Hold on a sec while we send share the page...
American (White) Sandwich Bread
By
DK
on Aug 27, 2012
In how many ways can you possibly describe your love for bread? 5? 10? 15 perhaps? Now add 200% intensity to each of the sentences - and then you *might* just come to understand my love for these crusty, pillowy goodies. I can survive (and have in the past on couple of occasions) on these alone. And those who have been regular to this site must already know of this bread obsession of mine. These yeasty breads take the first place followed by the Quick breads. I know I am starting to sound like those TV show hosts of celebrity channels - repeating the same thing again and again till the viewer's start resembling Kim Kardashian's new Donna Summer look.
Err, well, I told you - I am obsessed. So, given this kind of fixation, I was shocked that I had not blogged this recipe till now. It was brought to my notice courtesy of my Recipe request section. I saw it and was like - "Why don't people search first?". I looked for the link and.."what? waiiit a minute? I don't have this in this site yet?". Needless to say, the quip from the better half - "Of course! Well, are you telling me that you are shocked, your site, does not carry recipes that people actually search for? I knew that ages ago!" - did not go well with me! Husbands - they sure know how to make you feel better, NOT.
Anyways, THIS recipe, people, is my most favourite'stestest of all bread recipes. I don't make white bread often but when I do, I make this. I always have to make at least 2 loaves per batch 'cos otherwise it does not last me through the week. At times, it still doesn't. I mean, its not hard to see why anyone would love a good spongy piece of white bread. What's not to like. This bread is all it should be - crusty with a tender crumb, spongy and soft textured - with the yeast playing merrily to make those beautiful holes we all love in our breads. These are perfect for toasts, sandwiches and for bread puddings.
References
recipe slightly adapted from cook's illustrated
Basic Information
Prep Time: 2 to 4 hours
Cook Time: 30 min to 1 hour
Serves: 4 people
Yield: Makes one 9-inch loaf
Ingredients
- 3-1/2 cups Bread Flour, plus some for dusting (see Tips)
- 2 tsp Salt
- 1 cup lukewarm 2% Milk (or Whole Milk)
- 1/3 cup lukewarm Water
- 2 tbsp unsalted Butter, melted
- 3 tbsp raw Honey
- 2-1/4 tsp rapid-rise/instant Yeast
Tips
1. Bread flour: Normally from what I have read in many places, you are asked to substitute equal amounts of All-purpose flour as a substitute for Bread flour. But from what my readers told me w.r.t my Homemade White Dinner Rolls, it was not enough and that they required additional 1-2 cups of all purpose flour (maida). Keeping that in mind, since I was going to be substituting all purpose with bread flour, I reduced the amount by 1/2 cup. The idea is to use as little as flour possible. Too much will not give that beautiful texture and make tougher loaf instead. So if you want to use All Purpose flour, use 3-3/4 cups (start with 3-1/2 cups and add tbsp by tbsp not exceeding the 3-3/4 cups)If you want to Bake using Microwave pls refer to these articles:
1) How to Bake in Microwave
2) How to Bake in Microwave Convection Oven
For making Substitutions please refer my handy chart:
1) Baking substitutions
2) Egg Substitutions
Method
1
Add 3-1/4 cups of bread flour and salt in a bowl and whisk to combine.
2
Mix milk, water, butter, honey, and yeast in another bowl and combine. Make sure that the temperature of milk and water is around 110 degrees.
3
Add the liquid to the flour.
4
Start kneading
5
until the dough comes together.
6
Turn the dough into a lightly floured work surface and start kneading until the dough is smooth and satiny, about 10 minutes.
7
If you think that the dough is too wet, then add the remaining 1/4 cup of flour - tbsp by tbsp until it gets pliable. Avoid using excess flour.
8
Place dough in very lightly oiled bowl, rubbing dough around bowl to lightly coat.
9
Cover bowl with plastic wrap; place in warm place
10
until dough doubles in size, 40 to 50 minutes.
11
Shape the dough into a loaf and place it in a greased 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan. I had a 8.5 X 4.5 X 2.5 (1.5 L) pan and used the same.
12
Cover with plastic wrap;
13
set aside in warm spot until dough almost doubles in size, 20 to 30 minutes.
14
Heat oven to 350 degrees, placing empty loaf pan on bottom rack. Bring 2 cups water to boil. Remove plastic wrap from loaf pan. Place pan in oven, immediately pouring heated water into empty loaf pan; close oven door. This water in the lower rack is to create steam. Bake for about 40 to 50 minutes. Its done when you tap the bottom of the loaf and it sounds hollow.
15
Remove bread from pan, transfer to a wire rack, and cool to room temperature.
Slice and serve.
See that beautiful texture of the bread. Can you imagine how this would taste with some butter on top? And some jam perhaps? And...and..err...OK, will let you go overboard instead of me :)
See that beautiful texture of the bread. Can you imagine how this would taste with some butter on top? And some jam perhaps? And...and..err...OK, will let you go overboard instead of me :)
2 members have made this recipe!
