almost the top of the pan, another 1-2 hours.
- While the dough rises, preheat the oven to 350F.
- When the dough has fully risen, gently brush the tops with the reserved milk using a pastry brush. Be gentle so as not to deflate the dough.
- Bake the loaves for 40-50 minutes until golden brown in color. If desired, you can check the internal temperature as well, they will be fully cooked at 195F.
- Turn out the loaves immediately onto a wire rack to cool. The internal structure of the bread is still developing at this stage of the process, so wait until the loaves are fully cool before slicing.
So where in this recipe do we add the butter?
Add it in step 1 – thanks for catching that! We’ll work on updating the instructions. 😊