Mike and I have been enjoying homemade bread for a few years now. I found Julia Child's sandwich bread recipe and try to use it every two weeks to make 2 loaves, though they don't always last that long! The bread is great for sandwiches or avocado toast breakfasts. I've adapted it slightly to use bread flour and salted softened butter instead, which we have found works better for taste.

Additionally, if you're looking to save on cost for bread, I highly recommend going the homemade route. Before, we were spending about $7 bi-weekly for 2 loaves of store-bought bread for the two of us. Now, we typically spend about $5-7 every 6 loaves and enjoy the meals we use with them way more.

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Homemade Sandwich Bread

Ingredients

Yeast Starter

.5 cup warm water
1 tbsp active dry yeast
1 tbsp granulated sugar

Bread Portion

2 cups warm water
6 cups bread flour split in half
1 tsp salt
.25 cup salted butter softened

Instructions

My best rule of thumb for your yeast starter water is to use water that is comfortably warm to you. Most people enjoy hot showers and can tolerate using pretty warm water when washing dishes. The water should be slightly cooler than this. If you think it would be ok for a child, it's probably ok for your yeast. Luckily, yeast will let you know in 5 minutes if it worked or not. I prefer to teach people this method rather than using a thermometer as I and most others have no luck when the temp is perfect.
Once your yeast has foamed over, slowly pour in the remaining warm water and start mixing in 3 cups of flour. I usually do this 1/3 cup at a time to make sure everything mixes in evenly. When that is mixed thoroughly, add in your butter. You don't really want it to be melted, just softened. If you can have it be room temperature, even better. Add in the remaining flour.
Take your dough off the hook and use your hands to make sure that all the flour has been mixed in and everything has been added properly. I like to use this time to make sure my dough is a nice little ball inside the mixing bowl. Pro tip: lightly grease the bowl that the bread sits in to make sure it pulls away from the sides easily and cover with a tea towel rather than anything else. Whatever magic is in the material of the tea towels makes a difference for the bread rising in comparison to any other cover method. Let your dough sit for 1 hour
Grease up two loaf pans to move your dough to. I usually just spray mine with Pam with Flour. Cut your dough in half and gently form into the shape of log. This helps your bread gather shape as it bake in the pan. Let them sit for 30 minutes. I've found that this helps the dough fluff back up and you get more of that classic bread shape as a result.
Heat your oven to 375 degrees F and bake your dough for 30 minutes. If you like a very soft crust, I recommend checking your bread at the 25 minute mark to see how it's doing. As soon as your bread is done baking, pull them out of the over and remove them from their pans. If you leave them in, they will begin to sweat and run the risk of continuing to back. I usually lay out my tea towel and place my bread upside down on it to air out the bottoms. Since my dining room has a fan, I usually just turn it on and let it cool down the bread to ensure I get those perfect fluffy slices.

If you make this homemade sandwich bread recipe, be sure to tag @withlovejoey on Instagram, or link in the comments below! I'd love to see how your bread comes out!

Looking to update your kitchen gadgets?
Here are links to everything I used (or similar items):

Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer (similar) | Loaf Baking Pans (similar)
tea towel (suggested)

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