Homemade Sandwich Bread

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If you’ve avoided baking bread because you thought it would be too tough to handle, give it a chance! I promise, it actually isn’t hard at all! If you’re new to baking in general, sandwich bread is probably the easiest place to start. Don’t be intimidated by that fact that this recipe says it takes several hours. It’s only about 20 minutes of hands-on time, the rest is simply letting the dough rise. Your house will smell so good after you start baking, you’ll be thanking me for this recipe later!

Here are some tips for bread baking success:

• Get fresh packets of yeast

The rapid rise kind is just fine. If you think you’re going to make bread often (and I think you will!), then you can feel free to get the bigger jar of yeast, instead of the small packets. Either way, make sure you check the expiration date before you check out at the grocery store. One of the biggest causes of bread making failure is dead yeast.

• Use high quality ingredients

There’s only a few ingredients in bread, so make them count. Even using organic ingredients won’t up the cost factor much here, so don’t skimp on anything. Cheap ingredients will equal less than yummy bread.

• Don’t over knead, don’t under knead

Knead your bread until it becomes smooth and elastic on the surface, then stop and let it rest. You don’t want tough bread.

• Don’t go completely whole wheat for this recipe

If you want to make this bread whole grain, go for it. But don’t replace all the flour with whole wheat flour! Use no more than half whole wheat flour in this recipe. It makes for better texture and the result won’t be cardboard-like.

• Freeze it

If you want to make this bread in large batches so you can have fresh bread monthly or weekly, go for it! You can make several loaves worth, and then let them sit through the first rise. After the first rise, roll and shape the dough just like you would if you were going to put it in a loaf pan to bake. But instead, freeze it immediately. When you’re ready to use it, take the dough out of the freezer and let it rest on a counter at room temp for a few hours. It will rise while it’s defrosting. Then you can bake as usual. If you’re ambitious, you could make enough bread to last for months to keep in your freezer!

The best part about making your own bread at home – besides that your house will smell amazing and your family will think you’re super mom – is that you know what’s in it. You can make this loaf of bread for under $2.00. Your homemade bread will have 7 ingredients. A store-bought bread at the same price? Well, take a look:

Wheat Flour Enriched (Flour, Barley Malted Flour, Niacin, Iron Reduced, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Folic Acid (Vitamin aB)) , Water, Yeast, Corn Syrup High Fructose, Contains 2% or less of the Following: ( : Soybean(s) Oil, Salt, Soy Flour Defatted,Mono and Diglycerides, Calcium Propionate (Preservative) , Calcium Sulphate (Sulfate), Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Sugar, Ammonium Sulfate, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Sugar, Ammonium Sulfate, Monocalcium Phosphate, Wheat Starch, Ascorbic Acid added as Dough Conditioner(s),Calcium Peroxide, Enzyme(s), Azodicarbonamide, Soy Lecithin

31 ingredients*

Ready to give homemade a try?

Homemade Sandwich Bread

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Serves	12 slices
Prep time	3 hours, 30 minutes
Cook time	40 minutes
Total time	4 hours, 10 minutes
Meal type	Bread
Misc	Freezable, Pre-preparable
Website	King Arthur Flour

Ingredients

• 3 cups all purpose flour (or half all purpose and half whole wheat)
• 1/2 cup milk (skim, whole, or low fat - doesn't matter)
• 1/2-2/3 cup hot water (I bring it to a boil on the stove - I never use hot water form the tap for cooking)
• 1/2 stick melted butter (4 tablespoons) (margarine or vegetable oil will also work)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 packet active dry yeast (dissolved in 1 table spoon of lukewarm water (NOT the boiling water!!))

Directions

Step 1

In a large mixing bowl, or in the bowl of a food processor, add all the dry ingredients.

Step 2

In a smaller bowl or measuring cup, combine all the wet ingredients - EXCEPT the water

Step 3

Stir the wet ingredient mixture into the dry ingredients, or pulse the food processor while adding in the top feeder.

Step 4

Next, begin to add your water. A little at a time until the dough forms a ball and pulls away from the side of the bowl, or rides on top of the dough blade in the food processor. You may not need all the water. How much you use depends on the humidity in your kitchen on the day you're cooking.

Step 5

Once the dough forms a ball, turn the ball out onto a floured surface to begin kneading.

Step 6

Knead for 6-8 minutes. You can need in the food processor by pulsing for 3-4 minutes, but I prefer to do it by hand.

Step 7

Once the dough is smooth and elastic on the outside, stop kneading and put the dough ball in a well greased bowl. Cover with a tea towel and leave it in a warm place to rise for about an hour.

Step 8

The dough will be close to double in size. If it didn't rise, your yeast was no good and you'll need to start over.

Step 9

Punch the dough down to deflate it a little, and turn it out onto a floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle. Keep the short edge the same length as your loaf pan.

Step 10

Roll the rectangle up (the way you would roll up a jelly roll) into a loaf shape, and place it in a greased loaf pan.

Step 11

Cover with a tea towel and let the dough rise for about an hour (sometimes less) until the dough puffs up about an inch above the pan.

Step 12

Preheat the oven to 350˚, and bake bread for 30-40 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. The bread will sound hollow when thumped with your finger.

Step 13

Cool on a wire rack at room temperature. I like to rotate the loaf several times while it's cooling so it doesn't get lopsided.

Step 14

To store, place the loaf in a large ziplock bag. Don't put the bread in the bag until it's completely cooled (for several hours). Slice as needed to keep the bread from drying out.

*Taken from a loaf of Great Value brand white bread at the time of this post. The manufacturer may change ingredients from time to time.