Guess what? You could be eating a thick slice of buttery homemade bread in about 3 hours. Even better, only about 20 minutes of that time is hands-on. This homemade white bread recipe has been a staple in my house for over 20 years because it's quick, simple, fail-proof, and deliciously satisfying like only homemade bread can be.
Years ago, when our kids were little and the budget was tight, I decided to plant a vegetable garden. My initial interest in doing so was economic. I figured that a few packets of seeds and seedlings could provide a healthy, savvy solution to our super-restricted grocery budget.
This proved to be true. That vegetable garden fed our little family well for the few years we had it. What I didn't anticipate was the enormous satisfaction I felt from walking out into the garden on a warm summer evening and picking things for my family's dinner that I had grown myself.
This is how I feel about homemade bread.
Baking your own bread is economical and delicious. But, it's also enormously satisfying. It is one of the most effortless ways I know to feel like a domestic goddess.
The simple extravagance of homemade bread
I make at least one batch of homemade bread every single week, which means that homemade bread is completely commonplace around my house. And yet, like magic, it never looses its novelty. We comment on how good it smells while it's baking. We hover around warm loaves, wondering if they are cool enough to slice.
Homemade bread is always welcome, always delicious, and always a treat. Comfort food at it's finest.
I can cook dinner guests a gourmet feast of complicated, expensive dishes and you know what they can't get enough of? The homemade bread.
All of us love and appreciate homemade bread. But, few of us actually bake it. Perhaps this is partly because many don't realize how easy it is. The majority of the bread making process is hands-off. Mix the dough and let it sit. Shape the loaves and let them rise. Put the loaves in the oven and let them bake.
If you're making bread by hand, the most involved part of the process is the kneading, which will only take you 10 minutes or so. (Kneading dough is also a great way to get out any pent up frustrations. I recently received a sweatshirt that says, "I bake because punching people is frowned upon." There are days when a truer statement has not been uttered.)
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How to knead bread dough
I made homemade bread before I owned a standing mixer. But, I started making it weekly after receiving one. It just makes the process so incredibly easy. Dump the ingredients in the bowl and let the mixer do all the work of kneading them into bread dough.
You can even force the dough to rise in accordance with your schedule. For this homemade white bread recipe, there are two blocks of time during which the dough is left alone to rise. If you allow the dough to rise at room temperature, each rise will take between45 minutes and an hour and a half.
However, if you place the dough in the refrigerator to rise, you can slow the whole process down. Use this as needed to make bread baking fit your schedule. Mix up a batch of dough and let it rise in the refrigerator all day if you wish.
Another way to make bread baking suit your schedule is to punch it down after the first rise and let it rise again before shaping it into loaves and baking it. This will, in fact, make your homemade white bread loaves even more delicious because it's during the rise time (also called "proofing") that the bread's flavor is developed.
One reason why you might not want to bake homemade bread...
I recently read an article about a woman in Rhode Island who is literally the town baker. It's the kind of town where such a thing can still exist. Every week she bakes wholesome, hand crafted gorgeous loaves of bread, which she then delivers around town, stocking local shelves with the kind of happiness that only comes from a fresh loaf of homemade bread.
If you live in that Rhode Island town, buy that woman's bread. Otherwise, it's time to start baking.
More favorite homemade bread recipes:
- Simple Homemade Whole Wheat Bread
- Homemade Cinnamon Bread
- Buttery Homemade Dinner Rolls
- Homemade Flour Tortillas
- Simple Homemade Pizza Dough
- Soft, Buttery Potato Rolls
- Homemade Cinnamon Rolls {Overnight Recipe}
- Homemade Overnight Caramel Rolls
- Homemade Hamburger and Hot Dog Buns
- Simple Cream Biscuits
- Chocolate Almond Babka
The other kind of bread I make on the regular is sourdough bread. I mostly follow this recipe and method from Tartine Bakery and it's absolutely delicious. I also highly recommend the Tartine Bread Book.
This sourdough bread for beginners tutorial is also a good resource for beginner bakers.
And, if you're looking for a delicious way to use up leftover bread, try this french bread casserole, a super easy breakfast casserole that you can prepare the night before and then just pop it in the oven in the morning.
This White Bread is a Building Block Recipe
Building block recipes are tried-and-true recipes that I consider foundational to great home baking. They are the kind of recipes I come back to over and over again, sometimes baking them as is, but often using them as a jumping off point to create something new. > Scroll through all Building Block recipes.
If you give this recipe a try, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, or take a picture and tag it #ofbatteranddough on Instagram.
Happy baking!
📖 Recipe
Simple Homemade White Bread Recipe
This simple, fail-proof homemade white bread recipe turns sandwich suppers, a humble bowl of soup, or a simple piece of toast into a whole new treat.
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups whole or 2% milk (warmed slightly, to between 80-100 degrees Fahrenheit)
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 4 tablespoons (½ stick or 2 oz.) butter, melted and cooled to at room temperature
- 6 cups (approximately) all-purpose flour (Can also use bread flour)
- 1 tablespoon salt
Instructions
- Add the milk, yeast and sugar to the bowl of a standing mixer and whisk with a fork to blend. Let the mixture rest for about 5 minutes, until the yeast is activated and looks creamy.
- Fit the mixer with the dough hook and add 4 cups of flour to the milk and yeast mixture. Turn the mixer to low (speed level 2 on a KitchenAid mixer) and beat to start to bring the dough together. Slowly drizzle in the melted butter then add enough remaining flour to bring the dough together into a soft, smooth dough. The dough should clean the sides of the bowl, but still stick slightly to the bottom. (*See note.)
