Soft and delicious, with just a touch of sweetness, and not at all like flimsy store-bought white bread, this homemade white bread recipe is easy and it’s made with simple ingredients.
Here’s all you need to know about making the perfect loaf of Homemade Bread (White Bread)!
- Why you should be making this white bread loaf recipe!
- What is classic white bread made with?
- Tips for making perfect homemade bread (homemade white bread)
- Choosing the right bread pan
- How to form the perfect loaf of bread
- How to check when your bread loaf is ready to be baked
- How to store homemade white bread
- Frequently asked questions and troubleshooting
- If you liked this step by step recipe for Homemade Bread, then you may also like some of my other detailed how-to posts,
There’s something deeply satisfying about a slice of white bread. And when that white bread goodness is homemade? The best! Plus, I LOVE the smell of freshly baked bread. I’ve been making Homemade Bread (White Bread) for about 15 years now, and I’ve made it so often that I can make this white bread recipe without measuring the ingredients now. And the more you make it, a better feel you get for it, and you’ll instinctively know what your bread dough is supposed to feel like.
Why you should be making this white bread loaf recipe!
- Make no mistake, this homemade bread recipe is simple to make.
- Incredibly soft and delicious, with just a touch of sweetness, it’s easily the best white bead I’ve ever tasted!
- Really substantial, unlike the sad, flimsy store-bought white bread.
- It’s free of all the sodium and preservatives of store-bought bread, and it’s made with simple ingredients. What’s not to love?
- This recipe provides STEP BY STEP instructions, on how to make the perfect loaf of bread
I guarantee you’ll never want to go back to store-bought white bread after tasting this!
What is classic white bread made with?
Delicious white bread is traditionally made with just,
- Flour
- Water
- Yeast
- Honey
- Salt
- Butter (or some other type of fat)
However, I also like to add a little citric acid (or vinegar) as well. This is optional, but it achieves two things.
- The acidity helps keep the bread soft. It apparently helps with preserving the bread too, but the amount I add in this recipe may likely not have an appreciable impact on this.
- Citric acid adds a little sourness to the bread loaf as well, much like the acidity in sourdough gives it that characteristic “sourness”. The citric acid adds an extra depth of flavor to the this classic white bread recipe too. But the sourness here isn’t as pronounced as with sourdough.
Tips for making perfect homemade bread (homemade white bread)
Use a stand mixer.
Makes the whole process easy. You can knead the dough by hand, but it takes quite a while to develop the gluten in the dough this way. (Although, I do quite enjoy kneading dough by hand sometimes, bashing the dough repeatedly. Great for letting out some pent up frustration!). Just make sure not to “tear” the bread while you’re kneading it by hand.
Don’t be afraid to get your hands in there and feel the texture of the dough.
This is the only way to make sure you get the right consistency. The amount of water or flour needed to make this homemade white bread can vary slightly each time. Use this recipe as a guide, and know that you may have to adjust it a touch depending on the weather, and type of flour and ingredients used.
I usually use AP flour to make homemade white bread, but you can use bread flour too.
With bread flour, you may need to use a little extra water to get the right consistency, because the more protein content in the flour, the more moisture it’ll need to yield a soft texture.
Using bread flour will also lead to a chewier bread texture, which is also incredible desirable.
Proofing is important.
The first proof is important to allow the yeast and gluten to develop. This plays a huge role in the flavor of the final product as well. The second proof is important to get a loaf that is light and airy with a beautiful rise.
If you over-proof the bread dough at any stage, it can result in an unpleasant yeasty flavor. And if you over-proof the dough during the second stage, you’ll likely end up with a bread loaf where the crust separates from the rest of the loaf, or the crust is misshapen, or there’ll be big holes in the bread and it’ll collapse.
With under-proofed bread dough, you’ll end up with a smaller bread loaf that is more dense and has less volume.
A quick, simple way to check whether your homemade bread loaf is done is to tap the bread on top for that characteristic “hollow” sound. However, a fool-proof method to ensure perfectly baked bread is to use a thermometer. Your bread loaf is done when the internal temp. registers 195°F.
To avoid a soggy bread bottom, make sure not to leave the bread in the pan to cool completely.
Leave it in the pan only for about 10-15 minutes and then place it on a wire rack to cool completely. This prevents any condensation from forming on the pan and making the bread soggy.
Another really helpful tip that I’ve discovered is to allow the bread to cool down in the oven.
