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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've been making bread using this recipe for about a year now. Family loves it. Thanks ❤️
Hera, thank you for taking the time to share your positive feedback - It's important for any food blogger to read comments like that!
I love your recipe it is so tasty. How would I make raisin bread.
Debra, thank you for your kind comment. 🙂
Here are some variations that you can do using this recipe, starting with a raisin bread variation that you requested:
1) Cinnamon raisin bread. You can certainly add about 3/4 cup raisins (even pre-plumped ones) and 1 teaspoon cinnamon to the flour (dry mixture). And, proceed with the recipe as is.
2) Cheese bread. If adding cheese, I would use about 1 cup of shredded cheese (use Parmesan or Asiago) and add it together with the DRY INGREDIENTS (bread flour). Add the bread machine yeast last. The yeast should not touch the liquid ingredients.
3) Bread with herbs. Another variation is to add about 1 tablespoon of Rosemary and 1/2 teaspoon of Italian seasoning (or some other combination of dry herbs, such as thyme) to the flour mixture.
4) Garlic bread. Yes, you can add crushed garlic! Add the crushed or minced garlic (about 2 or 3 tablespoons) 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).
Just started making this bread today 09/14/22 was glad to find out to sift the flour, then measure. I didn't have any vegetable oil,so I used olive oil. It is baking now, but there was sifted flour left in the bowl,so I was putting too much flour. It will be ready in 3 hrs. 11 mind. It should be less dense.Thank You
Barbara, you are very welcome! And thank you for stopping by to share the story about making this bread.
loved your basic machine bread recipe. worked reallyP3
Lupe, I am so glad you loved this recipe! Thanks for stopping by and sharing your comment! 🙂
I’ve made this recipe for several weeks now. Love it. Aerating the flour is key and I only use top grade bread flour. Made a difference in a less dense bread. Have a couple suggestions. 1) I add honey after the water. I like it a little sweeter and tastier, but the crust setting must be on light. 2) I only use 3 cups of flour. I don’t put in the final 1/4 cup. Makes it even less dense.
Barbara, thank you so much for such valuable input and great suggestions! They will certainly be helpful to me and other readers!
I LOVE this recipe. My machine broke and now I have the new model with the double beater and this just doesn't work quite as well. Ideas?
Natasha, I've never used a machine with double paddles. But I would assume one of the reasons to have a bread machine with double paddles is to make larger loaves. So, I would try to just double this recipe next time, and use the appropriate bake cycle.
Thank you Julia!!!
The bread tastes great and the house smells sooo yummy ;))
Glad you loved the recipe! Thank you so much for the comment and the 5-star rating! 🙂
I give it a five because I used All purpose flour, I did not heve bread flour. It came out dense, but the taste was wonderful!
Plus it’s humid out and I don’t have central air.
Still a great recipe!
Thanks so much for the 5-star review! 🙂 Glad the recipe worked with all-purpose flour even though it came out a bit denser.
Today, after finding some unexpired yeast in the cabinet, I got out my bread machine, which had been stored, literally, for years. I found this recipe, read the great reviews, and decided to give it a go. I only had a bag of whole wheat pastry flour (finely ground), so thought I'd experiment. The bread turned out great! I assume it might be slightly denser than white bread (I did sift the flour), but we enjoyed it with dinner and even had a second piece with jam and butter for dessert. Thank you!
Jan, thank you so much for the comment and for sharing the story behind making this bread! 🙂 Glad your bread machine is out of storage now. And so good to know that this recipe worked as is with whole wheat pastry flour - thank you for that piece of information - would be helpful to other readers.
Best basic bread ever!! I've tried many recipes but this beats them all. I'm going to add everything seasoning and see how that comes out.
Lisa, thank you for such a positive and enthusiastic comment - I appreciate it! Glad you gave this recipe a try and enjoyed it!
this was the best bread recipe i have ever used
Mary, I am happy you found this recipe helpful!
it came out do dense, my boyfriend said he had brick for breakfast. i used some pretty expired yeast so that was maybe the problem? i did sift the flour and everything. It tasted really nice, it was just incredibly dense
Shana, I am so sorry to hear about that. It could be expired yeast. What kind of flour did you use? All-purpose flour, bread flour, etc.
Nice
Thanks! 🙂
Thank you thank you thank you!!! This is the best bread machine recipe I have tried! I didn't know the importance of sifting/aerating the flour until yesterday! What a difference! Thank you!!!
Vicki, I am so-so flattered by your generous comment! Thank you for taking the time to leave a positive review! 🙂
Is the water in the recipe room temperature or warmed?
Shannon, I used room temperature water.
At long last, a perfect, easy, recipe. Couldn't belive how tall the bread came out. Light and airy, GREAT TASTE AS WELL. Thanks for sharing. Perfect everytime.
Mark, your comment made my day so much better! Glad you found the recipe useful. And, thank you for taking the time to share such a positive comment - I really appreciate it! 🙂
This has become our family's go to bread! It tastes amazing and the density is perfect for slicing.
I love this recipe. It’s easy to make and comes out amazing every time. I have made it so often I know it by heart because it’s that good lol! Thank you for sharing!!
Anna, your comment made my day! I know a lot of people might like the recipe but don't have the time to comment, but when I see glowing reviews like yours - they really make my day! 🙂
Neal, I am so glad you found this recipe helpful. Thank you for the comment! 🙂
It’s great. My go to recipe for making bread using bread machine. Thank you for sharing!
Lynda, I am so happy this is your go-to recipe! Thanks for sharing such positive feedback!
I made this today and oh wow this is the best bread machine bread I have ever ate! I'm going to be doing a video on it. On my YouTube channel Mama Z's Texas Kitchen. I will be sure and share your blog! Thank you again! Misty
Misty, I am so very happy you found this recipe helpful. Thank you for such a positive comment! 🙂