There is nothing better than a sandwich made with home-baked bread. While store-bought bread can be good too, there is something about pulling a loaf of hot and fresh bread right out of the oven right before eating that makes it taste so much better. It’s something that everyone understands, however, despite this fact, it’s also something that people rarely do.
Most imagine baking bread to be extremely complicated, but we’re here to tell you it doesn’t have to be.
All you bread lovers out there, take note! Follow this simple homemade sandwich bread recipe from Chicken Scratch Diaries and you’ll be cooking up your own loaves in no time (for just $0.64 per loaf!). Don’t be surprised if you end up with company either. The smell of the baking bread wafting through the house and escaping out the windows will have all the neighbors inviting themselves over for lunch.
To make your own sandwich bread at home, all it takes is just five ingredients:
- 1 cup hot water
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 3/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
Okay, technically it is six ingredients, but the water doesn’t really count.
Directions:
1. Mix the sugar and yeast into the hot water and stir. You want the water to be hot but not scalding. Let the mixture sit for around 10 minutes to give the yeast time to activate.
2. Transfer the mixture to a stand mixer and slowly mix in the vegetable oil, salt, and flour. Add the flour one cup at a time. It’s best if you have a mixer with a dough hook, however, you can also use a hand mixer to combine the ingredients. Keep in mind though that you will then have to knead the dough by hand before baking.
3. Continue adding in the flour until the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl and instead hangs from the bread hook. Once you reach this point you’ll want to let it keep mixing for another three to four minutes.
4. Take the dough ball off of the hook and work it into a ball shape. Set it on the counter underneath a light towel and let it sit for one to two hours in order to rise. How fast the dough rises largely depends on the yeast and the temperature of your kitchen. However, the idea is that you want the dough ball to double in size.
5. Roll out your dough ball using a rolling pin into a long oval shape. Then roll it up, pinch the seams together, and fold the ends in so it resembles the shape of a loaf. It is actually a very easy process once you’ve done it a few times, but first-timers might want to glance at a bread-shaping tutorial before attempting.
6. Place the shaped dough into a greased pan and allow it to sit for another hour to rise some more. It will likely double in size once again. Cover the pan and dough with plastic wrap while you wait.
7. Remove the plastic wrap and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 25 minutes or until the outside of your loaf is a nice golden brown.
That’s it, your loaf of bread is ready to be taken out of the oven and carved up into slices! It will be easier to slice if you wait until the following day, however, that kind of defeats the purpose. Just be gentle with it, and enjoy! There is no better lunchtime meal than a nice sandwich made on fresh and delicious bread that you baked yourself.
See the total prep and cooking times for this recipe below.
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Prep Time: 2 hours 45 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 3 hours 10 minutes
