White Sandwich Bread Recipe, the best homemade bread without a bread machine. It's so easy to make, and it smells absolutely amazing. It's made with a few simple ingredients, and there is no need for bread flour either, the regular plain flour can be used too if needed. The amount listed are enough for one loaf.
There is a Romanian saying that hunger is the best cook. Well, this unprecedented situation we are living is making us not only better cooks, but also bakers. Staying inside for so long is no fun, but we can always keep busy in the kitchen. That is, if we have the ingredients we need available.
I made these Fluffy Dinner Rolls not long ago and I loved them, and making this white bread was on my to-bake list for so long. Hopefully, a wholemeal bread recipe soon, if I manage to find more yeast.
Using milk and butter surly makes the loaf fluffier and softer, but you can also swap them for water and oil, that should not be a big problem. Use the same amounts of ingredients, and the consistency of the bread should not change.
Also, the amount of flour might change slightly depending on the type of flour used, I only had regular white flour, instead of strong white bread flour, and I used 400 grams, but you might need more or less. Just start by adding 350 grams at first, and then add more if needed.
Jump to:
Ingredients needed
- plain flour - you can use bread flour too, but for this recipe is not compulsory
- dried yeast
- milk - I usually go for full-fat milk
- butter - soften
- sugar
- salt
- optional: melted butter for brushing the bread
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Step-by-step photos and instructions
Bakery products that use yeast must be made and left to rise in a warm place, otherwise the yeast will not activate, and the dough will not rise. So, make sure your kitchen is warm before you start. The warmer, the better, as the dough will rise quicker, cutting down on the resting time.
- warm up the milk, add the yeast, sugar and a tablespoon of flour, give the mixture a quick stir, and set aside for 10-15 minutes or until the mixture becomes frothy.
- In a large bow, sift the flour, add the salt, soften butter and the yeast mixture, and use your hands to bring all the ingredients together
- transfer the dough to the work surface and continue to knead for about 10 minutes, until you get a smooth and elastic dough that does not stick to the hands at all
- form a ball, transfer it back to the bowl, brush with oil, and cover with clingfilm
- leave to rise until it doubles its volume
- knead the dough again to release the air bubbles, then shape into a large sausage
- grease and flour a loaf tin, arrange the dough in it, then leave to rise again for at least 30 minutes
- bake in the preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit) for 30 minutes, making sure the tin is placed on the middle rack in the oven, otherwise the top browns too quickly
- transfer the bread to a cooling rack, and leave to cool completely before slicing
Expert tips
Making bread is a lot easier than you'd think, but it might take a few tries until you get the results you are after. Or, you get get it right from the first try if you follow keep in mind the following:
- IF THE DOUGH DOES NOT RISE: the yeast was not activate, which means the mixture did not become frothy. It might be that the yeast was expired, no longer active, the milk/water were cold or too hot (the liquid must be lukewarm), the room was not warm enough.
- IF THE BREAD IS TOO DENSE: the dough was not kneaded for long enough, the more you knead, the better. I said knead for 10 minutes, but you can do it for longer if you can. Stretch the dough, roll it, whatever you do, the end product should be an elastic dough
- IF THE TOP CRUST IS TOO BROWN: the bread was baked on the high rack in the oven at a higher temperature. Place the bread on the middle rack, if the top browns too quickly, cover it with kitchen foil and continue to bake it.
If you’ve liked my WHITE SANDWICH BREAD RECIPE or any other recipe on the blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I’m getting up to.
White Sandwich Bread Recipe
Equipment
- Oven
Ingredients
- 400 g plain flour
- 2 teaspoon dried yeast
- 275 ml milk
- 30 g butter, soften
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ½ tablespoon salt
- optional: melted butter for brushing the bread
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Instructions
- Warm up the milk, add the yeast, sugar and a tablespoon of flour, give the mixture a quick stir, and set aside for 10-15 minutes or until the mixture becomes frothy.
- In a large bow, sift the flour, add the salt, soften butter and the yeast mixture, and use your hands to bring all the ingredients together.
- Transfer the dough to the work surface and continue to knead for about 10 minutes, until you get a smooth and elastic dough that does not stick to the hands at all.
- Form a ball, transfer it back to the bowl, brush with oil, and cover with clingfilm.
- Leave to rise until it doubles its volume.
- Knead the dough again gently to release the air bubbles, then shape into a large sausage.
- Grease and flour a loaf tin, arrange the dough in it, then leave to rise again for at least 30 minutes.
- Bake in the preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit) for 30 minutes, making sure the tin is placed on the middle rack in the oven, otherwise the top browns too quickly
- Transfer the bread to a cooling rack, and leave to cool completely before slicing.
Notes
- If you'd like to see the ingredients listed in cups and ounces, please check the US Customary Link.
- Also, the amount of ingredients changes depending on the servings, so click on the number listed to change it to the number you prefer.
- IF THE DOUGH DOES NOT RISE: the yeast was not activate, which means the mixture did not become frothy. It might be that the yeast was expired, no longer active, the milk/water were cold or too hot (the liquid must be lukewarm), the room was not warm enough.
- IF THE BREAD IS TOO DENSE: the dough was not kneaded for long enough, the more you knead, the better. I said knead for 10 minutes, but you can do it for longer if you can. Stretch the dough, roll it, whatever you do, the end product should be an elastic dough
- IF THE TOP CRUST IS TOO BROWN: the bread was baked on the high rack in the oven at a higher temperature. Place the bread on the middle rack, if the top browns too quickly, cover it with kitchen foil and continue to bake it.
Anna says
Can you used strong bread flour?
Jamie says
‘Hunger is the best cook’ I couldn’t agree more, I found myself cooking a lot more checking all kinds of recipes in this lock down. This one looks good and simple am gonna easily replace normal bread now. It served the family for years but time to move on to this amazing recipe for bread - a sense of independence. Yum yum 😋