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This BEST bread recipe makes the most deliciously fluffy loaf of white bread. It tastes so much better than store-bought!
Nothing beats delicious homemade bread! If you love a good bread recipe, you’ll also love our French Bread, White Bread Recipe, and Banana Bread recipes.
a Family Favorite!
I have to confess, I’m kind of a bread addict. I love any kind of bread, from tender and flaky Buttermilk Biscuits to pillowy soft Homemade Dinner Rolls.
My very favorite kind of bread, though, is a fluffy white loaf of this bread recipe. We love it because the flavor is PERFECTION, but also because:
- Made with pantry staples. Ingredients are simple and ones most everyone has on hand.
- Used for SO many recipes. It’s perfect for sandwiches, Grilled Cheese, or a batch of French toast.
- Cost effective and healthier. Making this homemade bread recipe will cost about $1.25 worth of ingredients per loaf and I get to control exactly what ingredients I use!
- Great to freeze. Like most bread recipes, this is great to make ahead and store.
Bread Ingredients
As mentioned above, most of these items can be found in your pantry, which means you should be able to make this any time!
- Active Dry Yeast (1 packet) – If your yeast is old or dead, your easy bread recipe is going nowhere fast. I store my yeast in the fridge at all times.
- Warm Water
- Sugar
- Salt
- Vegetable Oil
- Bread Flour – Comes in both whole wheat and white versions and has a higher percentage of protein than all-purpose flour. If you don’t have bread flour, you can replace it with an equal amount of all-purpose flour. It does change the texture a bit, but still works well.
- Butter
How to Make Bread
- YEAST. In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, dissolve the yeast in warm water with a pinch of sugar.
- COMBINE + KNEAD. When the yeast mixture is bubbly and foamy, add the sugar, salt, oil, and 4 cups flour, and mix with a dough hook until smooth. Add the remaining flour, ½ cup at a time, to form a soft, smooth dough. The dough should stick just slightly to your finger when touched, but not be overly sticky. Knead for 5-7 minutes, until smooth, then roll into a ball.
- RISE. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, turn over once to coat the top with oil, and cover with plastic wrap. (Use olive oil or cooking spray to coat the bowl.) Let rise for one hour, or until doubled.
- SHAPE. When the dough has risen, punch it down gently and divide it in half. On a non-stick baking mat or lightly floured surface, roll each half of the dough into a long rectangle about 8 inches wide.
- ROLL. Roll the dough up, starting at the short edge, to form a cylinder that is approximately 8 inches wide. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- 2ND RISE. Place the dough, seam side down, into lightly greased loaf pans, and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for one hour, or until the dough is ½-1 inch higher than the top of the pan.
Proofing tips
- Oil the bowl before adding the dough to rise. This will keep it from sticking when it is dumped out and shaped.
- Air temperature can affect the proof time. A warmer environment will allow the dough to rise faster. A cooler area will slow down the process.
- A quicker proof time.
- Preheat your oven to 200°F then turn it OFF. Place the dough in an oven-safe bowl and cover it with a warm damp tea towel. Stick it in the oven until the dough has doubled in size.
- Place the bowl of dough near a warmer area in your home such as a fireplace or warm slow cooker.
- Doneness. Visually observe when the dough has doubled in size and use that as an indicator of doneness. To tell if it has been proofed just right, poke your finger in the top of the dough…
- Bounces back immediately – continue proofing.
- Doesn’t bounce back at all – it is over-proofed.
- Bounces back halfway – it’s perfect!
How to BAKE Homemade Bread
- PREP. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- BAKE. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped.
- BRUSH + COOL. I like to brush my loaves with a little melted butter after baking. Remove to a cooling rack and cool before slicing. Makes 2 loaves of bread.
Why is my bread heavy and dense?
- Adding too much flour. Scoop the flour into the measuring cup with a spoon and level it off. The amount of flour can be too much if measured incorrectly, which can make it dense.
- Under or over proofing. It is really important that the dough rises well. If you don’t allow it to rise long enough it will be dense. If you proof it for too long, it will fall and also become dense.
- Over kneading. This is really hard to do when you knead by hand, as your hands will tire before it can happen. However, it can happen if you let a stand mixer knead for too long or at too high of a setting.
Repurpose Your Homemade Bread
Use this bread in some of our favorite recipes:
Make croutons. Check out our Homemade Croutons recipe!
Storing info
- STORE. Cool completely and place in a Ziploc bag or wrap in foil. This best bread recipe should last 2 to 3 days stored at room temperature.
- FREEZE. Slice the loaf all the way through, place it in a plastic bread bag, and freeze it as soon as it has cooled completely.
- Freeze the bread dough. Add twice as much yeast to compensate for any yeast that will die in the freezer.
- Allow the dough to rise the first time, then shape it into loaves and place them directly on a greased baking sheet.
- Place them in the freezer and freeze until solid.
- Wrap each loaf with plastic and again with aluminum foil. Label and freeze for up to 6 months.
