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Simple, wholesome ingredients come together in a soft and fluffy loaf of homemade white bread! This classic farmhouse favorite makes a delicious base for sandwiches, a perfect morning toast, and a hearty companion with a warm bowl of soup. Kids and adults love the soft texture and the slightly sweet taste of the best white bread recipe!!
Homemade White Bread
Nobody can resist the aroma of fresh homemade white bread baking in the oven! If you’re planning to be home for a few hours, stir together this simple dough, let it rise, bake it off, and enjoy a soft, flavorful loaf with breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The classic white bread is made with yeast and includes milk and honey for the best flavor and texture. The bread is light and fluffy on the inside, with a soft crust that appeals to even the pickiest little eaters. It has a subtly sweet taste, and is ideal for sandwiches, for morning toast with melted butter and jam, or for a side dish with supper.
Ingredients
This is just a quick overview of the ingredients that you’ll need to make this simple homemade white bread. As always, the exact measurements and specific instructions are included in the recipe box at the bottom of this post.
- Bread flour: has a bit more protein and yields a slightly higher rise than all-purpose flour. See my notes below if you want to substitute with all-purpose flour.
- Warm milk: activates the yeast. The milk also adds flavor, enriches the dough, gives the bread a creamy color, a soft crumb, and a golden crust.
- Honey: feeds the yeast, tenderizes the dough, and gives the bread a slightly sweet flavor.
- Butter: the fat in the butter creates a soft, tender texture. It also adds great flavor!
- Instant (“rapid rise”) yeast: helps the bread rise.
- Salt: balances the sweetness of the honey and gives the loaf more depth. Bread without enough salt will taste flat.
How to Make White Bread
This bread is best to prepare when you have a quiet day at the house. It’s not difficult at all, but there’s a lot of hands-off downtime while you wait for the bread to rise twice and then wait again for it to cool before slicing. Prep it in the morning and you’ll enjoy the most delicious homemade white bread with supper…and again for breakfast the next day! It’s delicious for toast or French toast, and it’s also perfect sandwich bread.
- Mix and knead the dough.
- Cover in a greased large bowl and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 ½ – 2 hours.
- Punch down the dough. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface. Pat the dough into a 9 x 12 inch rectangle. Starting on one of the short sides, roll up the dough to make a log; pinch the seams.
- Place the dough seam side down in a lightly greased 9 x 5-inch loaf pan, cover with plastic wrap that’s lightly coated in nonstick spray (so that it doesn’t stick to the dough), and let rise for 1-2 more hours.
- Bake in a 350°F oven for 40-45 minutes, covering with foil towards the end (if necessary) to prevent excessive browning.
- Brush with melted butter.
- Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for at least 1 hour before slicing and serving.
How to Knead Bread
Kneading the dough makes bread light, airy, and chewy by developing the gluten. Strengthening the gluten strands gives your bread structure. Don’t worry — kneading dough is really easy!
To knead the dough by hand, flour the worktop, and then push, pull and stretch the dough. When it’s properly kneaded, the dough should be elastic and smooth. If you’re fortunate enough to have a stand mixer, simply use the dough hook to knead the bread in the mixer. This is my preference, because it’s hands-off — just let the machine run for about 7-8 minutes.
What’s the Best Stand Mixer for Bread Dough?
If you’re shopping for a stand mixer, check out this list of the best mixers for bread dough, which includes the one I use, the Kitchenaid 5-quart Artisan Series stand mixer. You can get it on Amazon for $379.99. Or, the Hamilton Beach 4-quart stand mixer is a good budget option that’s available at Walmart for $98.99.
How to Proof Bread
Proofing bread is when you give the yeast time to do its work to help the bread rise. To proof bread, place the dough in a greased bowl and let the dough rest in a warm, humid environment until it doubles in size.
If you’re having trouble proofing the bread, check the temperature of your kitchen. If your kitchen is a little too warm (above 80°F) or a little too cool (below 65°F), it might be affecting the proofing stage.
If it’s on the warm side and you ended up with a dense loaf, it’s likely the bread over proofed, the yeast got too active and produced so much gas that the dough effectively popped like a balloon. If it’s too cold, then the opposite might have happened. The yeast didn’t get a chance to become active enough and create enough gas to lift the dough. You should try letting it sit out a little longer.
