Fluffy, soft, buttery, and super easy basic Homemade White Bread with just the right amount of sweetness that tastes way better than store-bought. Get ready to fill your house with that fresh-from-the-oven smell. Go grab the ingredients and bake away!
I bet you’d all agree with me that nothing compares to that distinct fresh-from-the-oven smell wafting in the air. It’s intoxicatingly good and mesmerizing. Agree?
Ever since the day we were told to stay at home, I’ve been baking far more too often just to keep myself busy and as a sort of de-stressing.
And as a huge bread lover myself, I have to make sure I don’t make unnecessary trips outside just for a loaf of bread. That’s why I’m sharing with you today, my foolproof easy homemade bread recipe so you can make it anytime at home. It’s a good base to start with, then just swap with any ingredients to suit your liking.
Homemade Bread Ingredients
Making bread at home totally changed my life! And the fact that it’s cheaper and tastes better than store-bought is a major win for me. Our white bread recipe for today uses 7 simple baking essentials that yield two (2) tall beautiful loaves of bread. And if you don’t have a stand mixer at home, no worries. You can always knead this bread by hand.
Here’s a list of what you’ll be needing for this homemade bread recipe.
- Warm water – for proofing the active dry yeast for about 5 minutes.
- Active dry yeast – if you only have the Instant Dry Yeast, that would be fine. That means that it doesn’t need to be dissolved.
- Milk – To make our loaf softer and richer due to the milk’s fat content.
- Honey – This adds a touch of sweetness to our homemade bread. You may replace it with sugar in the same amount.
- Melted Butter – Adding butter to any baked goods adds a better flavor. If you’re short in butter, feel free to swap it with any cooking oil.
- Salt – Just to balance out the flavor
- Bread Flour – This type of flour has more gluten that makes the dough elastic and light and produces that distinct chewy airy texture when baked.
Recipe Variation
Feel free to add any of the following below for added fun in this base white bread recipe.
- raisins or dried cranberries for an added fruity flavor in your bread
- add some herbs like rosemary, basil, thyme, oregano or even garlic
- cinnamon or allspice and vanilla extract for that added sweetness and aroma
- freshly grated cheese for all you cheese lovers out there.
Can You Use All-Purpose Flour?
Although I prefer using bread flour in making this loaf bread due to its high gluten content, you may use all-purpose flour if that’s what you have on hand.
How Long to Bake Bread?
This white loaf of bread is easy to make. Okay, I know that you’re a little bit hesitant with the yeast, but actually, once you get the hang of it, it’ll be easy.
To make this bread, it’ll need 2 rises – for 1 1/2-2 hours for the initial rise and an additional 30 minutes rise once it is in the pan. Once it rises 1 inch above the pans, you can now pop it in a preheated oven and bake for 30-40 minutes. If browning is too fast, make sure to cover it with foil paper.
How To Store Homemade Bread
This soft, tender and delicious white bread will last up to 4-6 days if stored in an airtight container or bag. If you want to save the bread for later, you may freeze the baked bread in foil or saran wrap and freeze it for up to 1 month. You can also freeze the bread dough after its first rise.
More Bread Recipes
Go bake those worries away and slather this delicious homemade bread with butter, jam or this Homemade Garlic Butter.
How To Make Homemade Bread
Start by combining water and yeast in the stand mixer bowl, using a dough hook. Or if you are making this by hand, add water in a large mixing bowl. Let it sit until dissolve for about 5 minutes. Pour in milk, honey, butter, salt, and stir. Gradually add flour and continue mixing dough on low speed adding just enough flour to form soft dough.
If mixing by hand, remove dough and place on a lightly floured surface. Knead for about 6-8 minutes. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning once to coat the dough. Cover loosely with a clean cloth and let rise in a warm place for 1 ½ to 2 hours or until doubled. Punch the dough down.
Working on a lightly floured surface, divide dough in half. Flatten the dough into a rectangle, then fold a third of the dough on top of itself. Quickly fold the bottom third down so that it overlaps the other layers. Pinch the dough to seal where the layers meet to close it up
Lift dough and place into two greased 9×5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise for an additional 30 minutes or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 30-40 minutes. If bread is browning too fast tent with foil paper. You can easily check for doneness by using a thermometer. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the bread should read 195°F to 200°F.
Cool, brush with butter, and enjoy!
Watch How To Make It
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Homemade White Bread
Ingredients
- ½ cup (118.5ml) warm water
- 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast (1 packet)
- 1 ¾ cup (420ml) milk
- ¼ cup (85g) honey
- ¼ cup (56.75) melted butter
- 3 teaspoons (15g) salt
- 5 ½ - 6 cups (698.5g-762g) bread flour
Instructions
- Start by combining water and yeast in the stand mixer bowl, using a dough hook. Or if you are making this by hand, add water in a large mixing bowl. Let it sit until dissolve for about 5 minutes.
