My Favorite White Bread Recipe
This is a classic white bread recipe, and so easy! The loaves bake up incredibly tall, soft and fluffy… the perfect white bread!
Are you a bread fanatic? Isn’t there something fantastic about a great piece of bread? Whether you’re making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, grilled cheese, a big sandwich piled high with fixings, or simply slathering a piece with butter… I’ve always found it to be great comfort food.
While I’ve made quite a bit of homemade bread in the past, we’ve really cut back on carbs significantly, and have pretty much nixed sandwiches from our diet, so I haven’t been buying or making any for the last six months or so. However, Joseph would eat grilled cheese and some other things with bread (depending on the day – we’ve hit the picky toddler stage!), but once we found out about his allergies, anything store-bought was pretty much out of the question (why does bread need soybean oil?!). Luckily, he was cleared of his wheat allergy, but we’re avoiding soy, so homemade it was! I had a previous favorite white bread recipe, but had this recipe bookmarked for AGES, so I decided to finally try it. I’m so glad that I did because…
Best. Bread. Ever.
There are so many reasons you need to hurry up and make this bread immediately:
- It comes together incredibly quickly for a yeast recipe requiring two rises. In about 2 hours you’ll be smelling fresh bread wafting from your oven.
- These are the largest loaves of a simple white bread I’ve ever seen! I’ve made too many disappointing loaves of bread that have turned out short and squat, especially those made in a 9-inch pan (p.s. these are my very favorite loaf pans!). However, these are incredibly tall, full loaves – beauties!
- I was surprised at how incredibly light, fluffy and soft this bread was given that there isn’t any milk in the recipe, just water (thanks butter!). It’s honestly the perfect texture.
I was honestly blown away when I made it, my husband was as equally thrilled, and much to my delight, Joseph was a huge fan too! This makes phenomenal peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, awesome grilled cheese, and I have eaten way more than I should just slathered with butter.
I should have known how good this would be since it came from someone’s grandma… those are always the BEST recipes!
I’ve made this three times now, and I love that it makes two loaves… I immediately slice and freeze one and leave the other one out for us to eat throughout the week.
The frozen slices reheat exceptionally well – just 20 seconds in the microwave is all they need.
You only need one great white bread recipe and this is it!
Grab that yeast and get baking!
Three years ago: Kentucky Derby Pie Cupcakes
Four years ago: Chile con Queso
Watch How to Make My Favorite White Bread Recipe!
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”AHlGGT59″ upload-date=”Wed Aug 09 2017 13:06:51 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)” name=”My Favorite White Bread Recipe” description=”This is a classic white bread recipe, and so easy! The loaves bake up incredibly tall, soft and fluffy… the perfect white bread!”]
My Favorite White Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 4½ teaspoons (14 g) instant yeast, two 0.25-ounce packets
- ¾ cup (808 ml) + 2⅔ cups warm water, divided
- ¼ cup (52 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 3 tablespoons (44 g) unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
- 9 to 10 cups (1200 g) all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons (44 g) unsalted butter, melted, for brushing
Instructions
- In the bowl of a mixer, stir to dissolve the yeast in ¾ cup of the warm water, and let sit for 5 minutes. Add the remaining 2⅔ cups water, sugar, salt, room temperature butter, and 5 cups of the flour and stir to combine.
- Using a dough hook, mix on low speed and gradually add the remaining flour until the dough is soft and tacky, but not sticky (you may not need to use all of the flour). Continue to knead until a soft ball of dough forms and clears the sides of the bowl, about 7 to 10 minutes.
- Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and turn it over so it is completely coated. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a draft-free place to rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Turn the dough out onto a clean, lightly floured surface. Gently press it all over to remove any air pockets. Divide the dough in two and, working with one piece at a time, gently pat it into a 9x12-inch rectangle. Roll up the rectangle, starting on the short end, into a very tight cylinder. Pinch to seal the seams and the ends, tuck the ends of the roll until the bread, and place into greased 9-inch loaf pans. Cover the loaves loosely and place in a draft-free area until doubled in size, 30 to 45 minutes.
- Position an oven rack on the lowest setting and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Brush the loaves with some of the melted butter. Bake the loaves for 30 to 35 minutes, rotating halfway through, until golden brown (an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read 195 degrees F).
