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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.
Literally the best homemade bread I have EVER had. I almost cried! The secret here is to go slowww and complete each step carefully. I am never buying bread ever again.
Thank you!!!
Yay!! I’m so glad you love the bread. A good homemade bread can’t even compare to store bought! So happy to hear you enjoyed it!
I am so grateful I came upon this recipe. The bread was so delicious. Thank you so much for sharing this.
Just tried today as my 1st bread baking experience. The crust turned out nice and crunchy like baguette as I really like. But the middle part is still not entirely cooked though I baked for about 35 minutes in 200°C. What could be the possible reasons so that I can improve in my next attempt please?
Way to try your hand at baking bread! So a few things could have been the case… 1) Making sure the oven is fully preheated. 2) Maybe the oven was a set too hot so the outside baked but the inside didn’t finish fully. 3) Also, I always wait until the bread is cool to cut into it because sometimes the inside appears doughy, but it hasn’t had time to let the steam dissipate. So fully cooling the bread may help as well. An undercooked loaf can be fixed if you return it to the oven too. Place the loaf back in a preheated oven at 350° F for 10-20 minutes. You can tent the bread loosely with foil to prevent it from browning further, if you’re worried about the outside being too done. Best of luck with the next round of bread making!!
Hey Good morning!!!
I want to bake a bread today but I want to make only one loaf please can you tell me for one loaf how much bread flour and yeast should be used?? And also sugar n oil too!!
You can just take the recipe and cut it all in half. The full recipe yields 2 loaves. So one loaf would be:
1 1/8 tsp yeast
1 1/8 cups water
1/8 cup sugar
1/2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp oil
2 3/4 – 3 1/4 cups bread flour
Another option is to freeze the extra loaf. Make the recipe as called for and after the loaves cool, you can put it in a bread bag and store in the freezer. Pull out and thaw when you’re ready to eat and it tastes fresh as can be!!
Very easy and delicious! I make this a lot! Just don’t forget the salt like I did once. Haha!
I’m glad this is a go-to recipe for you! Haha yes, that salt really does make a difference. 😉
Soft, moist, flavorful, and Oh so easy!
I make this every week and get requests from friends for loaves as well. Thank you for this terrific recipe!
Oh you’re welcome! I’m so glad to hear you (and your friends) love the bread!!
Is it okay to use warm milk while making the bread?
Yes, you can use milk. Just make sure it is warm — around 100-110 degrees Fahrenheit. Milk changes bread recipes by producing a softer loaf, due to the milk fat content, which can also give the bread a richer flavor. Bread made with milk also browns more easily (lactose or milk sugar will caramelize as it bakes). So just a few things to note. Hope it turns out yummy!!
Can you use whole wheat flour?
This bread is the best recipe I have ever had. Always turns out great. And I don’t want to buy store bought anymore!
Thank you!! I’m so glad you love the bread. Yes, you can use whole wheat flour. Here are a few things to consider when swapping out to whole wheat flour… whole wheat absorbs more liquid than white flour and produces a stiffer dough, which makes it harder to rise. So, I’d suggest for every cup of whole wheat flour substituted, increase the liquid in the recipe by 2 teaspoons. Then once you’ve mixed up the dough but before kneading, let it rest for 30 minutes. That gives the flour the time it needs to fully absorb the liquid which results in a softer dough. Then it should rise just as high as dough made with white flour. If you are using white whole wheat flour, then you should be able to do a straight substitution. Either way, you’ll have to let us know how it turns out with the whole wheat!
I am questioning the amount of salt. The abbreviation for teaspoon is tsp and for tablespoon is Tsp. This recipes abbreviation is confusing. I made this bread with 2 teaspoons. Is that the correct amount? The bread came out a little dense but tasted very good.
The recipe calls for 1 Tbsp (tablespoon), which is 3 tsp (teaspoons), so using 2 tsp was very close! The bread probably tasted a lot the same as if made with the full amount. 🙂
in the last step, you mentioned 375, is it faurenheit or degree celsius?
I’m pretty sure it’s Fahrenheit.
Yes, it is in Fahrenheit!
Loved it, worked perfectly! Thank you 🙂
You’re welcome! Glad to hear you enjoyed the bread.