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Easy to make Homemade White Bread recipe that’s ready in about an hour. A classic sandwich bread that bakes up soft, tender and fluffy that’s perfect for Peanut Butter and Jelly or your favorite deli meats.
Table of Contents
- Why we love this homemade bread recipe
- Ingredients You Need for Homemade Bread
- How To Make Homemade White Bread
- The Best Flour for Homemade Bread
- Can I make Bread Without Sugar?
- How To Make Gluten Free White Bread
- How To Freeze Homemade Bread
- How To Store Homemade Bread
- Kellie’s Tips for the Perfect Loaf of Bread
- How To Use Homemade Bread
- More Easy Homemade Bread Recipes
- Homemade Bread Recipe
Why we love this homemade bread recipe
There’s something special about a freshly baked loaf of bread. And white bread brings back floods of memories for me, I ate so many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and French Toast when I was young.
They were always made on Strohman white bread, it was a true staple in our household. I crave carbs on the regular and homemade white bread is the surest way to satisfy those cravings. Slather on a thick coating of butter and chow down. it helps that this Homemade Bread recipe is super simple to make.
This easy bread recipe has been in my recipe box since before the internet was even invented. It’s been my go-to recipe for decades but I just updated it to make it even faster by using a quick rise instant yeast. So, there’s no need to wait days for your dough to be ready to bake.
I love how versatile this sandwich bread recipe is, too. Level up so many dishes like Traditional Cucumber Sandwiches, Classic Kentucky Hot Brown, The Best Tuna Salad and a favorite Tomato Sandwich to an epic proportion when homemade bread is used.
The fluffy texture and buttery flavor make it perfect for any type of sandwich. It’s also fantastic for breakfast whether you’re topping it with your homemade cinnamon sugar.
Ingredients You Need for Homemade Bread
- Milk – I use whole milk for this recipe to add richness and moisture. You can use low-fat milk or an alternative dairy substitute.
- Butter – Salted butter also gives this bread recipe a buttery flavor.
- Yeast – To get this bread in the oven quickly, I use Instant Yeast. You can make this with a traditional yeast but your bread make take longer to rise and will need to be activated.
- Sugar – Granulated sugar adds just a hint of sweetness and helps the dough rise.
- Flour – If you can find it, use bread flour. It gives the dough a tender crumb and an airy, springy texture. If you only have all-purpose flour, that will work, too.
- Egg – Used as an egg wash, a lightly beaten egg gives the bread a beautiful, golden brown crust.
For the full ingredient list and measurements, see the recipe card below.
How To Make Homemade White Bread
This easy recipe will result in a super soft white bread perfect for sandwich making. It comes together easily with just a few simple steps and the rise time is cut dramatically with the use of instant yeast. So, there’s no proofing your yeast unless you need to use a standard dry yeast.
- Make the dough. In a bowl, mix together the dry ingredients and set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients to form a dough. The dough will be sticky at this point but continue to stir until it comes together and starts to firm up a bit.
- Knead the dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough until smooth and elastic, approximately 5-10 minutes.
- Rest and rise. Form the dough into a ball and allow to rest in a bowl coated with cooking spray. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and store in a warm, draft free place for 10-15 minutes or until double in size.
- Shape the loaves. Punch the dough down and form into a rectangle slightly smaller than a 9 inch loaf pan. Place the dough into a loaf pan coated with cooking spray and cover with the towel. Allow to rise for 10 minutes or until the top of the dough is level with the top of the pan. Using a sharp knife, cut a slit lengthwise along the top of the bread. (This step is optional, I just like how it looks.)
- Bake the bread. Brush the top of the dough with lightly beaten egg (also, optional.) Bake the bread for 30-40 minutes or until the internal temperature on an instant read thermometer reaches 195˚F.
- Cool and serve. Allow the bread to cool until easily handled and turn out onto a cooling rack to cool to room temperature.
The Best Flour for Homemade Bread
I highly recommend using bread flour for baking up a batch of homemade bread but if you can’t find it, you can use All Purpose Flour with great results.
