World’s Easiest Homemade Sandwich Bread
Updated
Updated
Just over an hour start to finish is all you need to make the World’s Easiest Sandwich Bread Recipe. Don’t have a stand mixer? No problem! Just knead by hand in a couple minutes. With only 5 pantry ingredients, this recipe is so easy and thrifty, resulting in soft tender loaves of bread every time!
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If you’re someone who is bread-baking challenged or just simply afraid to use yeast, this homemade sandwich bread will change your life, I promise! I’ve made it on so many occasions. It’s really similar to my quick and easy pizza dough, in ingredients and simplicity. The process is just different, but with excellent results every time. I can’t say enough about how easy and wonderful this recipe is – and nobody says you have to use it just for sandwiches. Sliced fresh with a slab of butter is out of this world!
5 STAR REVIEWS
Helpful Tips
- Use fresh yeast for the dough. Check your expiration date and if it’s old, get a new batch! If your yeast isn’t fresh, the dough won’t rise properly.
- Speed up the rise time. If it’s cold in the house, I like to place the covered bowl of dough on a heating pad to assist in the rising time.
- It is critical that you start the loaves in a cold oven! A cold oven and moist heat from the hot water (on the lower rack) improves the oven spring and creates a nice crust.
- Use a stand mixer, if preferred. I love the simplicity of this recipe and that it doesn’t require an electric mixer, but if you’re someone who wants their KitchenAid dough hook to do the kneading, you certainly can.
- Prevent over-browning. Toward the end up baking, tend loosely with foil if you notice the tops over-browning.
- Add flavoring. A little bit of dried herbs or garlic powder can be added to the dough, for a different flavor.
- This bread does NOT convert well to gluten free. As a general rule, you can sometimes substitute all-purpose gluten-free flour in place of all-purpose regular flour at a ratio of 1:1. However, this recipe does not convert well. I tested it with Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour and also King Arthur Gluten Free Flour, adding in 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum. In both tests, the bread did not rise well and came out very dense and hard.
World’s Easiest Homemade Sandwich Bread
Ingredients
- 6 cups all-purpose flour, , spooned and leveled
- 2 tablespoons instant dry yeast
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon coarse salt
- 2 cups very warm water, (about 120 degrees F)
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, , divided
- melted butter, , for the crust, optional
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, instant dry yeast, sugar, and coarse salt. Then add in the warm water and 2 tablespoons of olive oil; mix together with a sturdy wooden spoon until a shaggy dough forms.
- Turn out onto a clean lightly floured surface and knead until the dough comes together and becomes smooth, about 4 minutes.
- Form a smooth dough ball and return to the mixing bowl. Cover with a clean tea towel and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes (or longer, if you wish – see note.)
- Divide the dough in half and form into two loaf shapes; place loaves into two standard-size 9×5 greased loaf pans.
- Drizzle each with a tablespoon of olive oil, then slash the tops of the loaves about 1/4-inch deep with a sharp knife.
- Place loaves on the middle rack of a cold oven with a pan filled with hot tap water on the rack below it.
- Close the oven, set the heat at 400 degrees F, and start a timer for 40 minutes.
- After 40 minutes, remove the pans from the oven, carefully transfer bread out of the pans and onto a cooling rack to cool completely. (Feel free to baste the crust with melted butter while still warm, if preferred.)
- Slice and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information given is an automatic calculation and can vary based on the exact products you use and any changes you make to the recipe. If these numbers are very important to you, I would recommend calculating them yourself.
Did you make this? Leave a rating below!
How To Store Sandwich Bread
There is just nothing like freshly baked bread right from the oven! Unfortunately, bread really shouldn’t be left out for an extended period of time, because it gets stale. But you’ve got options for storing it.
- If you’ve got yourself a breadbox (your grandmother probably had one!), definitely use it. These old fashioned contraptions do actually work because they allow bread to breathe without letting in air that typically dries the bread out.
- Once cooled completely, double-wrap your bread loaves in clean plastic wrap, then store in a cool, dry place. But make certain there isn’t even a drop of moisture on the plastic, which can make the bread mushy or moldy.
- The freezer is your friend for long-term storage. If you won’t be finishing your loaves with a couple of days, cool the bread completely, slice it, then wrap in plastic (as instructed above.) Slicing the bread prior to freezing is the way to go, since the slices thaw faster at room temperature and also you can just take out what you need.
- Skip the refrigerator. It’s sort of the worst thing you can do to bread, because it completely dries it out.
- Bread can be kept frozen up to 2 months. It’s safe to eat after that, but the quality and flavor diminish significantly.
More Bread Recipes To Try:
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Delicious bread and so easy! My family loves it.
Oh gosh we loved this bread so much! So easy and the crumb was perfect. Thank you so much for sharing!!
OMG the is the easiest homemade bread recipe. Delicious! I’ve tried others and this is by far the best! I’ve tried other recipes, but this is now my favorite!
I have been trying out recipies to find the perfect bread for my husband and I. I have made many so far. Then i came upon this recipe. I made this recipe the first time 2 weeks ago. It came out fantastic. Then I got my pullman pans and i really wanted a bread that fits in my toaster. So i made a pullman loaf recipe. It came out ehh ok.
