Easy Homemade Sandwich Bread Recipe

A straight on image of a loaf of bread with a slice cut off exposing the inside of the bread.

Easy Homemade Sandwich Bread Recipe

Baking bread doesn't have to be intimidating and this easy homemade sandwich bread recipe is proof. Ready in a little over an hour, you just might consider it the world's fastest bread recipe! You'll never want store-bought again.

Course Appetizer, Side Dish

Cuisine American

Diet Low Calorie, Low Fat

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 40

Rise time 15

Total Time 1 5

Servings servings

Calories 205kcal

Author Jessy Freimann

Equipment

Ingredients

6 cups all purpose flour
2 Tablespoons instant yeast
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon kosher salt (or 1 ½ teaspoons table salt)
2 cups warm water (get your tap water really hot and use that)
¼ cup olive oil, divided

Instructions

Combine flour, yeast, sugar, salt, water and 2 Tablespoons of olive oil in the bowl of your stand mixer. Stir with a sturdy spatula until a wet dough forms (it will look shaggy).
Use the dough hook attachment to knead the dough until it comes together, about 4 minutes. Form it into a smooth ball.
Cover the bowl with a towel and allow the dough to rise for 15 minutes (placing the bowl in a warm spot will help this process).
Once the 15 minutes are up, divide the sough in half and shape each half into a tight ball.
Place each dough ball into the ungreased loaf pans and drizzle the other two tablespoons of olive oil over the top of them. Using a sharp knife, slash the tops of each loaf around ¼ inch deep.
Place the loaves in a cold oven on the middle rack and place a pan of hot tap water on the rack below it (I used one of my 9" x 13" pans filled about half way). Do not preheat the oven- this is important!
Set the oven to 400 degrees and bake for 40 minutes (this includes the preheating time once the loaves are in).
After the 40 minutes is up, remove the loaves from the oven and cool completely on a cooling rack.

Video

Notes

Make sure you use a super sturdy spoon when you first start mixing the ingredients together, it'll make getting the dough started so much easier.

You can always knead the dough by hand, but if you have a stand mixer with a dough hook, this will make it so much easier.

Use the dough hook attachment for kneading when the dough starts to look shaggy.

Kneading takes around 4 minutes. The dough will be ready to rise when it's a smooth ball. It should be tacky but not crazy sticky.

This particular sandwich bread has a really quick rise time. One thing that helps is by letting it rise in a warm place. I put my next to our fireplace.

Be sure that you don't preheat the oven. Part of what makes this bread come out so perfectly is that the preheating is part of the baking time.

Make sure you cool it completely before slicing unless you intend to eat the whole loaf right away. I know it's super tempting, but the cooling process allows the bread to set — Rebecca gets a little more in-depth about the science behind this in her book. Let it do its thing.

This white sandwich bread recipe will give you 2 loaves of bread.

Ingredients to prep ahead: Once you get going this recipe moves pretty quickly — that's why I call it a quick sandwich bread! As such, there isn't really much you can do to prep ahead except measure out all of the ingredients you'll need.

Leftovers and storage: As mentioned, this bread lasts for about 3-4 days. Do not store bread in the refrigerator, as it will get stale quicker. Store it at room temperature in a bag.

Nutrition