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!
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 9×12-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.} (what is this supposed to say?)
Cover the loaves loosely and place in a draft-free area until doubled in size, 30 to 45 minutes.
Under, not until.
This was my first time making bread and this recipe was amazing!! So easy to follow and the bread is SO soft. Yummy!
Love love this receipe! So easy, comes out perfect and tastes wonderful! Receipe Rebel has a another big winner reciepe ❤️
This bread is absolutely incredible. I made a half batch for one loaf and we are demolishing it with butter. Worked perfect. I used salted butter and cut the salt in half. Love it
Awesome bread! For anyone like me who can’t knead bread dough anymore, just wanted to say I put all ingredients at the same time in my breadmaker and then let it do the mixing and kneading for me. Then did a traditional proof and rise. Came out just perfect and will be my goto from now on. Thanks for posting this recipe!!!
Opps….I made several typing errors in my post of this bread recipe. My granddaughter used the 3/4 cup measure instead of the 1 cup. Because she’s becoming familiar with bread making and this wonderful recipe, she was able to get the feel correct. She didn’t know, at the time, that she had the wrong measuring cup. We both are so grateful for having a d trying this recipe. It truly is my favorite bread recipe!
I have made so many bread recipes and I’ve not had good luck. I saw this recipe a d thought with so few ingredients and rapid rise yeast,I’d give it a try. I’ve not used rapid rise yeast, in fact I’ve stayed away from it for some reason . I decided to try one more recipe and this is it. It is, without a doubt, the BEST and easiest recipe ever! It turns out so nice and big, but the texture is perfect. It looks better and tastes way better than any store bought bread. It’s fun to make. Read when it turns out great. My granddaughter has been making this bread too and every time, it turns out consistently good. We both are getting a lot of practice as to how the bread should’ feel’ and we are learning when there is enough flour or not enough. In fact, one day my granddaughter thought she used the 1 cup measure and was wondering why it took more flour than usual to get the feel right. After she baked hers, we cut into it to see if the texture was compromised, it was NOT. Later I saw she picked up the wrong cup measure, she was using the cup instead of the 1 cup. LOVE THIS RECIPE!
I made this recipe and the bread turned out perfectly. No substitutions perfect white bread.
This bread recipe is perfect! Soft fluffy white bread every time!
My bread turned out more dense than I anticipated and the top was very hard and took about 40mins at 400 to bake. Not sure what happened any suggestions on what I did wrong or some things to look for? It was still delicious just didn’t seem like it was the result I should have been looking for.
Hi – thanks for sharing this lovely recipe! I am wondering on the nutrition info provided.. how many slices do you consider per loaf, so I can calculate per serving. Thanks!
The top got too burnt and the inside didn’t finish cooking. What did I do wrong? I don’t know why that happened. It was set at 400 degrees
Perhaps your oven temp is wrong. Check it with an inside thermometer.
It tasted good but very very dense and heavy. What could have gone wrong? The top crust was like cap on the bread as it started separating from the rest of the bread
The link to get the loaf pan is not working (I am going with the fact they no longer make it since it just takes me to where you purchased them from). Would you have another link or what type they are? By the way this is a fun and easy recipe! Delish!
i don’t have a dough hook, do have a mixer but dont think we have a dough hook
I’ve lost my stand mixer’s dough hook too 🙈, so i used the paddle attachment and it worked perfectly fine. Give it a try or knead with your hands!It’s a bit difficult, but works as well.
When I print the recipe and adjust the serving to 10 instead of 20, the 2 2/3 cup warm water in the list of ingredients does not adjust when all the other ingredients are halved. Is that correct? Shouldn’t that be half as well?
Beautiful bread. It smells amazing, soft and tastes awesome! Made more for the in-laws
Can I use Bread Flour instead of AP Flour? I have lots of bread flour and would like to use it here if possible. Otherwise do you have bread recipes using bread flour?
This white bread recipe is simple to make and the and the results taste great. Nice high rise and wonderful texture. We like it best toasted.
Can you add extra butter? My loaves usually turns out a bit crumbly….
This was my first time baking bread. I thought it’d be impossible without a bread maker. This bread is better than store bought bread! It turned out perfect. I used less salt, and also took it out after 35 minutes. I didn’t have a thermometer and took it out when it was golden brown! I am making more tonight!
This bread turned out amazing!!!! It was so easy and now I’m sad I halved the recipe because I know my husband is going to want more!
This is a lovely easy recipe. I have just finished making two loaves which came out extremely well. However, I ran out of all purpose flour and managed to find some self raising flour and had to add about three cups. That dough exceeded raising,!! Fabulous!
Excellent sandwich bread! It is light and fluffy, but has just enough chew to it to hold up well in a sandwich.
This will be my go to white bread from now on.
Can this be made into rolls
Yes, absolutely!
Hi is that really a tablespoon of salt or should it be a teaspoon
Hi Gina, It is a tablespoon.
I could not see the link to the video… is it working?
Hi Rich, It should automatically pop up and start playing.
Awesome recipe!
When I want flavored bread (cheddar jalapeño, Italian herbs and cheese, etc) I just sprinkle the flavors on the dough after rolling it out before rolling it up. It makes a beautiful swirl.
What amount of active dry yeast would I use in the receipe? Never worked with Active dry yeast before
Hi Pat, You would use the same amount. Enjoy!
I’m making the bread right now and noticed that there is smoke in my oven from what I believe is the butter that I’ve brushed onto the loafs! I’m quickly reading the comments to see if anyone else has had this issue and doesn’t seem to be a common one at all so not sure what I did wrong because everything else up to this point has been perfect! I hope that I didn’t ruin them because I was excited to eat this. Help!!
Your oven probably needs to be cleaned
I butter he tops after they come out of the oven.
I always bake with an empty sheet pan underneath in case the butter on top drips out
Tried this recipe yesterday and the bread came out really good! Both my husband and I were very happy especially because of locked downs due to pandemic, we can already make our own bread. Bless you for sharing this recipe ❤️
Absolutely delicious!
I halved the recipe and it worked perfectly to give me one ginormous loaf!
Thank you 😊
Yup! Mine turned out huge – but fluffy and delicious – as well! I call it the Gigantobread!