In the back of my mind this recipe has lingered, as the flavor and texture were so beautiful. So today i made this recipe again. And i kept the dough as one (instead of 2 pans) because my pullman loaf is a long pan. Let me just say…THIS RECIPE DID NOT FAIL IN A PULLMAN LOAF. IT WAS FANTASTIC AND MADE THE ABSOLUTE BEST LOAF OF BREAD. No more searching for bread recipies, as i have officially made this recipe our weekly loaf staple!!!
Thank you for sharing such amazing recipies. You made this couple very happy.
I’m a novice breadmaker, but I’m looking forward to trying your recipe. Do you have any feedback from your readers with substituting real maple syrup for the sugar or have you tried it yourself? Curious if you get the same outcome?
Hi Jamey! I’ve never tested this recipe with anything other than sugar.
Love this recipe. It is so fast, easy and tasty. I did bump the salt up a bit, like, just a heavy pinch, on my second time around. It really did boost the flavor for me. I LOVE bread, especially warm from the oven – or toaster – and this really delivers.
I love this recipe was so simple and beautiful, I just made one loaf of bread. So I just cut the recipe in half thank you so much 🙏🏾
If I make the whole 1x recipe, is there a place to stop and only cook half/ one loaf? Can the dough or partially done dough be stored for a number of days?
I wouldn’t recommend that. It’s best made and baked right away. You could always make both loaves and freeze one of them.
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I’ve tried many recipes previously for sandwich bread but none came out as I was expecting for soft sandwich bread. This bread IS AMAZING!!!
The first time I made this recipe the bread was incredible – delicious with great crumb. I followed the recipe to the letter as this was my first time making sandwich style as I usually make artisan boules. But my loaves fell short of the bread pans by about 1/2” on each side and didn’t rise as much as I had hoped. I made the bread today for the second time and, again, followed the recipe to the letter BUT this time I let the dough enjoy a second rise in the pans for another hour in the oven with only the light on, and presto-chango, the dough fills the pans side to side and rose another inch or so crowning above the edges of the pans. As I write this it is still baking but I have no doubt it will be scrumptious. The recipe is DROP DEAD easy and bread a winner. Oh well… so much for keto.
I made it properly, just did not drizzle with olive oil. The bread inside was perfect, but the crust a bit over done. Should I cut back on the time a few minutes?
I made the bread but thought my yeast might not be good because it didn’t rise all that much. So I bought new yeast, tried again and still not a very good rise. Then I saw a comment in the reviews that referred to “the second rise”. I don’t see that in the directions. I have other bread recipes and do use a second rise with them. Am I missing something here?
Hi Mary! No, you’re not missing anything. This bread does not require a second rise. Someone chose to do a second rise. There are many factors that go into baking bread – the yeast, the temperature of the water, the temperature of your kitchen, etc. If you read through the other comments, you’ll see that 99% didn’t need a second rise, but you can certainly try it and see if you get the results you’re looking for.
This was such a blessing of a recipe! For too long I’ve been scared to make bread but I’ve had all the ingredients needed just sitting in my pantry, this was the recipe that finally convinced me to do it. I followed the exact instructions and turned out amazing. I did only have one loaf pan on hand but letting the other half of the loaf dough rest for the 40 minutes it took to cook the first one had no adverse effects. This will be my go-to recipe and I’m never buying supermarket bread again!! This one’s going in my personal notebook cookbook!
I made this last night! We ate a whole loaf today. I do think it needed to be kneaded longer. Can I make this using my kitchen aid? Paddle attachment until shaggy dough, then switch to dough hook?
I’ve never tried making this with a kitchen aid mixer
I will give it a try today and let you know how it goes!
How did it go with the kitchen aid?
excellent excellent excellent
So easy and so, so, so good! Thanks for the yummy recipe!
Can I use active dry yeast instead of instant?
Yes, as long as you allow it to bloom first.
I am considering making this bread, but have a question. Is the sugar needed or can I use a substitute?
I would not omit the sugar. It helps bloom the yeast and speeds up the rise time, while also enhancing flavor, creating a slightly sweeter, softer, browner crust.
This bread is delicious! Do you by any chance have a version that is whole wheat too?
I don’t, sorry. Glad you loved it!
I made the bread and it was great! I wonder if if anyone has made it into buns?
I made it into buns and all I can say is OMG !!! Love , love , love this recipe! It’s was so easy to make and it took no time to enjoy that first warm slice !!
To the creator of this recipe all I can say is BRAVO !!
And of course thank you for sharing it !
I made half recipe this morning… It is delicious! I’m not that much of an experience baker and it turned out great!
Wonder if you could make cinnamon bread out of it? Anybody ever try that?
Thank you so much for sharing!!
Yes, after the 30 minutes rise time and halving the dough, you can roll out one half at a time into a rectangle, brush the flattened dough with softened butter, then sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top. Now, roll the dough into a loaf, place in the bread pan and allow to rise a second time before following the baking instructions.