I've made a lot of bread recipes and this one has become my absolute favorite! I make a batch every couple of weeks!
Ingredients:
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4½
teaspoonsinstant yeast(two 0.25-ounce packets)
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¾
cup+ 2⅔ cups warm water(divided)
-
¼
cupgranulated sugar
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1
tablespoonsalt
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3
tablespoonsunsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
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9 to 10
cupsall-purpose flour
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3
tablespoonsunsalted butter(melted, for brushing)
Directions:
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Position an oven rack on the lowest setting and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
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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).
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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.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes:
Note #1: This recipe can be halved to make only one loaf.
Note #2: You can substitute active dry yeast for the instant yeast. Ensure that it is indeed activated in step #1 before continuing, and note that the rise times will be slightly longer.
Nutritional values are based on one serving
Nutrition:
Calories: 253kcal
Fat: 4g
Saturated fat: 2g
Cholesterol: 9mg
Sodium: 352mg
Potassium: 85mg
Carbohydrates: 46g
Fiber: 2g
Sugar: 2g
Protein: 6g
Vitamin A: 105%
Calcium: 10%
Iron: 2.7%
I made this bread on Saturday. Instead of making 2 loaves, I made 5 smaller loaves. It came out great. I delivered them to my neighbors along with home made soup and apple crisp. They all loved your bread.
Really fancy making this recipe. Struggling with the conversions though, what’s this in Metric?
There is a small button at the bottom of the ingredients list that allows you to choose metric..
I made this, but used half wheat flour and half all-purpose and it made two perfect loaves! This recipe is great! Thanks,!
Lynne
This is the best homemade bread, it’s delicious and very easy to make. Thank you for sharing.
I made this initial as a 1/2 recipe and then stuffed it into my cake pan as I didn’t have a dedicated bread one. Left for a meeting and it was all over the place. I should have punched it down and let it rise again but to a moderate level but even overproofed, it was a huge mushroom fluffy loaf. My son ate several pieces and wife who is carb adverse even had 2.
I scaled back to 1/3 and then 1/4 portion which fits my cake pan nicely but still spits out a 650g loaf. It is a pretty forgiving recipe and I have haphazardly made the dough wetter or drier, baked it 5 min to long etc and it all comes out fine. This last one I just made I didn’t even mix it a lot. Just took a no knead approach and got all the dry ingredients and yeast together, poured in the combined portion of water instead of doing it separate and stirred and folded it a few times until incorporated all the flour. The only difference I noticed was the initial rise was slower so I left it for 2.5 hours, rolled and folded it, put in the pan for second proofing for another hour and it came out just the same. Might do another run where I let it proof for 12 hours and see if the flavour differs much. This approach is just fine for working at home with some minimal maintenance steps.
All yeast doughs seem pretty generic, just yeast, flour, water, some sugar, salt. I can see this being okay for homemade hotdog or hamburger buns. This dough is fluffy and not gummy like those cheaper storeboughts and doesn’t taste like a ton of sugar.
I was wondering if I can make soft bread sticks or rolls with this dough instead of the loaves of bread? Also can the dough be made and frozen and if so how do I go about it? I was thinking of making a few batches in advance as I will be starting a new job that requires me to be on the road during the day so by taking the dough out the night before and putting it in the refrigerator then taking it out in the morning I will be able to come home and finish whatever needs to be done and pop it in the oven. What do you think?
I am an experienced baker, love to cook but never really made bread.
This bread was heavenly tasting, but when I took it out of the oven, it looked great, but after about 15 minutes the top got really bumpy, which I don’t understand. I baked it again and the same thing happened. I only used 8 cups of flour with the first batch because it didn’t need anymore and the recipe said you may not need to use all the flour, which is 9-10 cups, so I’m at a loss to understand why the top is really bumpy. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
I haven’t tried this recipe yet but am going to as my kids did not like the grilled cheese made with the homemade brioche bread I made. But while searching for white bread recipes I came across this tip:
“When the bread is done, I turn off the oven and let it cool down inside, with the oven door half open. Or if I have to do more baking, I let the bread cool down in a draft free, warm place. If the bread cools down too fast, it can cause some wrinkles to form on the crust. It doesn’t affect the taste however, just the appearance. However, this may sometimes be unavoidable in the winter.”
Not sure if that helps!
This was delicious. You linked pans from Williams Sonoma—neither is a true 9X5. Do you use the bigger version (the 1.5 lb loaf) or the smaller (the 1lb loaf). Interested in your go to pans!
I don’t have a stand mixer. Wondering if this could be made in a bread machine?
This recipe is pretty forgiving and made 4 loaves so far by just mixing in the bowl and do a couple of minutes of folding with hands. Eyeballed all the measures, water, even did a no knead just now where I threw all the dry stuff, yeast together, water after and mixed by hand until incorporated. Proofed for a couple of hours and then did rollout and second proof.
This really is one of the best tasting white bread recipes I’ve made. Very easy to make, uses AP flour and while it does make two large loaves I make three smaller loaves from the recipe. I can see why it’s the most popular post and would very much recommend this to any one, seasoned or novice. Thank you for sharing.
This is my go-to bread! It does make two LARGE loaves but everyone always raves about it. Sometimes I’ll cut off enough dough to make a few rolls. I only need 8 cups of flour when I make it. I find it best when the dough isn’t too dry so don’t be afraid to add a tiny bit of water to make it slightly sticky.
Best white bread recipe! Will be the only one I use now. Used active dry yeast and did nothing
different with it. Made 2 loaves in 9-5/8 x 5-1/2 x 2-1/4 pans. Love it!
This is, without a doubt, the best bread I have ever made. Thank you so much!
I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but I’m wondering what you mean rotate half way through. With just 2 pans in the oven, why would you have to rotate.
I have been experimenting with bread recipes and this is the one! I cooked mine till the internal thermometer hit 190 and I thought it was perfect. The only thing that was challenging was this recipe was quite large for my Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer and the dough got caught up where the attachment is.
I’ve been baking bread with my granny since I was a kid. I haven’t done it in a long time so I needed to find myself a recipe. I love this recipe! My only problem has been on my end. I was impatient with the rising times. It caused my bread to be dense and not cook evenly in the oven. I let my dough rise and everything turned out better.
I want to add to anyone reading; the amount of flour you use always varies. Today I only needed 7 cups of flour. Most days I use around 8-9 cups. I’ve used 10 cups only once.
The best part of this recipe is it is EGGLESS!! I am subscribing to your blog rightaway.
AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING!!!!!!! I’ve been making bread all summer, some great, some more eh experimental, but this is the easiest and most delicious one I’ve made so far. And I made it all by hand cuz I’m back in my dorms! took a while to knead though but it was worth it!! I also added some sunflower seeds, was a little worried about them tearing the dough but it was perfect! Had a little left over dough so I made some mozzarella stuffed dinner rolls!
I cannot see all the ingredients. Adverts keep coming up and blocking the top of the list. Please help as I woul love to use your recipe
Best white bread recipe I have seen. Two beautiful loaves 4 and 1/2 inches high in the middle. But I have a question – – – I am in Canada and our flour is different from yours and I used only eight cups of flour and had a beautiful dough that I did not feel I should add any more to it. Would this be normal?
We have spent 25 Winters in Florida and I always had to take my Canadian flour with me in order to make any bread from my recipes. My mother-in-law taught me this.
Amazing! My wife had surgery this week. Our youngest Son has autism and loves to create things. He wanted to make something for His Momma, and I needed something to be productive and keep us busy together. So we looked and found this bread recipe! I’ve never made bread before but we were both excited when it all came together and out of the oven!!!
Easy, fun delicious and something proud to be proud of and help is Momma feel better!!!
Can I use shortening instead of butter ?
Hi. I want to purchase your favorite bread pans from Williams Sonoma. Do you use the 1 lb. or 1 1/2 lb. pans? Can’t wait to make the bread! Thanks, Jennifer
Easy. Thumps right. Lightweight. Really easy.
Love it. Smells songood and bread is fluffy. I just made half of the recipe. Thank you.
