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There are many bread machine recipes out there, but if you're looking for just basic and simple homemade white bread - this is the perfect recipe for you!
This is my reliable, "boring", proven recipe for a basic white bread. And, I also provide tips on how to make a homemade white bread less dense in a bread maker. In this recipe, all you do is spend 5 minutes to add ingredients to the bread pan and the bread machine does all the work, on an automatic cycle that is already programmed. That's the whole purpose of the bread maker, right? The end result is a tasty loaf of white bread just of the right density.
I do believe that the day will come when I will use a bread machine for something more sophisticated, but for once this week I am sharing the recipe that doesn't require too much thinking or meddling. Sometimes it's just nice to make certain foods almost on auto-pilot, especially for basic stuff, like white bread.
In the last 3 months I hardly bought any store-made bread, baking about a loaf every week at home, using bread machine recipes. And, I've noticed a couple of trends/issues when making bread: sometimes the bread comes out way too dense, or the loaf does not rise enough and, as a result, comes out even denser. So, here I will describe the homemade bread recipe that works for me to produce a less dense bread in a bread maker, using a basic cycle.
While making bread in a bread machine, make sure to consider these points:
- When you measure flour using cups, make sure not to pack flour too dense in a measuring cup, otherwise you will end up with much more flour than you need, and, therefore, the bread will come out denser. Measuring flour correctly will solve a lot of "dense" issues. The trick that works for me is that I use ⅓ measuring cup to carefully scoop all flour I need into the bread machine (usually about 3 cups), without over-packing it. Another way would be to weigh flour, which I don't do, but it's a solution.
- Use bread flour, not regular all-purpose flour for all bread machine recipes. Bread flour contains a higher percentage of gluten than regular all-purpose flour. Using bread flour will produce taller, less dense loaves. If you use all-purpose flour (which has smaller percentage of gluten than bread flour), your loaves will be flatter and denser.
- When adding yeast, make sure you add it last, and add it on top of dry ingredients (flour). Make sure the yeast does not reach wet ingredients. Basically, make a small indentation on top of flour and add the yeast to the indentation, just like this:
And here is the simple white bread recipe. I started with the recipe that came in a little booklet together with my Williams-Sonoma bread machine, and I tweaked the ingredient measurements based on my preferences. It takes 10 minutes to prepare all ingredients together, and then it takes 3 hours and 15 minutes to bake the bread in a bread machine.
Bread Machine Recipe: How to make homemade white bread less dense
Ingredients
- 1 cup and 3 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 3 ¼ cups white bread flour
- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
Instructions
Important note about properly measuring flour using measuring cups:
- The proper way to measure flour using measuring cups is to aerate it first. This is done either by sifting flour, or aerating it by fluffing it up and whisking it well, then spooning it into the measuring cup, then carefully removing any excess flour with a knife. If you just stick that measuring cup in the bag of flour and scoop some out, you will get a lot more flour than what the recipe calls for. Do aerate the flour, or you will end up with dry dough!
How to make bread in a bread machine:
- Add water and oil into the bread pan. Add salt, sugar. Add flour.
- Make a small indentation on top of flour and make sure it does not reach wet ingredients. Add the yeast to the indentation.
- Keep yeast away from the salt.
- Insert the bread pan into the bread machine, press it down to snap. Close the lid.
- Use Basic bread, 1.5 lb loaf, medium crust cycle (3 hrs 15 minutes)
- When bread is done, remove the bread pan using oven mitts. Turn over the bread pan and shake it to release the loaf. Let the loaf cool on a wire rack for about 30 minutes.
Notes
- The recipe is adapted from Williams-Sonoma bread machine booklet.
- I have recently tweaked this recipe and made a delicious rustic Bread Machine Garlic & Herb Bread (with fresh rosemary and thyme) - worth checking out!
My Other Bread Recipes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist's advice.
I tried this bread recipe today and literally the whole loaf is gone! my kids loved it. Finally, after owning several bread books I find a recipe everyone loves here on your website! thanks!
Thank you for leaving such a nice comment! I really appreciate it! And so glad you liked the bread! 🙂
I would love to keep making the whole wheat bread. It calls for vital wheat Gluten if I added more than what the receipt calls for would that change the density of the bread? Thank you for your time looking forward to hearing from you.
