Sandwich Bread
The challenge with homemade bread is that not all recipes can be used for making sandwiches. This bread recipe has been adapted to make the perfect sandwich bread. It holds its shape and slices very well. The loaf has a rich dark crust and a very soft, fluffy and creamy white interior. Aside from sandwiches, it can also be used to make toast or french toast. If you are looking for the perfect sandwich bread to grace your breakfast table, look no further.
INGREDIENTS:
(1) 520 Grams Bread Flour (4 Cups)
(2) 25 Grams Granulated White Sugar (2 Tablespoons)
(3) 7 Grams Quick Rise Yeast (About 2-1/4 teaspoons)
(4) 56.5 Grams Melted Unsalted Butter (1/4 Cup)
(5) 1/2 Cup Warm Water (118 ml)
(6) 3/4 Cup Warm Milk/Buttermilk (177 ml)
(7) 2 Teaspoons Salt
(8) 1 Large Egg
(9) 24 Grams Milk Powder (1/3 Cup)
(10) 1/4 Teaspoon Grated Nutmeg
PROCEDURE:
First, a few notes. Feel free to use only warm water, milk or buttermilk if you like. You can also use a combination of any. Whatever liquid you choose, the important thing is to make sure that it is warm so as to enable the yeast activate faster. In place of melted butter, you can use melted margarine or shortening. But if using any of these alternatives, you will be missing out on the buttery taste. The nutmeg is optional, but trust me on this one, use it.
(1) The first step is to activate your yeast by mixing it with the warm water and a teaspoon of sugar. Allow to stand for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, you will notice that the yeast will begin to foam and grow. If this does not happen, your yeast is most likely dead. Try the process again or get some new yeast.
(2) In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, place all the dry ingredients and mix to combine. Add the wet ingredients one at a time. When the dough starts coming together, switch to your dough hook and continue kneading for about 8 minutes or till dough is smooth and glossy. This dough is soft and stretches very well.
Note: The kneading process can be done by hand in a bowl. Place all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Create a well in the middle of the ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Bring all the ingredients together until a shaggy dough forms. Turn the dough on a lightly floured (or oiled surface) and knead the dough for a couple of minutes. Cover the dough with the bowl and allow it to rest for 10 minutes. This will relax the dough and make it easier to knead. After 10 minutes, continue the kneading process until the dough is smooth. This takes about 8 minutes. Even if you knead the dough with a stand mixer, it is always a good practice to feel the dough with your hands after kneading. This way, you will be able to appreciate the smoothness and texture of the dough.
(3) Place kneaded dough in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and keep in a warm place for it to proof. This can take anywhere from 1.5 hours to 2 hours. After the proofing period, the dough would have doubled in size. From my experience, it more than doubles in size.
(4) Deflate dough and shape in greased 8 by 4 inch loaf pan, cover lightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise for another 1 hour or till the dough rises to the top of the pan. This could happen in 45 minutes. It needs to rise twice for better flavor and structure.
Learn how to shape your bread loaf here.
(5) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees about 15 minutes before end of second rise. After the second rise, apply egg wash (1 egg lightly beaten) to top of bread.
You can also sprinkle some sesame seeds on the bread after applying the egg wash.
(6) bake in a preheated oven for 35 – 40 mins, depending on how doughy you like your bread. If you want a strong crust, spray some water in the oven when you put the bread in and every 10 mins thereafter. If the bread starts getting dark too quickly, cover with foil paper about 30 minutes into baking period.
(6) Place baked bread on wire rack to cool for about 10 mins before removing from pan. Slice and enjoy!
This sandwich bread recipe has been modified to create the softest bread rolls ever! Do read more about these amazing bread rolls here.
Terry Adido is passionate about showing people how easy it is to recreate restaurant quality meals in the comfort of their kitchens. With a style of cooking he refers to as Afro-European Fusion, his meals are influenced greatly by French and Italian Cuisine with a West African twist. If you love good food, you are in for the ride of your life.
Thanks Terry
What do I do if I don’t have a paddle attachment?
You can use the dough hook from the very beginning. It is just harder to bring the dough together with a dough hook.
please, could I use the whisk attachment of my mixer as I don’t have the paddle attachment, at first.
I would advice you use the hook attachment from start then. The whisk attachment is not built to handle bread dough. You will end up with a lot of dough stuck inside the whisk.
You are welcome
Nut Meg is never optional for me when it comes to bread, thank you terry.
Same here. I love nutmeg so much I named the site after it 🙂
Perfect! Thanks Terry
You are welcome
Thanks for the response Terry.
Terry if i use the normal flour, will it turn out ok?
It will still turn out fine, but not as fine as when bread flour is used.
Thanks dear.