Isn’t this an awful lot of flour for two loaves?
this recipe was great and my whole family loved this you should definetly try it out 👌👍❤😍
Love this bread! I’m a regular baker and occasional bread maker, and love the fluffy crumb and thin crust of this recipe. Maybe I can get my kids to actually eat sandwiches!
A couple issues: it is definitely too much dough for my KitchenAid mixer; I ended up finishing the flour-adding and kneading by hand (which isn’t ideal for neck/back issues). Also, my bottoms were burnt after 30 minutes- maybe due to my use of glass loaf pans, maybe because of the rack being at the lowest setting, or a combo of the two. I’ll use the middle of the oven next time and watch more closely.
I love this recipe, but take note – if you make the full recipe in a regular-sized stand mixer (mine is a Kitchen Aid w/ 5 quart bowl), it is slightly too big for the bowl. The dough got caught in my mixer’s moving parts, making it a crazy clean-up. Lesson learned!
This came out perfectly. The recipe also makes wonderful hamburger buns. I can’t believe I’ve never made this before. Thank you Brown Eyed Baker!
This is a great, easy recipe for homemade white bread! I’m not a pro at bread making but my bread still turned out super delicious. I might have added too much flour but I balanced it out with more oil. The bread was soft and rose well. I even used half of the batch to make bread rolls and topped them with honey butter. Will definitely try this recipe again and make it perfect :)
I’ve baked bread for many years and this really is a humdinger!Just one problem and that’s working out the quantities we like grams and mls or ounces and fluid ounces!Have you got a recipe for baguette that’s as good jf you have I’ll love you for ever!
First time bread baker here. Turned out perfect and super easy
I have made this twice and the bread is amazing! I have one one and a half pound loaf pan, and then I just have a regular loaf pan. I prefer the look of the larger loaf. But I just wanted to clarify what size you use. Your link shows two size choices. Just wanted to clarify which you use. And please forgive me if it’s in the text and I missed it. Thanks so much.
Taught my g-daughter this recipe to teach her how to read a recipe and cook it. Came out delicious.
Made 4 loaves with a friend, easy to follow recipe with delicious results.
Xoxo
I have made this bread at least four times over the past couple of months. It has become one of my family’s favorite breads. So why the 3-star review? The dough is always soft and very sticky, making it very difficult to work with until I finally get it in the pans. Your recipe says the dough should be “soft and tacky but not sticky.” I’ve made this bread on warm days and on cool days, and I follow the recipe measurements exactly (by the way, there are no measurements in grams for this bread). Cleaning up my stand mixer’s bowl and dough hook is a chore because of the dough’s stickiness. What could be going on here?
One thing I’ve learned in all my bread baking years is that bread is best made by how the dough looks, not necessarily by measurements. Because you might live in a more humid climate, or dry, your particular measurements might differ slightly than others. Have you tried adding a touch more flour so that the dough does come away from the bowl?
Yes, i do add more flour. The ten cups isn’t enough. I’ve probably added as much as another cup more, but I’ve hesitated to add more than that for fear of ruining the bread. Once I get the dough on the floured surface to make the two loaves, I’ve added even more flour to make it manageable.
My dough was very wet as well even after the 10 full cups of flour. I made a similar white bread recipe and the consistency was the same. Not having a stand mixer makes it particularly challenging as the dough spreads like and amoeba on my board. One thing to remember, however, is this is a white loaf bread, meant to replace the store bought loaf. Gluten development is not as important as it would be in a pizza dough or artisan bread. If you added flour until you were able to knead and get a window pane (dough could stretch enough to see light through) then you would have a completely different bread than intended. You mentioned in your review that it is one of your family’s favorite bread. I’d suggest adjusting your expectations of how this dough works and roll with it. That’s what I am learning anyway;) Best baking! David
Hi! I love making soft fluffy bread and sticky dough and large water to flour ratio is key. Do not add more flour- try increasing the kneading time, this allows more gluten to form which will make dough less sticky but still moist. Some recipes I will double kneading time. My rule of thumb- it is sticky but doesn’t stick to bowl when you pull it out, it sticks to self, pulling away from bowl. If the dough refuses to leave the bowl, it needs more kneading.
I love love the white bread recipe. I just wish I had tried before I purchased a bread maker, cause I always use your receipt. My friends will ask me to pay them in bread white
Bread recipe. He said I will install your overhead light I said how much he reply’s just make me the bread.
I love the results, but PLEASE give us a button to halve the recipe without going back to school to re-learn fractions. I wasn’t good at it in grade school, and I’m no better now. I tried that conversion site, and it gave me 2/5 th’s cup in place of 3/4 ths cup. My cup doesn’t measure in 5ths.
Try going by weight rather than cup measurements. You can google conversions of cup measurements to grams and halve from there. Working with weight rather than cups is also a good way to keep things consistent. Try this website, I use it all the time. It has conversions for most common baking ingredients.
https://www.errenskitchen.com/cooking-conversions/cups-to-grams-and-oz/
It’s not that hard and I’m terrible at math. 3/4 cup is 1/2 cup and 1/4 cup, halve those. 1/4 cup and 1/8 cup. There’s 16 tablespoons in a cup, so 1/8 cup is 2 Tbs. Not that hard. If you just remember the 16 Tbs per cup, you can go anywhere with it.
I’ve made this bread several times now and it really is so delicious and easy! Definitely my go-to recipe. Ive even made it using bread flour for a chewier texture and it turned out great.
As I was waiting for my daughter to get to the cottage late this evening, I was looking at bread recipes and thought I would make some fresh bread for the gang in the am. We were out and the store is a 15 minute drive. Soooo…
Found this recipe and saw the raving reviews and thought oh wow this is the one!
A picture is worth a thousand words but can find a place to insert one but take my word for it these are monster bread and the most delicious things I have tasted in a long time. Thank you thank you. Can’t wait to see the faces of the gang in the AM. Unbelievable that the incredible smell hasn’t woken them up!!!
I used this recipe for my first time ever making homemade bread. It turned out great! I used all 10 cups of flour, but I had to knead the dough MUCH longer to get the right consistency and I did not use loaf pans. Really delicious—I shared the other loaf with my in-laws and they also loved it.
I use this recipe to make bread every other week! I’ve been baking homemade bread for about a year now (using this recipe), and my family LOVES it! It makes for a great grilled cheese and French toast! I usually split the recipe into three loaf pans to make smaller loaves, otherwise the slices end up being quite large.
I’m new for cooking. I hardly do the kneading because l can’t. (I’m in Thailand) .This is the first time on kneading bread. In fact, I just bought a bread making pan and want to try it, so looking in internet and found yours…
How long do you bake them for when splitting into 3 pans? I want to try that myself as the 2 loaves give me bread too big for my toaster.
I used only one packet of yeast as I don’t like too much of a yeasty flavor. It turned out perfectly. It rose fully and was delicious home made bread. Fluffy inside and chewy crust. !! YUM.
Wow! I love this recipe. Halved it and made it yesterday. Fantastic. Just the bread recipe I was looking for. Pillowly soff inside and chewy thin crust on the top. Thank you for sharing this.
You don’t put the measurements
Can I make this by hand, as I do not have a strong mixer?
yes you can
I make this recipe very frequently and i don’t have a mixer so i use my hands all the time
Could the butter be substituted for olive oil to make this a vegan bread???
Yes, or a vegan butter alternative.
I have tried many different recipes (I lost my mothers before she passed away) and none of them rise this high!!!! I am making it now as we speak and I am on the second rise before I cook them and I cant wait for the childhood to flow back to me once I smell it baking in the oven
I zoned out and accidentally used 3 1/2 tsp yeast (actually it might have even been 2) and it turned out just great, no particular difference that I noticed :)
Great recipe, I used to use the purity cook book recipe for like 8 years but I never have milk on hand. 8 years of planning too far ahead haha. This is perfect, I love to make it for my guy ❤️
We started making this bread during the pandemic. My mom has always baked bread and I could never quite get it right. Now I feel like I can’t get it wrong with this recipe! We love it. Too much! A whole loaf eaten right out of the oven with butter! (We make 5 mini loaves with this recipe)
I have a pic but don’t have Instagram so I can’t send it to you. If you have another way, please let me know.
