The best sandwich bread is fluffy, but doesn't fall apart and isn't crumbly. This easy homemade bread has the perfect soft crumb.
While store-bought bread is often an easy go-to, homemade bread is really the greatest thing! It smells wonderful, tastes delicious, and will save you money!
It's amazing with peanut butter and jelly, as a grilled cheese sandwich, or with thin slices of your favorite meat! This is the best bread for all of those sandwich recipes you want to try.
This bread recipe, with its beautiful golden crust, will bring such joy to your taste buds from the first bite.
By the way, I have the perfect recipe for leftover bread! Try these Homemade Croutons!
Looking for some other delicious bread recipes? Check out this Pumpkin Bread.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- This delicious white bread is easy to make especially with the video tutorial.
- The crumb holds together really well which means it makes a great sandwich bread.
- This perfect sandwich bread has a wonderfully soft texture and slightly chewy interior.
Recipe Ingredients
You'll need the following ingredients to make The Best Homemade Sandwich Bread.
Warm Water helps create the best environment for the yeast to do its magic.
SAF Instant Yeast is a great brand for many types of bread. I've included more info about this yeast at the bottom on this post!
Salt helps to strengthen the gluten strands in your bread and leads to better-looking and tasting bread.
Canola Oil has a mild flavor that helps the bread's flavor to shine through while keeping it moist.
Honey adds moisture as well as a sweet flavor to the bread.
Unbleached Bread Flour provides the structure for the bread.
Kitchen Tools
This dough can be made in a mixer such as a Bosch or a KitchenAid or you can knead it by hand. If you do it by hand you need to be very careful not to over flour the dough.
One last thing... make sure you have a decent bread knife. It breaks my heart to see fresh, soft bread being squished and torn because of the knife. Give this bread knife a try.
How to Make The Best Sandwich Bread
Here are some quick visual instructions. The video tutorial is at the end! The full recipe with ingredient measurements is below!
Put everything except the flour into the bowl of your stand mixer with the dough hook attached. Add some of the flour. Mix and knead the dough while adding more flour. It should become slightly sticky and form a ball as it comes off the sides of the bowl.
After kneading the dough remove it from the mixer and put it on a lightly floured surface. Shape it into a ball.
Move the dough to a large mixing bowl and cover to allow it to have its first rise.
After the first rise, prepare the pans with a little cooking spray or oil. Divide the dough into two pieces and shape it into a loaf.
Rub a little vegetable oil or butter on two pieces of plastic wrap and cover the loaf pans allowing room for the dough to grow. Or place a pan in your oven with some boiling water. Allow the loaves to have their second rise in this warm area with the light on.
Once the dough has risen, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove the plastic wrap and gently place the loaves in the oven. Bake for 25-20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. Let the loaves cool on a cooling rack.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
Here are some of the most common tips to help you make perfect bread!
Dry Crust Before Baking
- If your dough gets a dry crust when rising or you live in a dry climate try putting the loaves in the oven to rise with a pan of boiling hot water to create a warm steamy environment for your dough to rise.
Dense Loaf
- If you made a dense loaf of bread there are few things to try and don't worry because you can use the dense loaf as homemade croutons! Next time, try adding less flour and giving it more rise time before baking. Don't be afraid to let it rise nice and high. See this picture as an example:
Sunken Loaf
- If your dough collapsed while baking you may have let it over-rise. Try reducing the rise time next time you bake bread.
Stuck to the Pan
- If your bread sticks to your loaf pan you can use parchment paper to keep it from sticking. I love using these USA Loaf Pans. I haven't had any issues with dough sticking.
Storage and Reheating
- Storage: Keep the bread wrapped in plastic wrap, aluminum foil, a bread bag, or a paper bag.
- Freezing: After the bread has cooled down, wrap it in plastic wrap, freezer paper, or aluminum foil and freeze for up to 6 months.
- Reheating: After allowing the frozen bread to come to room temperature, wrap the bread in aluminum foil and bake at 350° for 10-15 minutes.
Additions and Substitutions
- Honey: Substitute 2 tablespoons of white sugar for honey. Please note that children under the age of 1 should not consume honey.
- White Flour: To make this bread a little more nutritious you can substitute up to two cups of white flour for whole wheat flour.
- Oil: Canola, vegetable, and avocado oil can all be used interchangeably in this recipe.
Frequently Asked Questions
Loaf bread, a type of yeast bread, is often used for different reasons. While there are different types of bread within this category, white bread tends to be the most popular choice.
The Carbon Dioxide that forms because of the yeast growth is what leads to light, fluffy bread. When the dough rises, it is creating holes in the bread that will give it that perfect texture. When making homemade bread, it is important to not use too much flour and allow for a long rise time to get light and fluffy bread.
