White Bread recipe is made with basic ingredients & detailed instructions showing how to make bread! Done in just over an hour this recipe is one of the best soft white sandwich bread recipes.
If you love Bread as much as we do, find all of our Best Bread Recipes Here!
I began experimenting with bread recipes years and years ago and I get SO excited when I find a new one I love! It always amazed me how tiny shifts in ingredients come together and yield such a different result.
Soft White Bread Recipe
This white bread recipe can be used for literally anything. It makes great toast, great sandwich bread, anything! It’s tremendously soft and has the best texture. It’s even fabulous DAYS later, which is tough to achieve with homemade bread.
What makes bread soft and fluffy?
Ingredients and preparation method combine in this bread recipe to give the bread a super soft and fluffy texture. Don’t leave out or replace the egg and oil in the recipe. They are imperative to the chewy, feathery texture of this white bread. Also, be sure to knead for the full 5 minutes. Giving the dough enough time in both the first and second rise will also help the overall texture.
White Bread Recipe Ingredients
- Warm Water
- Granulated Sugar
- Instant/Active dry yeast
- Canola oil – you can also use vegetable oil or light olive oil
- 1 egg
- Salt
- Flour
How to Make White Bread
If you’ve never made bread before, here is the basic formula for making your own at home. It really is an easy process and you’ll be thrilled with the results. Plus your entire house will smell like freshly baked bread which is amazing.
Step 1: Assemble Bread Ingredients
You’ll need warm water, granulated sugar, instant OR active dry yeast, 1 egg, canola oil, salt and flour. That’s it!
Step 2: Dissolve the yeast and activate it by Proofing
This is a simple process that takes about 5 minutes. You can watch the video above to see what yeast looks like when it’s proofed. It’s possible to kill yeast if you use too hot of water, so aim for slightly warmer than luke-warm, or about 105°F. Combine warm water and the sugar, then stir to dissolve. Add in the yeast, give it a quick stir and then let it sit for 5 minutes. You’ll begin to see the yeast puff up until it covers the entire surface of the water.
Step 3: Add remaining ingredients and mix
Add the egg, the oil, salt and flour, then mix using an electric stand mixer until it’s well combined, about 2 minutes. You can mix by hand but it will take longer.
Step 4: Knead the Bread
Trust me, taking an extra 5 minutes to let your mixer knead the bread is worth it! Going through the process of kneading bread dough is crucial for bread with great texture. Kneading dough allows gluten to form which enables dough to rise better, be lighter and fluffier. You can knead by hand or with a mixer. I use the dough hook on my mixer to knead bread dough. If you knead by hand, you’ll want to knead for 7-8 minutes, depending on how consistent you are.
Step 5: First Rise
Place your lovely smooth, elastic bread dough in an oiled bowl and cover it with plastic wrap or a clean towel. I think plastic wrap works better because it traps hot air inside and thus, my dough requires a shorter first rise. Be sure to spray the side of the plastic wrap that will touch the dough, so that it doesn’t stick.
If your house is cool, your bread will take longer to rise. In the wintertime when my house is cooler than normal, I like to turn the oven on for 2-3 minutes, then turn it off and let the bowl of dough rise in there. The oven traps the heat for a longtime and it’s the perfect atmosphere for rising dough.
This White Bread recipe only needs to rise for 15 minutes.
Step 6: Punch Dough and Shape it
Punching the dough down quickly releases any air pockets that have developed and helps your bread have a more consistent texture.
Shape dough by rolling it gently into a ball and rolling it 2 or 3 times on the counter top so that the ball is more oblong. Tuck the ends underneath so that the loaf looks smooth.
Place in the pan. It doesn’t need to be touching the sides of the pan.
I like to brush an egg wash on the top of this bread to give it that smooth, shiny crust. It’s still soft and it ends up having incredible flavor. Just whisk together 1 whole egg and 1 TBSP water, then brush all over the outside of the dough, making sure to cover the entire surface of the dough.
Step 7: Second Rise
This White Bread only has a 10 minute second rise. I just place the pan on the stove near the oven while it preheats.