My family loves good bread with a meal so I started surfing the internet reading recipes. My bread maker has been sitting on a shelf for a couple of years because I could never find a decent recipe. I just made the first batch and I am really impressed. Its light, with a really nice texture and flavor. Such simple ingredients, but I guess buying bread flour, and sifting it to measure made a big difference. Thanks for sharing:)
My machine says cook time 2 1/2 hr, not 3 hr and 15 min. I hope it turns out.
The time in my bread machine is 2 1/2 hr. I hope mine turns out ok.
Hello,
I found this site quite by accident and am loving this recipe for the white bread. However, can you tell me if the measurements are in metric or imperial? I am in Australia and have made my first brick of bread yesterday using the recipe in my new bread machine lol. This new machine uses metric measurements so I am curious about which one you use? We had one years ago and it did a reasonable job. Yesterday I weighed the flour and did everything as particular as possible and one thing I have noticed today is that in your 1.5 lb recipe, you state for 2 tsps of yeast whereas mine says just the 1 teaspoon-do you think that the less amount of yeast in mine may have helped it turn into a brick lol? Thanks in advance
Sandy
My name is Betty
I have a bread maker I did what it said to do but it didn't raise but I
Used powder buttermilk could that make it fall?
Let me know ok. I also have unbleached bread flour can I use it in my bread maker?
After struggling with inconsistent bakes in my bread machine, I decided to take things back to basics. A quick Google referred me to this website and this page. I'm so glad I found it, I've just tried the method and the bread has baked perfectly first time.
I now have a solid base recipe and method for which to base different flavour breads on.
The little pointers about aerating the flour do make all the difference, I think. Thanks again.
worked fine but the crust was so hard it would break your teeth !!!! had to throw bread away ..... crust was set on medium .. used bread flour .. .1.5 lb setting .... set on Basic .. now what would cause crust to be so hard ? ... ingredients not old ... I followed directions to the tee ...
What I do with my bread maker, is make the dough only. I take it out and let the dough rise so high in a bread pan, then I bake it on 350 degrees in my own oven. When the loaf is almost golden brown on top, I will brush some butter on top for flavor and it softens the crust on top. Allow some butter to run down the sides of the loaf of bread. It brings extra flavor to the bread. The Amish are even jealous. I love to cook and bake when I can. I am always tweaking and trying new things with my cooking and baking. This bread recipe has potential to be beyond greatness! I love it.
Thank you, Jonathan, for your thoughtful comment! The way you bake your bread sounds so delicious, with the butter running down the sides, with the golden brown crust on top. Thank you for sharing your tips!
Thank for share.
I tried to make it yesterday. and my kids like it.
I am happy about it.
I have never been able to make bread, and I'm not a great cook either! I tried this recipe and WOW, it worked! It was good! It had a nice crust and so fluffy and soft on the inside. Usually I get dense bricks! It was so tall that it stuck out of my toaster at the top!!! Crazy good. Thank you for sharing this! I measured my flour to make sure it was perfect and I think that made a HUGE difference! Thank you again! Try this recipe if you have not had luck with your bread machine recipes, just follow what she says exactly and weigh your flour.
I just made this and it's great! I stole my mom's Breadman bread maker because it's been collecting dust in her basement for about a decade. I didn't like any of the recipes that came with it (they all called for powdered milk, weird). I decided to start simple with this recipe and simple it was. If you can make literally anything you can make this. It's easier than making cookies. I threw the ingredients in the pan and walked away. I came home famished to find AMAZING crusty outside, soft inside, warm bread! I can't wait to put some of my homemade jam on it for breakfast. There is no excuse to not try this recipe and then continue to make it all the time.
I cannot BELIEVE how awesome this recipe is!!!! Thanks so much for developing it. The bread is fabulous--so light and yummo!!!! annie
Don't put sugar in the recipie . It doesn't require it and it stops the bread from tasting sweet.
Thanks for this easy bread machine recipe for a white bread. Your lemon blueberry bread looks delicious too! I might try it first.
I made this today. The recipe my bread machine booklet offers always comes out dry, brittle, and very crumbly. Not good for sandwiches. So I am very pleased with the texture of the bread I got from your recipe. Unfortunately, my loaf sank horrendously for some reason - It's just a big crater in the middle (boo!). I was wondering if you might have any insights as to why it betrayed me in this way? Thanks!