It is important to make sure the dough rises correctly. You'll get the best results when you allow both the 1st rise and the 2nd rise. Give the bread plenty of time to rise to become fluffy and soft.
The Best Sandwich Bread (Video Tutorial)
Equipment
- 2 loaf pans 4.5x8.5 inch or 5x9 inch
- 1 Mixer (optional)
Ingredients
- 1½ cups warm water
- 1 tablespoon SAF instant yeast (or active dry)
- ½ tablespoon salt
- 3 tablespoons canola oil (or vegetable oil)
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 4 cups unbleached bread flour (or all-purpose flour)
- cooking spray or oil for the loaf pans
Instructions
- Add the warm water, yeast, salt, canola oil, and honey to a mixer with the dough hook attached.
- Add 3 ½ cups of flour to the mixer.
- Begin to mix and knead dough with mixer. Add the remaining ½ cup flour slowly as you watch for the dough to be slightly sticky, but begin to form into a ball as it is kneading.
- Knead for 6 minutes in a Bosch mixer or 9 minutes in a KitchenAid or similar mixer.
- Transfer the dough to a large bowl and cover it with plastic wrap.
- Let it rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Until it has more than doubled in size, but still keeps the dome shape.
- Spray two loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray. Punch down the dough. Divide the dough in half. You may need to use a little sprinkle flour to knead and shape it into two 1 lb loaves. Place the two shaped loaves in the loaf pans.
- Rise Option 1: Rub a little oil or butter on the top of two pieces of plastic wrap. Place the plastic wrap over the dough allowing room of the dough to grow. Let the dough rise until it has doubled in size.
- Rise Option 2: Place a pan in your oven and add 2 cups of boiling water to the pan. Let the loaves rise in the warm, steamy oven with the light on for 30-45 min. or until doubled in size.
- If using a 4.5x8.5 inch pan: The middle of the risen dough should be about 1 inch above the edge.If using a 5x9 inch pan: The middle of the risen dough should be just barely above the top of the edge.
- Once the dough has risen, very carefully remove the plastic wrap (option 1) or remove them from the warm oven (option 2). Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Be gentle placing the loaves in the oven. You don't want the dough to deflate. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown on top.
Notes
- If your dough gets a dry crust when rising or you live in a dry climate try putting the loaves in the oven to rise with a pan of boiling hot water to create a warm steamy environment for your dough to rise.
- If you made a dense loaf of bread try adding less flour and giving it more rise time before baking. Use the dense loaf as homemade croutons.
- If your dough collapsed while baking you may have let it over-rise. Try reducing the rise time next time you bake bread.
- If your bread sticks to your loaf pan you can use parchment paper to keep it from sticking. I love using these USA Loaf Pans. I haven't had any issues with dough sticking.
- Storage: Keep the bread wrapped in plastic wrap, aluminum foil, a bread bag, or a paper bag.
- Freezing: After the bread has cooled down, wrap it in plastic wrap, freezer paper, or aluminum foil and freeze for up to 6 months.
- Reheating: After allowing the frozen bread to come to room temperature, wrap the bread in aluminum foil and bake at 350° for 10-15 minutes.
Yeast
Let's talk about yeast. I never thought much about different kids or brands of yeast until I started making bread regularly and joined some bread-making forums.
I learned that not all yeast is created equal. In fact, I favorite yeast. I recommend it to everyone that is interested in bread. It is SAF Instant Yeast. It works so well and it is so forgiving. It doesn't have that flavor that the normal active yeast has.
King Arthur flour has a great article about different types of yeast. You will get an amazing rise with the SAF Instant Yeast. Give it a try!
More From Thyme for the Table
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Doreen Winston says
I appreciate all the tips given in this recipe. The video was really helpful too. My bread came out amazing. I will be making this again!
Jen Talley says
That's awesome Doreen. Making homemade bread is the best!
Liza says
What a fantastic recipe! I've never had good luck baking my own bread, and thanks to your comprehensive directions and tips now I can.
Jen Talley says
Hi Liza! I'm glad you found success making bread!
Andrea says
I'm all in for soft, fresh and delicious homemade bread. Yummy!
Dana says
Can't wait to try this! I've made no-knead artisanal bread many times but that isn't the best for sandwiches. This looks awesome and will be such a useful recipe to have up my sleeve.
Beth says
Perfectly soft bread and great for sandwiches. Will never use another recipe!
Jen Talley says
Hi Beth! It really is the best homemade sandwich bread! Enjoy!
kushigalu says
WOW! This sandwich bread looks so perfect, I will be trying your recipe soon. Thanks for sharing.
Jen Talley says
You're welcome!