Homemade White Bread

Bread is one of those comfort foods that I really enjoy. Take a slice of homemade white bread and put it in the toaster, then slather some butter on it, yummy. Bread has been a staple for people’s diets worldwide and what better use then to make a sandwich with it. This amazing white bread recipe is the perfect bread for sandwiches, french toast, or any of your bread needs. It is very easy to make if I can do it, you can do it, let’s get baking!

For more yummy bread recipes click here.

Step 1: Gather ingredients and tools

First, we need to get our ingredients and our tools together. Luckily this recipe only requires 6 total ingredients, chances are you already have them in your house. For this white bread you will need:

• Water – Whenever baking bread, rolls, etc. I recommend using filtered water unless your tap water tastes really good. Here in Arizona, my tap water is horrible, so I always use filtered water when baking and cooking.
• Active dry yeast – I usually use active dry yeast. You can use rapid rise yeast as well if you like. With that said regardless of the yeast that you use I recommend activating it first in the warm liquid. This will ensure the yeast is good.
• White granulated sugar – Need a bit of sugar to get the taste just right. You can adjust the amount of sugar if you like. But I encourage you to make it this way first then adjust the next time you make it.
• Oil – I use canola or vegetable oil with this homemade white bread, but you can use a variety of other oils. No need to worry about the smoke point of the oil.
• Bread flour – While you can use all-purpose (plain) flour the very best bread use bread flour. Bread flour allows for a better-shaped bread as well as a lighter and chewier bread. With that said I have made it with all-purpose flour as well and it still turns out great.
• Salt – Can’t forget the salt. Make sure to use table salt.

Tools

For the tools you will need the following:

• Wooden spoon
• Bowls
• 9×5 inch bread pan – You can use two smaller bread loaf pans as well.
• Whisk
• Fork
• Stand mixer – Only if you are not going to hand knead the dough. I always hand knead my dough and don’t use a mixer. Hand kneading dough is awesome!

Step 2: Proof the Yeast

Once we have all the ingredients gathered let’s get our yeast started. Take your water and heat it up in the microwave for about 40 seconds. We want the temperature to be between 105 degrees F and 115 degrees F. (40-46 C) Then we will add about 1 tsp. of our sugar to the warm water. Next, add your active dry yeast. Use a fork and mix it up a little bit. Then let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes until it gets nice and foamy. If it does not get foamy after 10 minutes, you will need to start over. It means the yeast was bad/old, or the water was too hot or too cold.

Step 3: Add oil and sugar

Now let’s pour the yeast mixture into a large bowl, then add our oil and our sugar. Stir with a wooden spoon.

Step 4: Salt and flour

Now we take our salt and add it to our bread flour. You can use all-purpose flour if you like, however, the bread will come out a little denser then if you use bread flour, with that said, the bread still tastes super yummy with all-purpose flour. Mix the salt and flour together with a whisk. Then add the flour about a 3rd at a time to the other ingredients, stirring really well with a wooden spoon, or you can use a stand mixer with a dough hook. Make sure to leave about 1/4 cup of flour remaining and put that on the counter/table. At this point, the dough should be forming and a little bit sticky. Go ahead and pour it onto the tabletop or counter.

Step 5: Knead that bread dough

Now let’s knead our dough for 8 minutes until it gets nice and smooth. The way I knead is I fold the dough over on itself towards me and then push down and out away from me with my palm of my hand. Then turn the dough a quarter turn and then push down again, then turn, etc. After 8 minutes the dough will be smooth, and when you poke it, it will spring back. Most likely you will have some flour left over. It is important to not add all the flour at once. Add it gradually, even if using a stand mixer. We don’t want to add too much flour. Sometimes you will have a bit more left, and other times you will have a bit less flour left.

Step 6: Grease and rise

Now we take about 1 tsp. or two of oil and grease a large bowl. Then add the dough and turn it over so it gets all coated with oil. Next, add a damp cloth over the top and set the dough in a warm place to rise for 1 to 2 hours until the dough doubles in size or if you have a cool dough proofer you can use that. The damp cloth will help prevent the dough from drying out. If you want to see my dough proofer review video you can find it here. Dough proofers are awesome I am glad I have mine and use it all the time.

Step 7: Shape and rise

After our dough has risen we want to pour the dough out onto the counter and knead the dough again for about 15 to 20 seconds. Next, we do a little bit of rolling and stretching and shaping until our dough looks like a loaf. Now place the dough loaf into a greased 9×5 inch bread pan and cover again with our damp cloth or place in your dough proofer, and let it rise for another hour to 1.5 hours. We want the top of the dough to rise above the walls of the bread pan.