I love this recipe. It’s my go to for white bread and defiant favorite. I’ve shared the loaves with family, friends and neighbors who have asked for more.
So, thank you! I’m glad you have this site and share your recipes.
Side note: I mix it all by spoon and then with my hands and it still turns out well. I’m sure a mixer would be nice but I rather like the traditional method.
(I confess that rolling up the dough has provided a few interestingly lopsided loaves but they’ve still tasted great. After watching your video a few times, I think I’ve learned and will hopefully improve the more often I make the bread.)
Thank you! It is my first time to maoe this and your instructions were clear and straight to the point!
Can i use a handmixer for this?
If your hand mixer has a dough hook attachment, yes. Otherwise, I would just make it by hand (I’ve done it many times).
I have never made bread before. I got all the ingredients to make this recipe cause my kids LOVE bread, and overall it will be cheaper to make bread instead of buying it. But I don’t have a hand mixer or a stand mixer, how do I make it by hand? What should I use?
By hand, just combine all the liquids and dry stuff in a bowl, mix it with spatula or wooden spoon until mostly incorporated. I then dump it onto a lightly floured board and just fold over a few times and scrape down the bowl into the pile until it is all one mass.
Will you comment on adjustments when baking bread at high altitudes above 4000 feet. Thank you.
I am above 4000 feet and use the same recipe. I hand knead my dough and use the leftover to sprinkle on the counter. Never had an issue and have made this several times!
Easy, foolproof, and a great crumb and texture! This always turns out well. In the summer my kitchen is pretty warm, so my dough absolutely explodes—my rise time is as little as 20 minutes for the first rise and 20 for the second, and it’s really hard not to overproof it. (And the flavor isn’t as well-rounded.) So this time I dialed back the yeast by about half, and it’s tracking with the times cited in the original recipe. Just in case anyone else has a very warm kitchen and/or you don’t have much yeast and you’re trying to make it last, you can successfully dial the yeast back to slow down the rise!
Can I substitute vegan butter in this recipe
I’ve made it a bunch of times and I only use plant based butter and it’s so delicious! Works exactly the same
Yes, that would work!
My .” Go to” white bread recipe. Easy and delicious.
Hi I made this bread it turn out good but I’m getting Confuse about the water can you please tell me exactly how much water to use where it says 3/4 of a cup + 2 2/3 of a cup and then divided that’s where I am getting confuse can you please tell me exactly how much water to use in ml together please thank you
It explains it in step one! You use the 3/4 cups water in one step, then the 2 & 3/4 cup in another step:
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.
Wonderful recipe! Very fluffy, flavorful bread.
One note – the printable recipe does not match the one on the website.
Can you use bread flour with this recipe?
Yes, you can!
I love it! Its really soft and fluffy, in short a fabulous texture of the bread. Its my first time to try it to bake this bread this pandemic and it was successful. Thank you for sharing this recipe. God bless! If you have a recipe book about all the recipes you have, I’m hoping you will give a free recipe book and your autograph too. Thank you!
Love this recipe it is absolutely the best I’ve made and I have made a lot of yeast breads over the years. Even my husband says this it the best that I’ve made. So this recipe will be my favorite loaf bread. I’ve even made rolls with this recipe and they are wonderful also. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
I’ve made this bread at least four times during the COVID stay-at-home orders. My family absolutely loves it! They never want to go back to store-bought bread. Thank you for a recipe that is easy to follow and very yummy!
this is my second time ever making bread. 1st was your itialian bread recipe, both recipes were easy to follow and informative. the white bread only reason not 4 stars and probably my fault i do not like my crust that brown. I think maybe no butter wash before cooking may have helped, again, not a baker so may be way. both breads were delicious even my wife ate them lol.
I love it. It’s by far my favorite bread recipe and I’ve made a lot of bread post-COVID. The only thing I do differently is the sequence of putting the dough together. It makes fantastic sandwiches and toast. I get 3 glass loaf pans of bread with each recipe, I make it every few days.
Bread can be a finicky thing to make when you’re not an expert at it AND when you don’t have a stand mixer, which I don’t. This recipe is fool proof!!! I mixed everything in a bowl with a spatula then kneaded by hand with little effort. What I ended up with were two perfect loaves of fluffy greatness and me feeling like a bread baking expert. Been through four different bread recipes in the last month and I’ve stopped at this one as I need to look no further. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe!!
Very easy to make
Fantastic recipe, will be my go too for a white bread recipe. It turned out fantastic! I only used the 9 cups of flour.
Easy recipe. A no fail step by step recipe. No picture family ate it quickly.
My bread came out very heavy and dense, it has nice flavour but very heavy not light and fluffy. Where did i go wrong.
Mine has done the same, Twice! Can anyone help? :-(
Does your oven get hotter than the setting? Also, does it have a lower or upper heating element if electric? Our oven runs slightly hotter than the setting on the knob and also had a lower heating element. I found that by placing the rack that I’m baking on in the middle of the oven and then placing a heavy baking sheet on the lower rack at the lowest point helps shield some of the heat for a better bake with soft results. Still golden brown or a bit darker but always soft crust and tender crumb.
Sounds like you didn’t let it rise enough or your yeast is dying. Try fresh yeast and increase tbe rise time. Turn oven down by 15 degrees.
AMAZING BREAD RECIPE!! So useful because it makes two loaves, and also really easy to make. This was my first time making bread, and it came out amazing! My family of 4 DEVOURED it in a week! I’m about to make some more, I’m so excited. Also, this recipe is very forgiving with the flour, I kind of lost track of how many cups I was putting in, but the bread still came out great!
Can you increase the sugar in this recipe?
Perfect white bread recipe! I haven’t bought any bread at the store since I started making this over a month ago! My family absolutely loves it. I’m grateful it’s a double batch because one gets devoured immediately while the other gets sliced and frozen. So yummy!
I must have much smaller bread loaf pans as half of this recipe still yields two delicious loaves. I absolutely love this recipe and so does my partner and anyone I give the spare loaf to. Can the dough be frozen if I do not wish to bake it right away and are there any tips/tricks with this?
Going to attempt to make a “quarter” batch for just one loaf here in a minute. As much as I hate math and fractions, we’ll see how this turns out.
Absolutely delicious! Thank you for this great recipe. Wonderful flavour and texture! I only had multigrain bread flour in the house so I chose to use that. It turned out perfect. I used 9 1/2 cups of flour and followed the rest of the recipe verbatim. I can hardly wait to make it again with white bread flour!
I made this for the second time today – I am a one person household so its way more than i can handle. Last time i took someone’s advice and made one a cinnamon swirl bread and gave half to my daughter and apparently my granddaughter loved it so today both loaves are cinnamon swirl and one is stying here and one is going there.
I used 1/2 c sugar and 2 tablespoons of ground cinnamon and spread half on each loaf before I rolled them up.
This is a very easy and versatile dough to make. I make the full kilo and dived it into 1 large loaf, 1 small loaf and 9 bread rolls. Thank you 😷 stay safe and wear a mask.
Best white bread I’ve ever made!! I have to adjust the flour depending on the weather…weird right? And I always sift the dry ingredients. Wicked bread!!!
Very fragrant and fluffy. Thank you so much for such wonderful recipe.
Finally! I have been making bread weekly for the past couple of months but could never seem to find exactly what I wanted in a sandwich bread, that is until today. Great texture, not to heavy, fluffy yet firm enough to hold up to sandwich fixings.
I divided it in half and it was perfect for my 12″ bread pan. I would have made it as written but wasn’t sure that my KA Classic could handle that much flour. Thank you for this great recipe.
I really appreciate your recipe! The white bread turns out fluffy and very pleasing texture. Lately I have been substituting approx 2 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour and a couple of tablespoons of “Bobs vital wheat gluten” to make a version of whole wheat bread. Not to sound like i am blowing my own horn but it is turning out really well .
