How To Make White Bread? I have always wondered about it. The thought of the smell of white bread alone is nostalgic for me because it magically transports me to my childhood days, when we lived closed to a bakery and we were welcomed by the aroma of the baking white bread in the air even a couple of feet away from the store.
Those days I never even thought that one day I will be using an oven to bake leave alone baking something as complicated as a white bread. Yes I didn't think that an easy white bread recipe existed. I didn't think that baking with yeast is easy, even after I started baking other treats regular.
I have always had yeast-o-phobia. Couple of years back, when I started baking, one of the first recipes I had tried was making Naan at home. I gathered all the ingredients with so much excitement and prepared everything as listed in the recipe, put the naan inside the oven and was eagerly waiting to taste it and all my excitement shut down once I tasted it.
It smelled "yeasty", tasted "yeasty" and nothing like what I had expected.
So my experiment with yeast stopped way back in 2006. Somehow I didn't feel like baking with yeast again until recently. So I always only tried eggless quick bread recipes and vegan quick bread recipes.
I didn't let my husband to photograph the steps involved because I didn't want to jinx anything. All the craziness was well worth it because the bread turned out AWESOME!
One day I decided that I'm going to overcome this yeast fear and decided to try a basic white bread recipe. I Googled and picked this recipe. I Googled and picked this recipe because it looked pretty easy to follow and I had the Rapid Rise Yeast or Instant Yeast and not the Active Dry Yeast some of the other white bread recipes called for. I followed everything in the recipe with utmost reverence and I was so serious like I was doing some surgery or something.
I can definitely say that it was the best white bread recipe! The bread was soft and fluffy, just like the freshly baked white bread we used to get in the bakery near our home. The kitchen smelled exactly like that bakery which made it even more thrilling! So if you are like me worried about how yeasted breads will turn out, you don't have nothing to worry, try this "no-fail" rapid rise yeast bread recipe. This recipe for white bread is eggless to begin with. I haven't made any changes to make it egg free.
Another advantage of this easy white bread recipe is that you can bake it into dinner rolls too. This white bread recipe will yield 2 regular size loaves. You can either make 2 loaves or the entire batch as rolls or one loaf and the other portion as rolls. Whichever method you choose to follow let me assure that you will end up with fluffy white bread.
If you tried this Beginner's White Bread recipe, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below!
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Recipe
Beginner's White Bread
Ingredients
- 5.5 to 6 cups All-purpose Flour
- 3 tablespoons White Sugar
- 2 envelopes Rapid Rise Yeast I used Fleischmann's
- 2 teaspoons Salt
- 1.5 cups Water
- 0.5 cup Milk
- 2 tablespoons Butter
Instructions
- Combine 2 cups flour, sugar, undissolved yeast and salt in a large bowl.
- In a medium saucepan, heat water, milk and butter until very warm. Use a candy thermometer to see if the temperature is between 120F-130F (approximately 48C-54C).
- Stir the milk mixture into the flour/yeast mix.
- Use an electric mixer at medium speed and beat for about 2 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally.
- Stir in another cup of flour, beat again for 2 minutes at high speed, scraping bowl as needed.
- Stir in enough of the remaining flour (2 and ½ to 3 cups) to make a soft dough. I used about 2 and ¾ cups of flour. (See My Notes)
- Lightly flour the surface you will be working on and knead the dough until smooth and elastic, about 8-10 minutes.
- Cover; let rise 10 minutes.
- Divide dough in half. Roll each half to 12x7 inch rectangle. Beginning at short end of each rectangle, roll up tightly. Pinch seams and ends to seal completely.
- Grease two 8x4 inch loaf pans and place the dough seam sides down.
- Cover using plastic wrap; let rise in warm, draft free place until doubled in size, about 45 minutes. (See My Notes)
- Meanwhile around the 30th minute or so, preheat the oven at 400F/200C for about 15 minutes.
- When the dough has doubled in size, bake it for 25-30 minutes or until done. Remove from pans; cool on wire rack.
- Like always you have to wait for the bread to come to room temperature before you can cut it into slices. If you prefer eating warm bread then just apply some butter and tear it off and enjoy.
My Notes
- The quantity of flour you end up adding depends on the type of flour you are using, the moisture content etc. So add it in small increments until you feel it's right.
