Learn how to make a simple White Bread that’s perfect for sandwiches, all from scratch using only a few baking ingredients. There’s nothing better than the smell of bread baking in your oven.
I’ve been meaning to give you guys a simple white bread recipe for a while now, but better late than never. This white bread is incredibly simple to make with only a handful of ingredients needed.
Baking truly is one of my passions, more so than cooking, believe it or not. To me there’s nothing better than the smell of bread baking in the oven. This bread is perfect for sandwiches, or toasting in the morning and serving it with butter and jam.
Ingredients
Keep scrolling down to the recipe card for a list of FULL ingredient amounts and instructions or click the “Jump the Recipe” button at the top of the page!
- Flour – We only need good old fashioned all purpose flour! No need for the fancy stuff.
- Salt – Believe me, salt makes all the difference, so don’t skip this!
- Yeast – I used instant yeast today. You can use active dry yeast as well, the difference really is that active dry yeast needs to be activated first, whereas with instant yeast it’s not necessary.
- Water – It’s super important to make sure your water is lukewarm. The best temperature of the water should be anywhere from 95 degrees to 105 degrees for this. You don’t really want anything warmer, as it will kill the yeast.
- Sugar – Sugar is important when making bread, it’s what makes it soft and tender by absorbing some of the water and slowing down the formation of gluten strands. Sugar is what feeds the yeast.
- Butter – I always use unsalted butter, especially in breads, because we already add salt, so this way I can control how much salt is added to my bread. Did you know that small quantities of butter is added to breads because it results in a higher rise and a crisper crust!
How to make white bread
- Prep the yeast: Add the yeast, 1/2 cup of water, and sugar to the bowl of your mixer, stir and let it sit for 5 minutes.
- Make the dough: Add the remaining 1 1/3 cups of water to the bowl, salt, 2 tbsp butter at room temperature, and 4 cups of flour. Use the dough hook to mix on low speed, until the dough basically comes clean from the side of the bowl. Add the remaining flour as needed. The dough is soft, but not sticky and it’s ready when it comes clean from the side of the bowl. Make sure to mix for about 7 to 10 minutes.
- First rise: Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Place it in a warm place and let it rise until it doubles in size. It should take about an hour.
- Second rise: Gently punch the dough down with your fist to get rid of some of the air. Turn the dough onto a clean, lightly floured surface and press it down with your fingers to remove some of the air pockets. Grease a 9-inch loaf pan with butter or cooking spray. Using your hands pat down the dough into a 9×12-inch rectangle, then roll it up jelly roll style. Place it into the prepared loaf pan. Place it in a warm draft-free environment and let it rest again until it doubles in size, should take another 30 to 45 minutes.
- Bake: Preheat your oven to 400 F° and position the oven rack on the lowest setting. Brush the loaf with melted butter and transfer the loaf to the oven. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, rotating halfway through, until golden brown.
- Cool: Remove the loaf from the oven and immediately brush with more melted butter. Allow the bread to cool in the loaf pan for 10 minutes then transfer it to a cooling rack to finish cooling completely before slicing.
Best place for your dough to rise
Dough thrives in a warm, draft-free environment. If your oven has a “proof” function, then use it. The “proof” function preheats the oven to 100 F degrees, causing a warm, but not hot environment for your dough to rise nicely.
If your oven doesn’t have this “proof” function, I would still use the oven. What I usually do is preheat the oven to 200F degrees, or whatever the lowest setting is for it. Once it reaches that temperature, turn off the oven, then place the dough in there to rise. This will speed up the proofing process tremendously.
Can I double the recipe?
This bread recipe is perfect for doubling and making two loaves. Simply slide the serving slider to change the number of servings from 10 to 20. This will automatically change the ingredient amounts, allowing you to make enough dough for 2 white bread loaves.
I don’t have a mixer, can I still make this bread?
Of course! Although it will take you longer, you can still knead the dough by hand. The dough needs to be soft, smooth and elastic, so you’ll have to knead it for about 15 to 25 minutes. Kneading bread dough by hand might also require a bit more flour, so play with it and see what works for you.
My dough didn’t rise!