It took me a while to learn but if the yeast gets a chance to come to room temperature before blooming and if the water is carefully heated in a microwave the recipe is pretty much fool proof! Thank you again for your web page!
This is the best sandwich bread I’ve ever made. My family loves it and is already requesting that I make this on a regular basis.
I found this bread easy to make and the finished product is very tasty. My only problem is the full recipe is too big for my 5qt kitchenaid stand mixer. Next time I will have to half the recipe. It would be helpful to have the half recipe ingredients also listed
I found a lovely website that divides and multiplies recipes, and can adjust for different size pans. I’ve used it for several years now, and swear by it!
http://kinja-labs.com/ingredient-cutter/
My first attempt making bread is like the layout of this messy website…. a complete disaster. Hard to follow and find the recipe when you have a website layout that is impossible to follow. Clean up your website while I clean up my mess
This is now my favorite recipe for bread. So light and delicious! Thank you!
Made this today for the first time. I will definitely make it again. Turned out beautifully. I’ve been baking bread for years. This has become my favourite Basic white loaf.
I love this recipe as is! Turned out the 1st time trying it and still awesome for the up-teenth time. Easy to make, quick; especially with a mixer with a dough hook. Bread is a nice dense but soft and flavorful sandwich bread. I usually keep a loaf, and share a loaf; or it freezes very nicely, so we have one fresh and the other when we need it. Makes great toast too. I have tried making home made bread so many times unsuccessfully, but this recipe makes me an expert bread-baker in the eyes of those lucky enough to get a loaf from me. Thank you for an awesome recipe.
Was such a treat to eat… & so easy to make
Made this today and it turned out fantastic! I’ve been baking a lot of bread the last few months and am always in search of the perfect white sandwhich loaf— this could be it! Based on comments, I split the dough into two loaves and baked them in my long 12 x 4.5 inch loaf pans (commercial sandwich loaf size) and the amount was perfect for this size! I also used bread flour and added about 1.5 tbsp milk powder to the recipe for extra flavor, and it’s soft, fluffy, and delicious!
I’ve been searching for the perfect bread and this is it! Thank you!
The bread is delicious! The only thing I will do different, next time, is to divide it into three loaves. The two loaves that this made were HUGE! lol
My SAF instant yeast does not require proofing. You just mix it in the flour. Do I just add the water in with the rest of the water?
I proof the yeast with 125 to 130 degree water. Turns out perfect.
Excellent! This has been my go to bread recipe since the lock down. We use it for sandwiches and toast snacks.
I also make three loves from this recipe. Otherwise the loaf is just too darn tall.
Hi there. This recipe is amazing, like everyone has said. Quick question though: any advice as to how to rise, then proof it, without using the plastic wrap either time? I’m trying to avoid plastics if I can. Thanks!
Use a slightly damp towel. The first rise is always best in plastic, you can reuse it for both stages.
Use a damp linen dish towel. Free from fabric softener.jo
I used aluminum foi for proofing at both stages. Worked great
I made this recipe yesterday using 10″ bread pans. and I think that smaller ones would have been too small to hold the bread well. The dough rose beautifully and the finished product is dense and very filling. It is excellent bread for sandwiches and we had it warm with just plain butter as soon as we could slice it. It is probably the most successful bread recipe I’ve found. Next time I make this recipe (probably next week), I will leave the bread in for a full thirty five minutes as thirty minutes was a fraction too short. Thank you for sharing this – it’s a keeper.
Good recipe but this web page is a goddamn nightmare to try to use, especially mobile. Popups, multiple modals trying to get me to sign up for a newsletter I don’t want, video I don’t want that I have to close. I printed it instead so I never have to come here again.
I have begun making bread for myself and my wife over the past year or so and have been looking for a recipe that would be able to duplicate my favorite “french bread”.
Funny thing is that every one of the recipes I tried just missed the mark in crust and flavor. So my search began to find something I would enjoy. I ran across this recipe last week and it said it would make 2 loaves of traditional sandwich bread so I said why not check it out Voila I got the largest 2 loaves of bread I have ever seen but that was OK because I loved the texture and the crust This is Terrific bread. Because the crust was so nice and lightly crunchy I thought perhaps I might be able to shape it to my french bread, I tried it today, made 3 loaves and WOW it worked just like I hopes, Thanks for this recipe, I am sure I will be playing with it to make other versions too. Again, thanks so much for the recipe.
Hi. When you say cup/cups, what is the cup size. Could you please let me know one cup what you mentioned is equal to how many grams.
Thanks a lot.
Ed
A cup of flour in American recipes is 120 grams. A cup of water is 225 mL. Hope that helps!
It is just a teacup.As every ingredient is measured in cups it does not matter.
I have been using this recipe for the last year always turns out perfect. I have used both active dry yeast and instant with fantastic results.
This recipe looks pretty good, I’m planning to try it out, but I only have small loaf pans. Does anyone know what temperature it would be if I split it into 4 small loaves?
I make this recipe every week now for our regular staple of bread. Its fast and easy and family and friends love it, they think I am amazing that I make bread every week but they don’t realize how easy this recipe is! Freezes well. The recipe makes 2 huge loaves so I now use three loaf pans so we can fit a slice in the toaster haha!
This looks delicious!! I really want to make it but I’m unsure which kitchen aid to buy, which one do you use?
Best bread ever. Good recipe. I’ve made it many times.
Making my second batch of this bread! My husband doesn’t want to buy bread anymore, he loves this one so much!
So easy and it comes out looking like I bought it at a bakery! Thank you!
Looks great. FYI, the recipe adjustment is incorrect. If you set it to half (10 servings) the water does not adjust properly. In fact, it ends up being more water than flour.
Thank you for posting this I thought I was actually going crazy with how wet my halved dough was, I had to add so much flour for it to balance out, it’s proofing right now and I have no idea how it’s going to taste. =/
It turned out perfect! So tasty!!!! It’s a keeper. One of my friends already wants to buy a loaf from me next time.
This is an absolute favourite in our house! We don’t purchase bread anymore. One question… Would it be possible to substitute whole wheat flour instead of all purpose?
can i triple this recipe to make 6 loaves at a time?
This was a very good recipe-maybe today was a day to bake! Anyways it tastes good, but the real deal is that I can slice it without mushing the whole loaf! Always seems to be a problem. This bread stood up to the knife and was moist and just terrific!
Turn the loaf on its side to slice
..less likely to smush.
Great recipe but it would more effective if everything was in weight rather than cups and spoons.
Wow, Michelle- Brown Eyed Baker, this is a magnificent recipe!🍞 I did use 6 cups of flour in step 1. And a little bit more in step 4. Was worried that this extra cup of flour would mess the recipe up. My bread wouldn’t rise or end up looking like yours. Wrong! All turned picture perfect. Will definitely make this recipe again and again! Thank you so much. Will be throwing away all my other bread recipes. 😊
Tastes great and easy to slice! Love this everyday bread!
Best white bread I have EVER made. Turned out perfectly!
2nd review, this is just about the most fool proof perfect recipe. Every single time, the wow factor when the beautiful loaf comes out of the oven. I have made it 3 times now, and a part of me wants to try and experiment with different recipes, but I love this so much that I end up making this instead. Delicious soft bread, that easily lasts a week if kept covered, without any change in texture. Thank you so much!
Lisa
Made this yesterday. “For the love of cheese and crackers” this was so good! I’ve never made bread before and it was easy and so so good. Since it very cheep to make, this will be are sandwich bread from now on. No more store bought bread for my family. Thank you for the recipe.
This has become our go-to recipe! I replaced the 1/4 c granulated sugar with 1/3 c honey. It gives it a bit more flavor. And I put a pan of hot water in the oven with the bread. I find the steam makes it a bit fluffier and softer. My only gripe is that I can never seem to get the bottom to brown all the way. And that’s less likely to be a problem with the recipe than it is with my pans. I tried baking it a bit longer but it didn’t really help much. I’ll have to fiddle with it, I guess.