- I read elsewhere that, when a bread recipe or any yeast recipe mentions to wait until the batter rises double in size or for a specific amount of time, look for the size and not the time. Sometimes the dough may need more time to double in size than mentioned in the recipe and you may not get the desired result if it does not double. After baking this bread, I did try my hands on dinner rolls and I just waited for the time mentioned in the recipe rather than for it to double in size and the dinner rolls came out look pathetic. The taste and texture was quite good but not as perfect as the bread. That's when I looked for a reason and found that the time does not matter. I'm just a beginner baker and this is my understanding. Experts please share your tips and opinion.
- I also read that, to get neat slices, you have to put the bread on either side and then slice it rather than the usual top to bottom slicing. I didn't know it while slicing my first loaf and did the top to bottom slicing. For the second loaf I followed the trick and it really worked.
- If all you have is Active Dry Yeast, then follow the instructions given for using it. The original recipe is here.
- To make it vegan use non-dairy milk and margarine (I don't recommend this for health reasons, organic coconut oil/avocado oil is a better option).
- The recipe also suggests that you can use up to 2 cups of whole wheat flour in place of all purpose flour, though I have not tried this yet.
Taste & Texture
- The bread looked exactly like bakery breads at least on the inside. The texture was perfect; light, airy and fluffy. I hadn't done a neat job on sealing the edges after rolling the dough, so my ends were not perfect. The bread tasted great too. It's been a while since I tasted freshly baked bread and God does it taste fantastic. It's the best! How did we end up liking the factory made bread? I realized that bread baking is one of the "if I can do it you can do it too" stuff. So no more excuses, gather all the ingredients and bake a fresh loaf this weekend. You just have to just check the expiry date on the yeast and you are good. Also a pick a candy thermometer while you are at the dollar store.
Nutrition
Update: Using the same dough, we can make pull-apart white bread as well.
Kay Mairzedt says
Thank you Madhuram for this awesome recipe. The best bread I ever tried. This recipe will be for keeps. Keep the good work up!!
Madhuram says
You're welcome Kay.
Mohmmed says
Can the simple eggless white bread be made in Electric oven and @ What temperature?
Madhuram says
I have used an electric oven for this recipe and all my other recipes too.
Nancy says
OK...so ibwas in a baking mood and didn't have milk, so I used 2 ups of 7UP in place of the water and milk. It is FABULOUS!! I allowed the dough to rise twice, to break the gluten down further...since I didn't utilize the milk. I warmed the 7Up to 100° on the stove with the butter, then added it to the yeast (active dry yeast) and let it rest 5 minutes before adding the dry ingredients. It has a Mrs. Baird's style texture from the double rise, and it's perfectly light. You don't taste the 7Up, but it does have a slightly lighter than normal flavor. Perfect for PB&J. Thanks so much for the recipe!! So happy with it. 🙂
Madhuram says
Wow! you are a brave baker! I wouldn't have tried using 7 Up in an yeasted bread recipe. It's great to know that it works. Thanks for the feedback Nancy.
Neha Tulshyan says
Hi.
I would like to know how to make eggless olives bread
Madhuram says
Will see if I can try that recipe and blog about it.
ketki bhatia says
Hi Maduram,
I too have a yeast phobia but am definitely going to give this recipe a try.
Quick question though, whats the quantity of the yeast in terms of tbspns?
Madhuram says
I think it should be a tablespoon. Not sure though.
Geetha says
Hi I am Geetha.Just now I saw ur recipe.want to know What is the substitute for rapid rise yeast. I baked using active dry yeast.can you please suggest?
Madhuram says
Do you want to bake yeast free?
Sharon says
Hi, Haven't tried any of the recipes yet, I'm transitioning and making my kitchen vegan and have been copying and pasting the various recipes from different vegan websites and making a color recipe binder. All your recipes look awesome and I can't wait to try them.
Madhuram says
Thanks Sharon. Do give it a try and am sure you will like it.
sudha says
Hi, I also had phobia to yeast and have never tried even cooking with yeast like appam recipes, I do it without yeast, just for health reasons. My son wanted to eat burger, I being a health conscious mother and to serve him dinner rolls instead and tried it once with yeast and it was a disaster:(
Then my I was researching what went wrong and landed in your blog. I tried your recipe with "never give up" attitude, especially with baking and cooking:D The result was phenomenal !!!!
