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A few years ago, I started making my own sandwich bread on a biweekly basis. Good bread is really expensive here in Toronto (like at Cobs Bread), and cheap bread is really bad! And cheap bread is not even that cheap. As we are always looking to cut costs, I decided to bake my own bread. And it doesn’t hurt that I love to bake!
I’ve found that buying big bags of flour is most cost-effective. The small, 2 kg bags you can get at any grocery store are quite expensive, and you use up a lot of the flour all at once. When we lived in Riyadh, one of those bags would cost just SR 2, or about $0.66! Now in Canada, I buy 20 kg bags from Costco for $15, and that lasts a long time. I then buy a jar of traditional yeast, which lasts again for a few months in the fridge. This brings down the cost from about $5 per loaf at Cobs or at a farmers’ market to just pennies!
Don’t be put off by the large number of hours of prep time; most of that is just the dough sitting and rising. You can easily add bread baking to your routine. What I do is mix the sponge and knead the dough in the evening the night before, then I let the dough rise in the fridge overnight. The next morning, I knock it back and let it come to room temperature and rise again. This way, you get fresh bread in the morning, and you’re not chained to the dough.
This standard sandwich bread is just a plain loaf of white bread. Often I like to use 50% white flour and 50% whole wheat flour. If you want to do that, start with 4 cups of white flour right at the beginning. Then gradually add the whole wheat flour. This helps keep the dough soft and airy, as whole wheat flour can make a loaf quite dense and heavy.
Another way to jazz up this bread is to add optional additions, like leftover rice, leftover oatmeal, ground flax seeds, or wheat germ. This recipe makes two loaves. Ryan and I normally keep one on the counter to eat in a week. I then slice the second loaf and keep it in the freezer. This way, the second loaf stays fresh!
If you want to make a fancier loaf, try our challah recipe! I haven’t yet experimented with Tartine-style bread or sourdough, but they’re on my to-do list.
Easy Standard Sandwich Bread
Ingredients
- 3 cups warm water
- 1 tsp traditional yeast
- 2.5 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 7-8 cups flour all purpose
- 1 cup add-ins: leftover rice, leftover oatmeal, ground flax seed, wheat germ optional
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add 1/4 cup warm water (not too hot). Sprinkle over the yeast and let it sit for 10 minutes, or until the yeast gets foamy. Don't stir it.
- Once the yeast is foamy, add the remaining 2 3/4 cups of warm water. Add 3 cups of the flour. Stir with a wooden spoon until smooth, about 100 strokes. This is a liquidy batter called a 'sponge'. Cover with plastic wrap. You can let it sit at room temperature for 1 to 4 hours. The longer you let it sit, the better flavour the bread will have.
- Once the sponge has sat for at least 1 hour, stir in the salt and oil. Add the flour, cup by cup, mixing well after each addition. Don`t add too much flour! Keep kneading for 10 minutes. The dough should be soft and elastic, with the texture of an earlobe. It should be barely sticky. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 2 hours at room temperature or until it doubles in size. I often make the dough up to this part the night before, and let the dough rise in the fridge overnight.
- Once the dough has risen, gently knock it back it to deflate it. Put it back in the bowl and cover and let sit for another 1.5 hours.
- Gently knead the dough again and divide into two pieces. Let rest for 15 minutes. After resting, flatten the dough into a rectangle and then roll it into a loaf shape. Pinch the seam to seal it. You can put the dough on a baking sheet or in loaf pans, seam side down. Let rise for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 400 F. Once the dough has risen, slash the top of the loaves with a sharp knife. Put the bread in the oven and bake 25 minutes. Then decrease the oven to 350 F and bake for another 20 minutes. The bottom of the loaf should sound hollow when knocked.
- Once baked, remove from oven and let cool before slicing.
I really need to learn how to do bread. I’ve done it before once or twice but only with mediocre results so it’s something I feel like I should work on. I’ll have to give this recipe a try – particularly because I have some fresh blueberry preserves that would go perfectly on fresh bread!
Look good! Thanks so much for linking up with me at my #UnlimitedMonthlyLinkParty 12, open May 1 to 26. All party entries shared if social media buttons installed.
We travel to the States several times a year and I bring home grocery items that are cheaper. It really helps on the budget. – Margy
I’d love to make this bread but since I’ve never made it before, I would like to have seen a few more photos of the process. What do you mean by ‘pinch the seam to seal it’?
You can do it! I just made another two loaves this morning and sorry I didn’t take any photos! Since the dough is flattened into a rectangle that you roll up, you don’t want the dough to ‘unroll’ as it bakes. You literally just pinch the end of the dough to the layer below it. These photos shows it: https://www.thespruceeats.com/how-to-form-a-loaf-427573
And it doesn’t have to be perfect!
This looks so amazing ??♀️ I’d luv to invite you to join us and share over at Charming Homes and Gardens Wednesday – Sundays? https://www.dabblinganddecorating.com/single-post/2020/03/31/Charming-Homes-Gardens-Wednesday-Link-Party
I am going to follow your recipe#dreamtesm@_karendennis
I bake our bread at home too! I love the slashing across the top of yours. Very pretty. I will have to try your recipe in my next bread baking session. Thank you so much for sharing to the Read & Relax Link Party. 🙂
I used to love making bread when my children were young and I was at home. I don’t have time for it now…well, I do now that we are in lock-down but I can’t find yeast in the market anyplace! Yours looks delicious and if I ever find yeast I am going to try your recipe. There’s something very satisfying about making bread.
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Thank you for sharing with us at Farm Fresh Tuesdays Blog Hop! Your bread looks delicious!
Your bread will be one of my features at this week’s hop so be sure to stop by to see your feature and say hi!
Melissa | Little Frugal Homestead
I really need to start making my own bread but I have just been too lazy lately. I am pinning this recipe to give it a try at some point. Thanks for sharing and linking up with me.
Shelbee
http://www.shelbeeontheedge.com
Looks delicious, sadly I’m gluten free and bread never tastes the same as when it contains wheat. Thanks for linking up with #pocolo and hope to see you back later this week
I love making bread. Might give this a go as we go through so much and sandwich bread is a staple here. PoCoLo
A great time to be making breads. This looks good for various purposes. Thanks for sharing with Fiesta Friday!
Looks deliciously simple. Thanks for sharing this at the What’s for Dinner party! Glad you’re part of the fun.