When it comes to baking, you cannot go wrong with having this staple White Bread Recipe at your disposal. Light and tender, this bread is perfect for all your needs.
I’m a bread gal, always have been always will be. There is something about a homemade bread recipe that really beats any other bread out there.
This White Bread Recipe is super simple, using only a handful of ingredients and is fool-proof. I know some people are scared of using yeast, but don’t be.
This recipe will become a staple in your house and you will want to keep making it over and over again. Slather is with some butter, toast it up or use it for sandwiches, it is a great universal recipe all around.
The best part of this White Bread Recipe is that it makes two loaves, we go through bread here like there is no tomorrow. So having two loaves on hand is always well…handy!
You can use one and freeze one as this White Bread freezes really well and you can just take it out of the freezer slice by slice if desired when needed.
If you have been on the hunt for an easy tasty bread, then you absolutely cannot go wrong when making my White Bread Recipe.
Some of our other favorite bread centered recipes that we have on our site include: Popovers, English Muffins and Easy Banana Bread.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- Easy to find and on hand ingredients makes this come together nicely.
- This makes 2 loaves, great to feed more people or to freeze for later.
- You can use this bread for literally anything, sandwiches, with butter, toasting, etc.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST):
All-purpose flour
Nonfat dry milk
Granulated sugar
Unsalted butter
Active dry yeast
Kosher salt
Warm water (115°F)
Melted butter, optional
HOW TO MAKE A WHITE BREAD RECIPE, STEP BY STEP:
- In the body of a stand mixer fitted with the hook attachment, add 2 cups of the flour, dry milk, sugar, butter, yeast, and salt. Mix the ingredients around just to combine for a few turns.
- Next, add the water to the bowl of the stand mixer and mix to combine.
- On slow, add the remaining flour a little at a time until you come to 5 cups of flour (including the two you had already added). Increase the speed to medium-high, the dough should clean the sides of the bowl after a couple of minutes. If it doesn’t, add the remaining ½ cup flour a little at a time until the sides of the bowl are clean.
- Continue to mix and knead the dough on medium-high speed with the dough hook for about 10 minutes. At this point the dough should be smooth and stretchy. Spray the dough with a little cooking spray, roll it around in the bowl until it is lightly coated. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place for about 1 hour.
- Remove the plastic wrap and punch the dough down in the bowl, releasing the air bubbles.
- Next, lightly flour a clean work surface. With your hands, knead the dough a few times to get any additional air bubbles out, this will take about 1 minute.
- Spray 2 9×5-inch loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray.
- Divide the dough into two even pieces. With your hands, roll them out into a log roughly the size of the pans. Place each log into a prepared baking pan.
- Uncovered, let them rise until doubled in size, about 30-45 minutes.
- At this point, preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
- Once doubled, make a slit down the center of the bread with a knife if desired. Place the loaves into the oven and lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown.
- Immediately brush the bread with the optional melted butter and let the bread cool in the pan for about 5 minutes.
- Remove the bread from pans and cool on a wire rack completely.
- Cut and serve as desired.
WHAT KIND OF YEAST DO I USE?
For this White Bread you are going to want to use active dry yeast. We do not use instant or bread yeast for this recipe as we have always used active dry.
So I do not suggest trying the other yeasts as we have not tested it with either of them.
DO I HAVE TO USE THE NONFAT MILK POWDER?
For this particular recipe, yes. We have always used the nonfat milk powder in this bread as it helps it come out tender and fluffy, do not leave it out.
CAN I USE ANOTHER FLOUR?
If you do not want to use all-purpose flour for this recipe you can use bread flour.
You can substitute the bread flour for the all-purpose flour at a 1:1 ratio.
HOW LONG DOES THIS BREAD NEED TO RISE?
You are going to do 2 rises in this recipe. The first rise will be in the bowl covered in plastic wrap where you will let it rise for 1 hour.
The second rise will be in the bread pans where you will have them rise for 30-45 minutes until they are doubled in size, this will vary depending on the location you are having it rise and the temperature.
