Simple White Bread is simple to make, and it’s easy enough that you can triple or quadruple the recipe so you can have freshly baked bread every day! Really, you can! It is soft and delicious enough to be enjoyed on its own or with just a touch of butter. If you love homemade bread, be sure to try my Old Fashioned Buttermilk Sweet Bread!
Simple White Bread
My mother-in-law started baking bread with the kids as soon as they were old enough to stand by her side. They loved it… getting their hands into the dough and being a part of creating something so delicious. As a family of seven, we go through 1-2 loaves a day, and I want desperately to be that mom that creates bread from scratch, with love, and with wholesome ingredients. For years now I have been saying how I want to bake fresh bread daily.
But, we all know that can be a bit daunting…However, with the way things are right now in the world and bread disappearing off the shelves, there is no better time to make your own bread. And, I am telling you, this is THE bread to make because it is so easy and you only need a few ingredients!
Simple White Bread Recipe
There is a reason I am sharing this recipe now, and that is most importantly convenience. This recipe tastes amazing, you can make as much or as little as you need, and it only used a minimal amount of flour. Most recipes call for 5-6 cups and I wanted to be mindful that rationing ingredients may be on some folks’ minds. With all those wonderful perks for convenience, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that this bread TASTES AMAZING. You are going to have a hard time stopping at one piece!
With only a few ingredients, and the option to double, triple, or even quadruple the recipe, there is no excuse to not have fresh bread daily. 🙂
How to Make Simple White Bread
After you make a loaf of this Simple White Bread, you will make sure you have enough ingredients to at least double the recipe next time. And, it’s easy enough that your kids could help with the measuring and kneading of the dough. The only hard part about this recipe is the waiting to bake the loaf of bread. You do need to let the dough rest in the refrigerator overnight before baking it.
To prepare the dough, begin by adding the sugar and yeast to a cup of warm water and set it aside. Next, in a medium bowl (or a large bowl if doubling or tripling the recipe), mix together the flour and salt. Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture and stir everything together.
Get a work surface ready by sprinkling a couple of tablespoons of flour on it. Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic. Then, place the kneaded dough into a large plastic zip bag that has been drizzled with olive oil. Make sure you get all the dough covered in the oil. Seal the plastic bag and store it in the refrigerator overnight.
How to Bake Simple White Bread
- The next day, when you are ready to bake the bread after letting the dough rest in the refrigerator, remove the dough from the refrigerator. Keep the dough in the plastic zipped bag as you let it come to room temperature.
- After about an hour, sprinkle some more flour (1-2 tablespoons) of flour onto your work surface. Take the dough out of the plastic bag and knead and fold the dough for about a minute.
- Form the dough into a log that will fit into a greased 8-inch loaf pan.
- Cover the dough after you have placed it in the loaf pan, and let it rise until it is almost double in size (about 2 hours). I just used the plastic zip bag to cover the dough, and it worked great!
- After the dough has risen, slash the dough with a sharp knife and bake it for 35-40 minutes at 350°F. To be precise, the internal temperature of the bread should be 190-210°F.
- Let it cool before slicing. Enjoy!
Soft, light, and oh so delicious! I love my bread smothered with warm butter and then sprinkled with flakey sea salt. Perfection!
Can You Bake This Right Away?
Yes! Just skip steps 5 -6 in the recipe below.
Simple White Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup water, lukewarm
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2½ teaspoons (1 package) dry active yeast (not rapid rise-see notes for Rapid Rise instructions)
- 2½ cups (312g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- In a measuring cup, combine the sugar and yeast to 1 cup of lukewarm water, stirring until combined. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the flour and salt.
- Pour the yeast mixture into the bowl and combine all the ingredients.
- Sprinkle 1-2 tablespoons of flour onto your work surface and knead the dough for a few minutes, or until smooth and elastic.
- Store the dough in a sealable plastic bag that has been drizzled in olive oil, making sure the dough is completely covered in the oil. Keep the dough in the refrigerator overnight.
- WHEN YOU ARE READY* to bake the bread, remove the dough from the refrigerator. Leave the dough in the plastic zipped bag,and let it come to room temperature (about an hour). *This can sit in your fridge for SEVERAL days!!
- Prepare a loaf pan with nonstick spray.
- Sprinkle 1-2 tablespoons of flour on your work surface, take the dough out of the bag, and knead and fold the dough for about 1 minute.
- Form a log with the dough that will fit in your prepared loaf pan. Cover the pan with the plastic bag and let it rise until is has at least doubled in size (about 2 hours).
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F.