But other than that, it’s perfect. Better than storebought! :)
If you have a pizza stone, preheat the pizza stone in the oven while your bread is rising. This method will give a crisp bottom crust as well as shorten the baking time (slightly). Also during the rising process I use a shower cap over the pan “poofing” the top above the dough (also reusable) and place in my microwave with ONLY the lights turned on (not microwaving the dough but proofing it by the heat produced in the oven by the exterior lights).
Works perfectly for proofing. If your microwave doesn’t have outside lights you can use a heating pad turned on low to accomplish the same thing. Hope I’ve hellped.
This bread is absolutely delicious. A few notes: I halved the recipe as I only have one loaf pan, and the loaf was ENORMOUS. If you’re making one loaf, I’d recommend thirding the recipe instead of halving it because it ends up pretty huge for sandwich making! I was really grateful Michelle provided the temperature to bake the bread to, because it took over 50 minutes for this beast to cook all the way through. I made sure I took the temperature at a few different depths to make sure it was fully cooked. Next time I make this bread, I’m going to try to third the recipe and use the metric instructions Aaron provided in the comments. But I will make it again, because it really is tasty!! Super moist, nice crust, great crumb (be sure to let it cool completely before cutting in if you can resist!!).
AMAZING!!! If anyone gives this less than 5 stars it’s clearly on their end.
Thanks for the recipe
I baked 2 breads today and it came out fantastic just like you described it
this will be my no 1 bread as from today
I have made this bread every week since Covid outbreak. What I like is to use leftover potato water from boiled potatoes as the water. It seems to make the bread even more moist! Also, because the loaves are SO tall, I cut them in half, and freeze them and we take out half a loaf at a time for the two of us. I have learned that it is hard to cut a straight slice with the bread being so high so I take half the loaf, cut it down the middle, and then slice them into half slices. This works really well. I usually only use about 8 81/2 cups of flour, and find that is plenty. I am going to try adding some whole wheat flour to my next batch and see how that goes. Love this recipe, and all my friends do too.
I love this bread. It’s so easy to make and turns out perfect every time. I don’t use a mixer, just do by hand. Have made rolls from it as well.they look and taste as if I bought from bakery.
Great Recipe! super easy also!
Thank you for the recipe, I made half the recipe to make just 1 loaf., it came out beautifully, but I see that it is not as soft on the next day as it was on the day I baked it. Any reason why that is. Also if I had to knead this by hand, how long should I knead it for. Thanks
Usually takes about 25 to 30 minutes to hand knead bread.
After I put these on my cooling rack, I went to the living room to relax. I then heard my adult) daughter in the kitchen. “Ow! It’s hot! Ow! Ow! Ow! Hot!” Then I heard my son (also an adult) say, “well it DID just come out of a 400 degree oven. Do you remember what a hot pad is for?” I giggled. Thank goodness natural selection skipped over my family! Sooooo good it worth burning your hands for! Hahaha!😂
awesome recipe. I am new to baking bread at home. what I noticed is that the bread became very dry after a couple of days. is there a way to keep it soft. I t was soft the day I baked and a couple of days after that.
My bread (I did a half recipe) came out with a hard crust and I’m not sure what to do about that. The inside was nice and soft but it separated where it was rolled. In other words, my slices have a spiral cut through them. I ended up using a little less than 4.5 cups of flour and i wonder if that was too much? If the dough had been a little bit stickier maybe it would have baked through with the layers adhering. Or maybe there was too much flour on my countertop when I rolled it up? I really wanted to get this right!
You don’t need to use flour on your counter. Your dough should be tacky, but not wet. Oll your dough tight and seal the seam. Put seam side down.
Hi there,
I would love to make this bread. It looks amazing! I was just wondering though if you knew how big these 9 inch bread tins are in lbs? Describing them as 9 inches doesn’t really give me enough information to go on. I’m from the uk, so not sure if there’s a difference in what measurements are used? Also, the link For the bread tins doesn’t work for my country. If you’re unable to let me know what lbs the bread tins are, would you be able to give me all dimensions of the bread tins used so there’s some context…..length, width and depth.
Thank you for your time, from Laura.
I believe they are 1 1/2 lbs
My bread pans are 23cm X 12.5cm X 6cm. Qs a note of interest on the second rise I only let my bread rise 22 minutes in the pan then the loaves do not get “too big”.
Can I use regular yeast, not instant yeast?
I have attempted to make bread for years and failed for one reason or another. I have tried many recipes, but this one tops them all. It is the BEST bread I’ve ever made and I swear it gets better every time I make it. My family loves it. Thanks for giving us this recipe.
I’d like to make a few unbaked loaves to freeze. Any recommendations??
Hi , I freeze bread a lot. Just do not let it rise the second time. Freeze at that point. Then when thawing it can rise at that time.
These loaves are ginormous ! I had to take the dough out of my KitchenAid because it’s too small as the dough was creeping above the dough hook and into the motor. So I kneaded it by hand for 10 minutes and then followed the recipe as is the rest of the way. I pressed the loaves and put them in the pans and when they rose so quickly I knew they were going to rise even more in the oven. Some bread recipes only use one packet of yeast ( for 2 loaves) and I think if I were to try this again, I would use only one packet of instant yeast. I have not read any other reviews but before I try this recipe again I will be sure to do that in case there are some troubleshooting tips. The only good thing I did do on my own was I scored the tops of the bread so that they would not fall to one side or another. It’s still in the oven so I’m looking forward to trying it later.
Can I use milk instead of water?
Okay, I’m pretty sure that’s the ultimate way to make bread at home!
My kids, who like to pretend they’re carb free, could not resist. This recipe is fabulous, easy to follow, and produces great results.
I tried my best but these nonsense volume metrics produced a very ugly result. This not reproducible at all.
David, I weighed the flour for half the recipe. My measurements were 1.1.9 lbs of flour. 2 1/4 tsp yeast 1 1/2 tsp salt. (don’t let the salt go anywhere near your yeast, add it after the yeast or before and mix it into the flour) 1/8 c sugar ( yeast likes sugar and you can mix it in with your yeast as you proof it as that’s what it eats) 6T Warm water for proofing your yeast. Add 1 C +3 T +1 1/2 t water
Made this today, it was perfect and easy. My loafs came out just like yours are pictures. My pops and boyfriend were so stoked when they saw them rise, and again impressed when we pulled them out of the oven. And again when we had a slice. Some serious homemade goodness. My dad’s response was ” this is the kind of bread that will make you fat”. Thank you for sharing this gem.
I made this recipe using whole wheat bread. I haven’t tried it yet but it sure looks good. The recipe was easy to follow and was easy to make.
I really love this recipe. However my loaves are massive. Two slices would be far to big for a sandwich. Is there anyway to reduce the size? Has anyone tried making 3 loaves with it or take some out to make rolls.
Hi Amanda, You could definitely turn this into 3 medium-sized loaves if you prefer. You can also make rolls, as well!
Wonderful could u use some wheat flour
If i wanted to make e6 loaves do i just double everything
Thanks
Hi Lucille, I would start substituting 25% wheat flour and see how that works for you and then increase from there. Keep in mind you may need a bit more water to get the right consistency if you use wheat flour. And yes, you can double the recipe, but it will likely be too big for a normal stand mixer.
I‘ve never been much of a baker, but lately I have been broadening my horizons to avoid extra trips to the store. This recipe gives consistently good results. The first time I made it, I made a single loaf, so if I messed it up, I wouldn’t have wasted as much flour. It was so good it disappeared in about a day. This time, I made a double batch and they look and smell just as fabulous. Thanks for the recipe!
it turned out exactly like your pic and like you said, this IS the best white bread recipe, and I have tried many. Perfect go to recipe. I had a little extra, spread some butter and sprinkled some sugar and cinnamon. Rolled and folded it in several layers- it also turned out so yummy. Thank you, Michelle! People give it a try, you will never buy store bought.
I LOVE this recipes! I make it every weekend now!
