This easy sandwich bread is known as pain de mie, bread of the crumb in French because of its perfect texture.
Table of Contents
🗝️ Key takeaways
- The crumb on this bread is soft and tender and since there's very little crust it's great for the little kids. No more cutting off the crusts!
- This versatile loaf is tasty as a sandwich loaf, Texas toast, or French toast
- A Pullman loaf pan (also called Pain de Mie pan) has a top on it while it is baking. This means that the bread has a flat top with almost no crust at all.
Pullman bread, also known as pain de mie, is a classic-style loaf of bread, recognized best for its well-known square slices and cravable texture!
Plus, the thin, golden brown crust is easy to trim off without much waste for elegantly presented tea time snacks—or, to appease picky eaters!
Fun fact: most types of bread loaves that you buy for sandwiches from the bread aisle in the grocery store (not the fresh bakery section) are technically pain de mie, too!
🧾 Ingredients
This is an "at a glance" list of ingredients. You'll find the list and the measurements in the printable recipe card below.
📖 Variations
- Knead in about ¾ cup of raisins or dried cranberries
- Use half whole wheat flour
- Knead in ¾ cups of chopped pecans
- Follow the filling and shaping instructions for cinnamon swirl bread but bake it in the Pullman pan.
🔪 Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the active dry yeast, sugar, and warm water.
- After about ten minutes, add two cups of flour to the yeast mixture.
- Pour in the milk and butter. Stir.
- Add the salt, dry milk powder, and mashed potato flakes.
- Add the rest of the flour slowly, mixing until smooth bread dough forms.
- Transfer dough to a lightly greased bowl and let rise, covered, in a warm place for two hours or in the fridge overnight.
- Place dough in a Pullman pan. Let rise until it reaches the lip of the pan.
- Slide the metal cover over the pan. Bake with the cover on.
🥫 How to store leftovers
Like most homemade loaf bread, Pullman loaves are best enjoyed within three or four days of baking. However, you can also freeze the bread for up to three months!
To store the Pullman bread, wrap it in plastic wrap or aluminum foil and keep it at room temperature.
Be sure to tightly cover any cut sections of the bread to prevent air from getting in and drying out the loaf.
To freeze
For longer storage, place the wrapped loaf into a freezer-safe bag and put it in the freezer for up to 3 months.
I like to slice the Pullman loaf, first, sandwiching each slice in between a piece of parchment paper. That way, I can easily pull out an individual slice or two any time I have a taste for delicious sandwich bread!
You can thaw a full Pullman loaf at room temperature, or pop a slice or two straight from frozen into the toaster if you just can't wait—when the bread cravings call, they're hard to ignore!
You'll find more specific instructions on freezing and storing yeast dough here.
💭 Things to know
⭐ Expert Tip: Pay close attention to the ingredient temperatures written in the recipe. Unless otherwise indicated, the rest of the ingredients should be at room temperature for the best loaf ever!
- Sometimes tap water has chemicals or components that can interfere with the yeast and affect how the dough rises. It's best to use spring water from a bottle if you can.
- If you choose the two-hour first rise, try to set the bowl in a draft-free place. Yeast is the most effective for quick growth around 75 degrees F. The warmth of your kitchen from a preheated oven is ideal!
- If you have time make it the day before and let it rise overnight in the refrigerator for the first rise, before shaping.
- If you don't have a Pullman bread pan, coat two regular loaf pans with non-stick spray or olive oil. Divide the dough between them, and cover tightly with a greased sheet of foil. Then, wrap each of the pans in another layer or two of foil, sealing them securely.
- No guesswork is needed to tell when your bread is finished baking—just check it with an instant-read thermometer. The internal temperature at the center should be 190 degrees F.
- To easily get the bread out of the hot pan, turn a cooling rack upside down over the top of the loaf pan. In one fluid motion, flip over both the rack and pan. Then, simply lift the pan off of your beautiful, warm bread.
- Let the bread cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into it or wrapping for storage.
- You can cut this paper thin for fancy things and thick for things like Texas toast. It's super versatile.
💡Great Idea: Substitute up to half of the bread flour for whole wheat flour, depending on the type of flavor you like. Pullman loaves make great whole wheat bread!
👩🍳 FAQs
A Pullman loaf is a bread often used for sandwiches and French toast. It has a delicate texture, soft crumb, and slightly sweet flavor. Pullman loaf is made in a special pan with a sliding lid at the top that keeps the bread in a block shape as it bakes.
Pain de mie is the French name for Pullman Loaf. There's no real differences between the two. Pain de Mie, loosely translated, means a loaf of bread with no crust — and that's pretty much what it is!
