Homemade No Knead White Sandwich Bread
Perfectly soft and delicious white sandwich bread that is easy and nearly fail-proof to make and great for all of your sandwich needs.
Ingredients
- 3 cups lukewarm water
- 1 tbsp honey
- 2 ¼ tsp yeast (active dry or instant)
- ¼ cup oil or melted butter
- 6 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Add 3 cups of lukewarm water to a mixing bowl.
- Add to the mixing bowl 1 tablespoon honey, 2 ¼ teaspoons yeast, and ¼ cup oil or melted butter.
- Stir the ingredients together gently just until the yeast is wet and the honey has dissolved.
- Add 6 cups flour and 1 teaspoon salt and mix on low until a soft dough begins to form.
- Continue mixing the dough for about 4 minutes at low to medium speed. You want a wet and sticky dough.
- Take a spatula or bowl scraper and push the dough down and off the sides of the bowl so that all the dough is combined.
- Cover the bowl with either plastic wrap or a tea towel (you may want to use flour on the tea towel or oil on the plastic wrap to keep it from sticking to the dough). Set your covered bowl in a warm place to allow the dough to rise (approximately 1 ½ - 2 hours).
- Take two loaf pans and generously grease them with oil or butter on all sides.
- Once the dough has risen remove the cover and liberally grease hands with oil or butter. With your greased hands punch down the dough and push dough off the sides of the bowl to incorporate all the dough. Separate the dough evenly into two portions.
- Place each portion of dough into the two prepared loaf pans and leave uncovered in a warm place to rise (approximately 45 minutes to an hour).
- Preheat oven to 375℉ while the dough rises.
- Once the loaves have risen to the top of the loaf pans and your oven is preheated (if doing an egg wash you would brush it on here - see notes section below) place the two loaves in the oven and bake for approximately 30 minutes. (Check after about 20 minutes to make sure the loaves are not getting too dark on top. If they are getting dark you can add parchment paper on top to finish baking if the rest of the loaf isn't done or if it's done you can take it out). The loaf is done when you tap the top and the bread sounds hollow.
- Remove the loaves from the oven and if you choose to add butter immediately brush butter on top.
- Remove the loaves from the pans and place them both onto a cooling rack.
- If you choose to pre-slice your bread before storing it or plan to use it the day it's baked wait until the bread is completely cool before cutting which will help the moisture retention in the bread making for a softer crumb versus becoming quickly dry and crumbly.
Notes
⁃ Egg wash: You can use an egg wash on top of the loaves if you prefer to keep a crispier crust and want to add a nice sheen to the exterior of your bread. For the egg wash, you will need one egg and one tablespoon of water that you will mix together and brush over your loaf (loaves). This step should be done after your loaves have risen in the loaf pans right before placing them into the oven to bake.
⁃ If you choose to add butter to the tops of the bread loaves you can simply take a stick of butter and cut about a tablespoon off and wrap it in a paper towel to run it over the tops of the bread when the bread is fresh out of the oven. Alternatively, you can hold onto the full stick of butter and run the butter over the tops if you find this easier.
⁃ You can half this recipe to make a single loaf or can double it to make 4 loaves. To half the recipe use 1.5 cups lukewarm water, 1/2 tbsp honey, 1 1/8 tsp yeast, 3 cups all-purpose flour, 1/8 cup oil or melted butter, 1/2 tsp salt. To double the recipe use 6 cups lukewarm water, 2 tbsp honey, 4 1/2 tsp yeast, 12 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup oil or melted butter, 2 tsp salt.
⁃ I have not made this recipe differently than the printed recipe so I cannot speak to the flavor or texture differences when using different flour types or sweeteners.
⁃ Depending on your oven the time it takes for baking may slightly differ so be sure to keep a close eye on your loaves.
⁃ Depending on how warm your home is while the dough is rising can change the rise time. During spring/summer if you live in a warm region the garage works well, or above an appliance that produces slight heat like the top of a refrigerator. You can also heat your oven to its lowest setting and place your dough on top of the stovetop (I usually do this during the cooler months).
⁃ Using active dry yeast will generally have a slower rise time than inactive yeast. It will not be drastically different, you just may need to add approximately 15 to 20 minutes as noted in the recipe.
⁃ You want the dough for this recipe to be wet and sticky. This is a key component of this recipe. Many recipes out there want your dough to form a ball and not stick to the sides of the bowl while in the mixing stage, but the wet and sticky dough will provide a more moist and dense bread which is perfect for sandwich bread. You will find you need to liberally grease your hands and use silicone or plastic tools that the dough does not as easily stick to when manipulating the dough.