Easy Bread Recipe

Easy 5 Star Homemade Bread recipe made with simple ingredients & detailed instructions showing how to make bread! Thousands of comments & reviewers agree this is the BEST homemade loaf for both beginners and expert bakers.

Homemade Bread is one of my favorite foods of all time. Can you tell by the name of this site?! There really is nothing quite like a warm slice of fresh bread served with a thick pat of butter on top. Mmmmm! This recipe is perfect. It’s simple to follow, takes about 2 hours to make and yields 2 loaves of wonderful bread. It’s quite versatile too, so feel free to use part whole wheat flour if you’d like. Brush butter on top when it’s out of the oven and partially cooled and everyone will thank you.

Yes, you can make this recipe in a bread machine! Scroll down to see full Homemade Bread recipe and ingredients, with printable instructions for your bread machine.

A decade ago when I was just beginning to bake confidently, I still struggled with making bread. I tried countless recipes and none of them were quite right. I found this one and never looked back. It uses basic ingredients, comes together fast and I love the bread it makes. It’s soft, chewy with fantastic flavor. Feel free to reduce the sugar if you prefer. Enjoy the process and enjoy that bread!

This is a very comprehensive post with tons of information I’ve gleaned over the years making bread. Where would you like to start first?

If you’ve never made bread before, here is the basic formula for making your own at home. My recipe below follows this perfectly. It’s so much easier and trust me, the scent of fresh bread baking will make everyone really, really excited for dinner!

EASY HOMEMADE BREAD RECIPE

Easy Bread recipe made with simple ingredients & detailed instructions showing how to make bread! Best homemade bread recipe for both beginners and expert bakers.

Prep: 20min

Total: 60min

Serving Size: 1 serving

Nutrition Facts: calories 131 kcal, Carbohydrate 24 g, Protein 2 g, Fat 2 g, Saturated Fat 1 g, Sodium 147 mg, Sugar 4 g, servingSize 1 serving

Ingredients:

• 2 cups warm water (110° F/45° C)
• ½ cup white sugar
• 1 ½ TBSP active dry yeast
• 1 ½ tsp salt
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• 5-6 cups flour (all-purpose flour OR bread flour)

Instruction:

1. In a large bowl, or a stand mixer, dissolve 2 TBSP of the sugar in the warm water. I just combine the two and whisk slightly to dissolve the sugar. Stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam, about 5 minutes.
2. Add in remaining sugar, salt and oil. Begin to mix, using a rubber scraper or the dough hook on your stand mixer. Add the flour one cup at a time, reserving the last cup of flour to see if you need it. You might not use all of the flour. The dough should pull away and clean the bowl, sticking on the bottom in a small circle about the size of a quarter. If your dough does this with just 5 cups of flour, do not add more. However, if your dough still sticks to the bowl, add more a couple tablespoons at a time until it cleans the bowl, sticking in just a small circle on the bottom.
3. Now knead dough for 7 minutes. Set a timer as a full knead is important! Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise in a warm area until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
4. Punch dough down. Knead for 1 minute and divide dough in half. Shape into loaves and place into two greased 9×5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.
5. Bake at 350° F (175° C) for 30-40 minutes. Cool, brush with butter and enjoy!

World’s Easiest Yeast Bread recipe – Artisan, NO KNEAD

Recipe video above. This super crusty homemade bread recipe is going to blow your mind! The world’s easiest yeast bread that’s just like the very best artisan bread you pay top dollar for, with an incredible crispy, chewy crust, and big fat holes like sourdough. Recipe is forgiving so don’t fret if things don’t go perfectly, it will be salvageable. SEE NOTES for options like no dutch oven, different yeast, MAKE AHEAD up to 3 days!

Prep: 5min

Yield: 10

Serving Size: 1 serving

Nutrition Facts: calories 155 kcal, Carbohydrate 32 g, Protein 5 g, Fat 1 g, Saturated Fat 1 g, Sodium 469 mg, Fiber 2 g, Sugar 1 g, servingSize 1 serving

Ingredients:

• 3 cups (450g) flour (, bread or plain/all purpose (Note 1))
• 2 tsp instant or rapid rise yeast ((Note 2 for normal / active dry yeast))
• 2 tsp cooking / kosher salt (, NOT table salt (Note 3))
• 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) very warm tap water (, NOT boiling or super hot (ie up to 55°C/130°F) (Note 4))
• 1 1/2 tbsp flour (, for dusting)

Instruction:

1. Mix Dough: Mix flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Add water, then use the handle of a wooden spoon to mix until all the flour is incorporated. Dough will be wet and sloppy – not kneadable, but not runny like cake batter. Adjust with more water or flour if needed for right consistency (see video at 17 sec, Note 5).
2. Rise: Cover with cling wrap or plate, leave on counter for 2 – 3 hours until it doubles in volume, it’s wobbly like jelly and the top is bubbly (see video at 24 seconds). If after 1 hour it doesn’t seem to be rising, move it somewhere warmer (Note 6).
3. Optional – refrigerate for flavour development (Note 9): At this stage, you can either bake immediately (move onto Step 5) or refrigerate for up to 3 days.
4. Take chill out of refrigerated dough – if you refrigerated dough per above, leave the bowl on the counter for 45 – 60 minutes while the oven is preheating. Cold dough does not rise as well.
5. Preheat oven (Note 7) – Put dutch oven in oven with lid on (26cm/10″ or larger). Preheat to 230°C/450°F (220° fan) 30 minutes prior to baking. (Note 8 for no dutch oven)
6. Shape dough: Sprinkle work surface with 1 tbsp flour, scrape dough out of bowl. Sprinkle top with 1/2 tbsp flour.
7. Using a dough scraper or anything of similar shape (cake server, large knife, spatula), fold the sides inwards (about 6 folds) to roughly form a roundish shape. Don’t be too meticulous here – you’re about to deform it, it’s more about deflating the bubbles in the dough and forming a shape you can move.
8. Transfer to paper: Slide a large piece of parchment/baking paper (not wax paper) next to the dough, then flip the dough upside down onto the paper (ie seam side down, smooth side up). Slide/push it towards the middle, then reshape it into a round(ish) shape. Don’t get too hung up about shape. In fact, lopsided = more ridges = more crunchy bits!
9. Dough in pot: Remove piping hot dutch oven from oven. Use paper to place dough into pot, place lid on.
10. Bake 30 minutes covered, then 12 minutes uncovered or until deep golden and crispy.
11. Cool on rack for 10 minutes before slicing.

The EASIEST Bread You’ll Ever Make (Beginner Bread Recipe)

FAQ

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