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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.
Great recipe only problem is that I wish it made a bigger loaf since we ate the entire loaf in one sitting ( and we are not big people). But that is how good this bread is. Very light with sifting and measuring the bread flour. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Yes, this bread is addicting - it's hard not to eat it all at once, especially as a family.
I should make a variation of this with a bigger loaf - that's not a bad idea!
I've been using this recipe since I found it in 2019, nearly every week and often more than once. It's a recipe I've shared with so many friends hoping they would see how easy it can be to make delicious homemade bread with a little countertop bread machine, and they all love it. I've sent so many warm loaves home with friends. Its so good, so easy! I've just come back here to print off a new copy for a neighbor that stopped by when a loaf was baking and so she got to go home with a loaf and she's wanting the recipe. It's delicious, perfect, basic white bread, just like Julia says. Fantastic!
My old one is so wrinkled and worn from use I had to print another and while here, I just had to post how much my family loves this bread! This recipe may well be the most often eaten recipe I make for my family since I found it and they never want to eat store bought anymore... truly!
I passed to my daughter-in-law who used it to bake a fresh loaf to offer as an introduction gift when introducing themselves to neighbors in their new neighborhood and really was a hit. So... thanks for this recipe from my whole family! We love it!
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe, it's my go to for everyday bread for my husband and myself. He says that it's the best bread he's ever tasted 🙂
This recipe is awesome! I followed it precisely and it turned out so nice and fluffy. The crumb was soft and pillowy, not dense in the slightest. My bread machine's ("Amazon Basics") Basic, 1.5lb, medium crust setting takes slightly less time than the recipe states at 2h53m but it turned out just fine. I also substituted honey for the sugar at a 1:1 ratio.
Added this recipe to my favorites to use in the future!
I did your recipe just as you said with a few more ingredients and it's yummy...
I just added about 2 1/2 teaspoons of butter, and I chopped up fresh Rosemary and Thyme with a 1/2 teaspoon or so of garlic. WOW, the flavor matched with your recipe is magical
I made this bread today and it turned out perfectly. I have an old bread machine but it still worked like a charm. Thank you Julia for posting a way for me to still use my bread machine.
Are you using bread machine yeast?
Yes, you can use bread machine instant yeast in this recipe (instead of active dry yeast) without making any changes.
Here is some quick background about different types of yeast that might be helpful:
➡️ There are, basically, just two types of yeast. Instant yeast and active dry yeast. I used active dry yeast in this recipe.
➡️ Bread machine yeast, rapid rise yeast are both just varieties for instant yeast.
➡️ Active Dry Yeast (that's what I used) is preferred for normal or basic cycle (which is what this recipe uses). Rapid rise yeast and Instant yeast is prefered for a quick cycle.
Because this recipe is so basic , you can use all these yeasts here interchangeably without making any changes.
Enjoy!!
I made a loaf for dinner and it came out so soft and delicious. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
I’ve been trying recipes and this is the perfect one the bread is still soft and fresh the next day which the other recipes I tried were not .. lovely delicious light ! Thanks
I tried this recipe today and it is absolutely perfect. Lighter texture than some. I like it when they are not dense and this is perfect. I did add some sesame seeds to mixture and am very impressed. Thank yo for such a great recipe.
How could I make this for a 2lbs loaf? (What extra do I need to add) my family loved the recipe and it was perfect for us. But now I’m making it for my work teachers and I wanted to make it a little bigger.
Can I substitute the sugar for honey?
I am new at bread making and I’m trying to understand the differences in active dry yeast and instant yeast. What I was understanding was that active yeast needs to be placed into a liquid and instant does not. So my question is ; why are you using active yeast instead of instant yeast in this recipe? This recipe just throws all of that out the window. Is that a misprint or something else?
Thank you for your time and help
Rhonda
I was wondering the same thing!
I was wondering the same thing!
I have a old breadman bread maker. This is the best loaf of white bread I have ever made in it. I bought the bread maker for five bucks. This recipe says the bread maker will run for 3 hours and 15 minutes. For the one and a half pound loaf mine only runs for 2 hours and 40 minutes. I used olive oil in place of vegetable oil. This is the recipe I will be using from now on for my white bread. Thanks!
I made one small change & it is the best bread ever. 1 cup of warm milk and 3 tablespoons water & definitely aerate the flour and top up the cup rather than dipping