Homemade Sandwich Bread

There is nothing quite like cutting into a fresh loaf of homemade bread.  Whether for a sandwich or for bread and butter, the taste of homemade bread just can not be beat.  This bread makes a perfect sandwich bread, with the perfect structure to be soft and inviting, yet hold all of the sandwich contents together as well!   

I have baked homemade bread off and on through the years, I love the smell of bread baking in the oven!  The problem I have found with many bread recipes, is that they are great for bread and butter, but they just don't seem to hold up for a sandwich.  My homemade bread was either too airy and the dressings oozed out through the bread, or so dense that it crumbled when picked up with contents between the slices.  I never seemed to be able to find the sweet spot for homemade sandwich bread, but in reality, bread and cake baking never really was my expertise, I always did better pie baking than anything.

So, I enlisted the help of my daughter on this blog!  She makes bread every week for her husband and herself, and she volunteered to share her recipe and even do a photo shoot while she was making it! 

When looking at the ingredient list on store purchased bread, it is scary how many ingredients are difficult to pronounce, much less what are they doing in bread?  Sure, some are there to prolong the shelf life of the bread, but who really wants to eat bread full of chemicals?  This bread recipe is super simple in ingredients, and I promise you can pronounce all of them!

Prepare the Dough:

In a large bowl, add the yeast, water and a pinch of the sugar.  Allow to rest for 5-10 minutes until foaming and bubbly.  (This is called proofing the yeast, to make sure it is active.  If it doesn't foam, the yeast is no good, and you need to start over with fresh yeast.)  Add remaining sugar, salt, oil, and 3 cups of flour.  Mix to combine.

Add another cup of flour and mix to combine.  Add more flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl.  The dough should be smooth and elastic, and slightly stick to a clean finger, but not be overly sticky.  Add a little more flour if needed.

Knead the dough with your hands on a lightly floured surface, for 5-8 minutes.  

First Rise:

Grease a large bowl with oil or cooking spray and place the dough inside, turning to coat.  Cover with a dish towel or plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.  

Grease two 9x5" bread pans generously with cooking spray on all sides.  You can also use a stick of butter and rub it on inside of pan to coat, making sure there are no clumps of butter, and the surface is coated evenly.

Punch the dough down well to remove air bubbles. Divide into two equal portions.  (She weighs each portion to make sure they are equal) Shape each into a ball and place into greased loaf pan.

Second Rise:

Cover the pans with a dish towel or greased plastic wrap.  Allow to rise again for about 45 minutes to one hour, or until risen about 1 inch above the loaf pan.  Gently remove covering.

Bake:

Preheat oven to 350' F. Bake bread for about 30-33 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Give the top of a loaf a gentle tap; it should sound hollow.

Invert the loaves onto a wire cooling rack and remove from the pans.  Brush the tops with butter and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

Once cool, store in an airtight container or bag for 2-3 days at room temperature, or up to 5 days in the refrigerator.

This bread will be sure to please, whether with a PB&J or a hearty ham sandwich!

A great big shoutout to Andrea Martin for all of the photos, and for sharing her bread recipe!

Here are some of the tools she used: