Nothing beats homemade bread and this recipe for 6-ingredient White Sandwich Bread is simple to follow and takes under 2 hours for a result that is sure to impress!
This homemade sandwich bread is one of my favorite recipes because it is just SO EASY! Only 6 simple ingredients: flour, water, instant yeast, sugar, salt, and oil come together to make a delicious fluffy and soft white sandwich loaf. You can knead it by hand, throw it all in your KitchenAid mixer, or use your bread maker to mix it.
Developing my Oatmeal Bread recipe inspired me to also create a recipe for white bread and I'm so glad I did. A simple white bread dough recipe is almost like a step up to creating many other awesome bread recipes. Such as cinnamon roll bread, olive bread, cheese bread, or Italian herb bread... Oh, the opportunities are endless!
Jump to:
When I was probably about 8-10 years old, I somehow got the idea to try to develop my own bread recipe. No idea where it came from, but this was probably the start of my interest in recipe development.
Anyway, my "bread recipe" (if you'd even call it that) was quite terrible. I thought it would be a great idea to use eggs and baking soda (or maybe it was baking powder?), no salt, no yeast, etc. As you can imagine, it was pretty gross. It was dense, flavorless, and I don't actually think I mixed it properly, so it was kind of chunky, too.
Needless to say, I took a step back from creating recipes at that point and learned how to bake with yeast by following other tried and true recipes before returning to creating my own!
⭐️ Why You Need to Make This Recipe
- Texture - Soft, fluffy, and airy with a tight enough crumb to make this bread perfect for making sandwiches.
- Flavor - The taste of homemade bread is a comforting and nostalgic one. And it's so easy to achieve no matter your skill level in the kitchen!
- Method - Follow my step-by-step instructions with photos below in the post for guidance on how to complete each step.
🧈 Ingredients
Here are the ingredients needed to make this simple homemade white bread recipe.
Ingredient Notes
- Flour - Regular all-purpose flour makes this bread so less expensive to make and more convenient.
- Warm Water - Make sure the water is no hotter than 110℉. Too hot of water will kill the yeast.
- Instant Yeast - Also called quick-rise yeast, you don't even need to let this kind of yeast "bloom" before adding it to the recipe. Simply stir it into the flour and continue with the recipe.
- Sugar - Just 2 tablespoons of white sugar helps to achieve a soft and fluffy texture and good flavor.
- Salt - It is so important to add enough salt to bread recipes to ensure proper flavor development.
- Oil - Any kind of neutral flavored liquid cooking oil works such as vegetable oil or avocado oil.
See the recipe card for the full list of ingredients with measurements.
📃 Instructions
Step 1: Whisk together the flour and instant yeast in a large bowl.
Step 2: Stir together the warm water (110℉), sugar, salt, and oil.
Step 3: Add the wet ingredients into the flour/yeast bowl and mix just until a loose dough begins to come together.
Step 4: Turn onto the countertop and knead for 5-7 minutes or until a smooth dough forms. Or use a stand mixer or bread machine to knead the dough. Place in an oiled bowl.
Step 5: Let rise covered in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
Step 6: Punch down the risen dough and separate it into 2 pieces. Form into loaves and place in oiled pans.
Step 7: Cover and let rise again in a warm place for 30-40 minutes or until doubled in size.
Bake in a preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling to prevent the loaves from sweating in the pans and becoming soggy.
💡 Top Tip
For the best clean and uniform slices, let the loaves cool down fully before cutting into them.
❓ Recipe FAQs
Depending on what kind of bread you buy, making homemade bread can be more cost-effective.
This white bread is made from 6 simple ingredients: all-purpose flour, water, yeast, oil, sugar, and salt.
This recipe only requires all-purpose flour which makes it most cost-effective and accessible.
This bread will last for up to 4-5 days if stored in a bread bag at room temperature or frozen for longer.
🍞 More Bread Recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
If you tried these Homemade White Bread or any other recipe on my website, please leave a ⭐️ star rating and write a little note telling me how it went in the comments below. Thank you!!
📖 Recipe
6-Ingredient White Sandwich Bread
Equipment
- large mixing bowl
- measuring cups & spoons
- silicone spatula
- 2 9x5-inch loaf pans
- non-stick cooking spray
Ingredients
- 5 - 6 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast (quick-rise) *see recipe notes for substituting active dry yeast
- 2 ½ cups warm water (no hotter than 110℉)
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons neutral-flavored cooking oil
- 1 tablespoon butter to brush on the loaves after baking
Instructions
- In a large bowl, stir together 5 cups of flour and the yeast. In another bowl stir together the warm water, sugar, salt, and canola oil. Add to the flour/yeast and stir with a spatula until a loose dough is formed.
- Turn onto a floured counter and knead for about 10 minutes, adding up to 1 more cup of flour to form a smooth, elastic dough. It is okay if the dough is still slightly sticky but it should not stick to your hands. Place in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
- Grease 2 (9x5-inch) loaf pans with nonstick spray or butter. Once the dough has risen, punch down to deflate all air bubbles. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 2 equal pieces. Shape each piece of dough into a loaf and place each loaf in each prepared pan. Cover each pan with plastic wrap and then a dry towel and put in a warm place to rise for 45 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ right before the loaves are done rising. Bake the risen loaves together on the middle rack of the oven for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown on top and around the bottoms. Brush the loaves with a little melted butter as soon as they come out of the oven to add a glossy look and soften the crust. Let the loaves rest in their pans for 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. Let the bread cool for at least 20 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
- If you do not have instant yeast, active dry yeast (traditional yeast) will also work for this recipe. You will need to reduce the measurement of yeast and proof it before adding to the recipe. To do this, you will first separate ½ cup of the warm water called for in the recipe to a small bowl. Stir in ½ teaspoon of white sugar then stir in 2 ¼ teaspoons of active dry yeast and let the mixture sit on the counter for 10 minutes or until bubbly and frothy. If the yeast does not react and foam, your yeast is perhaps too old and no longer effective. If the mixture gets frothy, the yeast is ready to add into the dough with the remaining 2 cups of water, sugar, salt, and oil.
Holly W.
Made this bread 2 days ago and what a hit. Everyone loves the flavor and hardiness of the bread. Just got done piecing more dough together. This is now my go to recipe.
Thanks for sharing the recipe
Faith Tucker
Just pulled the loaves out of the oven they turned out, absolutely beautiful and the recipe was easy to follow and they came together quickly. Think I found my new staple bread recipe for our household!
Mrs. J
Just pulled this out of the oven. My timing is terrible since supper is almost ready—and taco salad is poor competition against hot-out-of-the-oven white bread. 😉 The aroma drew my family, and several slices have disappeared. Another great recipe, Naomi!
Naomi
Haha, that's so great to hear! Thank you!!
Naomi
Casey W.
This bread tastes so good! I have to make it again and not forget it during the second rise (got some big air bubbles because of that - oops). We used it fresh for sandwiches and then cubed the leftovers into a breakfast casserole - delicious both ways. Can't wait to try it as cinnamon sugar toast next time.
Naomi
Oh well, I'm sure it was just as delicious! Those are great ideas for eating this bread!
Thank you!
Naomi