White Bread Recipe

This white bread bakes up soft and fluffy and is the perfect sandwich bread. There’s nothing quite like homemade bread- freshly from the oven, made with a few basic ingredients.

This is the BEST bread recipe that even the beginner bread baker can make! Homemade bread is perfect for sandwiches, grilled cheese, French toast and can even be shaped into dinner rolls for Thanksgiving.

When I was a young girl, my mom had a small baking business and sold homemade bread to our neighbors and my dad’s co-workers! Such great memories of her baking bread!

Making bread at home is easier than you think. With only a few simple ingredients you’ll have delicious homemade bread in only a few hours! This soft white bread recipe is great for sandwiches, toast, French Toast, and will last for days.

After the bread cools, place in a twist tie baggie and seal up to keep it fresh.

Why this recipe works

• Homemade bread is simple to make with only a few ingredients, light and fluffy. Perfect for sandwiches, toast and so much more!
• It’s free of all the preservatives of store-bought bread and made with simple ingredients!
• Step by step instructions so you can make the perfect loaf of bread.

Ingredients Needed

• Lukewarm water – you do not want water to be too hot or you will kill the yeast!
• Whole milk –
• Yeast – you want to purchase regular active dry yeast, NOT instant yeast.
• Eggs – be sure your eggs are room temperature so they do not lower the temperature of the dough (It needs to be warm in order to properly rise!)
• Butter – be sure it’s room temperature & softened. I always use unsalted butter so I can control the amount of salt in my recipes.
• Flour – you can use either all-purpose or bread flour. For all of my bread recipes, I prefer an equal mixture of both.

How to make White Bread

Step 1: Scald the milk, stir in the sugar, salt, and butter to dissolve. Cool the milk mixture to lukewarm.

Step 2: Pour the warm water into a warm mixing bowl of stand mixer or large bowl. Sprinkle in the yeast and stir to dissolve. Let sit 5 minutes.

Step 3: Add the lukewarm milk mixture and eggs. Stir in the flour. This dough will be sticky! Beat until well blended. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl occasionally.

Step 4: Turn the sticky dough out onto a well-floured work surface. Use a rubber bench scraper to turn the dough into itself. Kneading for about 3 to 4 minutes. Or until the dough is smooth. This will be a SOFT dough.

Step 5: Spray the mixing bowl well with cooking spray or coat with vegetable oil using a clean dry paper towel. Place the dough smooth side up into the warm bowl and cover with plastic wrap.

Spray the top of the bread with cooking spray (so the plastic wrap doesn’t stick to the bread). Cover the plastic wrap with a clean dry kitchen cloth and let rise until doubled in a warm place. (About 1 hour.)

Step 6: Divide the dough into half. Shape into loaves; Form each into a loaf by rolling it into an oblong shape then tucking and pinching the ends under the loaf. Place the shaped loaves into greased loaf pans. Cover with either plastic wrap or a clean dry kitchen cloth. Let rise in a warm place until doubled. (30 minutes to 1 hour)

If you wanted, you could at this point turn this homemade bread into cinnamon raisin bread. Brush it with 4 tablespoons melted butter, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture, add raisins, and roll up nice and tight.

Step 7: Before placing into the oven, gently brush each loaf with an egg wash.

Step 8: Bake in a preheated 375 degree F oven for about 40 minutes, until the outside is golden brown and internal temperature is 195-200 degrees.

Tips for making homemade bread

• Bake in cast iron bread pans – I love baking homemade bread in these cast iron loaf pans from Lodge. They are super easy to clean and I love the way the bottom of the bread comes out!
• Use a stand mixer with a dough hook. While you can mix everything by hand, it is more time consuming.
• Proofing bread is important. The first proof helps develop the flavors with the gluten and yeast. The second proofing gives you a light and airy bread loaf.
• Over-proof your bread it will likely fall during the baking process.
• Under-proof your bread and the loaves will be dense.

How to tell if your bread is ready to be baked

• The second proofing in your bread pans can vary based on weather and the temperature. It can take much longer in the winter than the summer to proof bread. Look for signs on if your bread is perfectly proofed.
• During the winter, make sure your kitchen is warmed up in order to properly proof the bread. Use a clean, dry kitchen cloth over the loaves to keep them warmer.
• The bread should double in size. Gently insert your index finger into the dough and if the indentation stays, the bread is proofed. If the dough bounces back, it is under-proofed.

When the bread comes out of the oven rub a little piece of butter across the hot bread. (My mom used to do that for all of her homemade bread recipes!)

Bread is done when the internal temperature is 195-200 degrees.

Remove the bread oven and let cool for about 10 minutes before removing from the bread pans. If you leave it in the bread pans too long, you will cause condensation and the bottom of your bread can become soggy.

Cool bread loaves completely on a baking rack before slicing.

While I made this white bread recipe in my Kitchenaid stand mixer. You could certainly combine your ingredients with your hands or a wooden spoon in a large glass mixing bowl.

Recipe FAQs

This soft white bread recipe is delicious toasted and slathered with homemade Mixed Berry Jam or Raspberry Rhubarb Jam. I mean, how good does that sound?!

More Bread Recipes

• Sourdough Bread
• Oatmeal Bread
• Cast Iron Cinnamon Rolls
• Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

For more great recipes be sure to try my Homemade Apple Pie, Cast Iron Pizza, Apple Hand Pies, and Chicken Pot Pie.

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