Easy basic white sandwich bread recipe

Just plain old white bread for sandwiches and toast: that’s what I was after. This is so much better than the junk you can find in supermarkets – the stuff that’s full of air, preservatives, chemicals and high fructose corn syrup.

This is a recipe I’ve tweaked and played with for months until I got what I was looking for.

This bread is perfect everyday bread for sandwiches and toast – a light soft crumb and a slightly chewy crust.

To get the same results consistently,  weigh the flour and the water. Everything else is in multiples of a tablespoon – just to make things easy (and so you only need one measuring spoon).

Water

In a large bowl, dissolve 1 tbsp organic white sugar into 16oz of warm water (by weight – but if you must use cups – this is 2 cups). The water should be about 110F – if you don’t have an instant read thermometer – order one immediately (!), but for now – just use your hand to gauge it – you should be able to hold your hand in it without it feeling uncomfortable.

Although they’re a little pricey, these thermometers are wonderful. Kept clean and treated with care, this will give you years of service and the confidence that comes with knowing for sure that water’s the right temperature or the meatloaf or chicken breast is thoroughly cooked.

Yeast

Sprinkle on 1 tbsp of instant yeast. I use SAF Gold. When it hits the warm water, the yeast comes back to life, and the sugar you dissolved gives it a little snack while you weigh out the rest of the ingredients.

After a few minutes the yeast will sink to the bottom of the bowl then rise again and form little blooms of bubbles (carbon dioxide). This is ultimately what causes the bread to rise.

If this has not happened after 5 minutes or so – if there’s no sign of bubbles or life – your yeast is dead. Either it was old or you killed it with water that was too hot. But the good news is you’ve only wasted a tablespoon of sugar – it’s far better to find out now than after you’ve added the remainder of the (more expensive) ingredients.

Flour & Salt

While the yeast is proofing, assemble the rest of the ingredients. In a separate bowl, weigh out 26.4oz organic white all purpose flour (if you must use cups, this is 6 cups), remove and set aside about 1/2 cup, then add 2oz of non-fat dry milk and 1 tbsp table salt.

The flour you just set aside is for kneading later on – the point is to know exactly how much flour in total goes into the bread – whether that’s mixed in or kneaded in. With the exception of really humid days when just a little more flour might be required, that amount for me is exactly 13.2oz of flour to 8oz water.

Don’t forget the salt – the salt does two things: controls the activity of the yeast and adds flavor. Unsalted bread tastes awful.

Fat

Putting 1oz of softened unsalted butter or a tablespoon of olive oil in with the wet ingredients at this point helps the bread keep just a little longer. It also makes the dough easier to knead and adds a little richness to the loaf.

Make the dough

Whisk (or mix) together the dry ingredients together and add them to the wet mixture one third at a time, stirring very well with a metal spoon before incorporating the next bit.

After adding the first third, the mixture will be like a very light batter.

After the second third, it will start to get thick and soupy.

Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl to get everything in, but don’t worry too much about getting everything mixed together perfectly – there’s plenty of time for that in the kneading phase.

The final installment will really bind it all together and it will start to pull away from the sides of the bowl as you mix it.

This will be quite a sticky but fairly cohesive dough – try to get as much from the sides of the bowl incorporated.

Knead the dough

Next, turn the whole lot out onto a clean, sanitized counter sprinkled lightly with about half of the flour you reserved from before. Sprinkle the remaining flour over the top of the dough.

Knead the dough. Using both hands, start by gathering the ball of dough together. Fold one half over the other and using the palm of your hand, stretch the dough away from you as far as you can without tearing it. Then turn the dough a quarter turn and repeat – fold in half, turn and push away with your palm. Use the excess flour on the counter as the dough becomes sticky to your touch. The idea is to ‘mop up’ all the remaining flour.

Kneading takes some practice – but once you get the hang of it – there’s nothing difficult about it. It will take a good 5-7 minutes of fairly rapid kneading by hand. The dough will start to feel less sticky and be a lot smoother.

The picture to the left shows the kneading almost done. If you poke a finger in and it springs back – you’re done. If you leave a hole in it (like this) — knead it a little more – this dough’s about a minute away from being kneaded enough.

First rise

This bread needs to rise twice: first in the bowl, then again in the loaf pan. After the second rise – it’s ready for the oven. Depending on the temperature of your kitchen, each rise will take about 60-90 minutes.

Clean out the bowl you mixed the dough in, and lightly coat it with olive oil. Plop the kneaded dough into the bowl, cover with plastic wrap (cling film) and put it somewhere warm and draft free.

My microwave has a counter light on it – and for me, this is an ideal place – the light provides just enough warmth. You need a place about 75 degrees ideally. If it’s cooler, it will still rise – but will take longer.

Grease and flour the loaf pans

While the dough is on its first rise, prepare your loaf pans. No need for spending a fortune on these by the way – I’ve found the loaf pans from IKEA are perfectly acceptable and far cheaper than the cooking stores.

Prepare them with a light coating of olive oil, then dust about a tablespoon of flour into them. Pat the loaf pans and guide the flour around the whole pan. This little trick will make getting the bread out an absolute breeze.

I don’t wash them either. When the bread comes out, just brush out the crumbs and store them.

Second rise

The dough needs to have doubled in volume for the first rise to be complete. Lightly flour your work surface and turn the risen dough out. Gently deflate the dough and divide in half. You can either eyeball this, or use a scale – if you set the scale to grams, it makes the calculation a lot easier.

Knead each piece for a few seconds, just to squeeze out any large air bubbles – then form into a log which is as long as your loaf pan.

Cover the loaf pans with greased plastic wrap, then put them back into your warm, draft-free place (microwave!) to rise again.

Baking

The bread is done rising when the dough has crested about one to two inches over the top of the loaf pan.

The actual time will vary depending on the temperature, but as a general rule you can gauge the second rising by how long the first rise took.

Plan to start preheating your oven to 365°F about 15 minutes before the end of the second rise.

Carefully remove the plastic wrap from the risen loaves and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 30 minutes total. Turn the bread around after 15 minutes to ensure even browning.

After 30 minutes, remove the loaves from the oven. Flex the loaf pan a little and because of the grease/flour preparation, the loaf should pop right out. Test to make sure the bread is cooked – if you flick or tap the bottom of the loaf, it will sound hollow if it’s done.

It’s always better to overcook bread than to undercook it, so if you’re unsure, pop the loaf back directly on the oven rack for another 5 minutes. You can also do this if you prefer a thicker, crispier crust.

Optionally, rub a little butter over the top of the loaf when it’s still hot. This makes a softer crust and makes the loaf look a bit more professional.

Slice and eat

Be sure to let the bread cool on a rack before slicing it – this is the hardest part when your whole kitchen smells of freshly baked bread! You need to allow about an hour before the first slice – it will still be warm inside.

If you intend to store the bread in a plastic bag, it needs to cool completely first (otherwise the condensation will really mess things up). If you’re going to eat the bread within a day or so (a very likely situation), you can just leave the bread cut-side down on a wooden board.