- Pour in milk, honey, butter, salt and stir.
- Gradually add the flour and continue mixing the dough on a low speed adding just enough flour to form soft dough.
- If mixing by hand, remove dough and place on a lightly floured surface. Knead for about 6-8 minutes.
- Place dough in a greased bowl, turning once to coat the dough. Cover loosely with a clean cloth and let it rise in a warm place for 1 ½ to 2 hours or until doubled. Punch the dough down.
- Working on a lightly floured surface, divide dough in half.
- Flatten the dough into a rectangle, then fold a third of the dough on top of itself. Quickly fold the bottom third down so that it overlaps the other layers. Pinch the dough to seal where the layers meet to close it up.
- Lift the dough and place into two greased 9x5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise for an additional 30 minutes or until the dough has risen 1 inch above the pans.
- Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 30-40 minutes. If bread is browning too fast, tent with foil paper.
- You can easily check for doneness by using a thermometer. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the bread should read 195°F to 200°F.
- Cool, brush with butter and enjoy!
Tips & Notes:
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
uzu says
can i use instant yeast if so.. same amount
ImmaculateBites says
Absolutely! You can. 🙂
Sonia Johnson says
I tried it a few times and it getting better. And I don’t like baking as much as I love cooking.
ImmaculateBites says
Gotcha! But for sure, you’d get a hang of it. I am sure your version tastes great too!
Laura says
This is my first try and it seems to dough turned out wet and sticky. Is this normal?
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Laura! It should be slightly sticky. If it’s too wet and sticky, just add more flour a little at a time until it has the right texture.
Brenda says
Great recipe, my first time making bread and it came out perfect, tasting good. I will surly be baking more bread, Thanks keep up the good work.
Immaculate Bites says
My pleasure, Brenda! Glad you enjoyed this.
Charlie says
Hello Imma! About to try your brown stew chicken recipe and wanted to try this bread with it, would it be ok to use lacto free milk?
Immaculate Bites says
Hi Charlie, yes you can.
Elizabeth Thuu says
Can I use sugar instead of honey and how much
Immaculate Bites says
Hi Elizabeth! Yes, you can substitute honey with 4 tablespoons of sugar. Feel free to adjust sweetness.
Ella says
Just tried it, absolutely love it!
Immaculate Bites says
Glad you loved it, Ella! 🙂
Ken says
I’m a hapless male in the kitchen. I cannot even make box mix brownies (trust me, I surrender). But I made your recipe, and yes, allowed it to rise well above the loaf pan and no doubt other mistakes. But my bread came out like your photos and tastes great. AMAZING (I’m so shocked. HA)
Immaculate Bites says
Oh that’s wonderful, Ken! Good job 😀
Kyle says
I am truly shocked that no one has asked this;
I want to make this, however my family and I don’t use that much bread. As a family of four we go through a loaf of bread (Not fresh) in maybe a week or two. I will be making but I was wondering the storing conditions/recommendations, I’ll likely half the recipe but I really need to know how and if I can store this, as we won’t be eating it in a day, that’s for sure!
Thank you so much Imma! 🙂
ImmaculateBites says
I hear you! You can half the recipe or make it bake, let it cool completely and freeze in air tight plastic bag. Remove and reheat in the oven . Works every all the time . Happy Baking.
Kyle says
I see your reply, but I was wondering about the storing conditions. If I stored inside of a bread bin how long roughly would it last. 3-4 days maybe? a week in a bread bin at room temperature?
Immaculate Bites says
Hi Kyle! You can store this in an airtight container (not sure if your bread bin is airtight) roughly for 4-6 days at room temp. Alternatively, if you want fresh bread, you can freeze the dough or freeze the bread, too. 🙂
Pinkie says
Hi, Immaculate
Can I use the same ingredients to making Brown bread?
Thank you
ImmaculateBites says
You can . However, you might have to do a little tweaking .
Margie says
Hi!
Love this recipe.
At what point do you add the raisins/cheese:herbs etc!?
ImmaculateBites says
Hello,
The mixing part. After you add the flour .
Nicole says
I’ve made this recipe twice a week for the last three weeks. It’s such a great recipe. Bread comes out great each time. Thank you so much for giving me a back my love for baking bread.
ImmaculateBites says
The pleasure is mine too, Nicole. :). I am so thrilled you love it. Carry on baking!
lola alawiye says
Hi,
Is the butter melted or added in the whole form?
Thanks
ImmaculateBites says
Melted butter 🙂
Bio Macdonald says
Thank you so much,I follow you recipe but I have a little problem.
Pls how can I get rid of the yeast smell ?
Thank you
ImmaculateBites says
Try kneading the dough a little longer. That might help a little.
Ehirim Jane says
Hi ima my name is Jane I just joined your baking program and I am so happy to be here keep it up
ImmaculateBites says
Glad to have you here Jane :)!