Amish White Bread (Best Soft Sandwich Bread!)

Name: Amish White Bread
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 135 min
Ingredients: 2 cups warm water ((around 110°F)); 1/3 cup sugar ((67g)); 2 Tablespoons honey; 1 1/2 Tablespoons active dry yeast; 1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil; 1 1/2 teaspoons salt; 5 1/2 to 6 cups bread flour, (scooped & leveled (846g)); 2 Tablespoons salted butter, (for brushing or rubbing on top of the finished loaves)

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This easy Amish White Bread recipe makes a slightly sweet, soft & tender loaf that so much much better and fresher than picking up a loaf of bread at the store. It's the perfect homemade bread for sandwiches, toast, or just eaten piping hot from the oven slathered with butter and honey or jam!

If you are anything like me and enjoy making homemade bread, be sure to try my Sweet Molasses Brown Bread, Homemade French Bread, and Easy Rosemary Focaccia Bread next!

A loaf of fresh homemade Amish white bread on a cooling rack in front of a butter plate with softened butter.

This post was originally shared in November 2016, but has been updated with new photos and more helpful tips.

When it comes to simple, classic soft and tender bread, this is Amish white bread is my favorite, go-to recipe.

I have been using this easy homemade sandwich bread recipe for years with only slight modifications to the original version that was probably shared with me by a college roommate or someone. I wish I could remember who!

But this is the recipe that really taught me how to make bread. It's so simple and forgiving and easy to work with and you will get two perfectly beautiful, rounded loaves that have a golden brown crust and a soft, white interior. It's perfect for grilled cheese, PB&J, ham & cheese, you name it. You are absolutely going to love it.

Why This Recipe Works

As far as yeast breads go, this Amish white bread recipe is straight forward and fairly quickto make. Sure there is rising, but the actual active work time where you mixing and kneading the bread and then shaping it into loaves is more like 15 minutes. It's great for beginners.
You get two perfect loaves. Which can mean one for sharing with a neighbor, or one to devour immediately while it's hot and the next to enjoy for sandwiches and toast the next day.
What is better on a cold day than a bowl of soup and a slice of homemade bread? Nothing, that's what. Okay, maybe chocolate chip cookies, but nothing else.

A loaf of homemade Amish white bread next to another sliced loaf and butter knife.

Ingredient Notes

Honey: One of the changes I made to the original version of this recipe was to decrease the sugar and replace some of it with two tablespoons of honey. It gives the bread a subtle sweetness and just a hint of honey flavor.
Yeast: This recipe calls for active dry yeast, which requires proofing in warm water with a little sugar to "proof" it. If the yeast doesn't get foamy within 5-10 minutes, chances are either that your water was too warm and you killed it, or the yeast is old and you should get new yeast. You could also just use instant yeast and skip the proofing step, if you prefer.
Flour: Don't be intimidated by this recipe calling for bread flour! I have made this Amish white bread dozens of times with all-purpose flour and it turns out excellent. Bread flour just gives a slightly chewier quality to the texture of the bread and is my preference when I have it on hand.
Warm water: The key here is that the water should be warm, but not scalding hot. Technically it should be around 110°F but I never actually measure it. I always just get it from the tap where it feels pleasantly warm running over my hand.

Ingredients for making Amish white bread in separate bowls on a white surface.

How to Make This Recipe

Start by combining the warm water, 1 tablespoon of the sugar, and the honey in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the yeast, then let it sit for 5-10 minutes until the yeast is bubbly and foamy. If the yeast isn't foaming, you need to throw it out and start again.

If your yeast doesn't foam, it's either because the water was too hot, or the yeast was too old (or it could be both). This sounds scarier than it actually is. In all my years I have never once had yeast that doesn't foam.

Active dry yeast in a bowl with warm water and sugar.

Foamy proofed active dry yeast in a glass bowl.

Add the rest of the sugar to the proofed yeast along with the oil, salt, and 2 cups of the flour. Mix well to combine, then start adding the rest of the flour, 1 cup at a time, while mixing with the dough hook of your mixer. Once all of the flour has been added, knead on medium speed for 5-7 minutes until you have a nice smooth, supple dough that cleans the sides of the bowl.

This can also be done by hand by using a sturdy wooden spoon to mix in the flour until you need to switch to kneading in the remaining flour by hand.

Adding bread flour to proofed yeast in a bowl.

Bread dough that needs more flour added to it in a glass bowl.

