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    Home » Recipes » Bread & Dough Treats Recipes

    Homemade White Bread Loaf (Basic Recipe)

    Published: Jan 24, 2021 · Modified: Sep 23, 2022 by Priya Maha

    Jump to Recipe
    A loaf of bread with a slice cut out

    This homemade white bread loaf is my first bread recipe, one that I perfected to my liking. This is a basic white bread recipe, super easy to make, and can be easily mastered by anyone, including those who are new to baking bread.

    I call this a homemade white bread loaf because that is what it is. You make it on your own, at home, using very basic ingredients that you will most likely readily have in your pantry, except may be yeast.

    A loaf bread with slice cut out.
    Homemade White Bread Loaf - A Basic Bread Recipe

    Making this white bread does not take too long either. It requires 2 stages of proofing, with each stage taking about an hour. So all in all, you can make and bake this basic homemade white bread loaf in under 3 hours.

    The white bread loaf is soft and fluffy, and has a pleasantly light crust. It is perfect for toast and sandwiches and equally awesome when dipped in curries too!


    Table of contents

    • How to Make the Bread
      • Ingredients
      • Mixing and kneading the bread
      • Proofing
      • 2nd proofing and shaping
      • Baking the bread
    • Notes
      • Instant yeast
      • Flour
      • Kneading the dough
      • Proofing the bread
      • Melted butter glaze after baking
      • Cutting the bread
      • Storing the homemade bread
    • Like this recipe? Here are my other posts you might want to check out:
    • Recipe (Printable)

    How to Make the Bread

    The best part about this easy homemade white bread recipe is that it can be made with all-purpose flour, so if you don't have any bread flour, you can always make this white bread loaf with all-purpose flour!

    Ingredients

    This basic white bread recipe uses only 5 ingredients (excluding water) and they are:

    • All-purpose flour
    • Instant Yeast
    • Sugar
    • Butter
    • Water
    • Salt

    Very basic right?

    Mixing and kneading the bread

    A poster of 6 images showing how to knead homemade white bread dough.
    1. Start by adding half of the water into your mixing bowl.
    2. Add yeast and mix with a spoon until the yeast appears dissolved.
    3. Once the yeast is dissolved, add the remaining water and sugar, followed by sifted flour and salt.
    4. Knead the dough on medium-high speed with a dough hook for approximately 2 minutes. At this stage, it should come together nicely and appear stretchy.
    5. Cut butter into small pieces and add to the mixing bowl.
    6. Continue the machine kneading for an additional 7 to 8 minutes (on medium high speed) until the butter is fully incorporated. At this point, the dough should be soft and stretchy.

    Proofing

    A poster of 4 images showing how to proof bread dough.
    1. Turn the dough out of the bowl.
    2. Form into a ball. Dust with flour if it is sticky.
    3. Place it in a large bowl. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel or cling wrap and leave the dough to proof in a warm place until it is almost triple in size.
    4. This can take anywhere between 1 hour to 2 hours depending on the temperature.

    2nd proofing and shaping

    A poster of 4 images showing how to shape a bread loaf.
    1. Once the dough as almost tripled in size, press it down (or punch it down) to release the air bubbles. Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface.
    2. Press it into a rectangle with the short side measuring the same as the long side of your bread tin.
    3. Roll it tightly.
    4. Tuck the ends and sides.

    Baking the bread

    A poster of 4 images showing how to proof and bake a loaf bread, and how to apply butter after baking.
    1. Place the roll into a well-greased bread loaf tin.
    2. Cover the bread with a kitchen towel and leave it in a warm place to proof again, this time until it has doubled in size.
    3. Bake the bread in a preheated oven at 165 degrees Celcius for 30 minutes. Place it on the lowest rack in your oven to avoid the top from browning too much. Remove the baked bread from the oven. Let the freshly baked loaf rest in the bread tin for approximately 1 to 2 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack.
    4. Brush the top with melted butter immediately. Cool the bread completely before slicing it.
    An uncut loaf of bread.
    Homemade White Bread Loaf - A Basic Bread Recipe


    Notes

    Instant yeast

    • This homemade white bread recipe uses instant yeast. Instant yeast does not require activation which means you can literally mix the yeast and the rest of the ingredients and knead the bread.
    • If you are using active yeast, mix it with half of the warm water and leave it aside for at least 5 minutes until it turns frothy before adding the rest of the ingredients. If it does not turn frothy, it is no longer active and cannot be used. You need to discard and restart with a new batch of yeast.

    Flour

    • I used all-purpose flour to make this white bread loaf. You can always substitute it with bread flour if you wish.

    Kneading the dough

    • I use a mixer with a dough hook to knead my bread. The timing indicated in the recipe below is for kneading with a mixer. If you knead this homemade white bread by hand, a longer knead time would be required. Ideally, the dough needs to be kneaded until it turns stretchy.

