Easy Bread Machine Sandwich Bread. This recipe makes a light, tender loaf of bread.
During the month of March, everyone made sourdough. Except me.
Never one to follow the crowd, I pulled out of my bread machine and made loaf after loaf of white sandwich bread.
It’s not that I don’t love sourdough or that I don’t know how to make it. I just…wasn’t in the mood to deal with it.
Sourdough is a delight but it requires an amount of labor that I didn’t have in me during the early days of the quarantine. It needs feeding and care and, well, I wanted something easy. Something reliable. My needs were simple: I wanted a loaf of bread that tasted great toasted and spread thick with butter and jam. (The fact that I couldn’t find any whole wheat flour also influenced my choice, to be honest.)
A friend had been made a loaf of King Arthur’s Easy Sandwich Bread. Her original loaves had turned out too dense and a bit dry.
So she texted me. I looked at the recipe and suggested she replace the water with milk. It’s a simple swap but milk adds a bit of fat, which makes for a tender loaf of bread and the proteins and sugar help the loaf brown.
She tried it and texted me that she loved the bread. So I decided to give it a whirl.
I hadn’t used my bread machine for years. In fact, I considered it cheating. I used it when testing and developing gluten-free recipes but for wheat-based baking? I’d never used the machine.
No time like the present, right?
The loaf turned out as promised: high with a tender, soft crumb.
At this point, I’ve lost count of how many loaves I’ve made. Each one has come out perfectly. Which, at this time in life, is a gift.
Ingredients for Bread Machine Sandwich Bread
- Flour. Your best bet is to use bread flour. I like King Arthur’s bread flour but I’ve also made this loaf with Gold Medal. Both flours performed really well. Happily, this loaf can also be made with all-purpose flour. The difference is the bread doesn’t rise quite as high and the crumb is slightly softer, which is actually fine for sandwich bread.
- Yeast. Use instant or active dry. Both work. I prefer instant yeast because it’s more reliable than active dry yeast.
- Salt. Salt does two important things in bread baking: it adds flavor and controls yeast growth. Use table salt, not Kosher salt.
- Sugar. There’s a little sugar in this bread. It adds a bit of sweetness, of course, but also helps the loaf to brown and enhances the shelf life of the bread.
- Milk and Half and Half. While this isn’t Japanese milk bread, it does remind me of it a little. It’s soft and creamy. The combination of milk and half and half are responsible for this texture and flavor.
- Butter. As you can see, this is a dairy-forward sandwich bread. The butter adds fat, which not only brings flavor to the loaf, it also makes for a soft, tender loaf of bread.
How to Make Sandwich Bread in a Bread Machine.
My bread machine is fairly fancy, if there’s such a thing for bread machines. It’s a Zojirushi and the thing works like a champ. I put the milk, half and half, and butter in. Then the dry ingredients, and I sprinkle the yeast on top.
I don’t even need to heat the milk and half and half because the machine goes through a preheat cycle.
If your machine doesn’t heat the ingredients, warm the liquids slightly before using.
What You’ll Love About This Bread
- It’s easy. You dump the ingredients into a bread machine, push a button, and three hours later, you’ve got bread. Even when there was little I could do, I was able to make this bread.
- It’s soft and tender. The loaf contains milk, half and half and butter, which gives us a soft, tender loaf of bread.
- It makes a perfect loaf. Seriously. The loaf comes out high and tender. It reminds me of the bread emoji. It’s a cartoon bread!
- It makes wonderful toast. If you love a good piece of toast, this is the bread for you.
FAQs: Bread Machine Sandwich Bread
Can I use all milk?
Yes. If you don’t have half and half in the house, replace the amount called for with an equal amount of milk.
Can I use water?
You can but the loaf won’t be as soft or tasty.
Can I use oil instead of butter?
Yes. Bread made with oil lacks the buttery flavor that I find delightful but oil works.
I don’t have yeast. Can I use a combination of baking powder and lemon juice?
No. Sorry. This bread requires yeast.
Tips for Storage
Store in a plastic container or bread bag on your counter for up to four days.
