Soft and Fluffy Sandwich Bread — 🥪❤️🙌 This sandwich bread is soft, fluffy, and light. It’s made with a secret ingredient that keeps it moist and fluffy — oatmeal! It’s the perfect bread for a PB&J or grilled cheese sandwich!
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Easy Sandwich Bread Recipe
The best sandwich bread recipe you’ll ever make, this bread is soft, fluffy, and light and will make you feel like a professional baker. It’s made with a secret ingredient that keeps it moist and fluffy: a cup of oatmeal is kneaded into the dough, which also lends a bit of chewiness and texture. When you bite into the finished bread, you definitely don’t think, oh there’s oatmeal in here. It’s a stealth operator ingredient.
It’s the homemade, healthier, vegan version of store-bought bread like Wonder bread. I’ve never been a crusty baguette person. Give me soft and tender over jaw-ripping crustiness any day.
It’s so soft and fluffy, with a slight chewiness, thanks to the oatmeal. You’d never know oatmeal was the secret ingredient and even when mixing the dough, you’ll think there’s no way this whole cup of sloppy oatmeal is going to just disappear, but it magically does.
Far better than your average white sandwich bread, it makes French toast or grilled cheese, and it’s wonderful toasted with melted butter, jam, or honey. I made BLT’s minus the bacon and used cheese, and they were met with rave reviews, too.
Up next, is using it for a homemade peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
What’s in Homemade Sandwich Bread?
To make this soft and fluffy bread recipe, you’ll need:
- Water
- Old-fashioned oats
- All-purpose flour
- Canola oil
- Light brown sugar
- Instant dry yeast – I use Red Star Platinum Yeast. Make sure to use fresh yeast or your bread won’t rise properly
- Salt
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Sandwich Bread
If you’ve been too intimidated to try your hand at making homemade bread, this simple sandwich bread recipe is the perfect place to start. It comes together with just a few simple steps!
- Pour boiling water over the oatmeal, and let it cool to about 130 degrees or to the recommended warm water temperature for your yeast.
- Combine the ingredients, and knead with a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook or your hands until a shaggy dough forms. Transfer the dough to a large, greased bowl, cover it with plastic wrap or a towel, and let the dough rise until it doubles in size. Note that the rise times will change slightly depending on the warmth of your environment.
- After the first rise, punch the dough down, transfer it to a lightly floured surface or Silpat mat, and knead. Then, shape it into a rectangle, and use your hands or a wooden spoon to fold in the short sides to create a tight cylinder.
- Transfer the dough to a greased loaf pan, cover it with plastic wrap, and allow it to rise again.
- Bake until the bread is domed, puffy, and golden brown. Then, let it cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely. It’s vital to let your finished loaf of bread cool completely before slicing, or you’ll flatten it as you cut through the crust.
Achieving fluffy sandwich bread
The dough is fairly moist and sticky, but resist the temptation to add additional flour, unless it’s so moist that it won’t combine. Conversely, if it’s too dry, add up to one-quarter cup of water. Erring on the side of too moist is always preferable to dry in bread doughs.
Storage
Store cooled bread at room temperature for about 5 days. To keep it fresh, I recommend wrapping it in plastic wrap and placing it inside a gallon-sized Ziploc bag.
Freeze leftovers for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge or at room temperature to serve.
Recipe FAQs
I don’t know. I don’t have one and have never tried it, but I’d love to know how it goes if you try it out!
I used all-purpose flour because I wanted really soft bread. Bread flour will produce a loaf that’s chewier. I don’t know how whole wheat flour would work. If you try it, I suggest not using more than 1 cup (50% of the total amount). I fear it won’t rise well and could get very heavy and dense.
I haven’t tried this soft sandwich bread recipe with gluten-free flour. So, I cannot comment or make recommendations. I’ve never baked homemade yeast bread with gluten-free flour. So, it’s out of my wheelhouse entirely. I’d use your favorite blend and hope for the best!
I have only made this recipe using the yeast mentioned and haven’t tried it with other forms of yeast. So, I can’t speak to your results if you use active dry yeast that’s not labeled as instant. I use Red Star platinum instant yeast with great results.