- Freeze the bread dough. Add twice as much yeast to compensate for any yeast that will die in the freezer.
- To bake – unwrap and place in a greased bread pan. Cover with an oiled piece of plastic wrap. Allow it to thaw for several hours and then rise until it is about doubled in size. Bake according to recipe directions.
For more bread recipes:
Bread Recipe
This BEST bread recipe makes the most deliciously fluffy loaf of white bread. It tastes so much better than store-bought!
Ingredients
Instructions
- In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, dissolve the yeast in warm water with a pinch of sugar. When the yeast is bubbly and foamy, add the sugar, salt, oil, and 4 cups flour, and mix until smooth.
- Add remaining flour, ½ cup at a time, to form a soft, smooth dough. The dough should stick just slightly to your finger when touched, but not be overly sticky. Knead for 5-7 minutes, until smooth, then roll into a ball.
- Place the dough in an oiled bowl, turn over once to coat the top with oil, and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for one hour, or until doubled.
- When the dough has risen, punch it down gently and divide it in half. Roll each half of the dough into a long rectangle about 8 inches wide. Roll the dough up, starting at the short edge, to form a cylinder that is approximately 8 inches wide. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Place the dough, seam side down, into lightly greased bread pans, and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for one hour, or until the dough is ½ – 1 inch higher than the top of the pan.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped. Brush with melted butter, if desired. Remove to a cooling rack and cool before slicing. MAKES 2 LOAVES.
Video
Notes
STORE. Cool completely and place in a Ziploc bag or wrap in foil. This best bread recipe should last 2 to 3 days stored at room temperature.
FREEZE. Slice the loaf all the way through, place it in a plastic bread bag, and freeze it as soon as it has cooled completely.
Nutrition
Calories: 159kcal, Carbohydrates: 30g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 2g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Sodium: 351mg, Potassium: 42mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 3g, Calcium: 6mg, Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
For more delicious recipes by Alicia, head on over to The Baker Upstairs.
This was insanely delicious! Thank you for the recipe ✌Five stars
It’s my fav!! Thanks so much for letting me know and for the 5 stars!
So my husband tried a bread recipe yesterday and the bread came out quite heavy and the outside was a bit crunchy. It was nice and soft on the inside. Today though, I decided to make bread while he was at work to see how a different recipe would work out. Presently the bread is in the oven baking and I will update after its done. Recipe was fairly easy to follow, I however used lukewarm water instead of warm water. It got frothy in an instant! Only difference I’ve noticed is that my dough isn’t as smooth as yours in the pan. I used a bottle of wine to roll the dough, can’t find the rolling pin! Lol!
LOL!! I hope you like it! I’d love to know 🙂 That’s awesome that he tried! Thank you.
I modified the recipe and made a batch of 12 onion buns and 2 loaves. For the onion buns i added celery salt, poppy seeds, and minced garlic before adding the flour, let it rise, made caramelized onions and added it on the last rise. TURNED OUT AMAZING. The buns are extremely fluffy and have great texture. Waiting for the bread to cool so I can slice it:) Thank you so much for sharing your recipe.
You are so welcome and thank you for sharing your idea! Sounds great!
I love this recipe! What is bugging me is the way this post shows an image of 2.5 out of 5 stars, but says it has a 4.9 rating from 11 (now 12) reviews. (Guess I’m a little neurotic too.) 😉 Thanks for the easiest bread recipe that tastes good too!
You are so welcome!! This is our favorite bread! Thanks for trying it!
I followed the recipe to the letter, but my dough is like cake batter. What did I do wrong?
Never mind. I was impatient and didn’t read step 2…
Haha..that happens! Let me know how it comes out 🙂 Thank you!
The first loaf came out very light in color. I tried to broil it a little to add some color, and the loaf caught on fire. After some mild panicking and waving air at the smoke alarm, I scraped off the black stuff on top, and it’s quite delicious! The second one is in the oven now. I left the dough in the freezer so it didn’t over-prove, so hopefully that works. 🙂
Oh, my!!! Glad you caught it! I hope the 2nd loaf comes out 🙂
First time making bread and it came out perfectly!!! Thank you!!!
Oh, I am so glad to hear that! Thanks for giving this recipe a try!
I loved it. You made it so easy for everyone. The texture of the bread is adorable.
Thank you so much..that is so nice of you! I’m here to help 🙂
I made this bread recipe last night, and it came out perfect!! I was wondering if instead of making loaves of bread if you can make dinner rolls out of this dough?
I don’t see why not, though I have never tried. Let me know, if you try! Thanks so much!
Do you put both loaves in together? I don’t have a convection oven so I worry that something will be messed up if I bake them together.
I usually bake them together, but if you are worried, you can bake them separately. Hope that helps!
Wonderfully easy for my first try at bread making and absolutely delicious! Thanks for sharing ????
I am so glad!!! I love hearing that 🙂 You are so welcome and thank you for letting me know!