Step 8: Bake the Bread
You’re nearly there! This sandwich bread bakes for about 35-40 minutes. It bakes at a higher temp than other bread recipes- 400° F. Make sure your oven rack is on a lower setting so that the top doesn’t burn! I use a digital cooking thermometer near the end of the baking time to make sure the bread is fully cooked. Fully cooked bread will be 190-200 degrees F. Bread recipes that include milk will need to cook until 200 degrees, but since this one doesn’t, I take it out once it reaches 190 degrees. The top will be golden brown.
My all-time favorite cooking thermometer is the Thermapen. It’s super fast and incredibly durable. Another great thermometer is the ThermoPop which is a more basic version that works just as well!
Step 9: Cool the Bread
Let the bread cool in the pan it cooked in so it can maintain it’s shape. Once it’s cooled you can transfer it to a cooling rack.
I prefer to cool it for at least 20 minutes. If you try and slice it while it’s too hot, the loaf will get smashed- it’s a soft bread!
AVOID SUNKEN BREAD
The easiest and best way to avoid sunken bread is to use a cooking thermometer to check the inside of the loaf. Fully cooked bread will register 200°F on a thermometer. My all-time favorite thermometer is the Thermapen. It’s super fast and incredibly durable. Another great cooking thermometer is the ThermoPop which is a more basic version that works just as well!
White Bread
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 TBSP yeast
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 to 3 1/2 cups flour
- 1 egg whisked with 1 TBSP water to brush on top
Instructions
Instructions
- In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water. Add yeast; let stand for 5 minutes.
- Add the canola oil, egg, salt and enough flour to form a soft dough. Knead for 5 minutes.
- Form dough into a smooth ball. Keeping the dough in the bowl, spray with non-stick spray and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place for 15 minutes.
- Punch down dough. Knead for 1 minute.
- Form loaf by rolling ball into an oblong shape then tucking and pinching the ends under the loaf.
- Place loaf in a bread pan. Brush thoroughly with egg mixture.
- Let loaf sit while oven is preheating to 400 degrees F, or about 10 minutes. It bakes at a higher temp than other bread recipes. Make sure your oven rack is on a lower setting so that the top doesn't burn!
- Bake for 30-40 minutes, until outside is golden brown and internal temperature of loaf registers 195-200 degrees.
- Let cool. Slice & enjoy with butter!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Instant or Active Dry Yeast for Making Bread
If you use instant yeast, you can add it directly to your other dry ingredients when making bread. If you use active dry yeast, you’ll need to first dissolve it in warm water before using it in a recipe. I buy my yeast in bulk from Costco and it’s active dry yeast.
BEST BREAD PAN?
I bake a lot of bread and the pans I prefer are either ceramic, glass or cast iron. These pans will bake bread more evenly and release the bread more easily after baking. I don’t like using dark or nonstick pans because the bread cooks unevenly. It darkens on the outside before the bread is cooked on the inside, so the coloring is uneven. Read more about which bread pan is the best here!
How to Store Homemade White Sandwich Bread
Homemade bread needs to be stored in an airtight container. We like to use these bread bags because they’re the perfect size and shape.
White Sandwich Bread Recipe FAQ
There are so many different types of sandwich bread! The two most basic varieties are white and wheat. This is a white loaf, which is a soft, feathery classic bread.
Store-bought white bread can contain trace amounts of benzoyl peroxide which is used to “bleach” the flour white. That’s why we make homemade bread, so that we can have control over the ingredients! So be sure to use “unbleached” white flour.
The egg and oil in this bread heavily contribute to the soft, spongy texture. You can replace canola oil with a light olive oil if you’d like. I find that using any other type of olive oil gives the bread a rather unique, unpleasant flavor.
Many bread recipes use both milk and water. Both are good! Using milk adds additional vitamins and protein. It’s also important to remember that breads that contain milk must be cooked to a full 200°F. That’s one of the reasons I use a cooking thermometer to test my bread for doneness before taking it out of the oven.
More incredible homemade bread recipes:
- Homemade Buttermilk Bread recipe
- Homemade Hawaiian Bread
- Honey Oat Bread recipe
- Cinnamon Raisin Bread
- Parmesan Garlic Dinner Rolls
- Fabulous French Bread
- Sweet Orange Dinner Rolls
- Easy Homemade Cheesy Breadsticks
- Tomato Parmesan Flatbread
- Potato Bread Recipe
- Soft Cornmeal Dinner Rolls
This white bread recipe is the best homemade bread. It’s great for sandwiches, toast, sides, anything! With only six ingredients it’s one of the easiest yeast bread recipes I’ve made!
