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If you are a beginner, don’t fret! This is a very simple dough and way easier using store-bought King Arthur flour (that’s already ground for you) than milling your own grains.
However, if you’re an advanced baker and want healthier, whole-grain bread, then try my Sourdough Sandwich Bread that has lots of good feedback from both YouTube and in real life.
This bread recipe, on the other hand, is the white bread to use for anything! It’s way better than the grocery store loaf, and it’s even better for homemade croutons, bread crumbs, and Turkey stuffing. It’s easy to make, and when leftovers are around, you dry them to make all that good stuff.
I also like to use leftover stale bread pieces for toast, breakfast casseroles, and French toast, and so, it’s always good to have bread on hand, not just for sandwiches. Having homemade bread on hand is always a step away from a quick meal, like making Bread Pizza, if all else fails.
Mennonite Bread Recipe
We’ve been good friends with the Mennonite community for about a decade now. One thing they have in common is making some of the best breads from scratch! They are very good cooks and inspire me in so many ways!
If you’ve ever been to a Mennonite bakery, then you probably saw these beautiful loaves of white bread, stamped with a fork (their signature way to remove air bubbles).
Many Mennonites come from Amish roots, so I guess you could call this Amish white bread, but however you want to call it, this bread is incredible.
Their secret to the best sandwich bread? It’s to use instant mashed potato flakes! It’s the ingredient, used in my subway bread recipe, that gets many rave reviews! And it’s true, potato flakes make bread light and fluffy, and it will also act as a natural preservative.
More on This Sandwich Bread Recipe
This recipe makes the most incredible soft and fluffy bread! And I like that with yeast, the rising times are super speedy, leaving you with three sandwich loaves all made within an hour or so.
I typically make yeast breads in the morning, so that it gives me enough time to cool the bread completely before freezing.
One more thing to mention before we jump into the process is that an electric knife will be a real game-changer! This is also a kitchen gadget I learned from my Mennonite friends, who do lots of bread making. It will cut your bread seamlessly, which is a big deal if your bread is light and airy. Nobody wants squished bread after slicing it.
Okay, let’s jump into my notes and the entire process from start to finish!
Mise en PlaceEverything you need!:
- Three 9×5 loaf pans or Stainless steel bread pans
- Parchment paper (if not greasing pans)
- Heavy Duty Electric Mixer
- Set of measuring cups and spoons
- Electric Bread Knife
- Wire whisk
Ingredients:
- Dough Sponge- is a pre-fermented starter made of yeast, water, and a portion of the flour to ensure the yeast is active and enhance the dough structure. It only ferments for 20 minutes, but it adds great flavor and better structure to the bread.
- Instant Potato flakes- makes the bread super light and fluffy!
- Bread flour- I buy King Arthur Patent flour, which is a high-gluten flour also known as bread flour. I get it by the 50# bags at a Restaurant supply store.
- Oil- I use sunflower oil for most of my baked goods. It’s neutral in flavor and works great for breads!
- Salt- If I’m not using Real Salt, I grind coarse sea salt that we buy in buckets from a Restaurant supply store. Use high-quality salt.
- Sugar- like Organic Cane Sugar is what I prefer to use.
- Egg- enhances the dough and makes it more airy and fluffy.
How To Make The Best Sandwich Bread
- Make a dough sponge by pre-fermenting the dry active yeast, warm water, instant potato flakes, and part of the flour in the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Add the remaining dough ingredients of oil, salt, sugar, egg, and flour.
- Knead the dough at low speed for 9 minutes in a heavy-duty electric mixer. Dough will be tacky, oil the top and cover to rise for 35 minutes.
- Shape the dough by cutting it into 3 equal pieces. Pat and flatten each piece into a rectangle and roll up, jelly-roll style. Seal and pinch down the bottoms.
- Place the dough, seams down, into lightly greased bread pans and prick the dough all over to remove any air bubbles.
- Rise for 20 minutes and then bake in a 350°F oven for 25-30 minutes (or until the internal temperature reaches 190°F).
- Brushing the tops of the loaves with butter makes for a more flavorful and softer crust.
Chef Baking Tip- using a light colored bread pan makes for a paler, more tender crust. I’ve noticed that when I use my darker gauge steel pans, the crust comes out darker. It is true that darker pans absorb more heat, causing food to cook more quickly and brown more intensely. If dark pans are all you have, line your pans with parchment paper.
My Tips & Tricks For Failproof Bread
- Smaller 8×4 pans are what I used. Keep in mind that the smaller bread pans you use, the taller the loaves will be.