I love this RECIPE!!😍😍😍
Excelente essa receita
Nunca vi algo assim quando se refere a receita de pão
A possibilidade das informação de medidas ser em gr
Obrigada pela receita
Thank you Aaron!!!!!!!! why are all these recipes in cups?
Aaron thank you for doing the math, and breaking the recipe down in metric measurements! Question on the full recipe the water measurements are in ml. However on the half recipe the measurements for the water are in grams. Is that correct? Obviously I’m not a mathematician.
I made this recipe yesterday and it was a HUGE hit with my family. We wanted a sandwich night, but I was out of sandwich bread and couldn’t justify a trip to the store or Instacarting to satisfy the need for a loaf of bread. To be honest, since the quarantines, I have noticed that when we can find bread and rolls, they go moldy much quicker now. I have twice now had a brand new and unopened package of two different brands of hamburger buns from Sam’s that were moldy when I went to use them—like literally one-two days after purchase and they did not have their expiration dates nearing. I don’t know what is going on with that. Perhaps breads are sitting in refrigerated trucks too long and getting condensation? At any rate, this recipe is a lifesaver. I’ve shared it (and your blog) on a number of my cooking groups and on Emenator.com. The loaves are beautiful, the bread is delicious with a soft crumb that held up wonderfully to my homemade chicken salad. I’ll be making these every few weeks from now on. Thank you for sharing this excellent recipe!
I rarely comment on recipes but had to with this one! its really really great, best I have tried in 3 months of baking bread 4 times a week while in quaratine in Ireland. I found I did need to add more flour as it was quite sticky at first but it could be because I added too much water in the beginning. The recipe made one large loaf, the tip of keeping it in the tin was great as my son loves soft white bread, and also managed a tray of cinnamon rolls too, perfect dough as it stays soft and not dry and crumbly like other cinnamon roll doughs i have used in the past. I have finally found my go too sandwich bread recipe which I am very happy about.
I have made this recipe multiple times now and it is still my favorite one to make. I tried doing a half batch once and it did not come out as well.
I was wondering if you have ever turned the second loaf into another kind. Like a cinnamon swirl or cheese swirl bread before? If you have any pointers and what ones have to successfully made with the second?
Hi Laura, I’ve used this for dinner rolls, as well as pepperoni bread. Many others have commented that they’ve done things like cinnamon bread, cheese bread, cinnamon rolls, etc. It’s a super versatile dough; you could do almost anything with it!
Hi Laura, Yes definitely! I’ve done dinner rolls and pepperoni bread and many others have mentioned using it for cheese bread, cinnamon rolls, cinnamon swirl bread, etc. It’s super versatile and you can truly do almost anything with it!
Maybe tell people when they use the portion calculator to half the recipe, it doesn’t half the water 😡
What a waste of ingredients ☹️
hey i just have a question, i love the bread recipe but was just wondering if i can make double the recipe and store it in the fridge to make a loaf every day or two?
I assume you mean keeping the dough? I’ve never tried to ferment it in the fridge and bake it off over days, so I couldn’t say how it might turn out.
Great recipe! This is the second time I’m trying it because the first time came out so well! I specifically timed out each step to make sure I didn’t over knead the dough this time. The first batch came out SUPER tall and fluffy but it was hard to slice evenly because it was pretty crumby (texture-wise, flavor-wise it was amazing). I froze the second loaf (after it was baked) and the texture improved a bit and was much easier to slice. Perfect for sandwiches. I had one problem the first time I made this recipe: the dough kept climbing the hook. I kept adding flour until it wouldn’t stick so badly but I think I ended up either over flouring the dough or over kneading it. It was a little dry but not too bad. This time I just hand mixed it until I achieved the desired stickiness and then used the mixer until the sides of the bowl were semi-clean and the dough formed a ball.
This batch I halved the recipe because I am running out of flour, but I had some bread flour on hand so I’m excited to see how that affects the bread. The rise was not as dramatic as the first batch but hopefully, it doesn’t affect the outcome too terribly. Can’t wait to bake this batch and see the finished product!
I made this bread today after my sourdough starter stopped. It came together very quickly. I set it in a greased bowl to rise, and it rose so much that it took me by surprise! I divided it into two loaves as directed and was again surprised at how much it rose when set aside to proof. Baking it caused it to rise even more. It definitely doubled and looked almost like two loaves of bread; one on top of another. I probably could have made it into 4 loaves. I will be making it again, as this bread is so delicious! I plan on dividing it into 3 loaf pans, rather than 2. Thanks for an incredible and simple recipe!
Hi! I’ve used your recipe 4 times now. It’s the most perfect recipe for sandwich bread :D it slices like a dream and the taste is phenomenal! I have 2 long loaf pans that will make 24 slices the same size that you buy in the store. I’ve never been able to get that many slices out of a loaf because the bread is always too fluffy. But yours is perfection! My son is disappointed when we run out in between and I have to pull a store loaf from the freezer, lol! Because we’re a wheat family, I tried a 5th time with a half recipe and subbed wheat for 1/3rd of the flour. It turned out really well. But, now I’m looking to see if you’ve got an actual recipe for wheat. If not, I’ll be sticking with this :D
So, thank you!
Hi Wendy, I’m so thrilled you and your family are enjoying the bread! And I do have a whole wheat sandwich bread recipe :) –> https://www.browneyedbaker.com/whole-wheat-sandwich-bread-recipe/
Hi there!
I’ve never made bread before, but this recipe looks like one I can handle (fingers crossed). However, I have a couple of questions before getting started. The only loaf pan I have is the Wilton long aluminum 16″x4″. According to the Wilton website, this pan holds a double loaf recipe of any standard bread. Since your recipe is for two loaves, I thought it would work well in my case. Since I will be baking the entire recipe in one pan, are there any tips you can give me for using this pan with your recipe? Is there anything I should know about bake times since the pan is aluminum?
Thanks!
L.
Hi Lori, It sounds like it should work if the website states it fits two loaves (keep in mind these are large loaves). I don’t think any modifications need to be made due to an aluminum pan. Enjoy the bread!
This is the best recipe the bread is delicious light and it is fluffy. Delicious flavor will be making this recipe often. Highly recommend this recipe for white loaves of bread.
Can this recipe be easily doubled for a larger batch? Would it require any modifications to the quantity of the ingredients?
Hi Sylvie, This makes two very large loaves (or three medium loaves) as-is. You can certainly increase it, but I don’t think you’d be able to use a stand mixer for that much dough – you’d need to mix and knead by hand.
You are absolutely right, Michelle, this is the BEST BREAD RECIPE EVER! I’ve baked it twice and both were successful, even the first time when I overproofed it, it was still delicious even very fluffy. Thank you for this wonderful recipe. I’ve been looking for one like this for a long time.
My efforts failed. 80% of the loaf was raw. What did I do wrong?
Have I told you how much I love this bread? Dough is lovely and silky…easy to work with. I’ve made it several times and find that on damp rainy days, I need a little more flour and less on sunny days. Today, I froze one loaf and made 12 sandwich rolls, which I baked this morning. They are perfect for hamburgers too!
Hi. I never usually leave reviews but felt I had to. This is the tastiest, lightest fluffiest loaf I have ever baked! I live in England and had to to translate the recipe into pounds and ounces (I still haven’t got used to grams) but the ingredients were spot on and I followed the instructions word for word. Thank you so much xx
Followed the recipe with the exception of substituting 1 cup of white flour for whole wheat and added some whole flax seed and sunflower seeds. I have a Kitchen Aide stand mixer and the dough was too much for it so had to knead by hand. Used the 9 inch bread pans but the bread baked up too high with one loaf quite ill formed. The loaves are cooling so still too warm to slice and try. Disappointed in the appearance however taste will tell. If I make this again I would 1/2 the recipe but still bake 2 loaves.
Rhe exact same thing just happened to me and I didn’t make any subs. Any pointers?