Once it’s cool, cut the loaf with a serrated knife into slices and freeze.
Other Recipes for Comfort Baking
Three Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies.
Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies
Bread Machine Sandwich Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup (225 grams) milk, see note
- ⅓ cup (75 grams ) half and half, see note
- 3 tablespoons (45 grams) softened butter, salted or unsalted
- 3 ¾ cups (450 grams) bread flour, see note
- 3 tablespoons (35g) sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons instant yeast or active dry
Instructions
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Place the ingredients into the pan of a 1 ½ to 2 pound bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer.
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Select the program for basic white bread. Press Start.
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When the baking completes, remove the pan from the machine. Allow the bread to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes. Remove the bread from the pan, sometimes this requires a shake to get the bread out of the pan. Set the loaf on a wire rack to cool.
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Store, in a bread box, bread bag or well wrapped on the counter for 4 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.
Recipe Notes
Milk and Half and Half
Use lukewarm milk and half and half if your bread machine does not have a preheat cycle.
Kathryn says
My new go to sandwich loaf recipe. I live at a bit of altitude, so I added an additional 1/4 tsp of yeast on my second loaf. Slices beautifully.
Mary Villareal says
So delicious!! I accidentally used the sandwich setting and we selected a medium crust. The crust is crusty in a way I didn’t know was possible in a bread machine and the inside was so tender. Thank you for sharing this recipe – we absolutely love it!!
Jennifer says
Have you tried to toast your bread in a pop-up toaster? A lot of homemade bread don’t get dark in a pop-up toaster. Thanks for your feedback in advance.
Elizabeth says
Not in a pop-up toaster but I’ve toasted it. Homemade bread usually takes two cycles to toast. This is because it’s very fresh. The fresher the bread, the longer it takes to toast. Hope that helps!
Donna says
What is the crust color set on for this recipe??
Nicole Lebron says
This is my favorite. I make a loaf once a week. No more buying store bread.
Jen says
My new favorite recipe for perfect and tasty sandwich bread every time. So easy, so good.
Jessica says
Omg. I love this recipe. My whole family loves it. This is the best recipe I have found. The bread comes out moist. I am making a third loaf right now. There is 8 of us. The first loaf is almost gone. My kids keep asking if they can have a peice. Thank you for the recipe.
Laura S says
Thank you! I’ve been searching for a recipe for fluffy white bread! I came across your comment on another bread recipe I found and followed you here. Decided to use this one instead. So glad I did! My bread always comes out a little dense, not this time. I followed the recipe to a T! I measured my ingredients and used Pillsbury APF sifted. I used Instant yeast and warmed my milks.
Softest bread I ever made. OH! The top was nicely rounded. Usually the top of my bread collapses, it didn’t!! Yay
Kitsi says
Saved to my phone. This recipe us the best! Thank you!
Nicol says
THIS IS AMAZING!! I have never used our bread machine – it is my husband’s area. I had no sandwich bread and thought I had nothing to lose. OMG!!!! Soooo good. Exactly as made. Saved it and am already making another!!!
Hannah says
If I wanted to take this out of the bread machine and bake it in my own loaf pan, how long and what temperature should I bake it?
Elizabeth says
I’d say about 40 minutes in a 375 degree F. oven. You want the internal temp to reach 205 to 210 degrees F.
Megan says
This bread is literally the best loaf I’ve made by far! I switched the half and half to heavy cream because that’s what I had handy. My crust got pretty dark. I have a newer bread machine that gets very hot. But the inside of the bread was still so soft. Love love love! This is our new everyday bread.
Sal says
This is by far, the most delicious bread machine sandwich bread I’ve ever eaten. It’s crisp on the outside and soft inside. I made 2 slices of toast and put butter and crunchy peanut butter on it. Yummmmmy! I’m so happy I found this recipe.
Thank you!
Carolann says
The extra fat in this recipe is by far the secret to the yummy flavor my big boys could not get enough of. They would polish off a loaf hot out of the bread maker. I love bread and I’m telling you, the flavor and texture of this white bread might ruine you for all other white breads. From a foody…. This recipe makes my short list. Don’t waste your time on any other.