- Remove from the oven and immediately brush with more of the melted butter. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the pans and cool completely before slicing. The bread can be stored in an airtight bread bag or wrapped tightly in plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 4 days. It can also be frozen for up to 1 month.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
Awesome bread!! I have a 700gm bread tin and I halved the recipe and it made a great, large soft bread to go with our vegetable soup. Will use this recipe every time we have soup. Thanks 🙏🏼
Recipe worked out very well… Thank you! Made nice large, crusty loaves.
I love breads and this recipe is fantastic.
My family loves this recipe! We typically do two batches of these loaves every week, since we don’t buy grocery store bread. We even started gifting my father in law 2 loaves every Sunday during family dinner. Our big family can hardly wait for this to cool before wanting to dive in and devour this bread. Thank you for posting this recipe!
After experimenting, have decided that this was my go-to white bread recipe. Love the fact it produces two “large” loaves. Have baked these approx. ten times now with zero complaints. Grandkids love them. Sooooo, am going to try and mist the loaves with water as being inserted into oven. I like a thick crust and apparently…this will do the trick with white bread. Artisan Bread is awesome and also easy to bake, would like to figure out how to “crust” up white bread. Stay safe people and keep ” rollin in the dough”
Very yummy and easy to make!!! A big hit for breakfast on the weekend!!
Can I turn this into a raisin bread?
I tried this recipe because it had good reviews for taste.
Followed the recipe to a T because it was the first time I had tried the recipe.
It was an easy to work with dough that baked up 2loves beautifully…
However, the taste and texture left a lot to be desired… In fact, the taste left everything to be desired. There was no taste, just a bland flour flavor even with all the butter brushed on…
The crumb/texture felt heavy, but would not stay together for BLT sandwiches.
Granted, I am normally baking sourdough perfection, but this bread, though pretty, is just bleh…
Quiet upsetting that so much resource was wasted.
I’m trying to figure out the metric, and not coming up with 808, way out, think it was 146. And the rest of the water works out at 497ml. Is this correct?
This is the best white bread recipe. I’ve done in many times and it’s my family’s favorite.
Turned out awesome
made it turned out great only thing is i think i need to use bigger loaf pans lol so light and fluffy love it ,had some trouble fitting in my slicer
I halved this recipe the first time and it came out perfectly! Perfect toast for breakfast or for sandwiches
Awesome recipe
Happy Easter Michelle :-)
I don’t have a kneading machine, and this is my first time making my own bread.
Could you please share with me your experienced tips on how to knead it to get the most successful results please?
Thanks!
Thank you for the recipe. We are planning to make all bread in the house moving forward and my boyfriend likes a nice fluffy white bread.
I am curious if there would be any changes at 3600′ elevation. I made this bread yesterday and it turned out more dense than I imagined. Not bad, but not fluffy.
Or is it a kneading thing? Did I need it too much or too little?
Thank you!
If I made my bread but I won’t be able to bake it today
Can I let it rise in the fridge until I’m ready to bake it
I would take it out if the fridge few hours before
Hi Michelle, this bread looks great, I’m in Australia and just wanted to check that the all-purpose flour you mention is the same as ours here, our all purpose flour (we call it plain flour) we use in cakes, biscuits etc, normally we use “bread flour” higher protein for bread. We also have self raising flour (flour, baking powder & salt).
I would like to make your gorgeous bread but don’t want to use the wrong flour,
Many thanks, love your website
Ally
Plain flour is the same as all purpose flour. Our self rising is the same as self raising and we also have bread flour here in the US.
This is my boys’ favourite bread recipe. My oldest son is so put out when I run out of time and have to buy bread so I do my best to make 2 loaves every weekend for school lunches! I slice and freeze them and they make perfect sandwhiches. The only issue I have is they’re so wonderfully tall that I struggle to squeeze them into their sandwhich containers. As far as problems go, that’s not too shabby lol
I’ve made this a few times now, but had to finally leave a comment which I don’t normally do. This recipe is so good, and so simple. I made it the first time by hand and it was easy. Even easier now that I have a mixer with a bread hook! I just made 2 loaves – 1 regular and 1 sausage bread for my husband. I use an electric knife to slice it, which makes me feel better about actually using that thing for more than just the Thanksgiving turkey once a year. LOL! I will be using this recipe for years to come. Thank you so much for sharing! :)
First of all I love this recipe! Everything came together well and so easy to make!