Wow. I saw this recipe today and I made it this morning, just about taking it out of the oven😍😍😍😍
This is my first tryout and I for it so on point. I am a Nigerian and I love it
Hi Michelle! Well, I’ve save and made both this bread recipe, halved and also your American loaf recipe. I did a comparison of the two, noting the differences. I was just curious if, over time, if you have a preference for one over the other? My guess is that the American loaf, because of the milk, has a more tender crumb and lasts longer? (Note: I’ve discovered that I can bring bread back by using one of those steamer inserts and steaming the bread for a few seconds…I started doing this because here in Houston we have a lot of Asian style bakeries…tangzhou…and steaming brings back the breads and pastries the next day or so) .Best regards and thanks.
Can I use strong bread flour ?
Hi Emma, yes you can use bread flour for this recipe.
Found this recipe today and gave it a try! It was super delicious and will be my go to bread recipe going forward!
Can I use milk instead of water?
Yes, I think that would be fine.
I have been looking at this recipe for a while and since I had time I decided to make it. I am really glad I did! The loaf looks beautiful and the crumb is great. You can even see the spiral on the ends where the loaf is tightly rolled. We had some for breakfast this morning and it was truly delicious. Thanks for another great recipe.
My mother loved wheat bread, so that was the recipe she made when I grew up and didn’t like bread. Thus, I have been on a search for the bread recipe of my dreams for most of my adult life. THIS IS IT. I have been making this throughout the pandemic and giving away loaves of bread to neighbors, because, for me, this recipe makes three big loaves with nine cups of flour. It’s been good to be of some service to people while we can’t get near anyone, and I’m SO grateful for this recipe! THANK YOU, Brown Eyes!!
I was looking for a lighter bread ,came upon this recipe. First time I made it it came out beautifully. So yummy. With four adults in the house this won’ t last long. I just started makin g bread. This will be a keeper for sure!,
Awesome bread recipe. The loaves are fluffy and high. Best bread recipe I know, except for my mother’s.
Soybean oil is added to bread recipes as both a preservative and as a bread emulsifier. Essentially, that soybean oil is what makes your bread light and fluffy. Without some form of preservative and emulsifier, be it lecithin (in this case soybean oil) but also comes from sunflower as well, asorbic acid (vitamin C), added vital wheat gluten, or vinegar your bread is going to be dense and have a short shelf life. It will be wonderful when it first comes out of the oven but quickly become dense, dry, and crumbly. I recommend looking into some of these other preservative/emulsifiers to add to your recipe. A great recipe can turn into an amazing one.
I just made this, and it’s one of the best loaves of bread I’ve ever made. Wonderful recipe, video, and instructions. This is why I turn to your website for recipes more than pretty much any other online! Thanks for sharing. I will be making this regularly to stash in the freezer.
Best bread receipe ever…very impressed. Used smaller bread pans i.e. 8 x 4 size and cut back on amount of dough per bread pan. Used extra dough for 6 beautiful cinammon buns. Next time will make 3rd loaf a cheese bread! Like the crispy crust. Found though that my oven smoked a bit due to butter on the crust.
This is the easiest to make, best tasting white bread in the world. I’ve made it twice in the last three weeks. The second time I halved the recipe and used smaller bread pans. It’s fool proof. I’ve made chocolate babka, hamburger buns, crumpets, tortillas, pizza dough and this is by far the easiest of them all. I’m giving this as a Christmas present This year instead of the normal spiced zucchini or ginger bread loaf. Nothing is more comforting than a piece of jammy toast.
Oh my gosh. This is THEE best bread recipe ever. No joking!!
Your ingredients are wrong. 10 cups of flour is wrong
I thought 10 cups sounded like a LOT of flour. I made a loaf of bread today….similar recipe except less water, and used oil instead of butter. and I only used 3-1/4 C flour.
They are not wrong, it says 9 to 10 cups and it does note that you may not need all of it. In the summer I use more flour than in the winter.
I’ve tried to make bread many times and I always produced bricks. With this recipe I got deliciously light and beautiful loaves. My wife could not stop eating it! I did make one substitute by using 12oz of beer to try to ensure a good rise. No more store bought bread for me😋
Because I live in humid Florida I use 50 g less water in bread recipes. This adjustment worked perfectly so I only needed less than 9 cups of flour. The dough rose beautifully. I almost thought it would explode from my loaf pan. Thank you for this recipe. Would you consider adding gram measurements next to the Cup measurements in parenthesis? This would make it so much easier for those who like to weigh their ingredients.
Hi Val, I am working on getting the weights inline in one place, but if you click the link below the ingredients that says “metric” you will find the gram measurements there. Hope that helps!
Third time I’ve made this bread. I half the recipe as there are only two of us . For those tempted to add more flour, don’t. Sticky dough get so much taller! Sandwiches, toast, French toast, grilled cheese. This week we’re going to try a thick slice of garlic toast next to our St Louis style salad! This is our favorite quarantine guilty pleasure.
I am so happy I found this recipe! I make this all the time – so easy and my family loves it! I usually half the recipe and I often make rolls instead! Thanks!!
Like others, I ended up having to add significantly more flour than the recipe called for. The loaves are currently in their second proof/rest and are doing fine, so I’m not worried about them being properly. However, I am not happy about using 14-ish cups of flour for two loaves of bread. Yes, this recipe works and I’m sure it tastes fine, but I may use a different recipe next time because May 2020 is not the time to be using nearly a whole 5 lb bag of flour in two loaves of bread.
Wow! I only had to use 9 cups. I wonder why you had to use so much??
It may be because I live in the south, so it’s super humid here all the time. The bread was fine overall, but it was too sour for my taste and super heavy (likely due to the amount of flour). They looked beautiful, and my husband liked them, but I’ll go with a different recipe next time.
Just add LESS water. It’s an altitude issue. I live in the mountains in Tennessee. I used 9 cups of flour and all the water called for in the recipe, but I also “felt” my dough as I went. Remember, the recipe calls for the dough to be tacky but not sticky. Add only as much water as needed to provide you with the tacky dough using the flour amounts that you prefer (I imagine in Florida you could get away with 8-9 cups of flour). I lived in South Florida for 17+ years, so I have experience baking in the different altitudes. You are basically at sea level in Florida, so just adjust the liquid in your recipes to allow for that adjustment :)
Instructions and ingredients don’t mention oil; but it is in video and article …guess I should have read and viewed that first but you might want to update recipe and instructions to include
The video does not mention oil. It does show butter being added, which is also mentioned in the recipe.
There’s no oil in the recipe or the video. Only 3 Tablespoons of room temperature butter. ???
Hi Michael, There is not any oil in the recipe or in the video?
There is no oil in the video, there is melted butter. You must be talking about some other video.
Excellent bread, thank you for the recipe,
The video has oil but neither the ingredients nor instructions mentioned oil?
Excellent recipe!! I am new to making bread from scratch. Since I tried the basic recipe and it turned out so well, I decided to make cinnamon raisin and five seed bread loaves. As my kitchen Aid mixer is not large enough to handle the full recipe, I simply halve it. So far, everything has turned out great! Thank you for making it so easy!
Awesome
I’ve been making this same recipe for decades since I first found it as a new bride back in the 70s in the Betty Crocker Cookbook I had received as a shower gift (only difference is that one uses shortening where yours uses butter in the loaves.) It really IS the best!
But you did it one better… The original recipe calls for removing the loaves from the pan as soon as they come out of the oven. I left it in the pans for the 10 minutes that you do. What a world of difference! Gone was the crispy crust, replaced with a soft, chewy one. That, to me, made a completely different bread! My husband can’t get enough.
A trick I learned over the years to have it freshly baked whenever you want it: You can par-bake the loaves for 22 minutes. Cool completely, then wrap and freeze. When you want the bread, remove from the freezer, brush with butter, and finish baking in a preheated oven for 14-15 minutes, until golden. Follow the directions as written at this point.
Should have added that when you remove the loaf from the freezer, put it back into a loaf pan to finish baking. When done, leave it in the pan for 10 minutes before turning the loaf out of the pan to cool.
Thank you for this extra tip on par-baking!
I tried a recipe very similar to this one yesterday and my loaves came out very good. My recipe is the good old fashioned Jamaican hard dough bread. One would say it’s the straight dough method using butter and not milk.