Step 8: Bake that white bread dough!

Now we heat the oven to 350 degrees F. (176C) Place the dough in the oven on the middle rack and bake for 30 minutes. After 25 minutes check the bread, if the top is getting too brown, put a piece of foil on top of it.

Step 9: Cool and slice that amazing homemade white bread

Now after coming out of the oven, let the bread cool for about 5 minutes in the pan, then take it out of the pan and let it rest on a wire rack to cool completely. One of the best smells ever is the smell of homemade bread that has just come out of the oven, my stomach growled just thinking about it. Next it is finally time to slice into that bread! You can use it for sandwiches, eat it plain, use it for French toast, or however else you want to use it. It winds up being super soft and fluffy, and super yummy! Enjoy!

For more bread recipes make sure to check them out here.

Homemade White Bread Video Tutorial

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4.89 from 9 votes

Amazing Homemade White Bread Recipe

Homemade bread is awesome. I love the smell and taste of it, I just love bread. This white bread recipe is amazing you won't be disappointed. You can use it for sandwiches, French Toast, or just eat it plain.

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time30 mins

Rising Time2 hrs

Total Time2 hrs 45 mins

Course: Appetizer, Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: dough, yeast

Servings: 12 slices

Calories: 157kcal

Author: In the Kitchen with Matt

Equipment

• Wooden spoon
• Bowls
• 9×5 inch bread pan
• Whisk
• Fork

Ingredients

• 1 cup of water 235ml
• 2 1/4 tsp. of active dry yeast 6.5g
• 1/3 cup of granulated sugar 66g
• 2 Tbsp. of Canola or Vegetable oil 30ml
• 3 cups of Bread Flour you can use all-purpose (380)
• 3/4 tsp. of salt 4g

Instructions

• First let's get our yeast started. Take your water and heat it up in the microwave for about 40 seconds. We want the temperature to be between 105 degrees F and 115 degrees F. (40-46 C) Then we will add about 1 tsp. of our sugar to the warm water. Next add your active dry yeast. Use a fork and mix it up a little bit. Then let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes until it gets nice and foamy.
• Now let's pour the yeast mixture into a large bowl, then add our oil and our sugar. Stir with a wooden spoon.
• Next we take our salt and add it to our bread flour. You can use all-purpose flour if you like, however the bread will come out a little more dense then if you use bread flour. Mix the salt and flour together with a whisk. Then add the flour about a 3rd at a time to the other ingredients, stirring really well with a wooden spoon, or you can use a stand mixer with dough hook. Make sure to leave about 1/4 cup of flour remaining and put that on the counter/table. At this point the dough should be forming and a little bit sticky.
• Knead the dough for 8 minutes until it gets nice and smooth. After 8 minutes the dough will be smooth, and when you poke it, it will spring back.It is important to not add all the flour at once. Add it gradually, even if using a stand mixer. We don't want to add too much flour. Sometimes you will have a bit more left, and other times you will have a bit less flour left.
• Now we take about 1 tsp. or two of oil and grease a large bowl. Then add the dough and and turn it over so it gets all coated with oil. Next add a damp cloth over the top and set the dough in a warm place to rise for 1 to 2 hours until the dough doubles in size.
• After the dough has risen pour the dough out onto the counter and knead the dough again for about 15 to 20 seconds. Next we do a little bit of rolling and stretching and shaping until our dough looks like a loaf. Now place the dough loaf into a greased 9×5 inch bread pan and cover again with our damp cloth, and let it rise for another hour to 1.5 hours. We want the top of the dough to rise above the walls of the bread pan.
• Now we heat the oven to 350 degrees F. (176C) Place the dough in the oven on the middle rack and bake for 30 minutes. After 25 minutes check the bread, if the top is getting too brown, put a piece of foil on top of it.
• Now after coming out of the oven, let the bread cool for about 5 minutes in the pan, then take it out of the pan and let it rest on a wire rack to cool completely. Next it is finally time to slice into that bread! It winds up being super soft and fluffy, and super yummy! Enjoy!

Notes

Do you like the recipe? Please give it a rating and comment down below, I really appreciate it. 🙂 If you make it tag me on Instagram @inthekitchenwithmatt. Also, sign up for the newsletter so you won’t miss out on any of my new posts and recipes.

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