When the bread is done, I turn off the oven and let it cool down inside, with the oven door half open. Or if I have to do more baking, I let the bread cool down in a draft free, warm place. If the bread cools down too fast, it can cause some wrinkles to form on the crust. It doesn’t affect the taste however, just the appearance. However, this may sometimes be unavoidable in the winter.
Choosing the right bread pan
You can make this white bread recipe in a 8 ½ x 4 ½ inch loaf pan for best results. But a 9 x 5 loaf pan will work too. However, if you do use a 9 x 5 inch pan, the resulting bread loaf won’t have as much height (or shape).
How to form the perfect loaf of bread
The next step after proofing the bread dough, is to form the dough into a log to fit inside your bread pan.
I turn the bread dough out on to a lightly floured surface and flatten it into a rectangle. This removes excess air that formed in the dough while it was proofing. The longer side of this rectangle should be slightly shorter than that of your bread pan.
To make sure you have a tightly formed bread loaf, roll up the dough, while pinching the edge into the dough along the way. Pinch the seams of the dough, tuck the sides in and pinch them into the dough as well. It’s important to tightly roll up the dough while pinching it into itself. This prevents large air pockets from forming inside the dough as it proofs and bakes.
All the seams of the dough should be on one side, while the other side should be smooth and tightly stretched (with no wrinkles). Make sure your bread dough log has an even thickness too.
Then carefully place this in the prepared bread loaf pan, and gently press it into the corners and bottom of the pan. Cover the pan and let it proof for a second time.
How to check when your bread loaf is ready to be baked
The second proofing time can vary greatly depending on the ambient temperature and weather. It can take much longer in the winter to proof, than in the summer. So it’s important to know what signs to look for to know when you’re bread loaf has proofed properly and is ready to be baked.
- The bread dough will rise about 1 ½ inches above the rim of your bread loaf pan in the center. It’ll form a dome, so just look at the pan from the side to see how much it has risen above the rim.
- When you gently press into the dough with your index finger, an indentation will form and it’ll remain, if the dough is perfectly proofed. If the dough bounces back without leaving an indentation, then the dough is under-proofed. If the indentation causes the dough to collapse, then the dough has over-proofed, and you may need to re-knead and re-form the dough and proof it once again.
How to store homemade white bread
The fact is homemade white bread doesn’t keep for too long, since it doesn’t have preservatives like store-bought bread.
So it’s important to keep your homemade bread in a container that allows for some ventilation, to let the the bread “breathe”. This white bread will keep for about 4-5 days this way.
But what I personally like to do (especially because I bake two loaves on the same day usually), is to slice the bread once it cools down, and then place these bread slices in a container or sealable bag and freeze. This keeps the bread fresh for much longer! Then I just remove the slices I need from the freezer, and let them thaw out whenever needed.
However, never refrigerate bread. The dry air in the fridge will make the bread go stale even faster.
Seriously, there’s something just so satisfying about a slice of white bread, when you’ve made it yourself! 🙂 Even from frozen, it tastes incredibly fresh and DELICIOUS.
Peanut butter and jam sandwiches are a whole new level of comfort with this homemade white bread recipe! 🙂
Frequently asked questions and troubleshooting
The chances are that your bread was baked in an oven that is too hot. My oven is a conventional oven, and if you have a convection oven, you will need to reduce the oven temperature. Usually by about 15 – 25 degrees. Sometimes, oven just run hot and can burn food. You can check this by using an oven thermometer, and then adjust the temperature to compensate.
If your loaf pan is dark in color, this can also conduct heat too fast and bake the outside faster than the inside.
Lower the oven temperature, and bake the bread until the internal temperature of the dough is 195°F (as stated in the post).
This is because the oven was too hot, baking the outside faster than the inside. See above for ways to fix this issues.
This happens because the dough was made with too much flour or too little water.
If you used cups to measure the flour, the chances are that too much flour was added. Cups are not recommended as cups will add varying amounts of flour depending on how you use the cups to scoop the flour.
To fix this issue, always use a kitchen scale to weigh the flour and/or other ingredients. If you absolutely have to use cups, then adjust the water in the dough until you get the right consistency. The dough should be soft, and tacky. If its not tacky when you need to the dough, then there’s too much flour in the dough.
