Bread tastes best fresh from your oven and it's easier than you think to make it from scratch! Follow my detailed instructions with pictures to learn how to make a fluffy, soft loaf in your own kitchen!
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Why Choose This Recipe
- Makes just 1 loaf
- Makes a nice big loaf just like Grandma used to make.
- Detailed instructions with pictures!
- Can be made by hand or with a stand mixer.
Ingredient Notes
- Flour - All Purpose, not bread flour or self rising flour.
- Butter - Both unsalted and salted work just fine.
Step by Step Instructions
- Add sugar, yeast and warm water to a mixer bowl.
- Allow to stand and get foamy.
- Add the butter and salt.
- Add 3 cups of the flour.
- Knead with a dough hook until all the flour is incorporated.
- Add enough of the remaining cup of flour to make a soft dough that it is only slightly sticky cleans the sides of the mixing bowl.
- You may or may not need the entire 4th cup of flour.
- Knead for 3 minutes in a stand mixer at medium speed or 5 minutes by hand.
- Cover and let rise until doubled. (30-ish minutes)
- Dump risen dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a loaf.
- Be sure to pinch the seams shut well.
- Place the loaf in a loaf pan that's been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
- Cover with a dish towel and let rise until doubled. (30-ish minutes)
- Adjust your oven racks so the bread will bake right in the center and preheat your oven to 350 degrees while bread is rising.
- This bread rises quite high. Not the difference in height between pictures 12 and 13.
- Bake risen loaf for 20 minutes then tent with tin foil to avoid over browning.
- Bake for 25 minutes more.
- Run a cube of butter over the top of the hot loaf if desired and cool completely on a wire rack.
Recipe FAQs and Expert Tips
The main difference is the protein content. Bread flour contains more protein to produce much more gluten to give heavier bread the muscle it needs to maintain height and shape.
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.
Store your cooled bread wrapped with saran wrap or in a large ziploc type bag. It will be good for about 3 days.
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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
Bread tastes best fresh from your oven and it's easier than you think to make it from scratch! Follow my detailed instructions with pictures to learn how to make a fluffy, soft loaf in your own kitchen!
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 or 5 minutes by hand.
- Cover the bowl with a dish cloth and allow dough to rise until doubled. (around 30-ish minutes)
- Dump the risen dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a loaf.
- Place in a loaf pan that's been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
- Cover and let rise until doubled. (around 30-ish minutes)
- Adjust your oven racks so that the bread will bake right in the center of the oven.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Bake the bread at 350 degrees, for 20 minutes, tent with some tin foil and continue to bake another 25 minutes.
- Your bread loaf should sound hollow when thumped.
- Run a small cube of butter over the top the hot bread loaf if desired and let cool for 10 minutes in the bread pan before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Whether you need the entire last cup of flour partially depends on the humidity where you live. Some don't need it at all and some need the entire 4th cup and sometimes a little more.
Keywords: homemade white bread, best white bread recipe, bread recipe white
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.
Bonnie
What size loaf pan for one loaf.
★★★★★
Mindee
Standard loaf pan. 8-1/2 x 4-1/2 x 2-1/2 inches
Chet
Best beginner bread recipe. I have a convection oven that also works as a standard. I wasn't sure if the temperature setting was for conventional oven. Baking time took longer without the fan, up to an additional 20 minutes but was spot on with convection on. This is now my go to recipe and make this bread regularly. I never buy commercial bread anymore. Thanks
Mindee
You're welcome and thank you for your comment!
Cynthia
When I make this I use the scale to make 3 loaves. Why make 1 loaf when I can make 3 !!!! It really is the best way to make friends- anyway; I ALWAYS get 4 loaves of bread! First time I made this recipe, I followed the recipe to make 1 loaf. I followed EXACT, to be sure my family would like this recipe & that this was an easy recipe to use & change up. Since then; I make it with multi- flour grains, it’s always a big, delicious hit! This week I’m going to try a cinnamon, raisin swirl bread for my husband- it’s his favorite. I’m expecting great results!
Thanks for such an easy to use & follow recipe. Easy to switch grains as well!
Mindee
You're Welcome!!!
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
★★★★★