This easy step by step guide will help you make the most delicious, soft sandwich bread. With just a few ingredients, this bread will become a family favorite for sure. This recipe yields 2 loaves and is perfect for those PB&Js, morning toast, or comforting grilled cheese.
If you are new to baking, this is a simple and easy first step!
My kids eat a lot of bread. Sandwiches for lunch, toast for breakfast, garlic bread at dinner, we love our bread.
I first started making bread, because I wanted to give my family a healthier option to the bulk made, processed stuff from the store. And if I could do AND save money, win win!
This was the first recipe I tried, and the kids loved it so much it has become a part of my weekly routine. I have created some fun variations, like Cinnamon Swirl Bread, Honey Wheat Bread, and a fun twist on Artisan Sandwich Bread.
This is a great bread for beginner bakers as it is very straight forward and doesn’t knead (see what I did there?) much hands on attention. All you need is a good stand mixer, a handful of ingredients, and some hungry family members.
While you can absolutely mix and knead this bread by hand, I prefer to let the stand mixer do all that work. Just make sure you are using a dough hook and that your mixer is in the “locked” position.
Easy Ingredients
- Bread flour: I use bread flour for all my bread recipes. While you can use All Purpose flour, bread flour has a higher protein content, 12-14%. All purpose as a protein content of closer to 10-12% is better for more “tender” baking like cookies and cakes and muffins. My go to Bread Flour is King Arthur’s Organic Bread flour
- Active yeast: While you can use instant yeast, I like to be sure my yeast has activated and I know my bread will rise properly. I use Fleischmann’s Active Yeast. *Don’t forget to store your yeast in the fridge or freezer!
- Water: Making sure your water is between 100-105 degrees will help your yeast activate.
- Honey: I recommend a local organic honey. This will give your dough a slight sweetness and aid in helping your yeast activate.
- Butter: Add butter to your dough can limit the gluten development. It will also tenderize your dough and create a softer bread with a rich flavor.
- Salt: You can’t have a delicious recipe of anything without salt! I recommend a course sea salt or Kosher salt over table salt, as they will have a better taste.
How to make this delicious Sandwich Bread
- Mix your water, yeast, and honey and set it aside to activate. You will know it is ready with there is a nice foam at the surface.
- While your yeast is resting, combine your flour and salt in your stand mixer bowl.
- Add your melted butter to your yeast, and dump it all in with your flour.
- Knead it all together until well combined. If you dough looks too wet, you can add a bit more flour about 1/4 a cup at a time. If you dough looks too dry, you can add water 1 tbs at a time. You are aiming for your dough to look firm and have a slight bounce back.
- Cover your dough with a dishcloth or plastic wrap and let rise for 2 hours. I usually place my dough in the oven (turned off).
- You need to deflate you dough (my favorite part!). You are going to gently punch down the middle of the dough to release the air.
- Turn your dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into two sections. You can either use both sections for sandwich bread, or you can use one loaf for a Cinnamon Swirl breakfast loaf.
- Form each section into a loaf by pressing it flat into a rectangle, about the width of your loaf pan. Roll up from the bottom, flip over, and pinch the seam. Once you have your loaves formed, place them in your loaf pans, seam down. You will want to make sure you pans are either greased or that you are using not stick loaf pans.
- Cover your loaves and let them rest for about 30 minutes in that warm place.
- Let your loaves sit on the counter, covered or uncovered, while you preheat your oven to 350.
- Bake for about 25-30 minutes.
- Turn the loaves out onto a cooling rack and let them rest.
- Slice and enjoy!
What is this bread good for?
Anything!
- Sandwiches – PB&J, turkey and cheese, BLT, or a delicious grilled cheese.
- Avocado toast or breakfast sandwiches
- Dipping in soup
- Croutons
- French Toast
Honestly, my favorite way is just toasted with butter and a drizzle of honey. There is nothing like the taste of homemade bread.
Sandwich Bread
Equipment
- Stand mixer
Ingredients
- 2 cups water warmed to 100-105 degrees
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 1/4 tsp active yeast
- 2 tbs melted butter
- 4 1/2 cups flour
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Add yeast and honey to water, mix, and set aside to rise (about 10 minutes)
- Add melted butter
- In your mixer, add flour and salt
- Add yeast and knead with dough hook until well combined. Add more flour if needed.
- Cover and let rest in a warm place for 2 hours
- Punch dough down and turn out onto a lightly floured surface.
- Divide into two sections and form into loaves.
- Place loaves in greased loaf pans. Cover and let rest in a warm place for 30 minutes.
- Let the loaves sit on the counter while you preheat the oven to 350
- Bake for 25-30 minutes
Notes
- For the best taste and texture, I recommend using bread flour. If you only have All Purpose flour that will work fine in a 1:1 ratio.
- Freezing Instructions: If you would like to freeze one loaf to use later, prepare the recipe through step 6. Form one both loaves and place them in their pans, then while one rises, cover the other one tightly and freeze for up to 3 months. Once you are ready to bake, thaw your dough and let it rise for about 4-5 hours. Bake as directed and enjoy! You can also freeze the bread after it has been baked. Allow the bread to cool completely, then freeze for up to 3 months. When you are ready, allow your bread to thaw at room temperature then reheat as needed.
- Tools Needed: Electric Stand Mixer, large bowl, bread mat, pastry cutter, nonstick pans.
Tag @guidos.kitchen on Instagram and hashtag it #guidoskitchen
Leave a Reply