For bread to be too dense, you either added too much flour (see above), or the bread was over proofed during the final proofing. A dense bread can also occur if the dough is under proofed before baking as well. Under-proofing can happen if the loaf wasn’t given enough time to proof to at least 1.5 times or wasn’t in a warm place, or if the yeast has somehow died and is not active enough.
This is because of the yeast. If you do an overnight proof, this can happen as the yeast develops ore flavor. I personally love the more complex flavor.
However, if you over proof the dough (especially during the last proof), the bread will have an unpleasant flavor and will also be dense.
As with all y bread recipes, I recommend going by visual cues, rather than time. Depending on the ambient temperature, humidity, and flour type the proofing times can vary.
Absolutely! Milk has fat that can inhibit some of that gluten structure. So the bread might be less chewy and even more soft.
Yes! It is optional. You can read the post as to why I do like to add citric acid and why it’s optional.
Absolutely! Bread flour will give the bread a slightly chewier texture. Because of the higher protein content, you will need to add some extra water. Just add enough water to create a dough that is soft, smooth, satiny and tacky to the touch. The soft, tacky dough is what will make a soft loaf.
If you liked this step by step recipe for Homemade Bread, then you may also like some of my other detailed how-to posts,
How to make Authentic Brioche Bread
How to make Shortbread cookies
EQUIPMENT & TOOLS I USED FOR THIS RECIPE
Stand Mixer – I use my KitchenAid mixer
8.5 x 4.5 inch loaf pans – the perfect sized pans to make these bread loaves.
Kitchen Scale – Best tool for baking, to ensure you get accurate results each time
Measuring Cups – I like to use cups to measure all liquid ingredients most of the time. I absolutely LOVE my colorful cup measuring set, and I also love my pyrex measuring jugs too.
Measuring spoons – for measuring all the small amounts of ingredients.
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Homemade Bread (Homemade White Bread)
What You Need:
- See post for detailed list of equipment & tools used.
Ingredients:
Proofing yeast
- 2 ¼ tsp active dry yeast 7 g
- 1 cup lukewarm water
- 1 tbsp honey (or sugar or maple syrup)
Bread loaf
- Proofed yeast mixture (ingredients listed above)
- 19.5 ounces AP flour 4 ⅓ cups, spoon and leveled (please see notes)
- ⅓ cup lukewarm water
- 1 ¼ tsp sea salt
- 2 tbsp honey (or sugar or maple syrup)
- ¼ tsp citric acid or ½ tbsp white vinegar (optional)
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter melted (or vegetable oil)
Instructions:
Proofing yeast
- Place the water in the mixer bowl of your stand mixer.
- Stir in the honey to dissolve, and sprinkle the yeast over the water. Gently stir to mix.
- Allow the yeast to sit in a warm place for about 15 minutes, until it’s activated and becomes frothy. This could take longer if your yeast was in the freezer. If the yeast doesn’t activate (no frothy bubbles), then your yeast is likely too old and you will need it replaced with fresh yeast.
- Once the yeast is activated, you’re ready to make the bread dough.
Bread loaf
- To the proofed yeast mixture, add the flour, warm water, salt, honey, citric acid and melted butter.
- Using a dough whisk or a spatula, mix the ingredients to form a rough dough.
- Place the bowl in the mixer with a kneading hook attached, and knead the dough on low speed for about 2-5 minutes, until the dough comes together to form a ball.
- Increase the speed by 1 level (speed 3 in a kitchen aid mixer) and knead the dough for a further 12-15 minutes until it’s smooth and elastic.
- While the dough is kneading, check on it every few minutes to make sure it’s kneading well, and is not too dry or too wet.
- If the dough is sticking to the sides of the bowl, then it’s too wet, so add a little extra flour (a dusting at a time), to get the right texture. To check if it’s at the right consistency – lift the kneading hook from the bowl, and check if the dough only sticks to the bottom of the bowl. If yes, then the moisture is perfect. If the dough isn’t sticking to the bottom of the bowl however, you may need to add a little extra water (just ½ tsp at a time), to get the right consistency. The dough should be smooth, a little soft and a little tacky to the touch.
- Once the dough is kneaded, remove the dough hook and fold the dough over a few times by hand, to get a smooth ball. Then place it in a lightly oiled bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough proof for about 1 hour until it has doubled in size.
- While the dough is proofing, prepare the bread loaf pan. Butter 1 – 9 x 5 inch loaf pan and set aside, until the dough is ready.
