Suburban Homesteads LLC

Finding the right homemade sandwich bread recipe is a little like looking for a needle in a haystack. I searched through dozens of recipes and made multiple attempts before landing on the one that actually worked for my family. There were real moments of defeat in this process.

At one point I gave up entirely and went back to store-bought bread. But after taking a closer look at the ingredients list on that bag, and facing my own early battle with per-diabetes, I decided it was worth one more try. This time, I wasn’t going to give up. I was going to treat it like a real experiment: document my trials to figure out exactly what I was looking for.

Comparing Store-Bought Bread

When I first started looking into the ingredients of our family’s food, I found that the bread I grew up on, the bread my parents called “healthy” was actually full of high fructose corn syrup. HFCS is a processed sweetener derived from corn starch, and it shows up in more foods than most people realize, including many commercial breads, where it’s used to improve shelf life, texture, and browning (Tasting Table, 2024).

I started looking for healthier alternatives. Dave’s Killer Bread is genuinely a great option.  It’s organic, free from HFCS and artificial preservatives, with solid nutrition. But my kids wouldn’t touch it; to them, it just didn’t taste like bread. I found a middle-ground brand Nature’s Own is another good option. Prior to 2025, before the shift toward cleaner federal dietary guidelines, which pushed more brands to reformulate. Nature’s Own was one of the only breads on the shelf that skipped the HFCS, and the kids were satisfied. Nature’s Own has since transitioned to all-organic with a shorter ingredient list, even better.

My kids didn’t care what brand it was, as long as it tasted like bread and they could make their sandwiches. At this point, if I have no other choice but to buy bread, this is the brand I’d choose.

But we were going through 2-3 loaves a week, which in my state runs about $18 in bread. Yikes. I had to do something to reduce the bread bill and still keep my family’s favorite foods on the table, and so began my search for the perfect kid-friendly sandwich bread recipe.

Finding the Recipe

Like most home cooks in this decade, I started on Pinterest and tried recipes using every flour combination imaginable: wheat, all-purpose, bread flour, and combinations of all three. This turned out to be a meaningful distinction, not just a labeling quirk.

The difference is actually the protein content. Bread flour (hard wheat berries) runs 12–14% protein, which develops stronger gluten strands, giving you a higher rise, better structure, and a slightly chewier texture. All-purpose flour sits closer to 10–12% protein, making it more versatile but producing a softer, less structured loaf (King Arthur Baking, 2022; America’s Test Kitchen, 2022).

Eventually I found myself browsing old cookbooks (books are a separate obsession of mine entirely) and stumbled on a fairly basic sandwich bread recipe. I tried it, and it was close to what I was looking for. I had my jumping-off point.

For our bread, I mixed all-purpose flour with wheat flour which is 13 – 15% protein. This mixture gave just the right texture for a soft sandwich bread without it turning into pastry.

Underneath the experimenting was a deeper goal: I wanted a bread made from simple, whole ingredients. Nothing I couldn’t identify, and nothing I couldn’t, in theory, grow or source myself someday. A tall order for someone in the suburbs, but that was the idea. I wanted to know where my food came from and how it ended up on our table.

What I Learned About Mixing Methods

Making bread dough entirely by hand is no small undertaking. Proper kneading is essential for the bread’s structure and chew, and doing it well by hand takes a lot of time and effort, and gets to be very sticky. While I don’t mind the sensory experience, it was not something I had the patience for.

Just a little background. I didn’t come from a family that did a whole lot of cooking, and it wasn’t something they prioritized teaching us. So while you might be thinking of course you don’t use a hand mixer to mix bread dough. That was far from where I was starting.

So when I tried using a hand mixer, it turned out to be a mess. The dough would get stuck in the attachments, and it was impossible to get out without washing it. I felt like I was wasting dough. And it’s not the same as when you’re mixing cookie dough.

Because I loved baking, a KitchenAid stand mixer quickly made my wish list. But when it came to bread, I quickly realized the stand mixer attachments run into the same dough-sticking problem a hand mixer does, unless you’re using a dedicated dough hook. The dough is going to get stuck in the attachments, and it’s almost impossible to fully remove from the crevices. Especially if it dries.

Why the BRead Maker

As of now, my favorite bread-making tool is the bread maker; it’s a budget-friendly and surprisingly useful tool that I’ve come to genuinely love. It’s made me appreciate the mix of modern technology and traditional baking methods.