How to Tell When Homemade White Bread is Done
The bread should be a beautiful golden brown color when it comes out of the oven. Tap the top of the loaf lightly — it will sound hollow when it’s done. If you have an instant-read thermometer, the internal temperature of the bread should be about 190°F.
Serving Suggestions
This classic soft white bread is delicious at any time of day! We love it for breakfast when toasted with butter. It’s particularly delicious alongside eggs or in an egg sandwich, too. You can also use the bread to make sandwiches for lunch. Try it with turkey, ham, grilled chicken, or this easy chicken salad.
As a side dish, the bread goes well with any of these dinner entrées:
- Chili (like this Slow Cooker Chili, White Bean Chicken Chili, Pumpkin Chili or Classic Beef Chili)
- Soup (such as Chicken Tortilla Soup, Chicken Vegetable Soup, Split Pea Soup, Hamburger Soup, or Creamy Cauliflower Soup)
- Stew (like this Virginia Brunswick Stew, Chicken Stew, or Dutch Oven Beef Stew)
- Beans (such as Lima Beans, Black-Eyed Peas, Ranch Style Beans, or Baked Beans)
- Barbecue (like Crock Pot Beef Barbacoa, Baby Back Ribs, Pulled BBQ Chicken, Pulled Pork, or Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork)
- Seafood ( such as Shrimp and Grits, Crab Cakes, and Shrimp Creole)
- Fried Favorites (such as Fried Chicken, Fried Catfish, Oven-Fried Fish, Fried Oysters, or Fried Shrimp)
Make Ahead
You can make the dough for this white bread recipe in advance and refrigerate it before rising and baking. To do so, prepare the dough through Step 2, transfer to a greased bowl or other airtight container, cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. When ready to bake, remove the dough from the fridge and let it come to room temperature. Punch down the dough, shape into a loaf, and proceed with the recipe instructions.
How to Freeze White Bread Dough
Prepare the recipe through Step 3. Punch down the dough, shape into a loaf, and place the loaf in a freezer-safe or disposable aluminum bread pan. Cover tightly with a double layer of aluminum foil and freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to bake, allow the loaf to thaw and complete the second rise at room temperature (about 5 hours). Bake as directed.
Storage
You can store the bread in a plastic bag or a bread box at room temperature. The loaf will last for 1-2 days. To help it keep longer, wrap the loaf tightly in plastic or in a Ziploc freezer bag and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
When to Freeze
Allow the baked bread to cool completely on the counter for at least a couple of hours. Then freeze the bread before slicing to preserve the loaf at its peak freshness.
Is white bread healthy?
In general, homemade white bread is healthier than the packaged, store-bought variety because you can control the ingredients that go into each loaf. This easy recipe uses just a handful of very basic ingredients — no preservatives, artificial colors, or flavors. Each thick slice of the white bread has about 280 calories, 47 grams of carbohydrates, 7 grams of fat and 7 grams of protein.
Recipe Variations
- Bread Flour vs. All-Purpose Flour: All-purpose flour has between 8 and 11 percent protein, while bread flour contains between 12 and 14 percent protein. The extra protein in bread flour results in a higher rise. I have not tested the recipe with all-purpose flour, so I cannot guarantee that the recipe will “work” as well if you make that substitution. My assumption is that the all-purpose flour will rise, but your loaf will be slightly smaller (with less rise) and slightly more dense.
- Instant Yeast vs. Active Dry Yeast: This recipe calls for instant (or rapid-rise) yeast, which you can add directly to your dough. By contrast, active dry yeast must be dissolved in warm water (“proofed”) before combining with other ingredients. For tips on substituting dry active yeast for the instant yeast, see this article.
- If using unsalted butter, add an extra 1/8 teaspoon of salt.
- For cheese bread, fold 1 ½ cups grated cheddar cheese into the dough after the first rise (before shaping the dough into a loaf). We also like to add ¾ teaspoon garlic powder into the dry ingredients.