I tried with 1 cup all purpose flour and 21/4 cup wheat flour. waiting for my son to come and taste.Thank you for helping me to serve my family home made bread. The link your provided is of great help.
Madhuram says
That's great Sudha. You can use the contact section in the blog to send me message.
Melissa says
I just wanted to say thank you very much for this website. We found out just last week that my 1 year old became allergic to eggs. I was rattling my brain as to what she can eat besides the basic fruits and veggies. She is obsessed with bread and I was a little sad that she would have to miss out on things that we took for granted before. Thanks to your site now she doesn't have to. I made this bread last night and it came out phenomenal. Thank you again.
Madhuram says
You're very welcome Melissa. Happy egg free baking 🙂
Fritzann Johnson says
I am allergic to eggs also. It took me a long long time to be able to eat certain store bought items. I have learned to make almost everything because you would not believe how much has egg something or chicken something (allergic to allergic to anything that grows a feather). If you are looking for a mayo to make salads and stuff with by HamptonCreek there is Just Mayo. It is amazing. Also girl scout cookies are egg free.
Madhuram says
Thanks for the input Fritzann. 🙂
prema vasudhev says
Dear Madam/ Sir,I'll try & give a comment. Kindly send more egg less, no onion, garlic & mushroom recipes. I'm an south Indian, I want to send many different types of chutney powder, dried powders used for making wet chutney for idly,etc. How to send it? Whom should i contact & how to open the site? Kindly let me know. Thank you very much for veg, recipes.
Madhuram says
Hi Prema. I'm not posting others' recipes in my website. Sorry.
Julie says
I am so excited to try this recipe. I have a gluten, wheat, oat, bran sensitivity so I found an all purpose flour that contains none of those items. I also am sensitive to eggs, potato, dairy. Would substituting rice milk and dairy free butter be okay? Would I need to change any ratios?
Madhuram says
That's a lot of changes to incorporate..because it has to be gluten free and egg free/vegan you will have to use xantham gum, which I have not. So not sure about the proportion and stuff. Sorry.
Anusha says
I'd like to try this a different way by using wheat flour instead of all purpose flour to make my bread a little more healthy. What quantity of every ingredient would you recommend??
Madhuram says
You can try adding about 2-3 cups of whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour. The rest of the ingredients can be the same.
Bonnie says
I just happened to find this recipe the other day and baked two loaves of bread today. This is perfect! No "yeast" taste. I am beyond thrilled with this recipe. Thank you!
Madhuram says
You're welcome Bonnie.
Mary says
Did you say that the white bread recipe can be used for rolls too? Just shape into rolls after letting the dough rise and double, then punching down?
Madhuram says
Yes Mary.
Saumya says
Hello Madhuram,
I was wondering if I can try this bread just for one loaf as in my household kids don't really eat a lot of plain bread. If I just want to make one loaf, what quantities shall I use???? Please guide me...
Thanks,
Saumya
Madhuram says
You can probably halve the entire recipe Saumya.
Sharon says
Hi,
Can I replace butter with Olive Oil, milk with Almond/Soy milk instead?
Also, may I know how much yeast in this recipe in grams?
Thank you
Sharon
Madhuram says
Yes you can Sharon.
Anna says
Best bread recipe ever! Thank you so much for this! My baby can finally eat bread (he is allergic to eggs and dairy) and it tastes better than store bought bread. I love your site!!
Madhuram says
Thank you very much Anna.
Smitha says
We are slowly adapting a life with less sugar and to reduce buying biscuits, breads... from store. I am trying your bread recipe and will key in after making it.
Also, should mention that we do not eat egg and I want to try few recipes from your blog. Thanks
Satya says
Namaste Madhuram! 🙂
Thank you for posting this great-looking bread. I'm from Poland and we don't have Fleischmann's yeast. Can I replace this yeast with fresh or instant yeast? How much should I use?
Thank you!
Satya
Madhuram says
Yes you can use instant yeast Satya with the same measurement.
Preeti singhania says
Hi,
I wanted to make a bread loaf from a long time,I liked your recipe but I live in India and couldn't understand yeast measurement which is given in envelopes .can you give me teaspoon measurement instead ?
Madhuram says
I think you should be using 2 teaspoons of yeast for the recipe.