Looking for a quick and easy homemade bread recipe? This One-Hour Sandwich Bread only requires a few simple ingredients and is perfect for sandwiches or toast. All my pictures and a short video are here to help you get bread in a hurry!
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I am obsessed with this One-Hour Sandwich Bread. Like, cancel-my-plans, talk-about-it-to-strangers, never-stop-posting-about-it, this-bread-is-my-entire-personality kind of obsessed. The fact that I can go from craving bread to eating warm, fluffy bread in just about an hour? Life-changing. Give me a sharp knife, I'm slicing in.
This simple white bread recipe results in the perfect combination of soft and chewy bread, with just the right amount of crust, and I genuinely can’t stop making it. I've made 5 loaves in the past 5 days and we've eaten every bite of it! Whether you're new to baking or just need a bread fix fast, this recipe is about to become your new best friend. Let’s bake!
Before we move on to actually making bread, let me explain why I am baking so many bread recipes in the middle of May. I. Don't. Know. Maybe I am eating and baking my feelings. I. Don't. Care. I am making my croissant bread, I am making fluffy biscuits, I am making English muffins, I am making all the bread. Okay, yeah, I am baking my feelings. Join me?
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Ingredients & Substitutions
The easiest thing about bread is the ingredient list. Let's go over things shall we?
- Bread flour - I prefer to use bread flour for this sandwich loaf. All-purpose flour works fine, but bread flour gives a slightly chewier, more structured loaf.
- Instant yeast - To switch from instant yeast to active dry yeast, use the same amount by weight (slightly more if measuring by volume—about 25% more, or one more teaspoon). Be sure to proof the active dry yeast first: use warm water and milk, about 110°F, stir in the yeast (along with a pinch of your sugar), and let it sit for 5–10 minutes until foamy before adding it to your dry ingredients. Active dry yeast may also take a little bit longer to rise, so be sure to allow for that extra time in your schedule.
- Milk - I use whole dairy milk because I like the flavor and the fat actually adds to the fluffy texture. If you prefer, you can use an alternate milk like oat, almond, or soy milk in this recipe. Just make sure the milk is unsweetened and unflavored so it doesn’t affect the taste of the bread.
- Oil - If you decide to use a plant-based milk, luckily we're also adding oil to this bread. Try to use an oil that really doesn't have a distinct flavor. I prefer avocado oil, but any vegetable oil or very light olive oil is fine.
- Sugar - You can substitute with honey, but since honey is a liquid, it may make the dough slightly stickier, so you may need to add a pinch more flour when kneading.
- Kosher salt - I am very monogamous with my salt. I always use Diamond Crystal kosher salt, whether I am cooking or baking because I know precisely how salty it will make my foods. Since table salt is finer and saltier by volume, reduce the amount slightly, using about 1¼ teaspoons of table salt in place of 1¾ teaspoons kosher salt
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
My favorite use for this simple white bread? I love to make my strawberry french toast with it! Store-bought white bread can fall apart while soaking, but this bread holds up and toasts amazingly!
Quick Recipe Video
Step-by-Step Instructions
Professional internet people will tell me that I'm providing too many pictures for a sandwich bread recipe. To that I say, too bad. I am here to show you exactly what to do, step-by-step. We're going to make the dough in a food processor (in the recipe card I'll tell you how to do it by hand or in a stand mixer), let it rise the first time, shape it into a loaf, let it rise a second time, and then bake. Are you here for an easy bread recipe? Let's go 👉
- Hot tip: Set your oven up as a proofing box. For gas and electric ovens, turn the oven on to 300°F for just 2–3 minutes, then turn it off. This creates a warm, draft-free environment perfect for proofing your dough.
Making the dough and first rise
Step 1: Add the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast to the bowl of your food processor and pulse to mix.
Step 2: Warm your milk and water in the microwave for about 30 seconds, to around 110°F. Add the oil, and pour into the opening on the top of your food processor.
Step 3: Pulse 3 to 4 times to get everything started and then turn the food processor on and process until a dough ball forms, around 20 seconds.
Step 4: Turn the food processor off and remove the ball of dough. Dust with a tiny bit of flour. Flip it over, flour-side-down, back into the food processor and pulse for another 20 to 30 seconds.
Step 5: Remove the dough and knead on a very lightly floured surface for 30 seconds to 1 minute, and then shape into a smooth ball.
Step 6: Place into a large mixing bowl that has been greased, cover loosely with plastic wrap or an elastic shower cap, and let rise in a warm spot in your kitchen (like your fancy homemade proofing oven) for 15 minutes.