Lauren says
Love it!! One day I ran out of milk so used heavy cream and some water, and it was the best! Now I switch out the 1/2 and 1/2 for heavy cream!
Great Recipe. Thank you!
Olive says
Wow. I seriously cannot believe how delicious this bread came out. I was gifted a bread maker with no idea how to use it, but I followed the recipes the company provided and every loaf was almost inedible. They came out super dense, hard, barely risen, crumbly, overall just mediocre. I saw this recipe on TikTok(I think..) and followed it (almost) to a T—I used 2% milk because it was all I had. I selected white loaf, medium crust color, and 1.5 lb loaf. I didn’t touch the bread throughout the cycle once and just let it do it’s thing. The bread is pretty sweet and doughy, but firm. I can’t stop sneaking slices here and there—it’s that good. Thank you for such an amazing recipe and saving me from throwing in the towel with my bread maker.
Jane price says
Can I substitute the sugar with something else as we find the loaf very sweet
Elizabeth says
You can leave out the sugar.
Melodie says
The BEST recipe for bread maker white bread! So easy and so tasty! Everyone loved it and it’s now my go to recipe. Never had a fail, cooked it on both white bread and rapid bake settings and still perfect! Thank you for sharing!
Joann says
I didn’t see notes on flour. But I sifted mine before measuring. I also didn’t see if this was for 1lb, 1.5lb or 2lb recipe. This is my third white bread recipe try in a row the first two were absolute fails even though they were 5.0 reviews. This is perfect I cooked it on light crust for 1.5 lb and got a beautiful large loaf.
Julie V says
Oh my goodness. This is the BEST BREAD I’ve ever baked in my machine!
Hal Thomason says
My daughter gave me this recipe and it is the best bread I have made , I did altar the recipe, I used heavy whipping cream and skim milk. Micro the milk and cream for 1 minute together and cut butter into 1/4 and put at the corners. This is the BEST BREAD EVER.
Matty says
This is such an amazing bread! I put it on 1.5 pounds and light crust, comes out perfect each time!
Teresa says
I have been making bread in my bread machine for over 10 years and this recipe is THE BEST I have ever tried! I didn’t have half and half, so I subbed 1 extra teaspoon of butter and the rest whole milk to make 1/3 cup. Rose very high and it was soft, tender and delicious. Thank you for sharing!!!
Jenn says
Hi! How important is it to let the loaf cool? We were so excited we cut into it right away and it was delicious. But next day for sandwiches it was a little dry and very crumbly. I followed exactly but the only the only thing I can think of is that I didn’t let it cool enough. I also used Italian 00 flour because my Celiac sister can eat it when using that flour.
Crystal Thiemer says
If you only have a tall 1.5 lb bread machine loaf pan, can you bake in oven in regular bread pan and on what temp and time?
Anne says
I’m on a low sodium kidney diet…….any advice on eliminating the salt? Any help would be appreciated!
Elizabeth says
You can try reducing the salt by half. The flavor won’t be the same but it should work well.
Leslye says
I agree with others who said this is the best bread I’ve made yet in my bread machine. The crust was fantastic and it tastes amazing, I did not change a thing, It stuck to the top of my lid a bit, but i just pulled it off before the bake cycle and it turned out great! Thank you for sharing the recipe!!!
Julia says
I made this with a few tweaks. I used buttermilk and half-n-half. I added an egg to the milks but kept the total grams the same by taking some liquid out after I mixed the egg in. I added 50 grams of a spelt and rye flour mix and removed 50 grams of bread flour. I reduced the sugar to 20 grams as I don’t care for sweet sandwich bread. This is so far the best recipe for bread machine basic bread I had. Thank you.
Rachel says
So good! I’ve made it twice this week. My 6 year old & 2 year olds devour it. They just eat it plain or with butter.
I used heavy whipping cream (all I had) instead of half and half and it worked just fine.
Thanks for a great recipe!!!