This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
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.
Most bread machine recipes always use instant yeast. Just want to clarify that I should be using active dry yeast. Thank you
This bread comes out light & fluffy with a really good flavor. I’ve had my machine 2months & this is the first recipe I’ve liked. It’s a keeper. Thank you.
I am about to give up on my Christmas gift of a small Cuisinart bread maker since the bread comes out too dense...adapted this recipe a bit (used 4t sugar, 1 1/4t salt, 3 cups + 1 T of King Arthur Bread Flour, and 3 T milk powder)....I hope this does the trick, or I will have to use it only to prepare the dough...
Julia,
Just downloaded and tried your recipe, it turned out the best of any bread recipe that I have tried so far.My bread maker had a time of 3:00 instead of the 3:15 your recipe calls for, but the results speak for themselves.Thank you for such an easy and tasty recipe! Wish I could upload photos to see how well the bread turned out.
This recipe makes the best homemade bread ever. I've been looking for one to make in my bread machine and the ones in the book that came with it are not much good.
I would now like a recipe for granary bread as I have plenty of flour but need a better recipe than the one I've got.
Do you have one.
This was perfect! 1.5 lbs is too big for my compact bread machine so it overflowed while baking. Other than that everything else was perfect. What would be the measurements if I scaled it back to a 1 lb loaf? Thanks!
I luv this recipe I also like to add cheddar cheese and jalapeños to mine it comes out amazing every time thank u so much. There’s nothing better than freshly baked bread.
Thanks so much for this wonderful advice and recipe. I cant post a pic of my loaf but it is amazing!!! God Bless you there and your family 🙂
Best recipe I have come by. There is no comparison as to how amazing this bread turns out!
Is it possible to deduct the sugar from the recipe? Or will this effect the end product?
The recipe is works very well and the bread taste good too! Thank you for this recipe.
Julia,
I got a new KBS Bread machine for Christmas. A little frustrated that there was not a recipe book with it. I want to begin with just some basic breads and then try and experiment with other things. I can't find anything on the internet. I will try your recipe.
The bread looks amazing! Can you substitute olive oil for vegetable oil?
Is the dough supposed to be on the drier side when mixing in bread machine lije playdough texture? Ive followed tge recipe but looks lije the dough is too dry?
Add a little bit more water. I ended up adding 2 tablespoons extra.
I just started mine and it was dry as well.... too bad no one has answered your question!
I MADE THE MISTAKE OF BUYING MY HUSBAND A BREAD MAKER FOR CHRISTMAS,
THE DISASTERS ARE UNBELIVABLE SO HE WILL TRY YOUR RECIPR AND HOPEFULLY I WILL NO LONGER SUFFER THE "TASTINGS"
Lorraine, thank you for making me smile with your comment. 🙂 I needed that today! 🙂
I am currently experimenting so I too can enjoy the best home made bread possible so thanks for the tips. Aerating, using Bread Flour (rather than All Purpose) and weighing the flour are three things that I have not tried so this will be interesting.
Just as a side note. I hope you don't mind me saying that I take offence to Lorraine's oh so typical "male bashing" comment above. I agree that there is a slice of the male population that deserves the criticism and more but I find it so condescending and it was unnecessary. Just remember most of the chefs in the world are men so we are capable. And before you reply Lorraine, lets not get sidetracked by saying men have suppressed women chefs in the culinary profession and that is why so many men in that profession. That is beside the point of my reply. By the way I am just a regular old guy dabbling in baking bread. I resurrected our bread machine because I am fed up with poor quality high priced bread that the grocers are selling us these days. We have used bread machines (this is our third) on and off since they came on the market in 1986 but have never gotten into the finer details of trying to perfect the outcome since bread machine bread in general is still legions above the bread we buy in the grocery stores
Just made this. So yummy thanks for the recipe
Esther, you are very welcome! Glad you liked the recipe!