I always like to turn out my dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for the final minute just to shape it into a smooth ball and because with practice and time you will get to know the feel of your bread dough. This should be a very workable dough that isn't overly sticky as long as your hands are dry. If you are sticking a ton, add a little more flour to your hands and surface and knead some of that in until the dough is easy to work with.

Transfer the dough to a clean bowl (or the original bowl) with a little oil in the bottom. Turn the dough around to coat lightly in the oil, then cover with plastic wrap or a clean dish towel and let rise for about 1 hour until doubled in size.

Bread dough that has been kneaded until smooth and is ready to rise in a greased bowl.

Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it down by sticking your balled up fist right into the center of the bread dough to knock out some of the gases that have built up as the dough expanded.

A hand punching down risen bread dough in a glass bowl.

Bread dough that has been punched down in a glass mixing bowl.

Divide into two even mounds and shape into loaves. You can either pinch the larger ball of dough in half or use a bench scraper or sharp knife to cut it into two.

Shape into oblong loaves by hand. One way to do this is to pat out the dough into a rough square and roll it up, then tuck the ends under. But you can also just shape them by hand so the loaves have a smooth top and edges tucked underneath the loaves in two lightly greased bread pans.

Cover the bread pans with plastic wrap or your dish towel and let them rise again for 30-45 minutes.

Two loaves of homemade bread dough in metal pans ready for their final rise.

Two loaves of risen bread ready to be baked in the oven.

Bake for 28-30 minutes until the loaves are golden brown on top. You can also test it by thumping the bread for a hollow sound or testing it with a digital thermometer to see if it registers 190°F in the middle of the loaf, which is your best best for getting bread that is done by still soft and moist without drying it out.

The last step is to rub top crust of the loaves of Amish white bread while they are still hot with a stick of cold butter for a buttery finish that also helps keep the top crust soft. Or brush them with melted butter and a pastry brush. Either approach works. Turn the loaves out of the bread pans to cool on wire racks, then store in an airtight container to keep them fresh.

Two loaves of freshly baked homemade bread in loaf pans.

Recipe FAQ's

Can I use this recipe to make fry bread (aka Utah scones)?

Yes! Utahns & Idahoans love their "scones" which are really just fried bread dough, slightly different, but close to this fry bread recipe. Before punching down the dough, pinch or slice off small chunks of dough (a little larger than golf ball size), then flatten and stretch them into patties. Cut a small slit in the middle of each dough patty so that it will cook through evenly, then fry in a thin layer of hot oil in a frying pan, turning to brown each side. Serve hot dripping with honey, slathered with jam, or dusted with powdered sugar and a tall glass of cold milk on the side for a delicious treat. We usually make so many scones that I only have enough dough left for one full-size loaf of bread and a mini-loaf.

Can this bread be made gluten-free?

I'm not a gluten-free baker and definitely don't have enough experience to answer this with any degree of confidence, sorry. I would recommend seeking out a reputable gluten-free bread recipe instead of just subbing gluten-free baking flour in this recipe.

Why is it called Amish white bread?

I can only assume it's because the simple bread recipe originated in Amish communities and spread from there, but the recipe has been passed on so many times that it's hard to say whether that's true. It just seems like the kind of wholesome, humble fare that the Amish would make though, doesn't it?

Why is kneading important when making bread?

The purpose of kneading is to develop the gluten in the flour. This gives it a chewy texture, but also helps make the bread lighter and fluffier.

A white plate with a slice of fresh warm homemade bread spread with butter.

Recipe Tips

Storage: Wrap your warm loaves in a clean tea towel or dish cloth until they have cooled completely to keep them soft, then store in an airtight container for 4-5 days.
Freezing: You can certainly freeze a loaf to half on hand. Just let it cool completely, then wrap in a couple of layers of plastic wrap and stick the bread in a gallon-size Ziploc freezer bag for 2-3 months. Thaw before using.
Soft, buttery tops: Rubbing the top of each loaf with a cold stick of butter right when they come out of the oven makes it so, so good and keeps the crust nice and tender.
Rise in a warm spot: I like to let my bread dough rise in a sunny window or on the counter by the stove where it's warm. But I have heard of using your instant pot on the yogurt setting to rise the bread in half the time. And if your house is really cold, you could set an empty oven to 200°F for 10 minutes, then turn it off and set your bread in there to rise. Just don't forget it's in there and start preheating the oven for something else.

A slice of fresh homemade white bread with raspberry freezer jam spread on top.

A cross section of a loaf of Amish white bread.

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