Disclosed are fresh, baked bread products having extended shelf lives which are prepared specifically to be reheated/refreshed in a microwave oven employing a metallized film susceptor sleeve. Upon this microwave refreshening, the preheated loaves are characterized by a soft interior crumb and a crispy crust. The products have a shelf life of about 7-14 days. Also disclosed are methods for preparing such baked bread products as well as full formulation dry mixes and partial formulation pre-dry mixes for their commercial scale production by both the sponge dough and straight dough methods. The preparation methods involve first prehydrating a defined dough conditioner system and pregelatinized starch to form an emulsion, combining the emulsion with the other ingredients to form a dough and finish preparing the dough to produce a finished microwave baked bread loaf.