Tips for the Best White Bread Recipe
- Whole milk or at least 2% milk will yield a loaf of bread with the best flavor and texture. I do not recommend using lower-fat or non-fat milk.
- Make sure that you use warm milk — not too hot and not too cold. The milk should feel like warm bath water (about 110°F – 115°F). If it’s too hot you will kill the yeast; too cold and the yeast will not be activated. I use an instant read thermometer to test the milk’s temperature before adding it to my dough.
- Knead the dough for at least 7-8 minutes. Kneading makes bread light, airy, and chewy by developing the gluten. Strengthening the gluten strands gives your bread structure.
- Proofing bread is when you give the yeast time to do its work to help the bread rise. To proof bread, place the dough in a greased bowl and let the dough rest in a warm, humid environment until it doubles in size. If you’re having trouble proofing the bread, check the temperature of your kitchen. If your kitchen is a little too warm (above 80°F) or a little too cool (below about 65°F), it might be affecting the proofing stage.
More Homemade Bread Recipes to Try
- Jalapeno Cheddar Bread
- Classic Farmhouse Oatmeal Bread
- Homemade Breadsticks
- Soft Homemade Dinner Rolls
- Homemade Crescent Rolls {Amish Butterhorns}
- No-Knead Dutch Oven Bread
- Soft Pretzels {Auntie Anne’s Copycat}
- Quick, No-Knead English Muffin Bread
- Easy French Baguette for Beginners
- Homemade Focaccia Bread
- Beer Bread
White Bread with Milk and Honey
Ingredients
- 3 ½ – 4 cups (420-480 grams) bread flour, or more as needed
- 1 ⅓ cups warm milk (110°F – 115°F)
- 5 tablespoons honey
- 4 tablespoons salted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1 tablespoon instant “rapid rise” yeast
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- Canola oil or nonstick spray, for greasing the bowl
- 1 tablespoon melted salted butter, for brushing the crust at the end
Instructions
- To prepare the dough, weigh the flour or measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then leveling off any excess. In a large bowl, combine the flour with the warm milk, honey, melted butter, instant yeast, and salt. Mix by hand or with the paddle attachment of a stand mixer until a shaggy dough forms, gradually adding more flour, as necessary, to get the dough to come together so that it just pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
- Switch to the dough hook attachment (or use your hands) to knead the dough until fairly smooth, about 7-8 minutes.
- Oil or spray a large mixing bowl with nonstick spray. Place the dough in the greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, 1 ½ – 2 hours.
- Punch down the dough. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface. Pat the dough into a 9 x 12-inch rectangle. Starting on one of the short sides, roll up the dough to make a log; pinch the seams. Place the dough seam-side down in a lightly greased 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.
- Cover the pan with lightly greased plastic wrap; allow to rise for 1-2 hours, until it’s crowned about 1-2 inches over the rim of the pan. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Bake the bread for 40-45 minutes, tenting the top of the bread loosely with foil towards the end if the top starts to get too brown. The bread should be golden brown, and it should sound hollow when tapped.
- Brush the top of the warm bread with melted butter.
- Remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack for at least 1 hour before slicing.
Notes
- Whole milk or at least 2% milk will yield a loaf of bread with the best flavor and texture. I do not recommend using lower-fat or non-fat milk.
- Make sure that you use warm milk — not too hot and not too cold. The milk should feel like warm bath water (about 110°F – 115°F). If it’s too hot you will kill the yeast; too cold and the yeast will not be activated. I use an instant read thermometer to test the milk’s temperature before adding it to my dough.
- Knead the dough for at least 7-8 minutes. Kneading makes bread light, airy, and chewy by developing the gluten. Strengthening the gluten strands gives your bread structure.
- Proofing bread is when you give the yeast time to do its work to help the bread rise. To proof bread, place the dough in a greased bowl and let the dough rest in a warm, humid environment until it doubles in size. If you’re having trouble proofing the bread, check the temperature of your kitchen. If your kitchen is a little too warm (above 80°F) or a little too cool (below about 65°F), it might be affecting the proofing stage.
This bread is so good! I’ve been trying to find a good white sandwich bread recipe, and this is it! It’s an easy one also, which makes it even better.
Yay! I’m so glad that you love it, Melinda!