Easy Sandwich Bread Recipe

This is the loaf we reach for when we need comfort, school lunches, toast, grilled cheese, or a last-minute picnic sandwich. It’s forgiving, soft, and reliably homey. Make it on a slow morning and thank yourself later.

Yields: 1 loaf
Hands-on time: ~30 minutes
Total time (including rises): ~3–4 hours

Ingredients

• 1 cup warm water (about 110°F)

• ¼ cup warm whole milk (about 110°F)

• 2¼ tsp instant yeast (one packet)

• 2 Tbsp granulated sugar

• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened

• 1½ tsp salt

• 3⅓ cups all-purpose or bread flour

Method

1. In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together warm water, warm milk, yeast, and sugar. Wait ~5 minutes until it looks slightly thicker.

2. In your stand mixer or large bowl, add the softened butter, salt, and 1 cup of flour. Mix briefly to combine. Add a second cup of flour and mix until the dough starts to come together.

3. Add the remaining flour a little at a time until the dough forms a soft, slightly tacky ball that pulls away from the bowl. If it’s too sticky, sprinkle in a teaspoon of flour at a time — you want soft, not dry.

4. Knead (stand mixer on low or by hand) about 5–8 minutes, until smooth and elastic.

5. Lightly oil a bowl, place the dough inside, turn once to coat, cover with a clean tea towel, and let rise in a warm spot until doubled — about 2 hours.

6. Punch down the dough. On a floured surface, roll it out into an approximately 8×15" rectangle. Tightly roll it up from the short side and tuck the ends. Place seam-side down in a greased 9×5" loaf pan.

7. Cover and let rise until the dough is about 1" above the rim of the pan, about 1 hour.

8. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake 32–36 minutes until golden on the middle rack.

9. Cool in the pan briefly, then turn out to finish cooling on a rack. Slice when mostly cool.

Tips & tricks (because we bake this a lot)

• For softer crust, brush the top with melted butter right after it comes out of the oven.

• If you want extra-tender crumb, substitute ½ cup of the flour for bread flour; if you prefer chewier, use all bread flour.

• This dough freezes well after the first rise — shape, wrap tightly, and freeze; thaw in the fridge overnight and let finish rising before baking.