American Sandwich Bread

Homemade bread is such a worthy endeavor. Even though working with a yeast dough may seem a little intimidating, it really isn’t. Waiting for it to rise, then rise again, guessing how much flour is enough – all of this may stop you from one of the most rewarding experiences in the kitchen. Don’t let it.

Making bread is so easy and it’s so satisfying when a few simple ingredients come together to form a crusty, delicious loaf. There is nothing that can even begin to compare to the smell of homemade bread wafting throughout your home. Even plain toast goes to another dimension when you make it from homemade bread. This is a recipe from Cook’s Illustrated that I like to use. Using milk and butter makes it slightly sweet, which I really like, especially for toast or breadcrumbs.

Yields: 1 loaf

1 cup milk

1/3 cup water

1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) instant yeast

2 Tablespoons sugar or 3 Tablespoons honey

3 Tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

2 teaspoons salt

4 cups of flour

Warm up the milk and water until they are 105-115 degrees. It should feel like warm bath water. Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the milk and water and allow to stand just until foamy, about 5 min. For some types of yeast this step isn’t necessary.

Add the butter and salt to the liquid ingredients. Add the flour and mix until it’s all incorporated into the dough. img_4445You can use a standing mixer with a dough hook attachment, or the dough setting on a bread machine. You can also use your hands.

If you use your hands, knead the dough really well. The longer you knead, the better the bread will turn out.

Allow the dough to rise for about 20 minutes in a warm place.

Punch the dough down, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise until it doubles in size, about 40-60 min.

My favorite way to do this is to heat the oven to 200 degrees, turn OFF the oven and keep the dough in the warm oven. Another great place to let the dough rise is by wrapping it in a heated blanket and keeping it on the low setting.

If you’re using a bread machine, it will do all this for you. img_4452Take out the dough and pat it into a rectangular shape on a lightly floured surface. img_4456Roll the dough tightly, starting on the short side, into a cylinder. img_4460Roll it up as tightly as you can, so that your bread won’t have any big gaping holes in it. img_4463Place into a greased bread pan. img_4470Lightly spritz the top of the bread with a little oil, cover gently with plastic wrap and let it rise again, until it doubles in size. (Or you can spritz the plastic wrap with oil instead of the bread.)

Once the bread rises, melt 1/2 Tablespoon butter and brush it on the bread. img_4480Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake the bread for about 40 min.IMG_4512
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American Sandwich Bread

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  • Author: Cook's Illustrated
  • Prep Time: 1 hour 40 mins
  • Cook Time: 40 mins
  • Total Time: 2 hours 20 mins
  • Yield: 1 loaf 1x
  • Category: Miscellaneous

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) instant yeast
  • 2 Tablespoons sugar or 3 Tablespoons honey
  • 3 Tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 4 cups of flour

Instructions

  1. Warm up the milk and water until they are 105-115 degrees.
  2. Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the milk and water and allow to stand just until foamy, about 5 min.
  3. Add the butter and salt to the liquid ingredients.
  4. Add the flour and mix until it’s all incorporated into the dough.
  5. Knead the dough using a stand mixer, the dough setting on a bread machine, or your hands.
  6. Allow the dough to rise for about 20 minutes in a warm place.
  7. Punch the dough down, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise until it doubles in size, about 40-60 min.
  8. Take out the dough and pat it into a rectangular shape on a lightly floured surface.
  9. Roll the dough tightly, starting on the short side, into a cylinder.
  10. Place into a greased bread pan.
  11. Lightly spritz the top of the bread with a little oil, cover gently with plastic wrap and let it rise again, until it doubles in size.
  12. Once the bread rises, melt 1/2 Tablespoon butter and brush it on the bread.
  13. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake the bread for about 40 min until golden brown.

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31 Comments

  • zinasp

    This bread turned out absolutely wonderful! I used my bread machine to knead the dough. I am very pleased to have found this recipe and thank you! Zina

  • alena

    is this just a regular loaf pan? i mean the loaf pans are pretty small, i’m trying to determine what size loaf it will be. thanks.

  • Oksana

    For the past month I was baking your other bread recipe like 1-2 times a week (some to share and give away, as an advertisement to your blog). This is the first time that I made this sandwich bread, and it is really really good. Now I won’t be able to make up my mind what kind of bread to make next time, I like both of the recipes. We sometimes like to toast our breads; which do you think will be better for toasting, this butter and milk bread or the water and oil bread? We haven’t had the need to buy regular white bread for our family since I found and made your breads. Thank you for that.
    We have a bread machine, and a kitchen aid mixer. But I only made bread in the bread machine once maybe few years ago, but your recipes inspired me to bake more

    • olgak7

      Wow, Oksana! Thanks so much.
      I like both of the breads for toast. This American Sandwich Bread is probably better, because it’s based on milk and butter, so I think it has a richer, creamier taste and texture.

  • Natasha

    Hi Olga! I was wondering what program do you press if you are going to make the dough in a bread maker? like mine says: basic, french, whole wheat, dough, bake etc.

    • Maya

      Hi Olga! I’d love to try the receipe… I don’t have a bread machine. So if to follow your advice and keep it in the oven to rise , do you still cover it with plastic wrap. Doesn’t it “melt” there?
      Thank you!

      • olgak7

        No, Maya, it shouldn’t melt. If it melts, it’s too hot for the bread dough also. You can also use a lightweight kitchen towel to cover the bread dough while it’s rising.

  • Yelena

    Hi! I am in the middle of making this bread, and realized I don’t have the bread pan 🙁 what would you recommend putting the bread in for baking?

    • Oksana

      We regularly do this recipe, and when I needed to make more than 1 and didn’t have a bread pan, I did everything exactly by the directions. Only thing, I put in on regular 9×13 inch pan (across, not lengthwise), so the two rolled ends of bread are touching the length of the pan if that makes sense. That way the bread will expand a little on the sides, but not in length, giving it a still pretty good shape. So end result will turn out a wider but not taller bread. I love this bread and even my 9 year old daughter bakes it almost every week.

    • olgak7

      If I’m not using a bread pan, I roll out the bread dough and then roll it tightly into a baguette shape. I hope that makes sense. I make a few diagonal cuts across the top of the bread and let it rise on any baking sheet. When the shaped bread has doubled in size, I bake it in the preheated oven.

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