I don’t know what I am doing wrong, can’t get my yeast to foam. This is the 3rd yeast I am using, have used 2 different ones in the past. It says lukewarm water, and that is what I have been doing. Getting frustrated! Please help!
Hi Toyin, I really cannot say whats going on with your yeast. If this is your 3rd time trying yeast bread out and you have being trying with the same yeast bottle/packet all 3 times, I would suggest that you get yourself a new bottle/packet as that one obviously is dead. If however your 3 tries have been with 3 different yeast, then there must be something you are doing wrong. I have never had my yeast not activate. Make sure the water is just warm and not hot. Warm water from the tap is fine. Also add a teaspoon of sugar into the water and see what happens after 10 minutes. Try not to get frustrated. Baking should be fun.
Hello Terry
Please can you give a me the temperature of the warm water?
My yeast also doesn’t activate well, I think I’m doing something wrong with the water I use, either it’s too hot or too cold
Thanks
Hi. The water should be between 105 and 110 F. Good luck.
Hi terry, thanks for the recipe. I have a 9 x 5in loaf pan. Pls can you adjust the recipe for a 9 x 5in loaf bread?
Thanks
The recipe can be made in a 9 x 5 loaf pan. There is no need for an adjustment.
Thanks Terry, think I have got it now. About to put it for the second rise. Will feed you back. Not sure the shape will be fantastic though, finding the moulding bit difficult. Lol
Thank Terry. Please if i’m using only warm water, what quantity should i use?
1 -1/4 Cups.
hi terry, can i use sun flower oil in place of butter??
Hi Mimi. I would rather you use melted margarine or shortening.
Hi Terry, I think I am finally ready to make my own bread. I don’t have a stand mixer but I have a food processor, will it still work?
Hi Bolanle. Good to know 🙂 I have never used a food processor for bread before. You can use your hands to knead. More love goes into the loaf that way. Start kneading in a bowl, then transfer on to a work surface and knead until smooth. Good luck with it.
Trying out the bread today terry, though am using all purpose flour in place of bread flour also used my hand in mixing and kneadingg I hope it turns out fine…m.thee dough is still in the rising process
Awesome, do let me know how it turns out.
Hi Terry, nice one. Please can I use my hand mixer?
Thanks Chika. I would use my hands instead.
I’m about to try this recipe,pray for me. Lol
Bless. lol.
*dancing azonto* I’ve been baking bread for a couple of years but this is the best I ever tried. My family is begging me to bake another tomorrow,i’m making sure they pay,LOL….. Terry I want to kiss you joo
Kiss kiss. They sure must pay.
Terry please is there bread mixer or still the cake mixer that will be used?
I use a stand mixer (mixer used in mixing cakes) with the dough hook. You can use your hands to knead it.
Ehen! Terry,let me gist you o, first off I have memorised this recipe,you can wake me from sleep and i’ll bake this bread. I was craving it badly one evening and started to assemble the ingredients then I realised I didn’t have either butter or margarine so I used vegetable oil, the dough was so sticky after kneading in the stand mixer and by hand for God knows how long so I just decided to go ahead and leave it to prove,long story story short it came out as good as the others that I used butter for…..End of gist. LOL
Thanks for the gist. LOL. Good to know it worked.
I have always enjoyed baking.However,this time I intended doing it full time. I am a great lover of bread, hence I am out to master the full science of bread baking. I stopped baking sandwich bread since the last time it came out bad.Bread rolls has always bn my refuge, hence I decided to conquer my fear. There are definitely lots of recipes over the internet about it, yet I wanted a simplified and easily understandable one. I was so happy about the outcome, left to me I would grade myself perfect but that would be partial, I guess. Really, I wish I could upload the pic here for you to see. I will surely be trying out most of your bread recipes. Thanks a lot for your help.
Awesome. I am happy to hear you loved it Ummuyusrah. You can send me a picture on my Facebook page. Thanks.
Terrylicious Terry thanks so much for the awesome site,tutorials,pictures et al,please what do you mean by deflating the dough?how do i do that?meanwhile i tried your red velvet cake,it is moist,heavenly,angelic,awesome infact you know the rest,Thank you so much, may God bless you in ways you can never imagine.
You deflate the bread by just punching it down so the trapped in air escapes. Thanks for the feedback on the RVC.
You are the best. Thanks Terry for all the inspiration.
You are welcome Ewaolu.
Thanks dear. I appreciate.
Thanks, I followed this recipe n it came out well
Awesome!
Tried out your banana bread recipe yesterday and it was a hit for me and my household.
I have sandwich bread in the oven right now and I have the bread bakery aroma taking up my house already. The kids can’t wait just as I can’t. Thanks Terry, na you biko!
Thanks Abiola. I saw your pictures. Lovely outcome.