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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.
Julia, Your bread recipe is pretty similar to the published recipe using my Secura machine. However, you begin with one cup and 3 tablespoons of water where my recipe uses one cup and 3 tablespoons of powder milk. I have been using Nestle Nido Fortificada. My bread is always more dense than desired, however I do not sift the flour first and have been using General Purpose Flour. If I change my approach to sifting the flour and following your directions, will that produce the desired results? Or do I need to adjust in other portions as well?
Hi Victor! If the recipe is so similar to your bread machine, and your previous bread turned out well (although somewhat dense), I would keep all other ingredients the same, except - use bread flour and sift it.
See what the result would be.
For the next loaf of bread, just follow this recipe as is (using water instead of powder milk) to compare.
Forgot to leave 5 stars lol ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank you for the 5-star review! 🙂
Loaf after loaf, I sit in awe of the writer’s brilliance. This is hands down the absolute best bread machine recipe I have ever tried. Sticking with it. Thank you thank you thank you
Stefanie, you are so nice! 🙂 Thank you for such a flattering comment - I really appreciate it! 🙂
Could crushed garlic and shredded cheese be added to this recipe to make garlic cheese bread? If not do you have some suggestions for making it in my bread machine?
Yes, you can add crushed garlic! Add the crushed garlic together with the LIQUID INGREDIENTS, then add dry ingredients (just like the recipe states), then add the yeast last (making sure the yeast is not touching the liquid ingredients).
If adding cheese, I would use about 1 cup of shredded cheese and add it together with the DRY INGREDIENTS (bread flour). Add the bread machine yeast last. The yeast should not touch the liquid ingredients.
Best loaf of bread I have EVER made in a bread machine. Thank you so much!
Sharyn, you are very welcome! I am flattered by your comment! 🙂
I'm new to using a bread machine. The first time I used whole wheat flour and the bread was normal. Now that I'm using white bread flour the dough expands too much (the bread becomes a mushroom and i'm stuck with washing the bread machine). How would I go with using less ingredients? Do i just use a rule of 3? And I don't want to look for another recipe because this one is delicious. Thank you
Hi Stephanie, not sure why the bread expands so much with white bread flour. One solution could be to use the bread machine just for kneading the ingredients, and for the baking cycle, move the bread dough into a bread loaf pan and bake it in the oven.
Great recipe. I use 2 tablespoons of milk powder as well
Larry, thank you for sharing the feedback about adding 2 tablespoons of milk powder - I appreciate it!
This really is the best white bread recipe we've managed in our bread machine - the crust is wonderfully tasty too, the bread itself very light. We converted it to UK measures - 300ml water, 500g of 'straight from the bag' strong white bread flour and then the rest of your ingredients - perfect every time! Once, we ran low on white flour and used 150g of wholemeal - equally tasty. Thank you
Bertie, thank you so much for such a helpful comment sharing your conversions to the UK measurements. So glad you found this recipe useful!
Thank you for this version Bertie. It worked wonderfully. One question though, did you use the 700g or the 900g loaf setting?
Best bread ever
I can't wait to share with my friends
I am very happy to hear that! I appreciate your comment!
This is the BEST white bread recipe ever. Light, fluffy, great crust. I used a Zojirushi 2lb. loaf machine on White Bread (light crust) setting. Absolutely perfect for sandwiches and toasted! Thank you for sharring this.
First try using bread machine.. Googled this
Turned out perfect
Another one baking now.
Thanks
Linda, I am glad you found this recipe useful! 🙂
Andrew, I am so happy you found this recipe helpful! Thank you so much for stopping by and taking the time to share such a positive comment and a 5-star review - I appreciate it! 🙂
Absolutely perfect, nice density and had fantastic flavor. Was devoured by the family in one meal lol…
I am very pleased to hear that! Thank you for the comment!
Great ideas! Thanks for the information
I want to start making all our own breads and less dependent on stores and such
I tried brad flour with my bread machine a few years back, and it didn’t come out well. Was very dense, but I think I may have been packing the flour. We are going to give this a try tomorrow night
Thanks so much for the tips
Sorry about the grammar, typing fast on my break, lol bread*
Let me know how your bread turns out! 🙂
Christine, I am glad you found this recipe and hope your bread will turn out great! Let me know how it goes! Homemade bread is truly the best!
How long would I put it in the oven in a regular loaf pan if I don't want to bake it in the bread machine? And at what temperature? Gas oven. I don't want the tall loaf I want a regular size loaf and I don't like the hole in it.
Nerd here: I love math. Here's a 1lb loaf in grams for people who like to be accurate and want a 1lb loaf (if you're single like me...I might be single because I'm a girl nerd and I love math lol):
187.11g water
271.16g flour
18.85g butter
4.2g salt
16.62g sugar
4.18g yeast
You may round down if it's under .5 if it goes over .5 you can round up ie:
187g water
271g bread flour
19g melted cooled butter (i use butter not oil)
4g salt
17g sugar
4g active yeast (not instant)
If you want a 1.5lb loaf, times each line item by 1.5.
I will not give standard measurements (cups etc) because it's not accurate and that's where your bread tends to GO WRONG. In cooking you can do your own thing, in baking you must be accurate.
Thank you Nicolette! That is exactly what I was looking for when I scrolled down to the reviews, I have become quite a nerd in my kitchen and I love using my scale when baking, it is so much more accurate! I really appreciate you doing this thank you!
Hi Nicholette,
I too needed exactly what you posted as my machine only makes 1 lb loaves, and I too use a digital scale to improve consistency.
Don’t imagine you’ll be single for long with baking skills and great intellect.
Thank you for your effort!
Can you please give us the details in Oz as I do not have a gram measure
This bread is delicious! For my preference I decrease the salt to 1 teaspoon and increase the sugar to 2 1/2 tablespoons. The tip on aeration is a must! Thanks for this tasty treat!
Ray, I am so glad you found this recipe useful! Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing your feedback!
In the middle of lockdown no bread flour only high grade but bread still dense haven’t had a decent loaf since I bought machine
Do try the bread flour. It works best in this recipe.