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This White Bread recipe is a classic you’ll want to keep on hand. So light, fluffy and incredibly soft. Everyone will think it came right from the bakery!
Is anyone out there a bread lover, just like me? I love a good slice of bread, and homemade fresh, soft white bread right out of the oven is my weakness.
We love using this bread recipe for Air Fryer Fried Chicken Sandwiches, as a dipper for Roasted Tomato Soup, or as an appetizer with our easy smoked salmon dip. Don’t forget it makes a great side dish too, especially when served alongside Chicken Mushroom Pasta.
This simple white bread recipe does not disappoint when it comes to quality and flavor. No matter what you use it for, whether its prepping school lunches, making yourself a snack, or serving it as your dinner side, you’ll be in sliced bread heaven.
No need to buy the low-grade store-bought loaves, or spend all your money on expensive bakery bread, you can make this recipe at home any time you want!
Tips and Tricks for Making White Bread
- 1 package of instant dry yeast usually contains 2 1/4 Tsp
- This recipe works with all-purpose and bread flour. The bread flour will give it a slightly chewier and a bit more elastic crumb.
- The second rise will be much faster than the first rise. Be careful not too overproof or the bread will not rise while baking and collapse.
- Don’t use an oil spray to grease your non-stick baking pans! Oils spray will ruin the surface of those pans, better use a paper towel or brush with some oil or butter.
- My house is pretty cold so I like to use the proof setting on my oven.
- The amount of flour you need depends on the moisture and temperature in your house. Some days you might need more, some days less!
- This recipe can be halved to make only one 8×4-inch loaf but it can also be doubled to make TWO large 9×5-inch loaves! Just use the little slider in the recipe card next to servings to double the recipe. Make sure your stand mixer can handle the amount of flour. I recommend using a KitchenAid Professional
Why Should I Make My Own White Bread?
Making your own bread is actually very simple, and not nearly as complex as you would think. In just over 2 hours you can have a fresh out of the oven loaf of white bread, and that’s with 1 hour and 30 minutes of just waiting for it to rise.
The time it takes to prepare is so worth the peace of mind you have knowing exactly what’s in the bread you are eating. When it’s made at home you don’t run the risk of any added preservatives, it’s like having bakery-fresh bread all the time.
It’s incredibly light and fluffy, and dare I say even better than any bread I’ve bought from the store. It’s the perfect texture you want for all of your bread needs.
What To Use Homemade Bread For
You can use your homemade white bread for anything and everything! Well, maybe not everything, but pretty close.
Use it to make your breakfast toast and nut butter, your turkey and cheese lunch sandwich, or mid-day snack avocado toast. Those are just a few of my favorite uses, but the options are really endless.
How To Store Homemade White Bread
Place in a Bread Box:
A bread box, while a little old school, is still very effective. If you have one or have the room for one, I suggest storing your loaf in there. It will give it the best odds of staying fresh as long as possible.
Wrap it in plastic wrap or foil:
If you want to just leave the white bread out on the counter, instead of in a bread box, you’ll need to cover the loaf with either plastic wrap or foil to prevent it from drying out.
Or a good hack would be to save an old store-bought bread sleeve and store your homemade loaf in there.
Freeze it:
To get more bang for my buck, I always make two loaves or even double the recipe to make two extra-large loaves, and immediately slice and freeze one to save for later. That way once I run out of the first loaf I already have another on hand and ready to eat
If you want a slice right out of the freezer, just pop it in the microwave for 20 seconds or toaster and you’ll be good to go. Or if you have the time, just let it thaw on the counter for a few hours.
Tools and Ingredients Used For Making This White Bread Recipe
For this recipe, you’ll want to pull out the big stand mixer you probably never use. Using a powerful stand mixer helps kneed the dough, allowing you to get that perfect end result.
I love a good metal, nonstick loaf pan, it’s so versatile and can be used for an infinite amount of recipes.
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White Bread
Equipment
- 2 Loaf Pan 8×4-inches
Ingredients
- 1 ⅔ cups lukewarm water, divided
- 2 ¼ teaspoon instant yeast, or active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon honey, (or more sugar)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed at room temperature
- 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour, divided
- 1 ½ tablespoons butter, melted for brushing
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook combine the instant yeast, sugar, and half of the lukewarm water. Let sit for 5-10 minutes until foamy (if using active dry yeast, let sit for 15 minutes).
- Add the remaining water, honey, salt, cubed butter, and 4 cups of flour to the bowl. Knead at low speed until the dough comes together and is soft but not sticky. Add a few more tablespoons of the remaining flour if necessary. Continue to knead for 6–9 minutes until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and is soft and smooth.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl and make sure that it is completely coated. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm and draft-free place for about 45 minutes, or until doubled in size.
- Lightly flour your work surface and turn out the dough onto it. Divide it into two equally sized portions. Use your fingers to gently pat each half into a 8×12 inch rectangle while pressing it all over to remove any air pockets. Starting at the short end, roll up the rectangle into a tight roll and pinch the seams to seal. Tuck the ends of the roll slightly under the roll to create some tension on the surface and place each loaf into a greased 8×4 inch loaf pan tucked ends and seam side down. Cover with a greased piece of plastic wrap and let rise for about 45 minutes in a warm and draft-free place until doubled in size.
