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!
Awesome recipe
Happy Easter Michelle :-)
I don’t have a kneading machine, and this is my first time making my own bread.
Could you please share with me your experienced tips on how to knead it to get the most successful results please?
Thanks!
My father was a professional baker. I have made over 1,000,000 loaves of bread.
When my niece started baking in college, she did not have a mixer. I gave her the following cannot fail, easy to remember recipe. My niece named it “yucky old white bread”.
– 2 lb. flour
– 1 tablespoon each of yeast, suger, shortening, and salt.
– 20 oz. water
Professional bakers weigh their flour and that is the name of the loaf. 2 lb. of flour gives you 2 x 1 lb. loaves of bread or 1 x 2lb loaf of bread.
Combine ingredients in a bowl and turn out on your kneading surface. Knead 100 strokes. Do not worry when the dough sticks to your hands and kneading surface at first. Flour your hands repeatedly and rub the dough off them. A stroke is pushing with the heel of your hands away from you to gently stretch the dough. Use your body weight to push the dough away from you. The dough sticking to the kneading surface stretches the dough and activates the gluten. If it is really sticking to the mixing board, use a dough scraper or chef’s knife to scrape it off the surface. At around 80 strokes the dough will stop sticking to your hands so much and will start to feel stretchy, silky and springy. You will know you are done when you do a stroke and the dough bounces back.
I use a mixer now, but I think hand kneading gives you a better result because it gives the dough a chance to Autolyze.
The following is from https://thebakersguide.com/resting-the-dough-or-autolyze
Resting the Dough or Autolyze
This resting of the dough occurs just after you have mixed your ingredients together. In France the term for this is called an autolyze period. All recipes can take advantage of a resting period, but some recipes will specifically say to let your dough rest after mixing for ten to thirty minutes. This rest allows the starches and the gluten to expand and fully absorb the water, which makes the dough easier to handle and can shorten the time needed to fully knead the dough. This is especially helpful in dough that is very sticky, like ciabatta. The longer you allow your dough to rest, the more water the flour is able to absorb without being mixed by machine. By allowing this to happen your dough will reach full absorption and the results will be stretchy dough that will have a high rise.
Hand kneading gives you a feel for what the dough should feel like when using a mixer. Now, I mix the ingredients for a couple of minutes to combine them, and then allow the dough to autolyze for 20 minutes. Then I mix for 6 minutes on the lowest speed, and then hand knead 10 strokes. The dough is ready when you poke it and it bounces back.
I’d love to try this recipe! What are the bake temps/times?
Thank you for the recipe. We are planning to make all bread in the house moving forward and my boyfriend likes a nice fluffy white bread.
I am curious if there would be any changes at 3600′ elevation. I made this bread yesterday and it turned out more dense than I imagined. Not bad, but not fluffy.
Or is it a kneading thing? Did I need it too much or too little?
Thank you!
If I made my bread but I won’t be able to bake it today
Can I let it rise in the fridge until I’m ready to bake it
I would take it out if the fridge few hours before
Hi Michelle, this bread looks great, I’m in Australia and just wanted to check that the all-purpose flour you mention is the same as ours here, our all purpose flour (we call it plain flour) we use in cakes, biscuits etc, normally we use “bread flour” higher protein for bread. We also have self raising flour (flour, baking powder & salt).
I would like to make your gorgeous bread but don’t want to use the wrong flour,
Many thanks, love your website
Ally
Plain flour is the same as all purpose flour. Our self rising is the same as self raising and we also have bread flour here in the US.
This is my boys’ favourite bread recipe. My oldest son is so put out when I run out of time and have to buy bread so I do my best to make 2 loaves every weekend for school lunches! I slice and freeze them and they make perfect sandwhiches. The only issue I have is they’re so wonderfully tall that I struggle to squeeze them into their sandwhich containers. As far as problems go, that’s not too shabby lol
I’ve made this a few times now, but had to finally leave a comment which I don’t normally do. This recipe is so good, and so simple. I made it the first time by hand and it was easy. Even easier now that I have a mixer with a bread hook! I just made 2 loaves – 1 regular and 1 sausage bread for my husband. I use an electric knife to slice it, which makes me feel better about actually using that thing for more than just the Thanksgiving turkey once a year. LOL! I will be using this recipe for years to come. Thank you so much for sharing! :)
I am curious, what is sausage bread ? Is that like a sausage roll ?