- The recommended size for homemade sandwich bread is a 9×5 loaf, which makes each loaf yield a 1.5-pound capacity.
- If you don’t have cooking spray to grease your bread pans, line each pan with parchment paper.
- I buy instant mashed potato flakes in bulk. My favorite is the Idahoan Premium Mashed Potato Flakes.
- Use unbleached bread flour for a stronger dough, which makes a softer, chewier crumb and rises better.
- To substitute an egg, use 1 Tablespoon of sunflower lecithin. Lecithin is an emulsifier that binds the dough better and improves the texture.
- Take time to sponge the dough. This is something Mennonites do to make fluffier bread, and it works!
- Dry active yeast or instant yeast can be used for the sponge.
- Butter the tops of the loaves as soon as the bread comes out of the oven. I just rub a cold stick of butter all over the tops.
- After the dough is shaped and placed into a bread pan, prick the dough all over with a fork to remove any air bubbles. This is a tip I learned from my Mennonite friends.
Important Homemade Bread Tip
It’s important to cool your loaves in the bread pans for 10 minutes and then to remove them promptly onto a cooling rack. If you leave the bread too long in the pans, the bottoms will sweat and become soggy.
Have you ever come across Occident flour? This unbleached patent flour is ideal for a wide range of breads and is the flour sold in many Amish and Mennonite markets. It’s high in protein and milled from hard red. I’ve used it before for these Squash dinner rolls, as it was recommended by Mennonite cooks. This flour is best for sandwich bread.
More Favorite Bread Recipes:
As a from-scratch cook, fresh-baked bread is a priority here at the farmhouse. Here are more favorite bread recipes for the home cook.
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Classic White Sandwich Bread Recipe
Equipment
- 1 large silicone pastry mat, (I love this for shaping dough)
Ingredients
Sponge:
- 3 cups warm water, (anywhere from 85-98°F)
- 2 Tbsp dry active yeast
- 1/3 cup instant mashed potatoes
- 3 cups bread flour
Remaining Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup sunflower oil
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 1/4 cup organic cane sugar
- 1 egg
- 4 3/4 bread flour
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, make the sponge by whisking together 3 cups of warm water, 2 Tbsp yeast, 1/3 cup of instant mashed potato flakes, and 3 cups of bread flour. Let that sit for 20 minutes, covered.
- After 20 minutes the sponge should have risen and look foamy. Whisk in 1/3 cup oil, 1 Tbsp salt, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1 egg until well combined. Then add 4 3/4 cups of bread flour and knead for 9 minutes over low speed.
- Dough will be tacky, gather it into a ball and lightly oil the bowl and top of the dough. Cover and rise for 35 minutes.
- Transfer the dough onto a pastry silicone mat and divide into 3 equal pieces. Flatten each piece into a rectangle, then roll it up jelly-roll style.
- Place dough into lightly greased bread pans (or use parchment paper) and prick the dough all the way down with a fork to remove air bubbles.
- Allow bread to rise for 20-25 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350°F about 5 minutes before baking. Bake loaves for 25-30 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 190°F.
- Butter the tops as soon as the loaves are removed from the oven. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove onto a wire cooling rack. Cool completely before slicing or storing.
Notes
- Serving size: one loaf yields about 13 slices of bread. Making it a total of 39 slices from 3 loaves.
- Storing: Cool loaves completely before transferring into plastic bread bags. If freezing, slice the bread into 3/4-inch slices (about 13 slices per loaf) and freeze up to 3 months.
- It is best to freeze bread the day of baking to retain optimal flavor and texture.
- Yeast breads can tend to become stale if stored longer than 2 days at room temperature. Use stale bread for French toast, casseroles, croutons, bread crumbs, or Turkey stuffing. Don’t let bread go to waste.
- To keep bread softer, some Mennonites place partly cooled loaves into the plastic bread bag, opened. This creates a little steam and makes for a more moist and softer crumb.
- For more bread recipes like this, make my popular Subway Bread Recipe, which also calls for instant mashed potato flakes.
- I used smaller 8×4 loaf pans for the blog post; it will make taller loaves. I recommend using standard 9×5 bread pans.
- Using a light colored bread pan makes for a paler, more tender crust. I’ve noticed that when I use my darker gauge steel pans, the crust comes out darker. It is true that darker pans absorb more heat, causing food to cook more quickly and brown more intensely. Use parchment over darker pans so breads don’t brown as quick.
Nutrition (per serving)
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