The difference between bread flour and all-purpose flour is the protein. Bread flour has a higher protein content than all purpose flour. The more protein you have in your flour the higher gluten content which produces a chewier result.
Can I make Bread Without Sugar?
You can definitely leave out the sugar in this recipe but it will make the rise time a bit longer since yeast needs sugar to feed off of.
Also, sugar is a stabilizer which helps extend the shelf life of your bread. Leaving out the sugar will cause your bread to go stale much more quickly which isn’t usually an issue because we eat the whole loaf in about a day.
How To Make Gluten Free White Bread
If you have a gluten free bread flour, or gluten free all purpose flour blend, you can easily make your own gluten free white bread at home by replacing the flour called for in the recipe. A 1:1 gluten free flour works best here.
How To Freeze Homemade Bread
Once your white bread has baked and cooled to room temperature, you can easily freeze it for later. Simply wrap the loaf tightly in plastic wrap and then, again, wrap it in foil.
Your baked bread will last up to 3 months in the freezer. To thaw your frozen bread, simply allow to thaw on the counter, unwrapped, at room temperature.
How To Store Homemade Bread
I like to store our easy homemade bread in an airtight container, such as a zip top bag, at room temperature. Your bread will last about 5 days if wrapped securely.
If you want to make it last even longer, store in the refrigerator in an airtight container and it will last up to two weeks.
Kellie’s Tips for the Perfect Loaf of Bread
This easy Sandwich Bread is very simple to make and fool proof using these simple baking tips:
To create a glossy top, brush with a lightly beaten egg. This doesn’t add flavor but makes the end result showstopping.
You can make the dough using the dough hook on your Stand Mixer making the process clean and simple.
To ensure a tender crumb, make sure you use a high quality bread flour. The flour bakes to a soft, fluffy texture and created the perfect crust.
Be careful not to heat your milk too much because the heat will kill the yeast. Lukewarm milk is best.
How To Use Homemade Bread
More Easy Homemade Bread Recipes
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Homemade Bread Recipe
Equipment
- loaf pan
- stand mixer
- loaf pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 1/4 teaspoons Instant Yeast
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 3 cups bread flour
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 egg, slightly beaten
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk together the yeast, sugar, flour and salt. Set aside.
- Heat the milk in a small saucepan until warm and stir in the melted butter.
- Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients to form a dough. The dough will be very sticky at this point but continue to stir until it comes together and starts to firm up a bit.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough until smooth and elastic, approximately 5-10 minutes.
- Form the dough into a ball and allow to rest in a bowl coated with cooking spray. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and store in a warm, draft free place for 10-15 minutes or until double in size.
- Punch the dough down and form into a rectangle slightly smaller than a 9 inch loaf pan. Place the dough into a loaf pan coated with cooking spray and cover with the towel. Allow to rise for 10 minutes or until the top of the dough is level with the top of the pan.
- Using a sharp knife, cut a slit lengthwise along the top of the bread. (This step is optional, I just like how it looks.)
- Brush the top of the dough with lightly beaten egg (also, optional.)
- Bake the bread for 30-40 minutes in a preheated 350˚F oven or until the internal temperature on an instant read thermometer reaches 195˚F.
- Allow the bread to cool until easily handled and turn out onto a cooling rack to cool to room temperature.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Where do I add the discarded sourdough to the recipe? I’ve used your previous account for the starter but not clear how to add it to the loaf bread.
The discarded sourdough is not used in this recipe, I used it in the No Knead Sourdough bread recipe here: https://thesuburbansoapbox.com/easy-no-knead-sourdough-bread-recipe/
Was looking forward to trying this recipe but like so many other examples there is no oven temperature described.
Jim
Hi Jim, Thank you for notifying me. The recipe has been updated to reflect the necessary baking temperature of 350˚F. Hope you give it a try!
So delicious and easy to follow directions. Turned out perfectly. Thanks for this yummy classic bread recipe. It’s great on it’s own but I loved making a THICK grilled cheese sandwich from it. Heaven!
I’m so glad you loved it! It is PERFECT for grilled cheese!
Super excited to try this recipe! Looks so good!
Thank you so much!
This looks delicious!