Name: White Sandwich Bread
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 240 min
Yield: 18 Slices
Ingredients: 1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil; 1 Cup Lukewarm Water; 1 Tablespoon Yeast; 1/4 Cup Granulated White Sugar; 3 Cups All-Purpose Flour; 1 ½ Teaspoons Salt; 2 Tablespoons Butter (Softened); 1 Large Egg (Slightly Beaten)

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My homemade White Sandwich Bread is my absolute favorite bread to make. This easy recipe has great flavor and best of all, it is no knead!

Homemade White Sandwich Bread with two slices cut, resting on a cutting board.

I love making my own bread. Of the things I bake, baking bread makes my house feel like home. As bread rises and is baked, a yeasty sweet aroma wafts through the whole house, filling every room with comfort, happiness, and anticipation.

Homemade bread can elevate any meal to something special and also can be used to make sandwiches, toast, French toast, bread puddings, bread salads, and many other dishes. I generally cut a few slices for dinner on the day I make it. Then, I wrap it tightly in cling wrap and it stays fresh and delicious for about 10 days, even without refrigeration.

But… I think I know what you are thinking. You are thinking… you can’t make bread. But, you can! Seriously! If you’ve never made your own yeast bread before, I bet you haven’t because of one of these 3 reasons:

i don’t have time…

I know what you might be thinking… you don’t have time to make bread. It’s true. It does takes time to make bread. But the time is in waiting and other things can be done, while waiting for the raisings to complete.

making bread is complicated

If you haven’t tried making bread before, don’t be afraid! Bread making does not have to be complicated and my recipe for White Sandwich Bread is great for beginners. In short, the steps are: proof the yeast, mix the dough, let it fully rise, shape the loaf, let it rise again and then it is time to go into the oven for a short 30 minutes. Easy, right?

kneading is difficult

Hmmm… yes kneading is work and can be hard. But in this recipe, there is no extensive kneading and no need to perform a window pane test to see if the gluten has developed in the dough. My White Sandwich Bread recipe uses a no knead method, where you beat the dough with an electric mixer for 5 minutes to develop the gluten and structure of the dough.

So, you see? This bread is super easy! So, let’s get started!

proofing yeast

The most important step in making bread is proofing the yeast. “Proofing” means to prove your yeast is able to divide and grow and begins by activating the yeast in warm water. I always give yeast something nice to eat like white granulated sugar and let the yeast fully activate and grow before mixing my dough.

Here you can see the progress of the activation of the yeast. I started by putting warm water in my mixing bowl. I added the yeast and then the sugar. I always prefer to add the sugar last. The heaviness of the sugar helps submerge the yeast and makes everything mix together easier.

Proofing the yeast - elasped time of 5 minutes.

At 5 minutes you can see the yeast mixture has become frothy but has not risen.

Proofing the yeast in a stainless steel bowl. A knife inserted into the proofing mixture shows it is half proofed. Elasped time is 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes the mixture has begun to rise.

At 20 minutes the mixture is well risen and has a spongy look. This is when the yeast is fully activated and ready to be made into a dough.

the ingredients

This time I’m showing you the ingredients the way they are when I’m making this dough. Please note I have already proofed the yeast and it is in the large stainless steel mixing bowl.

White Sandwich Bread ingredients gathered around the mixing bowl.

This simple dough contains all purpose white flour, softened butter, salt, one beaten egg, plus proofed yeast that is just water, dry active yeast, and granulated white sugar.

so, let’s bake!

Fully proofed yeast in mixing bowl of stand mixer - White Sandwich Bread Process Photo-1

Place dough in lightly oiled bowl - White Sandwich Bread Process Photo-4

Starting from narrow end, roll dough tightly - White Sandwich Bread Process Photo-7

Adding the flour, butter, egg, and salt - White Sandwich Bread Process Photo-2

Dough will rise and nearly fill a large mising bowl - White Sandwich Bread Process Photo-5

Place dough in lightly greased loaf pan - White Sandwich Bread Process Photo-8

Making the dough - White Sandwich Bread Process Photo-3

Stretch and pat dough into a long rectangle - White Sandwich Bread Process Photo-6

Let dough rise to above top of pan - White Sandwich Bread Process Photo-9

Step 1 – Put warm water, dry active yeast, and granulated sugar to a large bowl of a stand mixer. Let yeast fully proof.

Step 2 – Add all purpose flour, softened butter, beaten egg, and salt.

Step 3 – Using a dough hook, mix the dough on the lowest speed for about 1 minute. This moistens all of the ingredients and keeps the flour from flying out of the bowl. Turn the speed up to medium and beat the dough for 5 minutes.

Beating the dough takes the place of kneading. As the dough is beaten, you will see the dough tighten and relax, moving up the dough hook and then gathering into a ball. This is normal and will happen several times as you beat the dough.

Step 4 – Use a silicon spatula to remove the dough from the dough hook. Gather dough into a ball and place the dough into a large oiled mixing bowl. After placing the ball of dough in the bowl, turn the dough over to place the oiled side up in the bowl. Cover bowl with cling wrap and allow dough to rise 2 hours or until 4x in size.

Step 5 – Fully risen dough.

Step 6 – Tip dough out of bowl and onto lightly floured work surface. Gently stretch, pat, and shape dough into a long rectangle. The narrow end of the rectangle should be the same length as your baking pan.

For the very best texture, do not over work the bread dough. Handling the dough as little as possible will produce a tender loaf of bread. Overworking the dough will result in bread that is “tough” and not as pleasing.

Step 7 – Tightly roll dough into the shape of a log.

Step 8 – Place dough seam side down in a greased loaf pan.

Step 9 – Let dough rise 1 hour, or until fully risen above the top of the pan.

After the loaf has fullen risen it is time for a trip to the oven. Now the whole house will be filled with the delicious, sweet aroma of fresh bread baking. You will love it! It is absolutely better than any candle or room freshener!

White Sandwich Bread in a dark baking tin, resting on a wire rack in my kitchen.

I aways wait for the bread to fully cool in the pan. When cool, the loaf easily slips from the tipped pan.

I prefer to not slice the loaf until I need a slice. To me the bread stays moister and fresher if I just wrap it in cling wrap and cut what I need when I need it.

Homemade White Sandwich Bread on a bamboo cutting board - portrait view with 2 slices cut

Doesn’t it look lovely on just a plain cutting board?… and wasn’t that easy?

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