the best white sandwich bread
People ask me all the time how long I’ve been cooking, and the answer is that I honestly don’t know. I remember baking a lot of cookies as a child and teenager, but after we got married it was a bit of a shock to find that we couldn’t subsist on chocolate chip cookies alone. 🙂 Our first few years of marriage, we ate a lot of processed food, which was not great for us (but was quick and easy!). After my daughter was born, I really wanted to focus on healthy eating, so I worked hard on learning to cook. I read all the cooking blogs I could find, I bought dozens of cookbooks, and I had fun coming up with new things for dinner every night. I definitely had some ups and downs, and my husband can attest that there were multiple inedible dinners. After a couple of years, though, I was pretty confident in following pretty much any recipe and was getting good results most of the time. I still feel like I am definitely learning and growing as a cook, and my skills are improving all the time. However, there are a few recipes that I feel like I have perfected. These are my tried and true recipes that I make all the time and that have consistently perfect results. First, my chocolate chip cookies. Second, my vanilla cupcakes. And lastly, this white sandwich bread!
This bread is exactly what I want in a sandwich bread. It’s tough enough to stand up to sandwich fillings, but also soft and tender. The texture and taste are perfect. It makes three loaves and freezes beautifully, which means I can always have delicious bread waiting for me in the freezer. I’ve made this bread dozens of times now, and it has come out perfectly every single time. I really have no interest in trying any other recipe, because this one is simply perfect!
The Best White Sandwich Bread
4 and 1/2 teaspoons dry active yeast (or the equivalent of two packets)
3/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature and cut into pieces
2 and 2/3 cup additional warm water
9-10 cups all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted, for brushing the tops of the loavesIn the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water with a teaspoon of the sugar. When the yeast is bubbled and foamy, mix in the rest of the sugar, the salt, the butter, and the warm water. Slowly mix in 5 cups of flour, mixing on low speed until smooth. Gradually add remaining flour, adding just enough to make a smooth and slightly sticky dough. Knead on low speed for 10 minutes. Lightly grease a large bowl with cooking spray. Place dough in the greased bowl and turn to coat with spray. Cover and let rise in a warm place for one hour.
Preheat oven to 425. When the dough has risen, punch it down and divide into three equal sized pieces. Roll each piece into a rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Roll each rectangle up into a cylinder, and place each seam-side down in a lightly-greased bread pan (I used 9 inch bread pans). Cover and let rise in a warm place for one hour.
When the loaves have risen, place them in the preheated oven and bake 15 minutes. Cover the tops of the loaves with foil to prevent excessive browning, and bake another fifteen minutes. Remove from oven and brush with melted butter. Let cool before slicing.
recipe via The Curvy Carrot
Can you cut this recipe down to just make one loaf at at time?
I would assume that you can, although I have never tried it. Good luck! 🙂
Do you freeze the dough for later use or do you freeze the baked bread? If baked, then how do you thaw?
I freeze the baked bread. I let it cool, then slice it and freeze it. We usually just pull out slices as we need them for toast, but if you want to thaw the whole loaf at once, I would suggest thawing it in the fridge overnight. I find that it has the best taste and texture that way.
I made this recipe tonight, I may have ran out of flour (maybe a cup and a half off) so it was fairly sticky… BUT, I made it work, let it rise (a lot), and followed the directions the rest of the way. I am currently letting it cool on my cooling rack but so far so good and can't wait to try it! Thanks!
Have you tried shaping small balls of this dough for buns? I'm letting the mixer knead the dough right now and am going to try shaping later. I'll let you know how it turns out, but I was wondering if you'd attempted it.
I haven't tried that before. Let me know how it turns out!
Hi Alicia, I was wondering if I could use white wheat flower for this recipe.
I assume it would work okay, but it would probably make for a denser loaf. If it were me, I might try replacing half of the white flour with wheat flour and seeing how it goes.
Hello! I was wondering if you've ever tried doing this recipe in a bread machine? 🙂
It's baking…so satisfying and smells wonderful! Thanks for the recipe.
I don't own a bread machine, so I haven't tried it. If you do try it, let me know how it works!
I'm thinking of making this in a bread machine. Any ideas or thoughts?
Do you know the carb count per serving? Or even the whole loaf?
I made the bread two days ago and its gone the family loved it,im in the process of doing it again .The recipe is awesome
I made this recipe today and it turned out wonderfully. I also love that it makes 3 loaves. Most recipes I find are for 2 and that just isn't enough for us lol. I'll be making this again next weekend!
What's the recipe if we used instant yeast?
I don't have a lot of experience with instant yeast, but I would assume that you could just mix the yeast, water, sugar, salt, butter, and 5 cups flour, and then proceed from there with the recipe as written.
I just tried this in a muffin tin and they worked great!
This recipe was too much for my kitchen aid. I recomend using something larger…
It works well in my KitchenAid, so I'm guessing we have different size bowls. Mine is a 6 quart. If your bowl is smaller than that, it may be a tight squeeze or not work.
What kind of salt do you use? regular iodized salt? or Kosher salt?
Regular salt is fine. I usually use sea salt from Costco because that's what I always have on hand.
Okay, so now that my dough is in the bread pans, I let it rise for an hour, but they aren't very tall. I was expecting them to be at least as tall as my pans. Should I just let them keep rising?? It rose beautifully in the first step, so I don't think it's a yeast issue, but I'm still pretty new to baking, so maybe…
How long does the bread last? And how do you freeze it? Thank you!