Did you make this recipe?
Please click below to share your experiences while you were making this recipe. Thanks for your input!
20 Responses to “American (White) Sandwich Bread”
Leave a Reply
I love to hear from you! I read each and every comment, and will get back as soon as I am able to.
Related Recipes
Ingredients
Recent Posts
-
Southwest Quinoa Salad
-
Hushpuppy (Cornbread Fritters)
-
Methi Dal (Fenugreek Leaves Dal)
-
Coriander (Cilantro) Peanut Chutney
-
Chow Chow (Chayote Squash) Curry
-
Methi Roti (Fenugreek Flatbread)
-
Hummus bi Tahini (Chickpea Hummus with Tahini)
-
Vegetable Fried Rice (Indo Chinese)
-
Cinnamon Chocolate Brownies
-
Roasted Chickpeas with Indian spices
- Never miss a single recipe!
Have a favorite recipe?
- Know a family recipe your mom used to make? Or maybe a go to recipe that works everytime? Share it with your fellow foodies!
made and tasted this today, slathered with butter. It’s a good loaf of bread. I would make it again.
Great recipe! The bread came out just perfect, with a nice crispy crust and, most important of all, my husband pronounced it “perfect”!
Hi, I just made this bread and it is absolutely delicious. It was so easy to make too. Love it!! Perfect for sandwiches and morning toast..
:)
I follow ur site regularly.I have a query reg.how to place the water in oven.I have an OTG.The breadloaf is to be kept inside the pan of water or above the rack?Pl.reply
I think this may be the bread I will love, but I would rather not use butter-what can I substitute? Would oil work? TIA
This recipe looks like what i have ben after. I keep coming out with dense sour dough loaves. I want to make whtie sandwich bread o nthe cheap without all the chemical additives of store-bought. I have heard that I need to add potato flakes or mashed potatoes along with vinegar to make a super fluffy soft loaf. do you have any recipes or tips for using just flour, water, sugar, yeast, oil, vinegar, and potato flakes? simple and easy with as few ingredients as possible is best.
I havent a recipe at the moment but I have been meaning to ever since I got to know about the mashed potatoes making the softest loaf. Will post one when I make it with success
–DK
Hi I found your post so interesting that i made this bread exactly the same way in your recipe but it dint come out as well as the one in your picture….what type of oven do you use. i used the oven in my cooking range and it heats up only from the bottom. the bread dint change its color and was the same color as the batter even after 50 minutes and the center of the bread dropped..should i bake it some more time….what could have gone wrong?
Mine is a regular traditional oven. I think the heat was not enough in your case. Do you have oven temp? Next time measure it to see if the heat in the thermometer matches what it says it is –DK
Is there any way you can substitute yeast?
This is a yeast bread, so you need it. If you want non-yeast breads then pls refer: Quick Breads –DK
Hi
I made it few days back, it came out perfectly,i used 3 cups of plainflour, 3 table spoon hi gluten wheat powder,
I stick with your liquid amount,this is the first I made really good milk,butter bread, Thanks for the recipe,I also made your Spinach and mushroom lasagna with little change that also a super hit, once again thanks.
HI! can i try this recepie with whole wheat flour instead of maida.we dont get bread flour here.
I have bread recipes that use Whole Wheat flour in the site : http://chefinyou.com/?s=whole+wheat+bread. But for this recipe, you can def. use Atta (Indian chapathi flour) instead of the mentioned amount of “all purpose flour” in the recipe. It should work equally well. –DK
That looks super easy n a perfect loaf without much work he he…so can i use regular milk instead of the 2%?
You can use regular milk –DK
Bread Baking at home is a stress buster.. Yours looks good.
Sowmya
Hi The bread is looking delicious.i want to bake it . But I have
two doubts. 1. Will it results good when being
baked in the org?
2. I don’t use honey. What can I substitute with
that?
I dont know what you mean by baking in “org”. Did you mean OTG? if yes, then pls refer my tips section. As for honey, you can use agave or maple syrup instead –DK
Even though I do bake with yeast with a bit of confidence,the thought of baking a white bread(loaf),kind of scares me:)The loaf looks perfect,tall and golden brown,just like how it’s supposed to be.Someday,I’ll try this too!
Hi there, wanted to check if I can use active dry yeast in this recipe? And will skim milk work? It’s really difficult to find 2% milk here in Bombay.. Thanks!
You can use whatever yeast on hand. You can check online for the proper amount of substitution. You can use whole milk instead –DK
Oh I have.been waiting for this recipe for so long!!! You truly are an inspiration….not just your enthusiasm of cooking a ginormous variety of foods but the way you present it just beats everything else..the photos, your writing style and the way you simplify every step.. My entire family is a fan of all the recipes I pick up from this site… All I can say is thanks a bunch and keep them coming!!!!
I had to come and check this one out, i am so gonna make this when i have time, reminds me of bread we used to buy from bakery when i was living at home we used to eat wieh stew or chicken curry etc…