American Sandwich Bread Recipes

HOAGIE SANDWICH

Steps:

• Layer lettuce, tomatoes, onion, and deli dressing on bottom half of bread. Top with ham, salami, Deli American and top half of bread.

HOMEMADE WHITE BREAD

Steps:

• Adjust oven rack to low position and heat oven to 200° F. Once oven temperature reaches 200° F, maintain heat 10 minutes, then turn off oven heat. I use the proof setting on my oven which maintains the heat at 85° F so if your kitchen is warm enough, there is no need to use the oven for proofing - just keep the bowl in a draft-free area of the kitchen.
• Mix 3 ½ cups of the flour and salt in bowl of standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix milk, water, butter, honey, and yeast in 4-cup liquid measuring cup. Turn mixer to low and slowly add liquid. When dough comes together, remove the paddle attachment and switch to the dough hook - the dough will be very sticky at this point. Increase speed to medium (setting number 4 on a KitchenAid mixer) and mix until dough is smooth and satiny, stopping machine two or three times to scrape dough from hook if necessary, about 10 minutes. If, after 5 minutes the dough still sticks to the side of the bowl, add another ¼ cup of flour to the dough, 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough clears the sides of the bowl. Turn dough onto lightly floured work surface; knead to form a smooth, round ball, about 15 seconds.
• Place dough in very lightly oiled bowl, rubbing dough around bowl to lightly coat. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap; place in warm oven until dough doubles in size, 40 to 50 minutes.
• Form dough into loaf by gently pressing the dough into a rectangle, 1-inch thick and no wider than 9 inches long, with the long side closest to you. Next, starting with the long side, roll the dough firmly into a cylinder, pinching the seam with your fingers to make sure the dough sticks to itself. Turn dough seam side up and pinch it closed. Place dough in greased 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan (a 1 lb loaf pan) and press gently so dough touches all four sides of pan. Cover the pan with plastic wrap; set aside in warm spot (not in the oven) until dough almost doubles in size, 20 to 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat oven to 350° F and adjust the racks to the center and bottom positions. Place an empty baking pan on the bottom rack. Bring 2 cups water to boil.
• Remove plastic wrap from loaf pan. Place pan in oven and immediately pour heated water into empty baking pan; close oven door. Bake until instant-read thermometer inserted at angle from short end just above pan rim into center of loaf reads 195° F, about 40 to 50 minutes. Remove bread from pan, transfer to a wire rack, and cool to room temperature. Slice and serve.

AMERICAN SANDWICH BREAD

Steps:

• Mix milk, water, butter, honey and yeast together.
• Combine 3 1/2 cups flour and salt in bowl of stand mixer.
• Gradually add milk mixture to flour.
• Increase mixer speed to medium, mix for 10 minutes, until dough is smooth. (You may need to add extra flour to get dough to the right consistency. I always do.).
• Turn dough out onto floured surface, knead briefly to form a small, round ball.
• Place dough in a greased bowl, turn to coat.
• To Proof: Original recipe suggests while you are making the dough, heat an oven to 200 for 10 minutes, then turning off. Place bowl covered with plastic wrap in oven to proof. However, I cover with a towel and use my warming burner. Let rise 40 - 50 minutes, or until doubled in size.
• Turn onto floured work surface, gently roll dough into a 1 x 9 inch rectangle. Roll the short side into a tight cylinder. Pinch the seams closed. Place the seam-side down in a greased 9×5-inch loaf pan.
• Cover with plastic wrap or towel; set in a warm spot until the dough almost doubles in size, 20-30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350. Placing a glass dish with boiling water inside.
• Bake 40 -50 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer reads 195°.
• Brush with melted butter, cool on wire rack.
• To freeze: Cool completely, cover with plastic wrap or foil. Place in freezer bag. Thaw on counter overnight.