If you want to flavor your sandwich bread, sprinkle it with cinnamon, nutmeg, or ground ginger when rolling the dough. Or, go for savory options like dill, chives, or thyme.
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Soft and Fluffy Sandwich Bread
Equipment
- 1 Small Bowl
- 1 Stand Mixer Fitted with a Dough Hook
- 1 (8×4 inch) Loaf Pan
- 1 Wire Rack
Ingredients
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1 cup old-fashioned whole rolled oats, not quick cook or instant
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, bread flour may be used and will create a heartier, chewier bread
- ¼ cup water, from the tap, not hot and not cold
- 2 to 3 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed
- 2 ¼ teaspoons instant dry yeast (one 1/4-ounce packet, I use Red Star Platinum
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
Instructions
- In a small bowl, pour boiling water over oatmeal, stir to combine. Set aside and let cool until temperature reaches about 130F, about 15 minutes. (I use Red Star Platinum Yeast which necessitates this temperature; allow mixture to cool to the ~100F range for other types of instant dry yeast, or to package directions).
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook (or a large mixing bowl and knead by hand for about 10 minutes), combine flour, 1/4 cup water, oil, brown sugar, instant dry yeast, and cooled oatmeal.
- Knead for 5 to 7 minutes on low speed, or until a moist, shaggy dough forms. The dough is fairly moist and sticky, but resist the temptation to add additional flour, unless it’s so moist that it won’t combine. Conversely, if it’s too dry, add up to one-quarter cup water. Erring on the side of too moist is always preferable to dry in bread-making.
- After kneading, turn the dough out into a large, greased bowl, cover with plasticwrap, and let it rise in a warm, draft-free place for about 90 minutes, or until doubled in size. Create a warm environment by preheating your oven for 1 to 2 minutes to 400F, then shutting it off. This creates a 90F-ish warm spot. Slide the bowl in and wait while the yeast works. Just make sure your oven is off.
- After the dough has doubled, punch it down, turn it out onto a floured surface or Silpat and knead it for about 3 minutes. With your fingers, shape it into a 10-inch by 6-inch rectangle, just eyeball it. The long side should be slightly longer than the baking pan. Then, fold the short sides in so that dough is about 8 inches in length. Roll to form a tight cylinder. There’s not much to roll, about 3 turns. Optionally, when rolling, sprinkle with cinnamon, nutmeg, ground ginger. Or go savory with dill, chives, or thyme.
- Spray an 8-by-4-inch loaf pan with floured cooking spray (or grease and flour the pan) and place the cylinder in the pan, seam side down. Cover with plasticwrap, and allow dough to rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled, about 60 to 75 minutes.
- In the last minutes of rising, preheat oven to 350F. Bake for about 30 minutes or until domed, golden, and puffy. When tapped, it should sound hollow. The internal temperature should reach 210F. Let bread cool in pan for 5 to 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.
Notes
- I store bread by wrapping a fully cooled loaf in plasticwrap, and place it inside a gallon-size Ziplock, where it stays fresh for about 5 days.
- Bread freezes very well and can be made from start to finish, cooled, and placed in a freezer-safe airtight container or a ziplock for up to 3 months.
- I like this bread toasted and with butter and a sprinkle of cinnamon-sugar or Cinnamon-Sugar Butter. It makes great Grilled Cheese, French Toast, and Homemade Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Originally published April 9, 2013 and republished May 16, 2020 with updated text.
Amazing! Your pictures capture the texture you were describing! While I am part of a big family, it is nice to have a small bread recipe. Very creative and although I LOVE all your sweet recipes, a “savory” one is nice once in a while. Because I am fairly new to your blog, I didn’t realize all the roll recipes you had! Definitely trying one, if not two, this week. Oh, I also used coconut oil in my banana bread (Like you did in your pineapple banana bread) and it was incredible. Thanks!
Glad that you like this one and that you found some new recipes to try and that you tried coconut oil! All great stuff! :)
I love this, Averie! For as much as I bake, I never make sandwich bread. That needs to change ASAP!
Me too. And I was like…why reinvent the wheel. Make something…basic but useful, and post that! So I did :)
This looks amazing – and I love that it makes a smaller loaf and you don’t use a ton of flour. I’ve never attempted bread and this just might be the one I have to try. Thanks for the recipe!
