Easy Homemade Sandwich Bread

Homemade bread is a comfort food in itself. And making your own bread is easy, especially with this simple-to-make recipe.

This recipe is so easy that even if you have never made bread, you will have success with this recipe. We have been making this recipe for years with great results.

Why Does Homemade Bread Taste Better?

Homemade bread usually tastes better than commercial bread. The reason is the ingredients.

When making bread at home, no preservatives or additives are used; they are just simple ingredients.

The amount of salt and sugar can be controlled, unlike some store-bought bread that has high amounts of sugar and/or salt.

Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to consumers. Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you click these links and make a purchase we may earn a commission. Keep in mind that we link these products because of their quality, not because of the commission we may receive from purchases.

Ingredients For Homemade Sandwich Bread

To make this recipe for homemade bread, there are six ingredients needed plus a little oil or cooking spray for the bowl when dough is rising.

• Dry active yeast.
• Warm water.
• White sugar.
• Fine sea salt.
• Melted butter.
• All-purpose flour.

Tips For Making Bread

Bread is easy to make, especially with these tips:

• Water temperature is important for proofing yeast. Ideally, the water should be approximately 110ºF or 43ºC for the yeast to bloom properly.
• Use only enough flour to make the dough pull away from the sides of the bowl. The dough should be elastic and stretchy, not dense.
• Make sure the yeast is fresh. If the yeast doesn’t bloom after 10 minutes, it is no good and will not work in this recipe. Our go-to yeast is Bob’s Red Mill Dry Active Yeast because we have always gotten great results form this product.
• To help with rising, the dough should be covered and placed in a warm place without drafts. One of the best places to put the dough to rise is in the oven because it is usually draft-free.
• Lightly coating the dough in oil before covering it to rise, prevents the dough from creating a crust on the top and it keeps it from sticking to the plastic wrap or tea towel.

Equipment For Making Bread

When it comes to making bread, a stand mixer is one piece of equipment that makes it easier. A stand mixer can do all the kneading for you, making the recipe easier.

A thermometer is handy to make sure the water is at the right temperature. We use a digital thermometer to test the water temperature.

This recipe makes two loaves of bread. We use 9-inch pans and use parchment liner in the bottom of the pans for easy removal after baking.

How Long Does Homemade Bread Last?

This bread will stay fresh for up to two days at room temperature. Wrap the bread in plastic wrap to keep it fresh.

Bread can also be sliced and stored in air-tight bags like Ziploc bags for up to two days.

We have not tried freezing this bread since it never lasts longer than two days.

How To Serve Homemade Bread

Serve homemade bread as you would any bread you buy in the store. This recipe makes great bread for sandwiches.

We like to eat this bread with a little butter and homemade jam like our Spiced Apple Jam.

This bread is also great for toasting or use day-old bread for making French Toast.

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Easy Homemade Sandwich Bread

This recipe will yield two loaves of soft homemade bread.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Rising and Resting Time2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Total Time3 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Course: Bread

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Bread

Servings: 2 loaves

Equipment

• Stand Mixer

Ingredients

• 2 cups warm water, approximately 110℉/43℃
• 1 Tbsp dry active yeast
• 2 Tbsp white sugar, divided
• 1½ tsp fine sea salt
• 2 Tbsp melted butter
• 4-5 cups all-purpose flour
• oil for lightly oiling a bowl for rising, about 1 teaspoon.

Instructions

• In the bowl of stand mixer, add water, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and the yeast. Stir and set aside for 5-10 minutes to activate the yeast.
• Stir remaining sugar, salt, melted butter, and 3 cups of flour into the bloomed yeast mixture.
• Using the dough hook on low speed on the stand mixer, mix in 1 more cup of flour.
• Continue to knead the dough on low speed with the dough hook, adding ¼ cup of flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
• Turn the mixer to medium speed and knead the dough for 4-6 minutes.
• The dough is ready to rise when it can be poked with a finger and it bounces back.
• Lightly oil a large bowl with oil or cooking spray.
• Turn dough over in the oiled bowl, coating the dough all around.
• Cover with a cotton tea towel and place in a warm, draft-free spot to rise for 90 minutes or until doubled in size.
• Punch down dough and turn onto a lightly floured surface.
• Fold dough over on itself 2-3 times.
• Cut in half and form each piece of dough into a log.
• Generously oil two 9-inch bread pans and place a dough log in each one.
• Cover with a tea towel and allow to rise for 45 minutes or until the dough rises just above the bread pans.
• Preheat oven to 350℉
• Bake bread in middle of oven for 30-35 minutes, turning halfway through baking.
• When done, remove from pan immediately to a wire rack to cool. If desired, brush the top of bread with melted butter.
• Let the bread cool for 15 minutes before slicing.
• Store the bread by wrapping it tightly in plastic wrap and keeping it at room temperature.