Kelly says
Bread tasted great, but 425 is WAY too hot. First batch was burnt by 20 minutes.
Jessica says
It is- I added a note in about making sure your oven rack is lower. I always keep mine in the middle of my oven, but I’m guessing yours is higher.
Tamara says
I made this bread but I’m upset cause my bread was nice and high and I placed it in the oven and within 10 minutes it deflated. What did I do wrong?😟
Jessica says
That’s also why I tend to rise bread in the oven. : ( Sometimes loaves are a bit temperamental and don’t like to be moved.) Other times they simply rose too high outside of the oven…so when you put them in the hot oven, they rise even higher and it can’t hold it, so the bread collapses. I say rise in the oven and let it rise a bit less time before preheating the oven – with the bread in it. Make sense?
Melissa says
Followed the directions exactly. The top was burned in 25 minutes.
I don’t think it was meant to be baked at such a high temp.
Jessica says
It is- I added a note in about making sure your oven rack is lower. I always keep mine in the middle of my oven, but I’m guessing yours is higher.
Diana Licatino says
Can you make it in a bread machine?
Jessica says
Yes, you can!
Lauren says
Hello! First time making bread ever and this was a lot of fun! Buuuuut didn’t exactly turn out as planned lol! I ended up using a lot more flour and it was still very sticky. And it didn’t rise too well. I think maybe because my flour was cold. Going to try again though!!
Jessica says
Was your yeast expired? Yes, bread dough likes warmth! I keep my house pretty cool so I like to do both rises in a warm oven. I literally turn the oven on for 2 minutes, then turn it off and stick my bowl in there for the first rise, then the bread pan in there for the 2nd rise. : )
Lauren says
Just got my yeast so it was brand new but I think the cold flour was what did it in. I re-did the recipe this morning with room temp flour and the bread came out perfect! Thanks so much!
Danielle says
Is this self rising flour or any kind?
Jessica says
All purpose or bread flour
Maddie says
Like the other comments here, this recipe did not turn out. A wasted afternoon of bread baking. Use a different recipe!! Everything seemed to be going well until I baked the loaves…and they look exactly like the shape of the dough when I put them in the oven except for they’re dark brown now. Why is there no second rise?? Now I’m confused and wish I used a different recipe.
Jessica says
I’m sad too- you didn’t read the directions. There is a 2nd rise. It’s short, but it’s there. See step 7: Let loaf sit while oven is preheating to 425 degrees F, or about 10 minutes. It bakes at a higher temp than other bread recipes. Make sure your oven rack is on a lower setting so that the top doesn’t burn!
Sylvia says
The exact same thing happened to me. I DID let it ride a second time. I think I didn’t use enough yeast. The recipe calls for 2 TBP. That’s A LOT of yeast. I used 2 packets, but apparently that wasn’t enough.
Marie says
Can you use bread flour or all purpose?
Jessica says
Either!
Erin says
Can you freeze the dough after the first rise?
Jessica says
Absolutely! I like to freeze mine in a ball. Then when I take it out, let it thaw a couple hours on the counter, then put it in your bread pan for the 2nd rise. The whole process takes 3 hours or so- depending on how warm you keep your house.
Terra says
Any idea how long this keeps in the freezer? 😁 thanks for sharing!!!
Jessica says
I’d aim to eat it within a month! You’re most welcome.
Mary-Frances Vitale says
I am anxious to bake bread for the first time but I don’t have a stand up mixer but I do have a hand held electric mixer. Is there something different I should do?
Jessica says
Honestly, I’d just roll up your sleeves and stir it by hand! Use a wooden mixing spoon, then switch to using clean hands once the ingredients are mostly incorporated. Double mixing/ kneading times. : ) You can do it!
Terri says
I followed the directions, set timers and thought I could make this. I’m not sure where I went wrong but my dough was very sticky, never would rise like in the picture. It smelled like the yeast was working, like a fermented smell but I’m not sure what went wrong. I did your oven trick of warming it and that didn’t seem to make a difference. Any ideas?