So overall you will be having your bread rise around 1 hour and 45 minutes in total.
WHAT CAN I USE THIS BREAD FOR?
There are so many things that you can use this White Bread Recipe for! Some of our favorites include:
- Toasting
- Sandwiches
- French toast
- Croutons
- Bread pudding
- Butter, jelly, jam, peanut butter
Whatever you love using bread for, this is the perfect recipe. But it is also perfect to just eat plain as well.
HOW TO STORE:
This bread can be stored in an airtight container or bag where it will keep at room temperature for up to 3 days.
You can also freeze this recipe. You can either slice it or keep it whole, then wrap in plastic wrap and then a layer of foil and it will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.
To defrost, take a slice of bread out and reseal or take a whole loaf out and place on the countertop until thawed.
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- You may not use all the flour, but you will want to make sure that you have enough added that the sides of the mixing bowl is clean.
- There is no need to cover the bread for the second rise.
- The slice down the center of the bread loaf is optional.
- Make sure you are using active dry yeast for this recipe.
- You can use shortening in place of the butter.
- The dry nonfat milk milk is essential to this recipe, do not leave it out.
- You can swap out the all-purpose flour with bread flour 1:1.
- This recipe can be frozen, see above on how to do that.
- You will want your water to be between 110-115 degrees F.
Love a good home baked recipe that can be used for a variety of things? Then you absolutely must make my White Bread Recipe, you won’t be let down.
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If you’ve tried this WHITE BREAD RECIPE or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and what shenanigans I’m getting into!
White Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 5 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup nonfat dry milk
- 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 cups warm water 110-115 degrees F
- 2 Tablespoons melted butter optional
Instructions
- In the body of a stand mixer fitted with the hook attachment, add 2 cups of the flour, dry milk, sugar, butter, yeast, and salt. Mix the ingredients around just to combine for a few turns.
- Next, add the water to the bowl of the stand mixer and mix to combine.
- On slow, add the remaining flour a little at a time until you come to 5 cups of flour (including the two you had already added). Increase the speed to medium-high, the dough should clean the sides of the bowl after a couple of minutes. If it doesn’t, add the remaining ½ cup flour a little at a time until the sides of the bowl are clean.
- Continue to mix and knead the dough on medium-high speed with the dough hook for about 10 minutes. At this point the dough should be smooth and stretchy. Spray the dough with a little cooking spray, roll it around in the bowl until it is lightly coated. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place for about 1 hour.
- Remove the plastic wrap and punch the dough down in the bowl, releasing the air bubbles.
- Next, lightly flour a clean work surface. With your hands, knead the dough a few times to get any additional air bubbles out, this will take about 1 minute.
- Spray 2 9×5-inch loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray.
- Divide the dough into two even pieces. With your hands, roll them out into a log roughly the size of the pans. Place each log into a prepared baking pan.
- Uncovered, let them rise until doubled in size, about 30-45 minutes.
- At this point, preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
- Once doubled, make a slit down the center of the bread with a knife if desired. Place the loaves into the oven and lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown.
- Immediately brush the bread with the optional melted butter and let the bread cool in the pan for about 5 minutes.
- Remove the bread from pans and cool on a wire rack completely.
- Cut and serve as desired.
Notes
- You may not use all the flour, but you will want to make sure that you have enough added that the sides of the mixing bowl is clean.
- There is no need to cover the bread for the second rise.
- The slice down the center of the bread loaf is optional.
- Make sure you are using active dry yeast for this recipe.
- You can use shortening in place of the butter.
- The dry nonfat milk milk is essential to this recipe, do not leave it out.
- You can swap out the all-purpose flour with bread flour 1:1.
- This recipe can be frozen, see above on how to do that.
- You will want your water to be between 110-115 degrees F.
Nutrition
Tornadough Alli is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value is important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and values can vary depending on which brands were used.
Liza
It was perfect and easy to make!!!