The fun nickname originates with the Pullman railway company. The only bread they made was pain de mie in the special, square tin pan. Supposedly, the straight edges stacked together better than round loaves for more effective storage. Funnily enough, the loaves resembled the rectangular, angled shape of the Pullman cars, too!
Potato starch holds onto water very well, which makes this type of bread extra moist and soft!
You can! Unlike active dry yeast that needs "activation" (the first two steps of our recipe), instant yeast is ready to go right off the bat. So, just mix it into the ingredients and go on with the recipe!
Nope. You can bake in any type of loaf pan. You can bake it in anything you want and you'll have delicious homemade bread - but it's not pain de mie without the special pan.
The loaf is mild, slightly sweet, and not too "yeasty" with a delicate, velvety crumb that stays soft.
📚 Related recipes
Y'all know I make a lot of bread. It is relaxing and makes the house smell like home - much better than any candle! Here are some of my favorites -
- Amish White Bread is a slightly sweet, velvety-textured, homemade bread that’s perfect for sandwiches. You may have heard it called milk bread. You can make this recipe by hand or in a bread machine – both instructions are included
- English Muffin Bread has all of those nooks and crannies and craters of an English muffin but in a quick, no-knead toasting bread loaf. It’s a fragrant batter bread with that distinct yeasty flavor that we all love.
- Multi-Grain is full of healthy ingredients and a generous splash of honey to give it just enough sweetness. It makes a hearty sandwich or the crunchiest toast imaginable.
- Honey Oatmeal Bread is an old-fashioned classic. It’s moist, soft, and a little chewy with a slightly sweet honey and oat flavor that makes it irresistible. This is my go-to bread for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!!
- Honey Buttermilk Bread is so easy that even a beginner can do it! It’s the best bread ever for sandwiches with a velvety crumb with a slightly sweet flavor that comes from honey.
🫶 We recommend
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These are the tools and products I use in this recipe.
📞 The last word
This is one of my favorite breads to make. When you take the cover off (careful not to burn yourself) the aroma that wafts up into your face will have you drooling!
I like it cut about 1 ½ inches thick because then it's just right for a toast base for creamed chicken or a saucy type topping. It doesn't get soggy. It's also my favorite thickness for French Toast when I'm not using my quick Brioche.
This is perfect for s'mores stuffed French toast!
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need.
If you love this recipe please comment below & give it 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 Recipe
Pullman Loaf, AKA Pain de Mie Bread
Print Pin Recipe Save Recipe Rate RecipeIngredients
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
- 1 cup water, spring water is best
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- ⅔ cup milk, whole milk
- 6 tablespoons butter, unsalted, melted and cooled to room temp.
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ¼ cup nonfat dry milk powder
- 3 tablespoons dehydrated mashed potato flakes run through the blender, don't reconstitute them - add them dry.
- 4 ½ cups bread flour, up to 5 cups
Instructions
- Add the yeast and sugar to the water.
- Set it aside for 10 minutes until it is bubbly and looks creamy.
- Add the milk, melted butter, and 2 cups of flour and mix well.
- Mix in the salt, dry milk powder, and mashed potato flakes.
- Add more flour, a little at a time, until the dough is smooth and soft.
- Transfer the dough to a greased bowl, grease the top of the dough, and cover with a tea towel.
- Let rise for 2 hours, or until double in bulk - or overnight in the refrigerator.
- Lightly grease a 13 x 4-inch pain de mie pan.
- Gently press down the dough and shape it into a 13-inch log.
- Fit it into the pan.
- Cover the pan with lightly greased plastic wrap and let the dough rise unil it is just below the lip of the pan, about an hour but possibly more.
- Remove the plastic.
- Lightly grease the inside of the cover and slide it onto the pan.
- Let the dough rise for an additional 10 minutes or so while the oven is preheating to 350F.
- Bake the bread for 25 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the oven and take off the cover.
- Return the loaf to the oven and bake it for an additional 20 minutes, or until the bread tests done. An instant read thermometer, inserted into the center, will read 190F.
- Remove the bread from the oven and place on a rack to cool completely, taking the loaves out of the pans after 10 minutes.
Notes
- Make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature unless otherwise indicated.
- If you have time make it the day before and let it rise overnight in the refrigerator for the first rise, before shaping.
- If you don't have a pullman loaf pan you can spray any loaf pan really well with nonstick bake spray, then add about ½ the dough, spray nonstick spray on a sheet of aluminum foil and cover tightly , sealing it on the loaf pan. NOW wrap the loaf pan with a couple of layers of aluminum flour tightly. It's not perfect but it will work.
- This bread freezes like a charm. I like to slice it and freeze it with parchment between the slices so I can use just what I need.