Probably one of the most common questions I get on this blog is why didn’t my dough rise? Since I’m not with you in the kitchen when you’re baking, it’s really impossible for me to pinpoint where you went wrong or what happened with your dough. There are many reasons why dough doesn’t rise, so here’s my list for possible reasons.
- Dead yeast – this is probably the number 1 reason 90% of the time. I know it’s frustrating, but if the yeast is old, that dough will not rise, and you’ll end up with a brick of bread. Make sure you store yeast properly, for some tips on how to store yeast, check out this article.
- Water is too hot – yes, yeast loves a warm environment, which is why we usually add lukewarm water or milk to dough. However if that water or milk is too hot, it will kill the yeast. The best temperature of the water should be anywhere from 95 degrees to 105 degrees for this.
- Environment – if your room is too cold, this will also prevent dough from rising. Yeast loves a warm and draft-free environment. Refer to my section above on the best place for dough to rise.
- Not enough time to rise – patience is key. Sometimes your dough may take 2 to 3 hours to rise properly, even though mine only took 40 minutes. Just give it some more time, if the yeast is good, it will do its job.
How to store
White bread, or any bread for that matter will last about 4 days at room temperature. Simply make sure to wrap it tightly in plastic wrap or use a bread bag.
Can you freeze bread?
Bread is great for freezing. It’s important to freeze bread while it’s still fresh and not after it has gone stale. Let the bread cool completely before storing it in freezer bags. Bread will last in the freezer for 3 to 6 months.
More delicious bread recipes to try:
- No Knead Skillet Bread Ready in less than 3 hours, Start to Finish!
- Fast and Easy No Knead Bread in less than 3 hours, Start to Finish!
- Artisan Bread
- No Knead Dutch Oven Whole Wheat Bread
- Sunflower and Flax Seeds Whole Wheat Cast Iron Bread
- Slow Cooker Bread
- Brioche Bread
- Zucchini Bread
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White Bread Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
Yeast
- ¼ oz instant yeast 2 1/4 tsp
- ½ cup water lukewarm
- 2 tbsp sugar
Dough
- 1 ⅓ cups water lukewarm
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp butter unsalted, at room temperature, cut into cubes
- 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour up to 5 cups
- 1 tbsp butter unsalted, melted
Instructions
- Add the yeast, 1/2 cup of water, and sugar to the bowl of your mixer, stir and let it sit for 5 minutes.
- Add the remaining 1 1/3 cups of water to the bowl, salt, 2 tbsp butter at room temperature, and 4 cups of flour. Use the dough hook to mix on low speed, until the dough basically comes clean from the side of the bowl. Add the remaining flour as needed. The dough is soft, but not sticky and it's ready when it comes clean from the side of the bowl. Make sure to mix for about 7 to 10 minutes.
- Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Place it in a warm place and let it rise until it doubles in size. It should take about an hour.
- Gently punch the dough down with your fist to get rid of some of the air. Turn the dough onto a clean, lightly floured surface and press it down with your fingers to remove some of the air pockets.
- Grease a 9-inch loaf pan with butter or cooking spray.
- Using your hands pat down the dough into a 9×12-inch rectangle, then roll it up jelly roll style. Place it into the prepared loaf pan. Place it in a warm draft-free environment and let it rest again until it doubles in size, should take another 30 to 45 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 400 F° and position the oven rack on the lowest setting.
- Brush the loaf with melted butter and transfer the loaf to the oven. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, rotating halfway through, until golden brown.
- Remove the loaf from the oven and immediately brush with more melted butter.
- Allow the bread to cool in the loaf pan for 10 minutes then transfer it to a cooling rack to finish cooling completely before slicing.
Recipe Notes
- The loaf is done baking when an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the bread reads 195 F°.
- Note: I only added 4 cups of flour to my bread, but many factors come into play when making bread such as environment, altitude, yeast, how you store your flour, etc. It’s best to use your judgement. The dough for this bread needs to be soft, but not sticky, so if after you mix it well for at least 4 minutes, the dough is still sticking to the bowl, add more flour, start with a couple tbsps at a time and add as needed. Depending on where you are and your environment, some may find that they need to add up to 5 cups of flour.
- Store the bread at room temperature wrapped in tightly in plastic wrap for up to 4 days.
