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.
Save This Recipe
Enter your email address, and we'll send it straight to your inbox!
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!
Brilliant recipe! I baked bread for the very first time following this recipe and it turned out like a dream! Thank you very much 😁😁
I made this bread during the Coronavirus . Needed a challenge. How easy. Since I had such success , I made another batch. Perfect again, Found yeast by luck and am ready to try again. My loaves were picture perfect.
I’ve been making bread for 50 years now; usually whole wheat because I have a ton of wheat and a wheat grinder. But the white bread recipe i have used was not to great. So i tried your recipe and it is marvelous my grandsons ask for it regularly. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Brown-Eyed Baker,
As a DIYer (extensive car repairs, large building projects gardening and of course cooking/ baking), I use the internet extensively for research and how-to. However, I’ve only posted a couple of replies in my life. This recipe deserves the third. So easy and so good. My wife, who has a very discriminating taste for bread, loves it too. It has become the standard. Thank you for sharing with us. BTW, I love your writing style, website and easy to follow directions. Take care and keep sharing.
I was looking for a bread recipe that was easy enough and more “store-like” than bread-maker bread. After reading the reviews I had to try it. In case it didn’t turn out, I halved the recipe and made one loaf. It turned out PERFECTLY! It looks just like the photos. I only had an 8.5″ pan and my bread turned out a bit too big for it but this wasn’t an issue for me. Here is the measurements for one loaf that I used:
2 1/4 tsp bread maker yeast (this is all I had on hand and I read online that it’s the same as Instant, just packaged differently)
3/8 c + 1 1/3 c warm water divided
1/8 c granulated sugar
1/2 tbsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter, cubed room temp
4 1/2-5 c all-purpose flour (I used bread flour)
1/2 tbsp unsalted butter melted for brushing
It cooked for only 30 minutes and the internal temp read 195F when I pulled it out of the oven.
Thanks for the amazing recipe!
It is not hyperbole to rate this bread recipe as “the best and easiest bread I’ve ever made.” I’ve been successful with french bread, with sourdough bread, etc., but I was not successful in making a perfect sandwich loaf until I used this recipe. It slices nicely and it has a wonderful texture. Thank you so much for making me look good as I bring out a huge platter of sandwiches for the grandsons, made with your bread recipe of course!
Love this recipe – I’ve been making the halved recipe over and over for the last few weeks, and no matter how I modify (use varying alternatives to butter and sugar, half whole wheat flour, depending on my mood) it always works out. I use my breadmaker for steps 1 to 3, and it takes little to no time. Kinda need to watch and modify the flour /water ratio depending on the type of flour and humidity of the day, but otherwise super easy. I also often skip the butter on the crust, but I suspect that would make it that much better.
Seems simple enough, but seriously, not a better recipe out there for basic white bread.
I have baked and cooked for my family a lot over the years and I enjoy making bread but I don’t very often because I have two gluten intolerant people in the house. However, we have found over the last year that if we use OO flour from Italy, then my wife can eat bread with no ill effects. We now believe that her allergy is to the chemicals used in American wheat that they don’t use in Italy. (We ordered the flour months ago well before the COVID issues in Italy and here.). Since COVID has us home bound, I have started making bread again. I have been searching for a white Sandwich bread recipe for a couple of weeks. I hit the jackpot with this recipe. I made it exactly as the recipe says except substituting Earth Balance soy free butter for real butter in both the recipe and to brush on the loaves. Just as the author states, the loaves rise up very nicely making for a tight crumb under a beautiful golden brown crust. It slices nicely and it can be thin sliced to your desire. The bread is flavorful and makes a perfect companion for sandwiches or toast. It is delicious! The recipe makes two huge loaves perfect right out of the oven. I never write reviews…I wrote one for this recipe!
I make most of my bread because I am on a low sodium diet due to congestive heart failure. I want a good sandwich bread recipe and will try this with salt substitutes. But this recipe makes a bread that is higher in sodium than most grocery store brands. The American Heart Association guidelines of 1500-2000 mg of sodium per day. Two slices of this makes a while meals worth of sodium.
I made it and accidentally omitted the salt entirely. As you can imagine, it rose quickly and rather high. But was still delicious. Try it without the salt.
I used half the salt and only 2 TBS of sugar, and it tasted awesome. :)
Loved this recipe, thanks so much. Big recipe though. Got really two huuuge loaves. This one is a keeper.
Magnificent! An ODE to all grandma’s out there… as a serious baker and lover of all this baked & buttered – blame the French Canadian in me – this recipe is simply a MUST try for anyone looking to trying their hands at making beautiful loaves at home. Good work!
This bread is amazing. Will never buy bread again! So easy. ..almost impossible to screw it up.
Let me start by saying I cook and bake all the time, but making bread has always scared me. I decided to try my hand at it while I’m furloughed and OH MY GOODNESS Y’ALL!!!! It is so good!! I don’t know why I’ve waited this long to make bread. It was so easy and definitely worth the effort. It’s definitely not helping the fact that I need to lose a couple pounds to fit in my wedding dress in 8 days, but oh well. 🤷🏻♀️
So you said you used a 9’ bread pan for this recipe and linked your favorite ones…but the are no 9 inch options, it’s either 8.5 inch or 10 inch. So…which one do you suggest?