Shaping your loaf
Step 7: Give your dough ball a gentle poke. It should spring back slowly and leave a slight indent. If it snaps back too quickly, it needs more time. Let proof another 5 to 10 minutes.
Step 8: Turn your proofed dough out onto the counter, smooth side down. Press into a rectangle where the short side is about the same width as your loaf pan.
Step 9: Fold the bottom of the dough up towards the middle and use the heel of your hand to press and secure that in place
Step 10: You will have formed two "wings". Pull those in towards the center and press with the heel of your hand to secure them as well.
Step 11: Repeat by pulling the top down towards the center...
Step 12: ... and using the heel of your hand to secure the flap. Secure your new "wings" as well.
Step 13: Roll the dough into a log shape.
Step 14: Use your fingers to pinch the seam shut all the way across.
Final rise
Step 1: Place the log seam-side down into your greased loaf pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and place on top of your stove while you preheat your oven to 375°F.
Step 2: When ready to bake, your dough should fill the loaf pan and peek over the top by about ½ inch. If needed, you can allow to proof for another 15 to 20 minutes.
Bake: For a shiny top, I like to lightly brush the top of the loaf with an egg wash made from one egg whisked with 1 tablespoon of water before baking. Bake at 375°F for 30 to 35 minutes, or until it is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped. If you have a thermometer it should register between 190 to 205°F.
Let your big beautiful sandwich bread cool for five minutes in the pan and then gently tip it out and place it on a cooling rack to cool completely before slicing. I know you want to cut into it when it's warm, but please wait at least 20 minutes (the bread is technically still baking when it first comes out of the oven). I know. Waiting is hard.
🔥 Hot Tip
Most ovens have a warm spot where the oven vents hot air and steam. During the second rise, try to place you loaf near (not directly on or under) that spot. The additional heat will help your loaf to rise more quickly.
Loaf Variations
In my obsession with this one hour bread recipe, I made the cutest small loaf of bread in an 8 inch by 4 inch loaf pan and I made a big artisan loaf in a Dutch oven. Let's discuss:
The process for making a smaller loaf of bread is the same, only the ingredient amounts have changed.
For an 8 inch X 4 inch loaf pan
- 3 cups bread flour (360 grams)
- 1 tablespoon sugar (12 grams)
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast (9 grams)
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt (4 grams)
- ½ cup water (120 grams)
- ½ cup whole milk (122 grams)
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil (30 grams)
To make an artisan-style loaf, shape the dough into a tight ball after the first rise by tucking and pulling it toward you to build surface tension. Place it on parchment paper, cover with a bowl, and let it rise on the stovetop while you preheat your Dutch oven to 450°F.
Use the parchment to lower the dough into the pot (scoring is optional), cover, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the lid and bake another 10–15 minutes, until golden, hollow-sounding, and 190–205°F inside.
Slicing Your Bread
You can use any sharp knife that you prefer, but for beautiful smooth slices, I like to use a long bread knife that is not serrated, but a serrated one will also do the job. My new obsession is for my hand crank bread slicer. It will make clean even slices of everything from soft pretzel bagels, to my crusty no-knead bread, and even this soft sandwich bread.
Helpful tips
I know the first time I made bread I was scared to death. I just felt like there were so many ways that it could go wrong. First of all, making bread turned out to be a lot easier than I imagined. Second of all, I'm here with some great tips to make sure your first loaf (and every loaf) of quick sandwich bread is amazing:
- Measure flour correctly - I always recommend weighing your ingredients when baking, but being based in America, I know that people are used to using volume measurements (cups, etc.) Unfortunately, scooping directly from the bag can compact the flour and result in getting too much, making your dough dry. Here's how to do it correctly until you finally buy a scale: Fluff up your flour with a spoon. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level it off with a flat edge.
- Don’t over-knead - Whether you're using a food processor, stand mixer, or your hands, stop kneading once the dough is smooth and elastic. Over-kneading, especially in a food processor, can heat the dough and tighten the gluten too much.
- Be gentle when shaping - When forming your loaf, use firm but gentle pressure to seal the seams. You want to keep some of the air bubbles inside so the bread has a good rise and a light texture.
- Toast - This is less a tip than it is me begging you to slice this bread and toast it. It gets so crispy on the outside, but the inside stays so fluffy and so soft. I can't explain it. I'm almost embarrassed at the noises I made when I ate my first piece of toast made from this perfect loaf of white sandwich bread. I think you can imagine it. I'll just go now. Bye. Make some bread.
Recipe FAQs
Make sure your yeast is fresh (not expired). Instant yeast is pretty forgiving, but inactive yeast is a common issue. Also make sure your liquids aren’t too hot or cold, and your proofing environment is warm enough.
