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 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.