As you might have noticed, I love baking bread. Since I started baking it in January of 2012, I don’t think we’ve bought any bread – I won’t allow it! Homemade bread is just so much better! And we usually have a lot leftover from the loaves I bake, so I just slice it up and pop it in the freezer. You can put a frozen slice in your toaster and you have delicious toast ready in a few minutes!
The other day we were out of bread and TheBetterHalf wanted to cave and buy a loaf of bread from the store. Clearly I was not having any of that! I decided to make a loaf of classic white sandwich bread. While I love this recipe, I didn’t have any buttermilk on hand so I decided to try a new recipe. This one was great! The bread turned out light and fluffy, but still sturdy enough for a sandwich. The tablespoon of honey gives it just a hint of sweetness, which I love in a sandwich bread. Sure buying a loaf of bread at the store would have been a lot easier, but baking your own is so much more fun! And more delicious.
The risen dough. I still get excited to see dough rise!
Perfect sandwich bread
I love this bread spread with butter and jelly!
This makes delicious toast!
White Sandwich Bread
Recipe from King Arthur Flour
Ingredients
1 ⅓ to 1 ½ cups (303 to 340g) lukewarm water (use less in the summer or humid weather, more in winter or drier weather)
1 heaping tablespoon (32 g) honey
2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast
1 ¾ teaspoons salt
2 (28 g) tablespoons soft butter
4 cups (482 g) Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
½ cup nonfat dry milk granules
Directions
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, mix together the water, honey, and instant yeast. Let it sit for a few minutes. Then add the salt, butter, flour and milk granules. Knead it together on medium speed to make a smooth dough, about 7 – 9 minutes. It should be smooth and feel elastic when you touch it.
Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover it with plastic wrap sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Let it rise for 60 – 90 minutes in a warm place. It might not double in size, but should be very puffy.
Gently deflate the dough and shape it into a 9-inch loaf. Place it in a greased 9”x5” loaf pan. Cover the pan with plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray and let the dough rise for 60 to 90 minutes, until it is about 1” over the edge of the pan.
Toward the end of the rise, preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake the bread for 30 – 40 minutes, until it is golden brown and registers about 195°F. If the bread is browning too quickly, tent it with aluminum foil. Turn the bread out onto a rack to cool completely before slicing
Wow-your homemade bread looks perfect! Also, super jealous that you were just in Florence. I have been there twice and LOVED IT. Did you see The David? Such a beautiful place 🙂
Thank you! Florence is so gorgeous, we had the best time!
Is that strong flour or just plain flour? Looks delicious BTW.
Thanks! It is just plain unbleached all-purpose flour. I used King Arthur brand, http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/king-arthur-unbleached-all-purpose-flour
Thanks!
The loaf looks amazing! I get excited too when the dough rises successfully!
Thank you!
This post is making me so hungry now!!
Me too, I love bread!!
It’s funny I’ve made so many different types of bread but never just basic white sandwich bread! I really need to and yours looks fabulous!
Thank you! I love baking all different types of bread, but sometimes, you just need to make the basics – especially when it is your husband’s favorite!
You bread looks like regular bread!! I’ve always wanted to make bread, for sandwiches, but I’ve never seen a homemade loaf look like real buy-from-the-store bread. Now, I want it to taste BETTER than store bought but I want it to LOOK like it! 🙂 I’m going to pin this!
Thank you so much for pinning!! Let me know if you try it – it tastes sooo much better than store bought!
This bread looks seriously perfect. The crumb, the shape, the crust and it’s color. Very impressed!
Thank you so much Wendy!
Wow, looks great. I’m not a big bread baker.. but this sounds too amazing to pass up on.
Thank you so much! It is really a great bread recipe
Looks yummy! How did you slice it so perfectly?
Thanks, Dawn! I use a really sharp bread knife and slice it by hand. You have to make sure the bread is completely cool before slicing.