Ok well that’s awesome you may attempt it. Based on the wayyyyyy more complicated things you make, like your last Deb-inspired post, this will be a cake walk!
I love bread, but try to limit eating it to only once in a while, but this sounds so wonderful. I love the idea of putting oatmeal in the mix. Plus, I love the fact that it’s vegan.
Sandwich bread! Oh yum! You do it all. dessert, bread, breakfast, lunch dinner, snacks!!
I can not wait to give this bread a try is looks killer and so much bretter than anything from the store!
And I can sing the ABCs while kneading dough and answer a million questions from my 6 year old about it all :) Thanks for saying I do it all…some days that feels pretty darn accurate.
I’ve seen the oatmeal sandwich bread recipe just recently and there were mixed opinions, but your bread looks amazing! Love the high round top and the perfectly fluffy center! Yummers! Pinning!
I don’t know which recipe that was…I pieced this together from about 10 sources but really, just got in there with my own hands and flour and yeast and oats and went to work. Happy that it all worked out :) Sometimes that happens with the winging-in ones!
Thanks for the pin!
You have no idea how timely this is. I tried my first bread attempt for sandwiches 2 days ago and the trash can quite enjoyed it. The tips about whole wheat flour and bread flour was like a smack across the head because the recipe called for both and it looked more like quick bread than “bread bread.” Gonna give this one a try with a little more hope!
For a first-time or newer bread maker, wheat is HARD to work with. It causes things to be much denser and not rise as well and just is trickier. And even for any bread-maker, wheat flour is it’s own little animal with how it will behave. This bread, I assure you, is soo fluffy and light!
You may be confusing new bread bakers as I had to go back and look at the recipe again myself. When you say wheat is hard to work with you need to specify “whole” wheat. You are using wheat in this recipe just not whole wheat. All purpose flour is wheat. And yes, whole wheat is hard to work with. This does look like a wonderful recipe. I may have to tempt my husband to ignore his diet tomorrow and have fresh bread for lunch.
Whole wheat, yes, is much more challenging to work with. I thought it’s understood that wheat means whole wheat in this context, and left of the word ‘whole’ but will be more diligent in the future. Enjoy the bread. It’s truly wonderful and a favorite of ours!
Oh I bet the oatmeal gives it a wonderful texture. And the brown sugar, just a hint of sweetness. And it looks gorgeous too!
Brown sugar taste is barely there, mostly just there to help activate the yeast and give it food!
This looks delicious Averie! I’m sure your kitchen smelled AMAZING while this was baking! Yum!!!
Yes it did! Between the normal bread smell AND the oats…heavenly!
Gotta love the classic white bread. Yum!
Oh my goodness, yummmm! I could imagine so many delicious sandwiches, grilled cheese, breakfasts with toast, etc. using this bread. It looks incredible!
Thanks! And we loved it! All gone now..must.make.more!
We eat bread in our household and your bread looks better than any I have ever bought. I’d like to make your cinnamon raisin english muffin bread also.
Well thanks for the nice compliment on it looking better than storebought!
I find it so hard to make fluffy bread like that at home! BUt this looks like the ULTIMATE sandwich bread!
You have to try it. It really IS!
that bread looks so good…It would make a perfect peanut butter and fluff. I’m so afraid of bread making that and pie crusts are my kryptonite.
Seriously – you can do it! Start with this one maybe if youve never ever made bread. No-knead and goofproof! https://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2012/10/cinnamon-raisin-english-muffin-bread-with-cinnamon-sugar-butter.html
I get all intimidated about making yeast-bread products, but then every time I give in and make one I am reminded they aren’t so terribly hard-even without a heavy duty mixer (although if I win one of those KA mixers I’ll be making bread like CRAZY!). So I made some delightful buns recently with the Joy of Cooking’s no-knead light rolls recipe. I healthed them up a bit by reducing the sugar, subbing a bit of ww flour, and halving the fat (adding some applesauce) and they still turned out sooooo amazingly that I am super-inspired to do some more yeast recipes whilst inspired-before I somehow go back to being fearful of them…this looks great. I adore oatmeal in bread!
Joy of Cooking’s no-knead light rolls recipe with applesauce – wow, sounds delish! And awesome that you’re over your fears of yeast! :)