- Turn the proofed dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Gently press the dough into an evenly thick rectangle. The short side of this rectangle should be roughly about 8 – 8.5 inches (i.e. slightly shorter than the length of your bread loaf pan).
- Next, tightly roll up the short side, along the length of the dough rectangle. Make sure to pinch/press the edge of the dough as you go, while rolling it up (read the post and see pictures for more details).
- Once the dough is rolled up, pinch the seams to seal it, and tuck in the two sides and pinch these seams as well. Make sure all the seams are on one side (this will be the bottom) and the other side is smooth and seam-free (this will be the top).
- Transfer this into the prepared loaf pan, seam side down, and press the dough into the pan. Make sure it’s evenly pressed into the bottom of the pan. Loosely cover the loaf pan with plastic wrap and let it proof again in a warm place, for about 45 minutes – 1 hour.
- The top of the dough should rise about 1 inch above the rim of your bread loaf pan (when looking from the side), and when you leave an indentation in the dough with your finger, the indentation should remain, and not bounce back (read the post and see pictures for more details).
- Preheat oven to 375°F, during the last 30 minutes of the second proofing time. It’s best for the oven to be preheated to the right temperature for at least 20 minutes, before baking the bread.
- When the bread loaf is ready and the oven has preheated, place the loaf pan in the middle of the oven, and bake for 45 minutes. It’s done when it sounds hollow when the bread is tapped on top, OR when the internal temperature has reached 195°F.
- Remove the pan from the oven, and keep it in a warm place (away from drafts) to cool. After about 10 minutes, remove the bread from the pan and keep it on a wire rack to cool down completely. The bread is now ready to be served.
- Optional – brush melted butter on the top while it’s hot to add more buttery flavor.
- Keep the loaf in a bread box at room temperature for upto 4 – 5 days, or slice and keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Tips & Tricks
Nutrition Information:
“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”
Jacqueline says
Excited to make this today! Would you recommend a glass bread pan or dark coated pan?
Dini says
Hi Jacqueline
I use a light colored loaf pan, as seen in the photos.
If you’re using a glass pan or a dark colored pan, you will need to adjust the oven temperature, by reducing the oven temperature about 25 degrees. Both these pans will conduct heat at a higher rate and can cause the bread to bake too quickly and form a dark / burnt/ dry crust. This is why the oven temperature needs to be reduced to counteract that.
Hope that helps
Tracy says
This recipe is fantastic! I followed the recipe exactly but kneaded the bread by hand. This is now my favorite bread recipe. Thank you so much for sharing!
Lindsey Li says
I love this recipe but it is too big for me and I feel that I need to split the dough into 2 and use 2 pans,
N.McGirr says
Lovely moist spongy textured loaf which cut and kept well , for 4 days
LuzGibson says
The entire family loved this recipe
Catherine Kuennen says
I have made homemade bread for 50 plus years trying new recipes. This is by far my favorite and I no longer have to look for any other. Thank you for sharing. Love this bread!! WOW so delicious
Dini says
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe Catherine, thank you so much for your lovely words! 🙂
Sandra I Marchino says
This is the bread I’ve been looking for. Thank you. Easy to veganize.
Tiffany says
Love the recipe! So easy to make and have made my mother and mother in law jealous of my bread making skills! Haha!
Am I able to use wholemeal flour instead?
Dini says
Hi Tiffany!
I have had readers who have used wholemeal flour (or a combination), and have said they liked the results. However, the liquid amounts may have to be adjusted slightly to get the same softness / texture!
Chris says
All my years making bread this is by far the best recipe I’ve found it’s a keeper
BioKitty says
Love it! I’ve been making bread for years, and this is by far the best that I have come across so far… going to try adding a bit more honey and yeast and use this as a cinnamon roll recipe!
allie walker says
Fantastic recipe
CyndyB says
Awesome result from this! Thank you for sharing!
I haven’t made bread without a bread mix for years. This worked perfectly. The only thing I found was the honey was a bit overpowering. We could smell honey as soon as it came out of the oven, and can certainly taste it. Which isn’t a bad thing, just a bit unusual.
Could I just use raw sugar instead of honey? Or does the liquid form of honey help?
Dini says
Hi Cyndy
As stated in the recipe, sugar or maple syrup can be used instead of honey.
Hope that helps
BioKitty says
Just made this and did not have that experience. Try using a different type of honey… they really can vary quite a bit. Hope this is helpful!