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.
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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!
My Favorite White Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 4½ teaspoons instant yeast, two 0.25-ounce packets
- ¾ cup + 2⅔ cups warm water, divided
- ¼ cup (52 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 3 tablespoons (43 g) unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
- 9 to 10 cups (1200 g) all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons (43 g) unsalted butter, melted, for brushing
Instructions
- In the bowl of a mixer, stir to dissolve the yeast in ¾ cup (180ml) of the warm water, and let sit for 5 minutes. Add the remaining 2⅔ cups (640ml) 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!
I’ve made this recipe twice and it is my new favorite bread recipe! I want to make a loaf for my vegan friend, can I substitute the butter for olive oil?
I think that would be okay!
I just made this recipe and it turned out beautifully. This has yet been the best rising bread recipe, now for the taste test. I’m new to making bread however, I love to bake and this is really fun.
Great Bread. Have made it twice now.
can i do this in my bread machine on dough setting
I just made it in my bread machine. I made a half recipe. I used bread machine yeast, and didn’t let it proof. I used the dough setting,, let it rest after the first knead, and then pat it out like the recipe calls for, rolled it up, and followed the instructions like the recipe and put it back in the bread machine to do the 2nd rise. The used the bake function. It came out perfectly!
I may try making it again and let it cycle through with the bread machine only, stopping just to put the butter on before baking it, just to see how it comes out.
That’s my question. I’ve a bread machine & would really like to try it for this recipe
Are you still happy how it turns out? Do you divide the dough? I’m so hesitant to try it in my bread machine. I havent tried this recipe before. But reading the reviews, I think it will be my favorite also. Fairly new to bread making. Thanks to all for your reviews.
Is instant yeast also called fast rise yeast or rapid rise yeast?
I had tried so many recipes for toast bread and this by far is the best one! I done it yesterday and had
it for breakfast and my visitor loved it so much thatI gave him the second loaf. So today I made it again! I reduced the amount of sugar to half.
Do you have metric scale quantities? I think I made some mistakes… thanks
Hi Marcella, Yes! Just click the “metric” link under the list of ingredients.
I have made this four times now and it turns out better each time. Thursday December 5 2019 I made some and it turn out GREAT I have never had bread raise so well. Your recipe is the BEST and the taste is out of this world I have a Kitchen aid mixer and it is so nice with your recipe. I made my husband a sandwich and it was so big that he said that next time I sure make a half. He love your bread also. Thank You very much
I have made this bread twice & both turned out nicely. Next time I will make half into cinnamon rolls. My husband says “No more store bread!” Easy recipe!
I did it today … It is delicious
Thank you for sharing the recipe … We loved the bread. Do you have any recipes for using Kraft Korn flour?
Hmmm I have never heard of that flour – what is it?
Bakes up into 2 nice big, soft bread loaves! This is only the second white bread recipe I’ve tried and I like that is one doesn’t contain any oil. Husband loves it! Will bake again for sure….thanks for sharing
I made this bread for the first time today and it turned out great.
I have made many of your recipes, love your deep dish pizza. But I made this today and I bow down to you. But do you have any ideas how we can use this dough to form and bake hamburger buns? I think it would work beautifully.
Hi Sharon, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! You could use the shaping/baking method outlined here:
https://www.browneyedbaker.com/hamburger-buns-recipe/
This is the best white bread I have ever made! It is both very easy to do and delicious! Thank you, Michelle!
I made this bread today and i came out fluffy and soft, I halved the recipe to make one loaf and it rose incredibly. However the bread came out extremely bland and was lacking the chewiness of store bought bread, I’m aware i probably cant replicate exactly store bought bread due to all the additional preservatives they add to it but do you have Any tips to fix these problems for my second try ? Thank you !
Usually when bread tastes bland, it’s because salt was forgotten. (I’ve done that once or twice.)
For chewier bread, try kneading it a bit longer.
If you use bread flour instead it will be more chewy, because bread flour has more gluten. This is why bagels and good pizza dough are super chewy, they have even more gluten.
It turned out perfect the first time! Thank you so much for the recipe :)
I’ve been making Jim Lahey’s No-Knead bread for over a year and love it. However, it is rather rustic and it takes over a day the way I make it. I wanted to change things up and make a soft white bread. I used this recipe and the results were very good. The loaves are light and soft with a slightly sweet/rich flavor. Very different from the no-knead bread and a welcome change. I used regular yeast rather than instant and had no problems with it rising, just let it go about 15 minutes longer. Baked perfectly. Can’t wait to try grilling it (the no-knead bread is very difficult to brown in a toaster or a pan, I think this loaf will be better).
