This soft and sturdy sandwich bread is fluffy and will quickly replace store-bought bread as your favorite. Because this recipe is so simple and makes two or three loaves, you will be making bread as part of your routine in no time.

I spent a full year on this recipe, making sure that it is absolutely perfect for you. Not only does this recipe make the softest sandwich bread, but it can also be used for French bread, rolls, and hamburger buns. This will be your go-to bread recipe.

Homemade sandwich bread can sometimes be too airy or grainy. My kids love a soft, soft sandwich bread, and my bread machine just wasn't doing it. The bread machine bread was great for toast, but I was left wanting when it came to sandwiches.

Specific sandwich requirements: sure, the obvious MVP sandwich in our house is PB & J, but I also wanted my homemade sandwich bread to be sturdy enough for a triple-decker Thanksgiving leftover sandwich.

Homemade bread is a labor of love.  This recipe also simplifies the labor, leaving you with amazing homemade bread and a wonderful smell in the kitchen.

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Ingredients

Soft sandwich bread is made with simple ingredients, and you will have two loaves in under 2 hours.

2 tablespoon dry Quick Rise or Instant yeast
3 tablespoon sugar (Divided)
2 cups HOT water
½ cup warm water
1 tablespoon kosher salt
5 tablespoon oil (Vegetable or olive)
6 cups all-purpose flour (divided)
1 egg for egg wash

What is Rapid Rise or Instant Yeast?

At the store, you will see Active Dry Yeast and Instant (Rapid Rise) Yeast. I always choose Rapid yeast because it activates faster and provides a higher rise quicker than active dry. It is often cheaper as well. Technically, you don't need to proof Rapid Yeast first, but in this recipe, the proofing creates amazing results for soft bread. If you want to read more about yeast and bread making, King Arthur Flour has a helpful article here.

See photos and notes for detailed instructions and options

Instructions

Homemade bread is true baking science. Everything comes together just right with time and temperature.

Using a stand mixer:

Kneading the dough is an important part of perfect bread. I let my stand mixer do all of the work.

Rather than knead followed by. a rise and a second kneading, I. use a "quick knead" method. Rise 10 minutes in the bowl, knead for 5-10 0seconds by. just turning the mixer on low speed. repeat until it has risen for 60 minutes

This method creates a sturdy bread that also has a soft texture.

Creating and squishing the air bubbles over and over makes the texture of your bread very consistent. The dough will almost seem too soft. This is unique to the recipe, but it works amazingly.

In a glass measuring cup, add ½ cup warm water and dissolve 1 tablespoon sugar. Add in 2 tablespoon Quick Rise yeast and stir.

Set aside to bubble and get foamy. It should foam up nicely in about 5 minutes.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add 2 cups HOT water (I use a tea kettle), 2 tablespoon sugar, 1 tablespoon kosher salt, and vegetable oil.

Add 3 cups of all-purpose flour and mix for 2 minutes with a paddle attachment.

Switch to the dough hook attachment, add the remaining 3 cups of flour, and mix for 2 minutes.

Turn off the mixer, but leave the kneading hook down in the dough and cover the mixer bowl with a towel. Set the timer for 10 minutes and keep the bowl covered and the dough hook in the dough.

Repeat the 10-minute "rise and knead down" steps until you have six tallies on your sticky note (60 minutes)

Kosher salt is important; don't use table salt.

The batter will be very wet, and the steam will escape. Add in the frothy yeast and mix for a minute until incorporated.

Set a timer for 5 minutes and let the dough mix on low to incorporate fully. Scrape down the bowl and the bottom as needed to ensure no dry flour pockets are under the dough.

After the timer goes off, mark one tally on your sticky note and turn the mixer to low to "knead down" the dough for 5 to 10 seconds. Turn off the mixer and scrape down the dough off the hook with a silicone spatula. Cover the bowl with a towel and set the timer for another 10-minute "rise"

When you have completed the 6 "rise and knead down," dump the dough out onto a lightly floured surface.

PART 3: SHAPE DOUGH (2 LOAVES OF FRENCH BREAD)

Cut dough into two portions (for French bread). *see notes for portioning out larger loaves, sandwich loaves, rolls, and buns
Use a rolling pin to roll out each portion into a 9x13 rectangle (approximate). Make sure to roll out the big air bubbles if there are any.
Starting on the long side of the dough, roll up into a log like cinnamon rolls. Tuck the ends of the bread under and slightly pinch together so it holds its shape. Transfer the loaf to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat rolling and shaping with the second portion of dough. Place on the same pan with a few inches of space between the loaves.
Lightly cover the dough with your towel and set the timer for 20 minutes.
In the 20 minutes, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Make an egg wash. You will whisk together one whole egg with 1 tablespoon water.
After 20 minutes, score the top of the bread in 3 places with a sharp knife and brush the surface of both loaves with the egg wash.
Bake for 22-25 minutes until golden brown.