- Preheat oven to 390 degrees F and adjust oven rack to lower-middle position.
- Bake loaves for 25–30 minutes until golden brown (and the loaf registers 208 to 210 degrees).
- Invert bread onto a cooling rack. Reinvert loaves and brush the tops and sides with melted butter. Let cool completely before slicing.
Notes
- Pan Size: This recipe makes 2 regular loaves baked in two 8×4-inch pans, or one large loaf baked in a 9×5-inch loaf pan. To make one large loaf, don’t divide the dough into two and pat it into a 9×13-inch rectangle. Bake for 30–35 minutes. Some readers commented that their 9×5 loaf was too big, so I recommend using two 8×4 pans.
- No stand mixer: This bread can be kneaded by hand if you don’t have a stand mixer. Use a large bowl and knead the dough for 10 minutes.
- Bread Machine: I have successfully made this bread in my Oster Bread Machine using half the recipe. Depending on the size of your bread machine, you can make one big loaf or half the recipe and make a smaller loaf. The bread won’t be as pretty, but the taste and texture will be the same.
- Butter: Salted butter will work too. I would still add the tsp of salt because the amount of butter is so small. You could reduce to 3/4 tsp salt if you are sensitive to salt. Vegan Butter or margarine can also be used.
- Fresh Yeast: You can also use fresh yeast for this recipe! 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast = 21 grams fresh yeast or 1 1/4 blocks (0.6-ounce size) or about 1/2 block (2-ounce size) fresh yeast.
- Rapid Rise Yeast: Rapid rise yeast is the same as instant yeast, so no changes are necessary.
- Flour: This recipe works with all-purpose and bread flour. You can use whichever you have on hand! Bread flour will give it a slightly chewier and a bit more elastic crumb, which I really like, but most people don’t have bread flour in their pantry, so I made sure this recipe works as well with all-purpose. I don’t recommend using self-rising flour. You need 4–4 1/2 cups of flour for this recipe.
- Lukewarm Water: Water should be warm, not hot. Between 95 F and 110 F is perfect.
- Baking Temperature: Yes, the temperature is correct!
Texture and softness are perfect. I always add a pinch of powdered ginger to bread for a little flavor. Thank you for this recipe. I did use bread flour because I always have it on hand.
I made it this last week and followed the recipe exactly. I opted to make one large loaf in a 9×5 pan since that’s the only size I have. I’ve never made a loaf as perfect as this! I wish I could post a picture of it so you could see it. My husband and I ate it so quickly and I’m probably going to make another loaf this weekend. Thanks for this recipe!
A proving tip: you can turn your oven into a proving drawer by boiling 6 cups of water, pouring 3 cups of the water into a pan and placing the pan on the bottom of the oven. Place the bowl of dough on the middle rack and prove. For the second prove, re-boil the remaining 3 cups of the water.
Hello I am new here and did subscribe and already sent a comment expressing how much i am going to love making your recipes.
I have one question about this bread ( I am new at bread making)
Is it suppose to look shaggy after and before the first rise?
I used my stand mixer I added all ingredients and then after it was all blended it looked shaggy😳
I took it out and kneaded it for a few minutes but still it looked shaggy… its in the oven now on proof for its first rise.
I hope it turns out🥹
Will let u know how it went😁
Right out of the mixer the dough might look shaggy but after letting it rest it should look smooth. If you followed the recipe it will turn out nicely!
First time here and all your recipes look so easy and yummy…my hubby is very pickey eater😌 but I cant wait try these for me…lol
All though there are alot of Bread recipes and he is a huge bread eater…
Thankful i found you🥰
Paulette Poirier
I followed the recipe exactly how it said to and it came out perfectly. This is the only way I make slicing bread now. 10/10
We love this bread recipe!! Followed every step and it comes out perfect each time!! I’m becoming a bread baking queen with this one….
Rolled the other half of the dough into balls and made buns came out perfect..
Thank you!!
Hi! In step 3, what do you mean when you say “make sure it’s completely coated”? Make sure what is coated with what? The bowl with butter/oil? Am I supposed to coat the dough with something?
Sorry- I’ve never made bread and I want to make sure I get it right!
Coated with whatever grease/fat you used for greasing the bowl the dough gets put in. Just turn the dough over in the bowl a couple of times so all sides are coated with oil. This way it won’t stick to the plastic wrap.
Mine didn’t rise much and has no flavor 😕
Mine didnt rise much the first time. The second time I warmed my oven to 100 then turned it off and let it proof in the oven and saw a noticeable difference
Love this bread so much ! Turns out perfect and my go to ! Makes really good French toast too !
Is the nutrition per loaf or per recipe ?
The nutrition is per loaf.
Trying to make the switch to sprouted wheat flour. Any tips on using that instead of all purpose?