My family loves the bread because it’s soft and nice. However, I didn’t use as much flour and I got 2 loaves of bread per double batch. For a double batch (2 loaves)I used 7cups flour to 8 tbsp or 1 stick butter, 3 tsp yeast, 2 cups plus water, 4 tbsp sugar, 3 tsp salt. I used my hand 1st to bring the dough together before tossing it in the mixer. I used my hands for the finishing touch. I let it sit in the bowl for 1 hr to rise and after rolling the dough into 2 loaves and placing it in the pans I let them sit for another hour. I baked the bread at 350 degrees for 30 mins or so.
Trust me, the best bread ever.
Oh my! I’m a pretty experienced bread baker and I have to say this may be the best white bread I’ve ever made! I didnt change or modify a thing and it came out perfect albeit VERY tall! Great flavor, perfect soft texture! I suspect the dough might also work very well for cinnamon rolls. Next time I may make cinnamon raisin bread or some other flavor variation. But fyi it is truly amazing as is!
I tried this recipe with some modifications. I used 5 cups of all-purpose flour with 4 cups of whole wheat flour. The bread came out very well. It was a little dense but the air bubbles were all uniform without any large pockets. Excellent recipe. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Sugar feeds the yeast, helps in browning, and flavor as well as tenderizing…I would not cut it back….
I make all our bread and I’ve NEVER seen a recipe for only two loaves use that much flour. 5-6 cups flour is the norm for 2 loaves of bread. So why so much flour? It seems extremely excessive and with your amount of flour one could easily get at least 4 loaves out of this recipe.
I just don’t get it.
Hi Janis, This recipes makes two very large loaves of bread. Some folks split it into three loaves!
Do u need to put so much sugar?
Thanks for this… I baked it with the Tang Zhong method, which usually means increasing the liquid somewhat.
I found I didn’t have to, though, which makes me suspect that for some types of flour and in humid conditions, this could, indeed be too much moisture.
Some recipes require a high moisture dough, though.
Some wheat flours retain more moisture naturally, and others are very much affected by environment and storage.
Nobody has done anything wrong, you just need to go cautiously and adapt to your local conditions.
I liked that it was a very frugal loaf with minimum ingredients. Turned out well.
Wow. .. Best recipe….love it!!!! make often… always turns out great And yummy……Thanks for sharing
This is a great recipe! I encourage you, if it didn’t work out the first time – try again! This recipe has its rating for a reason, so persevere and you will be grateful for the results. I certainly was! I would recommend using the advised instant yeast, having tried it also with active dry, and this also works perfectly kneading by hand, adding a couple of minutes to the stand mixer kneading time. Thanks so much!
I can only find Active dry yeast. how exactly do you activate it? I am a good baker, but yeast really scares me and I would like to overcome that fear.
Thank you
It’s easy to do. Take 1/2 cup boiling water pour in a bowl add 1 cup cold water to the boiled water. Check temp . It should be between 100 and 110 degrees . Put in 2 teaspoons of yeast stir to dissolve add 1 teaspoon of sugar stir to dissolve sugar. Set aside for 30 minutes to an hour. If liquid foams and bubbles form your yeast is good!
I usually stick a finger in my warm water to make sure it’s warm but not too hot. I added the yeast evenly over the water, stirred then added a tsp of sugar and had frothy yeast in less than 5 minutes! Ive never seen a recipe that says to wait more than 5- 10 minutes for your yeast to froth!
Hi Linda, The first step (letting the yeast sit in the warm water) should activate it. You can include a teaspoon of the sugar in there, which sometimes can help give the yeast a boost. Enjoy the bread!
What if you have your own starter yeast? How much of that would replace the dry yeast?
I am not sure, I’ve never used a starter for this recipe. If you have a rule of thumb you’ve used for other recipes, I would start there.
I have made this recipe three times and it is the best. I used one half of the dough for a loaf of bread and the other half for hamburger buns or sandwich rolls. Fabulous.
This is the first bread recipe that I didn’t screw up! My kids love it, thank you :)
Do you use the WS 1 lb. pan or the 1.5lb pan?
The 1.5 lb pans!
I am a beginner in baking bread bur every time I do it, it calms my senses. Baking is indeed therapeutic and my family loves it too. Thank You for a fail-proof recipe, looking forward to be a good baker soon!
My loafs came out super pretty but very very dense. They smelled wonderful but the dough is chewy and they feel zvery heavy! WHAT DID I DO!? I though i followed thr reipe to T. This is my firat attempt at bread so any thoughts will br appreciated!
Did you activate the yeast first?
I had so much fun making this bread! This is my third time ever baking bread of any kind, and I had some issues, but in the end, it all worked out! Next time I’ll halve the recipe, because my kitchen aid mixer wasn’t quite big enough. The dough kept trying to escape, and after several attempts at pushing it back down, I gave up. There was flour everywhere! So it wasn’t kneaded for more than 4 or 5 minutes, max. I put it in my super big glass bowl, and it got so big it nearly overflowed! When I shaped the loaves I thought they were too big for my pans, so I made three instead of two. I only had active dry yeast, but it seemed to rise fast anyway. I got a big bag of bread flour at the wholesale club, so I used that. In the end, it made beautiful loaves and tasted wonderful. Despite my blunders. Thanks for the recipe!
Took me a few tries, because I am always fiddling with recipes. I subbed out part of the water for evaporated milk, only because I have so much of it to use up. It was delicious (but prob totally unnecessary). Super important to butter the bread as directed, and keep it in the pan after pulling out of oven for about 10 minutes like directed. It ensures your bread will be soft. Not only is this great sandwich bread, it is really delicious toasted. It toasts up light and crunchy and is a total treat! Thank you for this wonderful simple and delicious recipe.
Came out great! Definitely going to be a weekly thing in our house. Have made it 2x now. A longer second proof made it fluffier, compared to the first time I made it. And I didn’t bother to dissolve the yeast first, and it still came out perfect. Just mixed everything minus the melted butter in a bowl, kneaded by hand, and left to rise.
In case anyone out there prefers weights to volumes, here it is converted:
[ Makes 2 Loaves]
7g yeast
177ml water + 631ml water (808g total)
50g sugar
18g salt
42g unsalted butter at room temperature
1080 – 1200g APF
42g unsalted butter melted for brushing
[ Halved for 1 Loaf ]
3.5g yeast
88g water + 315g water (404g total)
25g sugar
9g salt
21g butter at room temp
540-600g APF
21g unsalted butter for brushing
That isn’t the correct weight for the yeast. It should be 14g or .50 oz
Good catch! You’re correct.
Aaron , you legend!
Thank you so much… I don’t have US cup measures, and wanted to halve the recipe… it was a conversion nightmare… Thank you so much!
Thank you so much for these conversions! I was just about to start doing the maths myself but you’ve saved me all that hard work.
Has anyone tried subbing milk or almond milk for the water to make it even softer? This bakes up soft for me but over the course of a few days gets dry and crumbly (though still soft, its not as soft as store bread)
Also, has anyone baked it with a pan of water in the oven?
Neither my husband or I are bakers by any stretch of the imagination so if we could do this, so can anybody! We were like two school children marvelling at how the ball of dough formed in the mixer and were on pins and needles waiting for each rising. We followed the instructions until the part where you divided the dough into two equal amounts. We both prefer the look of 3-bun bread so that’s what we did….dividing the dough, of course, into 6 equal amounts before placing in the greased pans. It was an absolute success! Thank you for sharing.
Great recipe, actually makes three loaves!
I have made this three times and my dough is always sticky. I follow the recipe exactly. What am I doing wrong?
It’s still delicious and bakes beautifully but dough is hard to work with.
Hi Sam, If it’s super sticky, you should add a bit more flour to get the correct consistency. Glad you’re enjoying the bread!!
can this recipe be made in a bread maker on the dough cycle using half the ingredients ?
Hi Selma, I’ve never used a bread maker, so I’m not 100% certain, but I would think it SHOULD work?