PART 3: SHAPE THE DOUGH FOR 3 LOAVES (1.5QT GLASS BREAD PANS)

Divide dough into 3 equal portions. Grease 3 glass bread pans
On a highly. floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll out a portion of dough to approximately a 10x6 rectangle. just slightly bigger than your bread pan. Starting at the long edge, roll up the dough tightly, tucking under the ends and placing the seam down in your greased bread pan.
Repeat with the remaining two portions of dough. Cover all three pans loosely with your towel and let rise for 20 minutes.
Make your egg wash with one egg and 1 tablespoon water whisked together. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
After 20 minutes, brush egg wash over the tops of all three loaves. Place in oven to bake for 20-22 minutes until golden brown.
Let cool in the pans for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire cooling rack. Do not let the bread finish cooling inside the pans.

PART 3: SHAPE THE DOUGH FOR XL BREAD LOAF: USE AN XL LOAF PAN AND WILL ALSO MAKE 4 ROLLS

Grease your XL bread pan and the bottom of a glass baking dish for the rolls
Divide dough unevenly. ⅔ larger portion for the loaf, ⅓ smaller portion to make 4-6 rolls.
With the larger portion, use a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to roll out a rectangle approximately 10x15 inches. (Just slightly longer than your XL bread pan)
Starting on the long edge, roll up the dough tightly and ttuck under the ends and place the loaf in the greased breadpan.
Using the smaller dough portion, divide it into 4 equal balls and fold all of the edges toward the center to create nice smooth balls. Place in a greased baking dish.
Cover all of your bread and rolls with a kitchen towel and let the dough rise for 20 minutes, (the rolls will rise for one hour)
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and make and egg wash with one egg and 1 tablespoon water whisked together.
After the 20 minutes, brush the egg wash over the surface of the sandwich loaf, the rolls need to rise for a full hour before the egg wash.
Bake together in the oven. Bread loaf will bake 22-25 minutes until golden brown and the rolls will bake 18-20 minutes until golden brown. (The rolls will rise for an hour and then bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes until golden brown)
Let the bread cool in the bread pan for about 5 minutes before transferring the loaf to a wire cooling rack. Do not let the bread cool while sitting in the pan.

PART 3: SHAPE THE DOUGH FOR 24 DINNER ROLLS

Using a knife or dough scraper, divide dough into 24 equal portions.
Shape each portion into a smooth ball by pulling all of the edges under to the bottom to create a smooth round top.
Place the rolls in a greased glass baking dish (16 rolls to a 9x13 pan) and cover with a towel to rise for 60 minutes. These rise longer than a loaf to get extra fluffy.
While they are rising, make your egg wash with one egg and 1 tablespoon water.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Brush the top of each roll with egg wash.
Bake for 22-28 minutes at 350 degrees until golden brown

Which size stand mixer to use:

I have tested this in both a 5Qt and 6Qt Kitchenaid. The dough rises to completely fill the smaller mixer, but it works fine. You can also halve the recipe and easily make one oversized loaf in a 9x5 loaf pan.

The only two substitutions that work in this recipe are for the oil and sugar. You can use a very light olive oil, and you can use honey in place of the sugar. All substitutions are of equal amount. I still continue to use vegetable oil and sugar as I love the ease of it, and it is perfect every single time. Whole wheat flour and bread flour do not work well in this recipe. Stick with all-purpose flour.

Equipment: The best tools for homemade bread.

*KitchenAid mixer- this will be the MVP and workhouse of the kitchen. I use it for everything from muffins, whipped cream, and bread dough to meatballs and whipped egg whites for meringue.

*Dough scraper- a dough scraper has a sharp, flat edge and a wide handle. You can use this to cut your dough into portions and move it from the board to the pan. I also use this regularly when I am dicing and chopping ingredients to move the small pieces from one spot to another.

*rolling pin

*9x5 loaf pan- I have 3 of these because my pumpkin bread recipe makes 3 loaves.

*XL loaf pan- I bought this after making homemade bread for about a month. I love that the size and shape allows the bread slices to still fit inside a sandwich bag.

*Flat baking sheet- I line my baking sheet with parchment paper to bake the 2 loaves of French bread

*silicone spatula

*glass baking dish- I bake all of my dinner rolls and hamburger buns in a glass baking dish

Helpful Tips

*make sure that the yeast is fresh. If it doesn't foam up after 5 minutes, it has gone stale and you need new yeast.

*packets of yeast are fine but because this recipe uses 2 Tbsp, I prefer to buy. it in a glass jar. Opened yeast should be refrigerated.

*use a sticky note and pencil next to. your mixer to keep track of how many times you have risen and kneaded your dough.

Storage

You can use a bread box, but I just use a 2-gallon ziplock bag, and I can use the same bag over and over many times. This recipe will stay fresh at room temperature for up to 3 days. Remember that there are no artificial preservatives, so it has a shorter shelf life than store-bought bread. Double wrap and bag the cooled loaves, and they can be frozen for up to 2 months.

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