First of all I love this recipe! Everything came together well and so easy to make!
I think I made the mistake of retarding the dough in the fridge overnight and not letting it get to room temperature properly. It didn’t rise as well :( I just loved the look of the recipe so much I started it late at night and then decided to proof it in the fridge. Next time ill make it at a suitable time so it can go straight in! 😂
My family and I LOVE this recipe. I’ve made it several times now. My only complaint is that my loaf pans aren’t the best size for the gigantic loaves this makes. I’m going to invest in a longer than normal loaf pan and try it out!
What a wonderful recipe, this is a keeper and so simple too! I don’t have electric bread mixer, so I kneaded by hand, very therapeutic. I did need all the flour.
Thank you very much for this recipe!
Delicious and oh so easy to make. I just need some better loaf pans! They overflowed my glass pans. Looks gorgeous, tastes even better.
The best! Thank you!
The best I ever made !
Great and clear cut recipe! Followed it exactly weighing out the ingredients.
Makes two tasty and beautiful loaves of bread !
I’ve been baking bread for eons, and always thought I had a great recipe, then I tried this recipe!! Omg!! It’s the best!! Thank you for sharing.
I have not made this yet. Question is can you make it in a bread maker?
This is my go to recipe for sandwich bread. My brother-in-law connected me up with this and I’m glad he did. I just started baking and both loaf’s came out perfect.
My go to white bread recipe. KitchenAid mixer makes the job easy. I usually use a little leveling boaster.
Best bread ever
Could I make this recipe without a machine i.e. just kneading by hand?
Turned out great as stated
Great taste and easy to make
Hi, love this recipe! Just FYI 3/4 cup is not 808ml though
Is it possible to make this in a bread maker? Can the recipe be halved with no problem? Thanks – NS
AMAZING!!! I have tried and tried so many bread recipes perfect for toast and sandwiches and failed! But this one is finally it!! Absolutely love it!!
Easy and great bread. Made 2 loaves yesterday for church Soup Supper and had time so made it again. Beautiful loaves.
Excellent bread recipe! When using 2 pans, the loaves are huge soI divide dough into three a loaves .
This recipe does not disappoint! It’s big, that’s for sure!! Soft and chewy crust makes for a delicious sandwich.
Another 5 star recipe! It’s super easy, we love the texture and it’s delicious!
This is my favorite bread recipe! It’s super soft and delicious!
I made this recipe. I used bread flour instead of all purpose. I put the loaves on the lowest rack in the oven. Preheated it 400 rotated after 15 minutes. It wasn’t in for 30 minutes and the bottom was slightly burned and the crust was hard. What happened?
I’m not the best bread maker, but had some bread flour on hand so used it, too. I did 9 cups of flour, rather than 10 and it was probably too wet still (the tops kind of collapsed over the sides instead of arching beautifully like in the picture…though I also had problems with the dough sticking to the plastic wrap I used during the second rise!).
Looking at some comments, I put the bread in at the second-to-lowest shelf (I would have put it higher, but the loaves looked too big!), and the bottoms turned out perfectly. I also always do oil and a dusting of flour, not just oil, in the bottom of the pans (something my mom taught me), which helps release the bread from the pans. (And I forgot to rotate the pans)
My bread turned out great, aside from the weird sinking centers. The crust was thin and crisp but not hard. So my guess is that the rack position is dependent on the oven. If you use this recipe again, I’d put it up a level.
While I bake sourdough for my day-to-day bread sometimes my family just wants a good old-fashioned white bread and this has been my go-to simple white bread recipe for a few years. I always use the full 10 cups of flour but usually substitute 2 cups with wholewheat and I’ve had no problems making it with my Kitchen Aid mixer. After many bakes of feeling like the loaves were just too big for a 9″ pan I now divide the dough to make 2 loaves and an 8″ round cake pan of 8 dinner rolls (which are great!). I don’t measure how I divide but I’d say I take out about 1/4 of the dough for the rolls and divide the rest in two for the loaves (which still come out quite big!). All-in-all I think this is a great simple white bread recipe. :)