White Sandwich Bread Recipe

a tomato sandwich on sourdough sandwich bread

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4.58 from 19 reviews

White Sandwich Bread Recipe

Eileen Gray

The perfect sandwich loaf made with milk & butter for softness. Makes 1 large loaf.

Prep Time30

Bake Time35

Rising Time2

Total Time3 5

Servings:16 servings

Ingredients

4 oz warm water (½ cup)
2 ¼ teaspoons dry yeast
15 oz all purpose flour (3 cups, see note)
8 oz whole milk (1 cup)
1 oz unsalted butter
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 ½ teaspoons salt

Instructions

Combine 4 oz warm water, 2 ¼ teaspoons dry yeast and a 1/2 cup of the flour in the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl. Mix to form a loose batter. Cover the bowl and set the sponge aside for 30-60 minutes.
While the sponge rises, scald 8 oz whole milk in the microwave. Stir 1 oz unsalted butter into the warm milk to melt. Set the milk aside to cool to about 100 °F.
Uncover the bowl with the sponge. Add8 oz whole milkthe cooled milk/butter and 1 tablespoon granulated sugar and 1 ½ teaspoons salt and stir to combine. Add 1 ½ cups of the flour and stir until the batter looks like thick pancake batter. If using a stand mixer, change to the dough hook.
With the mixer running, slowly add the remaining flour. Knead for 5 minutes. The dough should gather on the hook and clear the sides of the bowl. If mixing by hand, stir in as much flour as you can then turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead in the remaining flour then knead for at least 5 minutes.
Remove the dough from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface. Knead to form a smooth ball. If the dough is very sticky sprinkle a little more flour as you knead.
Place the dough in an oiled bowl, turning once to coat the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm spot to rise for about 1-1 ½ hrs hours, until doubled in size.
Lightly grease a 9"x 5" loaf pan with a light film of vegetable oil or baking spray.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and without kneading out the air, gently push the dough to a rectangle then roll the dough from top to bottom to form a log shape.
If the log is shorter than the loaf pan, gently roll and push the log from the center out to the size of the pan. Set the dough into the pan and cover. Set in a warm place and rise until the dough almost doubles in size and fills the pan, about 1-1½ hours.
Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Use a sharp knife or razor to cut a 1/2" deep slash down the center of the loaf. Brush the top of the loaf with milk.
Bake about 30-35 minutes until golden brown. The interior temp should be 200 °F.
Cool in the pan about 5 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack. Finish cooling to room temperature before slicing,

Notes

If measuring the flour by volume use the “dip & sweep” method. That is, dip the measuring cup into the flour bin, overfill it, then sweep away the excess.

Nutrition