I think I made the mistake of retarding the dough in the fridge overnight and not letting it get to room temperature properly. It didn’t rise as well :( I just loved the look of the recipe so much I started it late at night and then decided to proof it in the fridge. Next time ill make it at a suitable time so it can go straight in! 😂
My family and I LOVE this recipe. I’ve made it several times now. My only complaint is that my loaf pans aren’t the best size for the gigantic loaves this makes. I’m going to invest in a longer than normal loaf pan and try it out!
What a wonderful recipe, this is a keeper and so simple too! I don’t have electric bread mixer, so I kneaded by hand, very therapeutic. I did need all the flour.
Thank you very much for this recipe!
Delicious and oh so easy to make. I just need some better loaf pans! They overflowed my glass pans. Looks gorgeous, tastes even better.
The best! Thank you!
The best I ever made !
Great and clear cut recipe! Followed it exactly weighing out the ingredients.
Makes two tasty and beautiful loaves of bread !
I’ve been baking bread for eons, and always thought I had a great recipe, then I tried this recipe!! Omg!! It’s the best!! Thank you for sharing.
I have not made this yet. Question is can you make it in a bread maker?
This is my go to recipe for sandwich bread. My brother-in-law connected me up with this and I’m glad he did. I just started baking and both loaf’s came out perfect.
Best bread ever
Could I make this recipe without a machine i.e. just kneading by hand?
Turned out great as stated
Great taste and easy to make
Hi, love this recipe! Just FYI 3/4 cup is not 808ml though
Is it possible to make this in a bread maker? Can the recipe be halved with no problem? Thanks – NS
AMAZING!!! I have tried and tried so many bread recipes perfect for toast and sandwiches and failed! But this one is finally it!! Absolutely love it!!
Easy and great bread. Made 2 loaves yesterday for church Soup Supper and had time so made it again. Beautiful loaves.
Excellent bread recipe! When using 2 pans, the loaves are huge soI divide dough into three a loaves .
This recipe does not disappoint! It’s big, that’s for sure!! Soft and chewy crust makes for a delicious sandwich.
Another 5 star recipe! It’s super easy, we love the texture and it’s delicious!
This is my favorite bread recipe! It’s super soft and delicious!
I made this recipe. I used bread flour instead of all purpose. I put the loaves on the lowest rack in the oven. Preheated it 400 rotated after 15 minutes. It wasn’t in for 30 minutes and the bottom was slightly burned and the crust was hard. What happened?
I’m not the best bread maker, but had some bread flour on hand so used it, too. I did 9 cups of flour, rather than 10 and it was probably too wet still (the tops kind of collapsed over the sides instead of arching beautifully like in the picture…though I also had problems with the dough sticking to the plastic wrap I used during the second rise!).
Looking at some comments, I put the bread in at the second-to-lowest shelf (I would have put it higher, but the loaves looked too big!), and the bottoms turned out perfectly. I also always do oil and a dusting of flour, not just oil, in the bottom of the pans (something my mom taught me), which helps release the bread from the pans. (And I forgot to rotate the pans)
My bread turned out great, aside from the weird sinking centers. The crust was thin and crisp but not hard. So my guess is that the rack position is dependent on the oven. If you use this recipe again, I’d put it up a level.
While I bake sourdough for my day-to-day bread sometimes my family just wants a good old-fashioned white bread and this has been my go-to simple white bread recipe for a few years. I always use the full 10 cups of flour but usually substitute 2 cups with wholewheat and I’ve had no problems making it with my Kitchen Aid mixer. After many bakes of feeling like the loaves were just too big for a 9″ pan I now divide the dough to make 2 loaves and an 8″ round cake pan of 8 dinner rolls (which are great!). I don’t measure how I divide but I’d say I take out about 1/4 of the dough for the rolls and divide the rest in two for the loaves (which still come out quite big!). All-in-all I think this is a great simple white bread recipe. :)