I like it best within the first three days. To freeze the loaves, I slice them and then put them in plastic bread bags. That way, I can just pull out slices as needed, or thaw the whole loaf if I want to.
is the temp right 425 sems high
Yes, that's correct. I've made this bread dozens of times and have always had good results. Hope you enjoy it!
Can you snap a pic of what it looks like in the 10 min of kneading phase? I feel like mines not Loki g right ��
I am going to use this recipe in my Kitchenaid precise heat bowl. Do you know if there is any kind of adjustment for high altitude? I live at 8100 ft.
I started making this bread when we lived at an altitude of 4500 ft, and I still make it now that I live at about 450 ft. I haven't noticed much of a difference in the results with the change in altitude. I would say just be sure to add the flour gradually (I usually add it 1/4 cup at a time after the initial 5 cups) so you can be careful not to over-flour the dough. I use a slightly different amount each time I make it depending on the temperature/humidity/etc.
Have made several batches of this now and it is by far our favorite bread recipe. Just a couple of tweaks that I make – I divide it into 4 loaves instead of 3. They were huge! Also I add about 1/4 cup of vital wheat gluten which improves the texture in our opinion. This is a fab recipe! I slice all the loaves using my deli meat slicer and then freeze it in portions. Thaws perfectly and tastes fresh baked. Thank you!
Hi Alicia I'm Diana and I love to bake as well. But I'm just wondering since I don't have a stand mixer can I mix it by hand?
Yes, definitely! It will give your arms a good workout, though. 🙂
Oh thank you so much. I will definitely give it a try and will let you know how it turns out
I just had to get get back on and tell you, I am making this recipe every week. This is by far the best and easiest bread I have ever made, my grandkids will attest. Thank You again!!!!
I just made this bread and it is fantastic! I am going to try making it with whole wheat flour next.
I made whole wheat today and it came out great, I love this recipe!
I have the pro series kitchen aid and it overheated and turned itself off.. I think it was too much dough for the motor as it seemed to have some difficulty kneading once the flour was all incorporated
Can you use bread flour with this recipe. Pat in E TN
Yes, bread flour works fine! I find that it's a little chewier than I like if I use all bread flour, so I usually do half all purpose and half bread flour.
Good Morning �� I continue to make this bread weekly! My grandkids totally approve & I continue to share on Facebook. I did want to share, that, I actually hit the side of the oven with one of the loaf pans, which deflated immediately. I covered it back up & baked the other two loafs & after the additional hour, the third loaf had completely risen & I baked it to perfection!
The easiest & best bread recipe available!
Thanks again for sharing.
Yes, I use my bread machine but have to cut the recipe in half since my bread machine capacity isn't big enough. Works and tastes great!
Yes, I cut it in half since my bread machine won't hold that much dough. It makes one big loaf + 6 dinner rolls. I freeze the dinner rolls and bake when needed.
just saw where you are a RN thank you for all you do you our special Hero and tried you bread it's good!
Confession: I completely missed the last bit about covering the loaves with foil and baking longer. I just bake it at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes, and it's perfect. I get rave reviews. Thank you for the lovely recipe!
This is my go to bread recipe. Since COVID19 I have been baking my own bread and this recipe always turns out amazing. I use 3-4 cups whole wheat flour and 5-6 cups white flour. I also do 4 loaves. My husband loves this bread and said he can't go back to store bought!! Thank you so much!
Do you still use 9"x5" pans when you make four loaves, or do you use 8 1/2"x4 1/2" pans?
I've made this recipe so many times now, it always comes out great and my whole family loves it. I do use oil instead of butter as my youngest is allergic to dairy but other than that, I follow the recipe as written. I appreciate that it's a recipe for 3 loaves instead of the typical 2 that I see online, perfect for a family of 4 including two boys with hollow legs, and I make the recipe 2-3x a week! Thanks so much!
I have the Professional HD, not sure if that's different. Mine handles it fine, but could never double batch .
Ok, I must be doing something wrong. My bread doesn’t raise. I bought new yeast, followed the recipe exactly and still no luck. Sometimes it looks like it is raising nicely, then when I gently put it in the oven, it deflates and I find a big bubble under the top crust. Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong?
I’ve made this bread 2x in the last 2 weeks. One loaf goes to a neighbor and one goes in the freezer. The bread has the best texture!! And flavor. Just love it.
Yay! So glad you like it.
Hi! I have been baking ever since I can remember! So a lonnnnggg time! Haha. I have tried several different bread recipes and even though I should know the answer to my question, I haven’t been baking bread for a few years (broken ankle turned into 3 major surgeries and expecting at least one more!) My question: can you use milk instead of water? (My answer would be yes but am curious if anyone had tried this?)
I make rolls every year for Thanksgiving and they call for milk instead of water, not sure if this would change the outcome drastically? (I did read that you (I think) have a child that is allergic to dairy so maybe one of your readers would be able to help. I am looking for that perfect Sandwich Bread recipe!
I am excited by all the positive feedback about this recipe!
This is my only white bread recipe I will ever use or eat! Prefection..!!!
Can I put this dough In the fridge overnight and bake in the morning? Just take out let reprise and bake?
9-10 cups of flour?? Am I reading something wrong? This was nothing like a dough and I only did 8 cups.
Did you add in the additional 2 2/3 cups of warm water after proofing the yeast? It’s fairly typical in bread recipes to use around 3 cups of flour per loaf of bread, and this recipe makes 3 loaves of bread, so yes 9-10 cups of flour is the correct amount. Hope that helps!