I’ve never been good at making breads unless in a bread machine. I’m going to try again tomorrow..
Jessica says
There are several reasons why your bread could have not risen.
1) Yeast is too old
2) Yeast was killed by using water that was too hot (I aim for 95-105 degrees F)
3) It initially rose for too long, then collapsed in the oven. Bread should first rise for about an hour, then 2nd rise for about 30 minutes- longer isn’t necessarily better.
4) Ratio/ measurements of yeast to flour was off.
Hope that helps!
Dee says
I just want to clarify the raise times. In the recipe you said 15 mins for the first rise and about 10 mins for the second. In your response you state 1hr and 30 mins. Could you please let me know which is the correct times. Thank you!
Jessica says
I apologize- I’m answering SO many questions, I got 2 recipes confused. This White Bread recipe has a short rise time- 15-20 minutes for the first rise and 10-15 minutes for the 2nd rise is what I use.
Larissa says
Looking forward to trying this recipe! Do you use all purpose flour or bread flour?
Jessica says
I always use either bread flour or all purpose flour.
Amanda says
Is it supposed to be 2 TBSP of yeast? That is a lot for 3 1/2 c of flour. I dont want to put too much in and ruin the bread
Jessica says
2 TBSP is correct.
Bonnie Otto says
Does this make one or two loaves?
Jessica says
It yields 2 loaves.
E says
Maybe it is because I am in Europe and we have some kind of different yeast, but the first rising took about 2h. Which was no surprise cause yeast dough usually does… Anyway my room temperature is about 20 degrees C, so I put the dough to rise in the oven. The second rise was faster. I added raisins and dried cranberrys (soaked them in water for few hours before using) and the outcome was perfect!
Alison says
I’m glad your adjustments worked for you! I haven’t made bread in Europe (although I would be thrilled to be able to one day) but the dried raspberries and cranberries sound delightful!
Beth says
This bread was fun to make and the middle of it was delicious and soft but I had to take it out 6 minutes early because it was burning. The crust got overcooked but still edible with shorter time cooking. I had my rack at the lowest level so I am not sure what happened.
Jessica says
You can place a piece of foil over the top to prevent the crust from getting too dark. You can also decrease the temp to 400.
Drb says
I made this today. I used bread flour. The flavor and texture were great. I left it in the oven a bit too long. I will definitely try it again.
Alison says
Happy to hear this one worked out for you!!
Erin says
My bread didn’t turn out picture perfect but boy was it yummy!!
30-35 was too hot for my oven as well even on the very bottom rack.
I did 25 mins and it was perfect, and my house smells amazing!!
My yeast was expired and dough was sticky but I made it work and it had no issue rising with the oven trick, looked just like the pictures.
Will be making this again, thank you!!!
Alison says
We always say, who cares if it isn’t pretty as long as it tastes good! Glad this one worked out well for you!
Amanda Schnurer says
When do I apply the egg to the top? I didn’t see that step in the directions.
Jessica says
You brush the loaf with egg before the 2nd rise- right after you shape it and put it in the pan.
Jamie says
Burned after 25 minutes. I guess I should have watched it better. My rack was low…top and bottom both burned. Also needs more rising time. It was okay at best.
Carolina says
Hi! what size of pan are you using for this recipe?
Jessica says
I use an 9″ ceramic pan for this one.
Jamie says
Thank you so much for the recipe! This turned out great. My house was cool, so I let it rise in a warm oven (and double the time for both rise times — I just watched to see when it was “big enough”). I also turned the temp down to 375 halfway through because it was getting really brown. Thank you again for the guidance!
Alison says
Thanks Jamie! Glad it turned out to be a good recipe for you!
Carla says
Hi there it was lovely taste and texture wow its was fabulous thanks for the recipe
Jordan says
My dough didn’t rise too much during the first rise. (I read the editors notes after about self rising yeast just being added to the dry ingredients, I let it sit in hot water. Rookie mistake) I was a bit concerned. I followed all the steps accordingly.
I moved my rack down to the second from the bottom. I covered my bread with foil with about 12 minutes of baking remaining. It had reached the max Golden we prefer. Next time I will definitely lower the temp. Over all not a bad recipe!