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 1/4 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 1/2 Cups Warm Water
- 3 Tbs . Sugar
- 1 Tbs . Active Dry Yeast
- 4 Tbs . room temperature Butter
- 1 1/2 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 1/4 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.
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Lindsay says
I make this just about every weekend! So easy and delicious! After a few times making it, I started experimenting with whole wheat flour, olive oil, milk etc… it still ends up great, so it’s a great, versatile recipe.
mindeescookingobsession says
That’s great! It’s one of my favorites that I make a lot too!
Village Bakery says
Hi Mindee,
Great recipe. Have you tried making this in a bread cloche? I got one for Christmas and want to use it a bit more.
Thanks,
Joe
mindeescookingobsession says
I haven’t. I just got something similar to a bread cloche and haven’t had time to try it yet. Will definitely add it to my to try list though!
Marianne says
Great simple to the point recipe. Plain and simple. All stars thumbs up!!
mindeescookingobsession says
Thank you so much!!!
Marianne says
Great easy recipe! I make it once a week for my husband and I. Sometimes I do 1/2 bread flour and 1/2 wheat flour. Delicious light buttery taste and always big and fluffy! Yummm 5 Stars! ⭐️
Marianne says
Whoops we like it so much I commented twice!!
mindeescookingobsession says
It’s ok! Thank for your comments!
mindeescookingobsession says
Thank you so much!!!
RaChelle says
Love homemade bread!
★★★★★
MZ says
Great recipe, nothing beats homemade bread! Do you happen to have any good jam recipes?
★★★★★
mindeescookingobsession says
I do. I’ll find it and get it t to you!
Becky says
Homemade bread is the best! I want to bake this soon.
★★★★★
Julie says
I always make wheat bread and don’t even have a white bread recipe. Thanks for sharing!
★★★★★
Penny says
Hi there! Tried the bread recipe today and all was fine until I checked it at the first 20 minute point in the oven. The top of the bread totally caved in. I used 4 cups of flour as listed. Was my dough too wet or???
mindeescookingobsession says
My guess would be that your loaf raised too long. If the bread more than doubled in size the gluten that holds the structure of the bread is stretched too thin and it collapses.
Teri says
This bread looks amazing!
★★★★★
Shayla says
Homemade bread is the best. I thought about making this with cinnamon and raisins mixed in.
★★★★★
Mindy says
Homemade bread-what a comfort food for me!
★★★★★
Kelli says
How long of a cool time do you recommend?
mindeescookingobsession says
If I wanted to eat the bread hot I would cool it 20 minutes before removing it from the bread pan and slicing it carefully. If you are meaning how long does it take for the bread to completely cool I would plan on letting the loaf cool in the pan for 20 minutes, removing it from the pan and putting it on a wire cooling rack to cool for an hour or so.
Lora says
I’m currently baking this loaf and it has gone completely nuts! It’s come completely out of the pan and is huge. I’m not sure how long it will take to bake it through. With that being said, how big is your loaf pan you typically use? I’m working with my good old 9″ x 4″ Pyrex pan. Is this smaller than what you would typically use? I think this would have made two loaves of the same size using the pans I have.
mindeescookingobsession says
My bread pan is 9.25 inches by 5.25 inches so not too much larger than what you’re using. This recipe does make a nice and tall loaf of bread. Mine rises and bakes well above the rims of the pan.
Pete says
Great loaf of bread !! BUT… I have had to put wayyy more than the 4 cups of flour !! Turns out great , am I the only one ??
mindeescookingobsession says
Really? I think I’ve only had to add the full 4 cups a few times. Usually I don’t need more than 3 1/2. Do you live in a place with high humidity?
Pete says
No I don’t , I do have a humidifier going due to winter ( cold an dry ) I’ll try it again today thanks for your reply !
John Reed says
Iam trying to make this home made bread like my mother did its impossible but iam trying
mindeescookingobsession says
Don’t give up! Even if you don’t get it right the first few times you will get better with each try.
John Reed says
Iam trying to make this home made bread like my mother did its impossible but iam trying I hope the third time is a charm
Deb Cady says
I just finished making 2 loaves of this bread and I must say it turned out wonderful. However, that being said, I doubled the recipe using the 2X scale. I don’t think the instructions reflected any increase of the ingredients. Such as #2 mixing in 3 cups of flour when the total cups of flour would be 6-8 cups. I ended up using 7 cups total. I wasn’t sure about kneading the dough longer than 3 minutes, so I just added an extra 2 minutes until the dough continued to pull away from the sides of the bowl. #3 taking 45 minutes to rise, I added about 5 more minutes. All the other times etc. I did not change.
The flavor was perfect and I will be making this again!
★★★★★
Fran says
Will be trying this recipe today. Do you use salted or non salted butter?
mindeescookingobsession says
Either will work just fine.
Jane says
Mindee, Thank You so much. I am a first time bread maker and so glad I found your recipe. It is so look easy and my family loves it. Again, Thank You.
★★★★★
mindeescookingobsession says
That’s awesome! I’m so excited you!
Deb says
Has anyone tried making rolls from this recipe? If so, how long would you bake them?
mindeescookingobsession says
Yes! Follow this link to my 90 Minute Dinner Rolls for the specifics!
Nina Johnson says
I love this recipe. Thank you for sharing.
★★★★★