So I split the difference: a little tradition, a little technology, and found the combination that worked. I use the bread maker for mixing, and the oven for baking. My kids add all the ingredients to the machine and press the button themselves. Once it’s done mixing, I check the texture and set it to the dough cycle for the final mix and rise.

(Hint: When using a bread maker add wet ingredients before adding dry ingredients.)

Building the Perfect Loaf

I’d tried settings that mixed and baked the bread all at once, but the pan was just to big for sliced bread. So here’s what we do instead:

1. Let the bread maker complete the dough cycle. If you’re using 5 or more cups of flour to make more than one loaf, don’t let it rise all the way in the machine. It’s too much dough and will overflow.
2. The machine sounds before each cycle change, so once it’s done mixing, remove the dough and place it in a large bowl to rise. Leave the bread maker running so it can time the rise for you and sound again when it’s time to knead. The first rise is about 1 hour. (If you’re using 4 cups of flour or less, it’s fine to let it rise in the machine instead.)
3. After the first rise, knead the dough by hand in the large bowl.

To see this bread maker in action check out my video demonstration with simple steps for each phase.

Storing Homemade Bread (And Why It’s Different from Store-Bought)

One of the most overlooked steps is what happens after the bread comes out of the oven. Let the loaves cool completely before storing. I found that just because a loaf looks cool on the outside doesn’t mean it’s cooled through on the inside. When you take the loaf out of the pan, the crust might still feel a little sticky. Let it keep cooling until the crust is firm.

Once the loaf is completely cool, you’ve got a few good storage options. An airtight container works well. I’ve also started using beeswax covers instead of a lid. It helps regulate moisture inside the container and keeps the bread fresh longer. A paper bag or bread bin works fine too, if that’s what you have on hand. Avoid the refrigerator either way: it may seem like it would preserve bread longer, but cold temperatures actually accelerate the process that dries bread out and turns it stiff, faster than room temperature would (King Arthur Baking, 2020).

One important note: homemade bread doesn’t last as long as store-bought, and that’s by design. Commercial breads contain preservatives like calcium propionate and emulsifiers specifically engineered to extend shelf life. Without those additives, homemade sandwich bread at room temperature typically lasts 3 to 4 days on average before it starts to dry out or show signs of mold (Healthline, 2019; Red Star Yeast, 2023)

Although that range depends a lot on humidity, slice thickness, and how it’s stored. Ours tends to run closer to a full week, which works out well for a family going through two loaves a week; it just means baking lands on a weekly schedule either way.

If you end up with a half-used loaf starting to turn, don’t toss it. Slice what’s left, wrap tightly, and freeze it.  Individual slices can go straight from freezer to toaster with no wasted food. (King Arthur Baking, 2020). Or toast the remaining bread and process it into breadcrumbs using mini food processor; breadcrumbs come in handy for several other recipes.

A Healthier, More Sustainable Habit

What started as frustration over ingredients and the grocery bill turned into one of the most rewarding habits our family has developed. Homemade bread is simple, satisfying, and supports our efforts toward more sustainable living. Knowing exactly what’s in our food and building healthy habits our kids will carry into their own homes someday makes the whole process well worth it.

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.

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References

America’s Test Kitchen. (2022). What is the difference between bread flour, all-purpose flour, pastry flour, and cake flour? https://www.americastestkitchen.com/articles/5309-what-is-the-difference-between-bread-flour-all-purpose-flour-pastry-flour-cake-flour

Cleveland Clinic. (2025). Why high fructose corn syrup is bad for you. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/what-is-high-fructose-corn-syrup

Healthline. (2019). How long does bread last? https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/how-long-does-bread-last

King Arthur Baking. (2020). The best way to store yeast bread. https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2020/07/08/the-best-way-to-store-yeast-bread

King Arthur Baking. (2022). Bread flour vs. all-purpose flour: Does it really make a difference? https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2022/09/22/bread-flour-vs-all-purpose-flour

Red Star Yeast. (2023). How to store fresh-baked bread. https://redstaryeast.com/blog/how-to-store-fresh-baked-bread/

Tasting Table. (2024). Red flag ingredients in store-bought bread. https://www.tastingtable.com/1683539/red-flag-ingredients-store-bought-bread/

WebMD. (2023). High-fructose corn syrup: Is it worse than sugar? https://www.webmd.com/diet/what-to-know-about-high-fructose-corn-syrup