Recipe can easily make 3 loaves, or 2 loaves and some buns or cinnamon rolls – maybe because I use regular instead of instant yeast? The texture is amazing, recipe is very easy to follow. For me, Making two loaves resulted in having to cut a slice in half length wise to get it into the toaster. We were definitely not complaining though. For a household of two, I bake bread every second weekend and freeze one loaf. Also love that there’s no milk in this recipe.
I bake bread often and always by hand. This is the easiest one ive found yet
I received a bread machine for my birthday, and I’ve tried making white bread in it, and the bread just does not come out light and fluffy like I expect it to. I saw this recipe online a few weeks ago and finally tried it last night. It’s just me and my husband, so I cut the recipe in half to get one loaf. I’m 98% sure that I halved all the amounts properly, but the dough rose so much, I still could have cut it in half for 2 loaves. My loaf came out looking ugly, haha, but the bread is delicious! My husband especially loved it’s flavor.
For the amount of trouble of making homemade bread, this recipe is not worth it. I’ve made many better bread recipes. It’s not that bad; it’s just not THAT good.
What about it don’t you like? Is it too soft, does it lack bite, flavor, etc … thanks
I
I have been baking bread for over fifty years…this is by far the easiest and best recipe I have ever used…my family is over the moon how yummy this fresh bread is..it makes wonderful toast.
Thank you!!
I love this recipe it has got me into bread making again iy lasts for ever and dose not get to dry tyabk you for the recipe
Loved this recipe! Definitely my favorite sandwich bread recipe so far. It is sturdy enough to be cut into thin slices and still support lots of sandwich toppings without falling apart. I will say if you haven’t made much bread the directions could be more clear or include some tips for new bakers. First, sugar activates yeast so you will want to let the warm water, sugar and yeast sit together for 5-10 mins until it looks foamy. Too hot of water will kill yeast and old yeast may not work, so it is super important to make sure the yeast is actually activated before moving on in the recipe. Also, if you are having a difficult time getting it to rise properly or enough I have a good trick. Bring water in a pot to a rapid boil on the stovetop, then immediately place the pot of boiling water into your oven with your covered bowl of dough (the oven should be off). This should make your oven warm and steamy and help your dough to rise beautifully! Also, another must for this recipe is to score the bread so when it rises during baking it doesn’t break all over. To do this take a bread knife and make a cut a few centimeters deep down the middle of the bread before baking. Your loaf will turn out much prettier because you controlled where it will break during the bake. I don’t know if it was just my oven, but my bread needed to be in for 40 mins both times. If your loaf is really dense on the bottom half (usually the bottom inch or two) that means that it didn’t bake long enough! Just make sure to follow her instructions to wait until the temperature reads 195° if you are not confident in telling when bread is done and you won’t go wrong.
Well I made this recipe today and it turned out dense and chewy…. I will be trying again and letting the yeast activate longer and rise longer. Maybe that will help..
I made this bread by hand tonight (no mixer, no bread machine) and it turned out amazing! I will definitely use this recipe again. I took pictures but I don’t have Instagram so I can’t show them to you. First loaf was plain white bread and second loaf I added Rosemary and garlic. Since I don’t have a bread box yet (getting one soon), I used a clean pillowcase to keep the loaves for the next few days. Thank you!
I’m a new bread baker and have tried many recipies with no success until NOW! This will now be my go-to recipe, thank you for sharing! Delicious golden brown loaves to enjoy.
Followed the recipe exactly turned into 10 cups of flour and was still sticky. Very upset to waste all that flour. Never follow this author again.
I screwed this bread up big time. I have made many bread recipes before and they never specified the bottom rack. I chose to ignore that in this recipe. The bread baked up SO TALL AND BURNT ON THE TOP :( make sure to read the directions and bake on bottom rack.
I did taste what was salvageable. It was great!
Followed the recipe exactly and ended up using 9.5 cups of flour. My rise times were 45 minutes the first time and roughly 40 minutes the second time. Also ended up being golden brown and hollow sounding when tapped on the top after 25 minutes in the oven. Perfect texture; soft, but dense enough to be used for sandwiches. Highly recommend.
Not bad but bread is very heavy and dense…everything doubled and rose as instructed…just not a light bread.
This recipe has been hit or miss. It’s great bread but the first instruction gives me trouble in Colorado sometimes. If your yeast does not process, sprinkle a thin layer of sugar and give it another two or three minutes. Unfortunately I redid the yeast two times prior before I figured out the issue. Once that yeast processes my bread was awesome!