Nope! The egg wash is optional, but it gives the crust a shinier, more golden appearance. You can skip it or brush with milk or melted butter instead.
This specific recipe is optimized for speed, so it’s not ideal for freezing before baking. However, you can freeze the baked and cooled loaf. Just slice before freezing so you can pull out a piece at a time.
Once fully cooled, store the bread in a sealed zip-top bag or wrapped tightly in plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 3 days. For longer storage, freeze slices for up to 2 months.
Did you try this recipe?
Leave a comment with a ⭐️ rating below to tell me all about it, and don't forget to tag me on Instagram!
I appreciate you!
-Cynthia
📖 Recipe
One Hour Sandwich Bread
Equipment
- Food processor or can also use ⤵️
Ingredients
- 3 ½ cups (420 g) bread flour
- 4 teaspoons (16 g) sugar
- 4 teaspoons (12 g) instant yeast
- 1 ¾ teaspoons (10 g) kosher salt
- ½ cup (120 g) water warmed to about 110°F
- ¾ cup (182 g) milk warmed to about 110°F
- 3 tablespoons (45 g) neutral oil
Instructions
Prepare your proofing oven
- Turn oven light on and turn oven on to 300° for 2 to 3 minutes and then turn off.
Mix dough: Food Processor Instructions
- Add flour, sugar, yeast, and kosher salt to the bowl of your food processor and pulse 3-4 times to mix.
- Combine the water and milk and microwave for about 30 seconds, or until it's about 100 to 110°F. add in the oil and pour the wet ingredients through the food processor food tube to the dry ingredients, already in the bowl.
- Pulse three times to get it started and then turn the food processor on high speed, and process until a dough ball forms, around 20 seconds.
- Turn the food processor off and remove the dough ball. Very lightly dust the ball with flour and turn it over so that what was on the bottom becomes what is on top.
- Pulse for another 20-30 seconds.
- Hand-knead for about 30 seconds to make sure all ingredients are fully incorporated and then form into a smooth ball.
By hand or stand mixer instructions
- Combine flour, sugar, instant yeast, and kosher salt in a bowl. add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix with a dough whisk or some kind of stiff handled utensil until you have a shaggy dough.
- By hand: Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead (push and fold the dough) until the dough is smooth and no longer sticks to your fingers when pressed, about 5 minutes. Shape into a ball with a smooth surface.
- In stand mixer: make your dough in the bowl of your stand mixer and then use the dough hook to need the dough for about five minutes. Remove the ball of dough from the stand mixer at need on a counter for about one minute just to smooth the surface. Shape into a ball.
- Spray your bowl with nonstick spray or a light coating of oil and transfer the ball of dough into the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and put into your proofing oven for 15 minutes.
Shape loaf (see blog post for photos)
- Turn your dough out onto the counter, smooth side down. Press the dough out to a rectangle with the short side about the same width as your loaf pan.
- Bring the bottom part of the dough up towards the center and press with the heel of your hand to seal it. It will look like you formed two little pointy "wings" on the bottom sides. Pull those wings up towards the seam that you created and use the heel of your hand to seal that down as well.
- Repeat with the top of the dough, bringing it down to the center, pressing with the heel of your hand, bringing the wings in, and pressing them down. Roll to make a loaf shape and pinch the seam shut.
- Place into your loaf pan seam side down. Cover loosely with plastic wrap again and place on top of your stove while you preheat your oven to 375°.
- Let the dough rise for another 15 to 20 minutes, or until it's just peeking over the top of the edge of the pan.
- Brush with an egg wash if you like, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until it is golden and sounds hollow when tapped. If you have a thermometer it should register between 190 to 205°.
- Allow to rest in the pan for five minutes. Gently tip out of the pan and let cool on a wire rack. Wait to slice until fully cooled. I know. It’s hard.
Save This Recipe! 💌
I'll email this recipe to you, so you can come back to it later, plus you'll get great new recipes from me every week!
Video
Notes
- 3 cups bread flour (360 grams)
- 1 tablespoon sugar (12 grams)
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast (9 grams)
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt (4 grams)
- ½ cup water (120 grams)
- ½ cup whole milk (122 grams)
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil (30 grams)
Sharon Davison says
I used buttermilk. I know why you keep making it. This is delicious. Beyond delicious. It is also not hard.
Cynthia Christensen says
Thank you so much and I'm so glad you found the recipe to be approachable!
Cynthia Christensen says
I AM OBSESSED! I have made so many loaves of bread this week because it is so easy and delicious!