- Let it cool completely before cutting. You can cut this paper thin for fancy things and thick for things like Texas toast. It's super versatile.
- You can make whole wheat pain de mie by substituting whole wheat flour for up to half the bread flour.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
First published April 22, 2014. Last updated August 14, 2023, with new images and improved readability.
What’s new? Check out my Restless Chipotle & Co. Store on Amazon where you'll find all kinds of nostalgic goodness! Thanks so much for being a part of Restless Chipotle!
Georgianne says
This bread is the best!!! I love all your recipes. I know when I see Restless Chipotle…it’s gonna be great and always is!! You never let me down.
My husband is diabetic and he can enjoy your bread.
Note to all diabetics: You can eat bread if it’s homemade! It’s the preservatives and fillers that make it where you can’t eat the bread in the store without it raising your sugar! This really goes for everything. I bake a lot for my husband now!!! Cheese-it’s crackers, bagels,English muffins …you name it!
Donna says
I have more of a question than a comment. I rely on your bread recipes because they never fail me. I am an experienced baker. But this recipe does not tell me how long to need the dough. I find that a little odd. So as I am writing this, I am making it, the best I can do is use the window Pain method. But if you could double check the recipe maybe there’s something left out. All your bread recipes are wonderful and I’ve been making bread for pretty close to 60 years.
Marye says
Hi Donna, jus the normal time - depending on whether or not you're using a mixer. About 5 to 10 minutes by hand or until it feels like your earlobe when pinched. Hope this helps.
Janelle says
The taste and texture of this is perfect! BUT it keeps collapsing after it starts cooking. Any idea what I can do to prevent that?
Marye says
You may be letting it rise too long. Try putting it in the oven a little early.
Araceli says
Hi, I purchased 2 of the 8x4x4 Pullman loaf pans that have the 3 holes at bottom to make sandwich bread but can't seem to find appropriate size recipes, so would splitting this dough in half work for these 2 pans? Any suggestions.
Marye says
I am not sure, sorry.
CarolCuevas says
I can't wait to try this!
Can full-fat dry milk be used?
Thanks
Marye says
Yes it can. 🙂
Jan says
I don't see any mention of the butter in the instructions. It's in the ingredients list. When should it be added in?
Thanks
Marye says
Hi Jan - it goes in with the milk. 🙂
bev says
Marye,I made this bread today..It is awesome! So easy,flavor is very good..Loved it as all your breads are so good..Thank you for sharing your recipes with us..I have not made a one bread of yours or cakes or anything you share ,that I had to throw away..Your recipes are awesome..Thank you again..Bev
Patricia says
you have 6 T of butter, melted and cooled in the recipe but you do not have it in the directions. When do you add it?
Marye says
Oooops! Add it with the mashed potato flakes and salt
Martha says
I just bought a 9” Pullman loaf pan. Do you have a smaller version of this recipe, or suggest how it can be adjusted to fit my pan? Thank you!
Marye says
I think you can just halve the recipe. Hover over the serving sizes and move the bar down to half the number of servings and it will change the measurements.
Martha says
Oh, I didn’t know I could do that. That’s so helpful and takes the guesswork out of reducing the ingredient measurements. Thank you very much.
Marye says
You're welcome. You'll find many helps for using the site here - https://www.restlesschipotle.com/essentials-for-success/
Kristen says
Wow! Look out Wonder Bread, there's a much better bread in town. That is simply a gorgeous loaf!!
Laura @MotherWouldKnow says
The bread looks great and I'd love to try it, but what really catches my eye is your fabulous Pullman loaf pan. If I got into the habit of making bread, I'd definitely treat myself to one. Your description of French toast is just about the way I do it - we should have a virtual brunch some weekend, munching on French toast and slurping coffee or tea as we relax. PS - Challah is the bread I prefer for french toast.
TeriC says
Thank you for sharing your expertise with us all. I just started playing with homemade breads and I think it’s been a hit. I came home from town yesterday after making a loaf the night before and more than 2/3 of it was gone, along with 2 some butter I had set out to soften for another recipe ! Hubby was the only one home!! Thanks again! I will be trying many recipes of yours!!
Ashley (QLCC) says
Wow, this looks just like bagged bread, and I'm sure it tastes even better! Great job 🙂
Blessing says
Very soft and delicious bread indeed. Thanks for the detailed step by step procedures, I will try it out soon. Thanks
Bobbie says
where would I buy one of theses pans?
Marye Audet says
Click on the pullman pan link just above the recipe. It will take you to amazon - they have a variety of them and the prices are good. It's where I got mine. If you do buy on from Amazon I need to let you know that I will get a small commission which helps keep the blog online. THanks!