Make your own Homemade White Bread with this easy white bread recipe! There's nothing better than the smell of homemade bread baking!
I know a lot of people are looking for homemade bread recipes right now due to social distancing and the insane panic shopping that's taking place. This is my go to recipe for homemade white bread. I've made it more times that I can count. This recipe makes just a single loaf, but can be doubled to make two. If you don't consider yourself an expert baker don't worry. This recipe is an easy white bread recipe. If you have questions about this recipe you can drop me a comment at the bottom of the recipe OR I do respond in a more timely manner to questions messaged to me through my Facebook page. I am happy to answer any questions you may have. If you're looking for something a little more healthy you might like my Whole Wheat Bread recipe.
Some links in this post are Amazon Affiliate links to products I love! For more, info see my disclosure policy here.
How to make a loaf of homemade white bread:
- Mix the dough according to the recipe directions. I prefer to use a Stand Mixer (affiliate link) fitted with a dough hook but you can do this by hand as well. After mixing in 3 cups of the flour, add the last cup of flour a ¼ cup at a time. You may not need the entire last cup of flour. Once the dough forms a soft dough and is only slightly sticky to the touch. As you can see in the picture below, my dough is pulling away from the sides of the mixer bowl but still sticking to the bottom a little. Cover the dough and let it rise until doubled. This will take 40-60 minutes.
- Dump the risen dough onto a lightly floured surface. I don't really punch it down. I just squish it into a bread loaf shape and place it in a greased bread pan.
- Cover and let rise until doubled as shown above. This will take 40-60 minutes.
- Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, then tent with foil. Continue to bake for another 20-25 minutes. The loaf should sound hollow when thumped. Run a small cube of butter over the top of the loaf and cool for 10 minutes in the bread before turning it out onto a wire rack to completely cool.
Why is my homemade bread so dry?
Too much flour! Your dough should be a little sticky to the touch. Don't add or knead in so much flour that you have a tough, non-stick dough.
How do you proof bread quickly?
To make yeast bread recipes rise fast you can preheat your oven set at any temperature for about 45 seconds. Turn your oven off and place some sort of baking dish with boiling water in it inside the oven. Then place your mixing bowl of dough, covered with a dish towel in your oven. It will be warm and steamy causing your dough to rise faster.
How long does homemade bread last?
About 3 days if wrapped up well in saran wrap.
If you love baking like I do then you will want to check out these other yeast bread recipes!
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Homemade White Bread Recipe
- Prep Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 1 Loaf 1x
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Make your own Homemade White Bread with this easy white bread recipe! There's nothing better than the smell of homemade bread baking!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ Cups Warm Water
- 3 Tbs . Sugar
- 1 Tbs . Active Dry Yeast
- 4 Tbs . room temperature Butter
- 1 ½ tsp Salt
- 3-4 Cups All Purpose Flour
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water. Let stand 5 minutes to get foamy.
- Mix in the butter, salt, and 3 cups of the flour with a dough hook.
- Once well combined, add the last cup of flour ¼ cup at a time until the dough forms a ball, pulls away from the sides of the bowl and is only slightly sticky to the touch. YOU MAY NOT NEED THE ENTIRE LAST CUP OF FLOUR.
- Knead for 3 minutes at medium speed.
- Cover the bowl with a dish cloth and allow dough to rise until doubled. This will take up to 45 minutes.
- Dump the risen dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a loaf. Place in a greased bread pan.
- Cover and let rise until doubled. This will take up to 60 minutes.
- Bake the bread at 350 degrees, for 20 minutes, tent with some tin foil and continue to bake another 20-25 minutes. Your bread loaf should sound hollow when thumped.
- Run a small cube of butter over the top the hot bread loaf. Let cool for 10 minutes in the bread pan before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
The links above are Amazon Affiliate links to products I use for this recipe!
Keywords: homemade bread, white bread
Some links in this post are Amazon Affiliate links to products I love! For more, info see my disclosure policy here.
Any nutritional analysis on this Site is based on an estimate, calculated by Nurtifox plugin (or other third-party source) from the individual ingredients in each recipe. Variations may occur for various reasons, including product availability and food preparation. We make no representation or warranty of the accuracy of this information.
KAREN SHARP
OMGosh!:) Thanks so much for sharing Mindee.
I am 70 yrs. old & this is my 1st. time making homemade bread:)
Perfect & absolutely wonderful
Karen
Mindee
You are very welcome!!!
Karen
Hi Mindee,
Karen here:) Could you tell me what is the purpose of rubbing
a cube of butter on top of our loaf at the end?
Mindee
It softens the top with a slightly buttery flavor. It's totally optional to do so though.
Kittie
How long should I knead this without a mixer, as I do not own one?
Mindee
10 minutes
Pete
Well, I’ve made it 3 more times and I used more than 4 cups of flour each time... I guess I’m the only one... still really good though
★★★★★
Janis Taylor
This is the best bread recipe I have found in the last few months. I think it's the 5th I've tried. Great crust, soft inside. Delicious. This is THE ONE!
mindeescookingobsession
Yay! I'm so glad!
Luke Ford
Do I have to proof the rapid rise yeast
mindeescookingobsession
Yes, use it exactly the same way as the recipe instructions to use the active dry.
Luke Ford
I couldn't find active dry yeast can I use rapid rise yeast instea
mindeescookingobsession
Yes, it's the same at active dry.
Luke Ford
Do I have to proof the rapid rise yeast
Cindy
Can this be mixed and raised in bread machine then baked in oven
mindeescookingobsession
I'm sorry, I honestly don't know. I've only used a bread machine once and that had to be more than 15 years ago so I'm not familiar with how they function.