    Proofing the bread

    • This homemade white bread requires 2 stages of proofing. Proofing is the process of letting the bread dough rest to allow it to increase in size, often double its original size. Proofing requires a warm temperature so place your bowl of dough somewhere warm to help it rise well.
    • For the first stage, it helps to cover the bowl with cling wrap.
    • For the second stage, the loaves need not be covered, but you can always place a light kitchen towel on them if you wish. You can also proof this homemade white bread loaves in the oven, just don't turn it on until the bread is ready to be baked. The closed oven helps keep the air in there warm to help with the dough to rise in size.

    Melted butter glaze after baking

    • The homemade bread loaf is brushed with melted butter after baking. I like to brush mine generously with butter. You can use butter lightly if you like. It makes the crust soft and remains soft even the next day.

    Cutting the bread

    • If you cut the bread immediately after it is baked, it will be crumbly. This white bread loaf is best cut after the loaf has completely cooled down.

    Storing the homemade bread

    • The bread can last at room temperature for a good 2 to 3 days. If refrigerated, it can keep for at least 4 to 5 days. It tends to become a little dry when consumed after 24 hours. A light toast helps to make it all soft and fluffy again.
    A loaf of white bread on a wooden board.
    Homemade White Bread Loaf - A Basic Bread Recipe


    Like this recipe? Here are my other posts you might want to check out:

    • Coconut Loaf Cake with Lemon Glaze Topping
    • Homemade Fondant Recipe
    • Strawberry Filling - An Easy Homemade Recipe
    • Easy Moist Banana Bread with Oil (No Butter)
    • Pandan Bread - Homemade Milk Loaf with Raisins
    • Dark Chocolate Banana Cake with Buttermilk (Super Moist)
    • Chocolate Brioche (Easy Brioche Loaf)
    • Ube Rolls - Soft and Fluffy Twisted Bread Rolls

    Recipe (Printable)

    Here is the full printable version of my homemade white bread recipe.

    Homemade White Bread

    Homemade white bread with 5 simple ingredients. Its so easy and turns out perfectly soft and fluffy every single time!
    5 from 1 vote
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Breakfast
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: Homemade Bread Loaf
    Prep Time: 20 minutes
    Cook Time: 30 minutes
    Proofing Time: 2 hours
    Total Time: 2 hours 50 minutes
    Yield: 1 8.5 inches by 4.5 inches loaf
    Author: Priya Maha
    Prevent your screen from going dark
    Metric - US Customary

    Ingredients

    • 7 g instant dry yeast
    • 180 ml water (lukewarm)
    • 310 g plain flour
    • 30 g sugar
    • 30 g butter
    • ⅔ teaspoon salt
    Metric - US Customary

    Instructions

    • Prepare a loaf tin. Grease it well and set aside.
    • Add yeast to a large mixing bowl. Add half of the water and mix with a spoon until the yeast is dissolved.
    • Add the remaining water, sugar, and flour and knead on medium speed for 2 minutes (with a dough hook attachment).
    • Add the butter and continue to knead until the butter gets fully incorporated into the dough and the dough turns stretchy. This should take approximately 7 to 8 minutes on medium high speed.
    • Form the dough into a ball and place it in a large bowl. If the dough is sticky, add a little more flour.
    • Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel or cling wrap and place it is a warm place to proof. This should take approximately 1 hour depending on the surrounding temperature. The dough should almost triple in size.
    • Press the proofed dough to release air bubbles.
    • Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Flatten with your fingers into a rectangle with the short side of the rectangle measuring the same as the long side of your loaf tin.
    • Roll the dough into a tight roll, tuck the ends underneath and pinch the sides. You can also fold the dough into 3. Place the rolled dough in the prepared loaf tin.
    • Let the loaf proof again until slightly more than double in size.
    • Bake the bread at 165°Celcius on the lowest rack in the oven.
    • Once baked, remove the loaf from the oven and brush the top with melted butter.
    • Let the bread loaf rest in the tin for about 1 minute. Turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
    • Slice the bread after it has completely cooled down for neater slices.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 777.6kcal | Carbohydrates: 142.4g | Protein: 18.6g | Fat: 14.1g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 32.3mg | Sodium: 892mg | Potassium: 176.6mg | Fiber: 5.4g | Sugar: 15.4g | Vitamin A: 374.9IU | Calcium: 24.8mg | Iron: 7.7mg
    Tried this recipe?Mention @decorated_treats or tag #decoratedtreats!

    And that's my homemade white bread recipe for you.

    A slice of plain white bread on a white plate.
    Homemade White Bread Loaf - A Basic Bread Recipe

    Happy baking 🙂

    More Breads and Dough Treats Recipes

    • Pandan Bread - Homemade Milk Loaf with Raisins
    • Chocolate Brioche (Easy Brioche Loaf)
    • Ube Rolls - Soft and Fluffy Twisted Bread Rolls
    • Cinnamon Raisin Rolls

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