- With the mixer continuing to knead the dough, slowly sprinkle in the salt. Once the salt is incorporated, let the mixer continue to knead the dough for another 5 minutes, until the dough is elastic, smooth and soft.
- Spray a bowl large enough to hold double the amount of dough with non-stick spray, or coat it with a bit of melted butter. Remove the dough from the mixing bowl, shape it into a ball, and plop it down into the greased bowl. Spray a sheet of plastic wrap with non-stick spray, or brush it with a bit of melted butter, and use it to cover the bowl.
- Let the dough rest at room temperature until it has doubled in size. Depending on the temperature of the room, this will take between 45 min, and 1 ½ hours. (*See note below about controlling the temperature of the dough.)
- Spray two 8 ½ by 4 ½ inch loaf pans with non-stick spray, or coat with a bit of melted butter. Dump the dough out onto a clean work surface and divide into two pieces. Lift one piece of dough and form it into a ball by using your thumbs to gently stretching the outside of the dough into a ball, pinching the dough together at the bottom. Bring the opposite sides together and pinch together at the bottom. Lay the ball of dough on your work surface, and roll it back and forth a few times to create an oblong ball. Lay the dough, seam side down, into one of the loaf pans. Repeat with the other half of dough.
- Spray two sheets of plastic wrap with non-stick spray, or brush them with a bit of melted butter and loosely cover each loaf.
- Allow the loaves to rise at room temperature until they double in size again, rising over the tops of the pans, 45 minutes - 1 ½ hours.
- While the loaves rise, preheat your oven to 375 degrees. When the loaves are fully risen, bake for 35-45 minutes, until they are golden brown and an instant read thermometer plunged into the center of one of the loaves registers between 190 - 200 degrees.
- Remove from the oven and use a dish towel to grip the top of each loaf to lift it from the pan onto a wire rack. Allow to cool completely.
- Once cool, the loaves can be wrapped in plastic and stored for 2-3 days at room temperature. For longer storage, wrap the bread airtight and freeze for up to 1 month. Thaw at room temperature, still wrapped.
Notes
If you add too much flour and your dough is dry and tough, just add in more milk, teaspoon by teaspoon until the dough is wet enough to stick ever so slightly to the bottom of the bowl.
controlling the temperature of the dough as it rises:
My husband and I are full time travelers, living and working in a 5th wheel RV as we travel the country. Because I am always baking in different locations, I nearly always use a Bread Proofer. Using a proofer is fantastic because if offers you total control over the temperature of the dough as it rises. For this dough I usually set the temperature of the proofer to 84 or 85 degrees and it comes out perfectly every single time.
- The proofer I use is this collapsable one from Brod and Taylor.
- I wrote a review of the Brod and Taylor proofer. You'll find that here.
You can also use your oven as a bread proofer: Fill a bowl or a pan with boiling water and place it in the bottrom of the oven. Set the dough inside the oven and shut the door. The boiling watter will create a warm, humid environment that supports the development of the dough. Refresh the boiling water as necissary to keep the inside of the oven nice and warm.
One reader left a comment about making this dough in her bread machine.
For anyone else who wants to try it, here's what she said: "I actually dumped all ingredients in my bread machine. Had it mix and kneaded it. Then once it formed a smooth ball I pulled out and gave it one last knead by hand and placed in oil bowl to proof. After it doubled I did the stretch and pull to the center routine a few times, then rolled to a rectangle then rolled up to size to fit in my bread pan. Let it proof and it baked up perfectly."
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 20 Serving Size: 1 sliceAmount Per Serving: Calories: 159Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 364mgCarbohydrates: 32gFiber: 1gSugar: 3gProtein: 5g
Cris says
These baking websites need to be audited for purchased reviews. The ratios of flour to liquid are always horrendously off to the point there’s no chance these people are baking anything but soup. These ratios are absolute trash and do not work.
Rebecca Blackwell says
It is so ironic, Cris, that you've left this comment on the recipe I've probably made the most. I've been using this recipe to bake bread for at least 30 years now. For most of the years when our kids were young, I baked a couple of loaves of this every single week. Now that the kids are grown, I don't bake homemade bread as often, probably once every 6 weeks or so. It's impossible for me to estimate how many loaves of this bread I've baked over the years, but probably literally thousands. But if that's not enough for you, there are 40 reviews of this recipe and more comments then I care to count including this one, "The taste...out of this world. I've now made 4 loaves since the end of December and they've all turned out." I will say that one thing in your comment is absolutely correct: I have also made a lot of soup, and served it with plenty of homemade bread.
Naty says
Hello, is the butter you are using salted or unsalted?
Also, could you please post how to make this in a bread machine?
Thank you
Rebecca Blackwell says
Hi there! You can use either... I typically use salted butter because I like a lot of salt in my bread, but if you're sensitive to salt, you might want to use unsalted. I've never tried this recipe in a bread machine, but I think this is what you'll want to do: Add the milk, yeast, and sugar to the pan of a bread machine. Let the mixture rest for about 5 minutes, until the yeast is activated and looks creamy then add the melted butter, 6 cups of flour and the salt. Select Basic or White Bread setting, and press Start. I hope that helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions!
rick carter says
When do you add the butter?
Rebecca Blackwell says
Hi Rick! After adding about 4 cups of flour to the milk and yeast mixture, drizzle in the butter then add enough flour for the dough to come together. Please let me know if you have any other questions!