BUTTERY WHITE BREAD RECIPE (INSTANT YEAST)

Steps:

• Your bread machine should be unplugged.
• Remove the bread pan from the bread machine (so when you add the ingredients, they can not accidentally spill into the machine).
• Pour the milk into the bread pan and then add the other ingredients. Place the instant yeast (bread machine yeast) in last and the yeast should not touch the liquid (until the bread machine is turned on and the ingredients start to be mixed together by the bread machine). Some bakers like to make a small indent on top of the flour to prevent the yeast from spilling into the liquids or mixing with the salt before the machine is turned on.
• Put the bread pan with ingredients back into unplugged bread machine.
• Plug in bread machine. Enter the "Dough" setting on your bread machine and then press the "Start" button.
• When the bread machine has finished making the bread dough, unplug the bread machine.
• Remove the bread pan from the bread machine.
• Now go to the instruction section below on "preparing the dough & baking the bread". FYI - Ignore the instructions for the electric stand mixer below if you are using a bread machine to make your dough. Skip down to the preparing the dough & baking the bread section below.
• Your electric mixer should be unplugged.
• Remove the mixing bowl from the electric mixer.
• Insert a dough hook into the electric mixer.
• Pour the milk into the mixing bowl and then add the other ingredients. Place the instant yeast in last and the yeast should not touch the liquid (until the electric mixer is turned on and the ingredients start to be mixed together). Some bakers like to make a small indent on top of the flour to prevent the yeast from spilling into the liquids or mixing with the salt before the machine is turned on.
• Place the mixing bowl back into the electric stand mixer.
• Plug in the electric mixer and use a low speed (i.e. setting 2) to mix the dough. Mix the dough for 7-10 minutes.
• Turn off the electric mixer and unplug machine.
• Remove the mixing bowl from the electric mixer. Pour the dough into a second large mixing bowl that has been lightly "greased" with olive oil, melted butter, cooking spray, etc.
• Loosely cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for 60-90 minutes until it doubles in size.
• After the dough has risen, go to the instruction section below on "preparing the dough & baking the bread".
• Preheat the oven to 350 F.
• Sprinkle a little bit of flour onto a large cutting board.
• Remove the dough from the bread pan or mixing bowl and place the dough on the cutting board.
• Press down on the dough with your hands and create a "flattish" rectangle with the dough. The dough should be roughly 1 inch high.
• Roll up the dough into a tight "jelly roll". FYI - Please see the short instructional videos in the tips section below on how to shape the dough if you haven't shaped bread dough before. It is easier to watch & learn from these short videos versus trying to explain the rolling technique step by step.
• Place the rolled up dough into the bread pan.
• Press down on top of the dough so the edges of the dough press out towards the sides of the bread pan. This should result in little or no gaps between the dough and the bread pan. This helps the bread to turn into a nice loaf shape without any misshapen edges. Make sure that the top of the pressed down dough is roughly level (so one side isn't much higher than the other).
• Lightly coat the top of dough with vegetable oil in order to prevent dough exterior from drying out.
• Loosely cover the top of the bread pan with plastic wrap. Set the covered bread pan aside for 45-60 minutes for the dough to rise into a loaf shape. When the dough has risen modestly (1/2 inch to 1 inch) over the top of the bread pan, it is time to place the bread pan in the oven. FYI - Do not wait for the dough to rise higher (or the bread top will be too large after baking). The dough will continue to rise naturally in the oven.
• Place the bread pan in the (preheated) oven to bake at 350 F for 37-42 minutes. Wear oven mitts when dealing with a hot oven. Place the bread pan in the middle of the oven.
• Rotate the bread pan in the oven after 15-20 minutes (in order to ensure an even browning of the bread).
• After the 37-42 minute baking period has finished, remove the bread pan from the oven. Wear oven mitts.
• Remove the bread from bread pan and place the bread on a wire cooling rack. Wear oven mitts.
• Optional (but recommended!) - Brush melted butter on top of the bread with a pastry brush. This "basting" helps to create a more golden, buttery & tasty crust.
• Allow the bread to cool down on the wire cooling rack for 1-2 hours before cutting the bread.