If you want a taller loaf with a poofy top use the 8.5. If you want a more uniform loaf with a smaller crown, use the 10″.
Thank you so much for this recipe! I have been struggling with making bread, but this turned out so well, they raised very well. Very pleased!
Absolutely delicious and thank you!
Quickie question – both loaves smelled and tasted a tiny bit yeasty, and my loaves looked more dense than your pictures.
Any idea what i did wrong? I followed the recipe, but let the first dough rise at 45 minutes and the second rise for 30. Should they have risen more?
Thanks for your guidance in advance.
Did you let them rise a 3rd time in the pan before baking? I made that mistake the first time and my results were like yours. The second time I let the loaves rise in the pan for another 45 minutes before baking and they came out perfect.
I REALLY LOVED THE RECIPE. It came much better than I expected considering it was just my second time baking bread from scratch. The first time I had used a different recipe and it came out rather disappointing, to be honest. Even as I halved the recipe, I still got two loafs of bread, albeit smaller. Thanks for sharing this recipe. Really enjoyed it.
Yes I made it it was a hit ,was wondering if you could use sour milk in place of some if the water
I’m a new bread baker and these turned out great! I used half bread flour and half AP. After proofing and splitting into two loaves, I kept one ball of dough in the fridge for a few days. When I pulled it out, it took much longer to puff up again but it turned out even more beautiful than the first loaf.
Absolutely lovely bread. You weren’t lying about them being huge though 🤣 with my bread tins I think I could easily have had 3/4 loves out of it 🤣 I’ll half the recipe next time to make two loaves. I just wish I could share a picture as it’s hilarious 😂
Serious thanks, I’m not a baker but your directions were perfect. My bread looked almost identical to yours in the photos. I don’t see a reason to try other recipes, the family loved it. Will def make this again.
Hi, I had a question, if I knead the dough by hand, is there a test to see when it’s been kneaded enough similar to the one for the stand mixer?
Google “windowpane test” for dough. You’ll find images and videos about how
to easily test your bread dough this way.
Has anyone halfed the recipe with sucess? Can I get the measurements if you have please :-)
2.5 tsp yeast
1.5 cups warm water(divided)
1/8th cup granulated sugar
1.5 tbsp. Salt
1.5 tbsp butter, cubed, at room temperature
2 cups of bread flour and 1 cup of all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons butter(melted, 1 tbsp brushed Pre-bake and 1 tbsp brushed on post bake)
Hi there, any reason for the switch to bread flour? That’s what I have, but I was nervous to use that instead of the AP flour in the recipe. I also notice this isn’t “halving” the recipe–can you explain? You seem to know what you’re doing!
Oh my gosh, i think this really is the best homemade white bread ever! Super light, fluffy, and tall loaves! We broke down and ate half a loaf straight out of the oven with butter. So good!
Wow! Seriously delicious bread. Holy huge loaves! 😳 I only have 8.5″×4.5″ pans. One is pyrex, the other is Polish pottery. Both baked beautiful golden loafs of bread. Followed recipe exactly – I only have active dry yeast, so I proofed it prior to adding remaining ingredients. We live under 100 feet above sea level on Oahu. Though it’s dry right now, I used the full 10 cups of flour to make the bread in my Kitchenaid 5.0 Pro Series mixer. (This amount of flour was pushing the limits. Next time I may turn it out and knead by hand once the dough comes together so as to not burn out my motor. For my size pans and the amount of dough, I’ll make 3 loaves next time. I think I’m going to double the yeast and try freezing the loaves before the 1st rise to save some time. That will last our family of 3 two weeks… unless we go sandwich crazy – which is possible as this bread is stupid good! These large loaves registered at 195 degrees at 35 min bake time, so I’ll have to check at maybe 25 minutes with the smaller sized loads. My husband has decided we’re never buying bread again. 🤣 Thank you Brown Eyed Girl for a simply and simply delicious bread recipe.
I have been trying for years to find this recipe! Delicious and perfect soft texture. I did add one potato cooked and mashed and used the cooking water to dissolve the yeast in. I also used 2 parts of all purpose flour to 1 part bread flour, for a better rise. But if I use all bread flour , all that gluten is too much for me.
Great and delicius!!!
Is this recepi eggless?
Do you see any eggs in the list of ingredients??? DUH!
This is now my favorite white bread recipe as well. So easy even by hand.
I made this recipe today and the bread was absolutely amazing!!! This was my second time baking bread and my first attempt wasn’t good 😂 I made two Huge loaves with the Full recipe and the bread was soft and fluffy. My partner and kids loved it! I’ll be making this regularly during lockdown, thank you for sharing ❤️☺️
Ingredient list says 9 to 10 cups while in process.. You used only 5 cups…a bit confusing. Could you please guide??
I made this with my 3yo and it was a success. Husband said it couldn’t have been any better!