- After the dough has risen, remove the plastic covering and slash the top of the dough with a sharp knife.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes at 350°F, or until the internal temperature is 190-210°F. Let it cool completely before slicing.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Thank you for making my recipe! You took pictures, right? Well go ahead and post them on Instagram! Be sure to mention me @iambaker and use the hashtag #YouAreBaker.
Here is a video on how easy this bread is to make:
Looking for More Homemade Bread Recipes?
I’ve been married 60 years tomorrow and this is the first loaf of bread I’ve tried to make that I thought ‘might’ turn out—and it’s right now in the oven looking amazing!! It’s going to taste incredible I already know it:)!! Sally
Can I use a glass loaf pan?
Hello Amanda!
This bread tastes so good. Most importantly, its easy, and the steps are very convenient and accommodating. I am not an experienced bread baker. I bake A LOT, but bread always seemed intimidating. I decided that in 2024, im going to make bread weekly and learn from my mistakes. I just baked this bread and its delicious. My question is why did my bread not get as tall as yours ince baked? I will say, i forgot to make the cuts on top before baking. My yeast was at about 125°f. I premade the dough and it sat in the fridge for two days before kneading it lightly and allowing it to rise for the 2 hours.
Fyi, i just made your moonshine apple cake this past weekend and it was absolutely delicious.
Congrats on taking on yeast bread!! It was my “nemesis” for many years, though I love to bake. I do believe though that your water was too warm and affected the yeast bloom. The water should be no warmer than about 110°. Hope this help. Happy baking!!!
Hello Dee I was making some bread and seen your comment and thought maybe I could help.First of all I’m Bob from the Upper Pennsila of Michigan, and I notice you said didn’t rise like in the picture well I think your water might have been a little to warm for the yeast it’s likes warm water between 105 – 110 if it’s too hot it effects the yeast , also to activate your yeast in your warm water with your yeast put a tablespoon of sugar to help activate your yeast and in 5 or 10 minutes you should see the yeast foaming and bubbling that’s the ticket it’s all about getting your yeast activating , good luck making bread is fun on a rainy day like today . Take Care Bob
Hi Amanda,
Do you have a recipe for bread that smells and tastes “yeasty”? My Grandma used to make bread like that but the recipe is long gone. I love all your recipes and I’m a big fan!
Can you use a stand mixer to mix the ingredients ?
Can I make this using wheat flour! My husband is a diabetic and we have to watch his carbs. The bread we buy only has 12 carbs per slice.
I, too, wonder about using a stand mixer…especially if I were to double the recipe.
I would love it if you would also include grams measurements within the recipe as some of us prefer to bake by weight. I learned this after working in a restaurant and there’s no going back once you’ve done it lol. Not having to wash cups and teaspoons is glorious!
I went ahead and converted it myself, although without knowing what salt you use, I just went with a median weight. Here it is for anyone else that may also be interested:
▢ 1 cup (227g) water, lukewarm
▢ 1 tablespoon (12g) granulated sugar
▢ 2½ teaspoons (1 package or 7g) dry active yeast (not rapid rise-see notes for Rapid Rise instructions)
▢ 2½ cups (312g) all-purpose flour
▢ 1 teaspoon (4g) salt
▢ 2 tablespoons (26g) olive oil
I’m currently in the dough rise process and I can’t wait! Yum.
Hi Missy! Every recipe published on my website after mid 2020 has grams included. 🙂
Don’t blow it like I did 🤦♀️. I didn’t want to wait over night for the first rise, so I did the olive oil part In the bowl I mixed it in and did the first rise right away. Only, I was expecting about 2 hours time for that rise and didn’t check on it until it was too late. That dough rose so freaking fast and had more than tripled in size within 1 hour. Oops. I had a feeling that the yeast was going to be too exhausted by the point of baking, and it in fact was. My loaf deflated during the bake. So sad but my fault.
I’ll try this again and watch this time to make sure I stop the rise a double the size.
Oh and also, for reference, I live in the Central Valley of California and it’s Summer time. It’s hot and dry right now. Indoors though my thermostat says I was at about 39% humidity. I mention this because initially, and then again after the olive oil rise, my dough was incredibly wet. I had to add large amounts of flour to get it where the dough had some tack but wouldn’t stick-to me or the counter. I know that’ll happen with differences of climate so I wanted to share so people know this is normal. Nothing wrong with the recipe, we just need to adjust according to our climate and/or elevation some times.
I actually can’t wait to try this again =)
I visit my 10-year-old niece about three times a year and we always bake something. She loves bread so this time, I brought yeast packets in my suitcase. Neither of us had ever baked bread before but I found your recipe, we followed it to the letter, and it turned out perfectly. She even asked me to pack a piece in her lunchbox.