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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.
When sayin use only bread flour you should note that this is not the case in all countries. For example in Canada all purpose flour can be used in bread machines (there is a difference in American and Canadian flour).
This was quite possibly the best basic white bread I've made in my bread maker yet! I think the key was aerating the flour and measuring it correctly, so thank you for that tip!
good recipe
Hi Julie,
Just wondering, do you warm the water to a certain temperature as most machine recipes indicate ? Also do you use Active Dry yeast or Quick Rise yeast.
Thanks,
John
Have never been a white bread fan, but this recipe is perfect. Came out very flavorful and fluffy. Loved it!!!!
I love this recipe. Easy and straightforward. I first used it to make the classic Croústades á la Nantua. The dish turned out perfect. Plus, the convenience of the bread machine made it one less worry for that particular haute cuisine. This formula will definitely be used a lot.
I LOVE this recipe. It’s my base for all variations now. I’ve subbed in honey for the sugar. I’ve subbed in I’ve oil, coconut oil with great success. I’ve used APF. I’ve used 2 C white flour and 1C wheat. I’ve added in cheese, herbs, cinnamon (albeit not all together ) in different variations and I have yet to have this recipe fail. Thank you a million times over. Couple of tricks that seem to help: wheat flour is not an equal swap for flour, hence the 3 C only flour instead of the 3 1/4. Also, I add in extra yeast every time. What’s an extra half teaspoon to ensure whatever nonsense I’ve added will be successful ♀️? I also let the dough rise in the bread machine then put it in an oiled loaf pan for baking. I just prefer the appearance. Anyways- unchanged the recipes a winner. Favorite bread recipe EVER.
The bread was amazing! That little tidbit about sifting the flour really helped.
I have tried every bread machine recipe on the planet and this is the BEST! So light and fluffy and perfect, not at all dense like the others.
We received a bread maker for Christmas. We just started on this venture. Stumbled upon your recipe which seems much easier than the one in the pamphlet that came with the machine. The fluff really made a difference. I didn’t have a sifter so I scooped out the measurements a cup at a time and whisked the flour with a fork. Then I poured & slightly whisked the flour into a Pyrex measuring cup. It really demonstrated the amount difference! I hope it works out, I will follow up after it cooks. Thank you
Could you sub milk for some of the water? Thanks!
This is the best bread machine recipe we have ever made! I live in Northern Colorado and struggled to find a fluffy bread recipe. Thanks for the delicious bread recipe!
I just purchased a used bread maker. No instructions, of course. I am bothered by the fact that the blade is in the bottom of the bread once baked. Should I take that out before the bread starts to rise.
I made your bread recipe today. Wow! My new favorite! I made the allrecipes one with 3500+ reviews yesterday, but love this one so much more!
I used regular all-purpose flour and the whole 2.25 tsp packet of yeast. My machine is old and doesn't have a crust option. Did the rapid bake setting for 3 hours. Turned out perfect.
Thank you!!
Does the temperature of the water matter in this recipe? Thank you!