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
Nutrition
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.
This is the best tasting white bread recipe I’ve tried. Super easy and came out amazing.
Hannan, I am so happy to hear that! Thank you for stopping by and sharing your wonderful comment!
Stupid question, probably but......
How are you supposed to put the ingredients in the dry mix without the yeast touching the salt? As soon as the machine starts it mixes the ingredients.... so whats the deal?
As long as put the salt together with the wet ingredients, then add the flour on top, then make a small indentation on top of the flour and make sure it does not reach wet ingredients, and add the yeast to that indentation - you're good to go!
I wanted a special day with my 5-year-old grandson, so today we made your bread recipe and while it was in the bread maker we painted with watercolors!
I had put my bread maker away over 3 years ago because I was never satisfied with how the bread turned out. Your recipe was excellent, and it helped to make the day a huge success! Thank you
Sandi, I cannot describe how good your comment makes me feel! Thank you for taking the time to write such kind words - I so appreciate it! Glad to hear you made this bread together with your grandson! 🙂
Hey Julia, me again
So this time I sifted the flour measured then sifted the measured sifted flour again
before placing in the bread machine pan. The end product turned out wonderfully tender, the crust is perfect not tough at all..
Now....I checked the dough during the first knead,,,,too soft and unformed. So I spooned more flour in. Till it was no longer SUPER sticky.
The second knead it was all sticky again. I added more flour. I'm thinking I will go ahead and up the flour amount 1/2 cup totaling 3 3/4 cups flour. So I'll sift the flour first measure and sift it a second time. Wish me luck. Sure do love your recipe and your instructions are perfect. Thank you for giving me the confidence to keep trying and not just tossing the bread machine into the goodwill box.
See you in the kitchen
Your comment officially made my day! Thank you for taking the time to write such a thoughtful, sweet and helpful comment. I really appreciate it! 🙂
My son decided this summer his hobby is going to be baking! He's 12(love this) so I decided something simple and rewarding. Using this recipe I showed him how to properly sift, measure and explained the reasons behind keeping salt and yeast separate. He did a great job and it turned out perfect. He's so excited to do another loaf maybe adding a few other ingredients (garlic, parm, etc.) Thanks for a great recipe and easy understanding.
Jewel, I am so glad you found this recipe useful! Thank you for sharing the story about your son - it's very cute and I love it! 🙂
Hey Julia, Well it came out perfectly and it is lighter/more tender and it did rise more. So sifting 2times is ok but you've got to add in more flour during the kneading process and WORRY IF ITS GONNA TURN OUT OK. FOR 3 hours.
Don't think I'll do the 2yimes sifting again.... too many what ifs....I seriously don't care for door stops, no matter how good they smell.. thank you for a fool proof reciepe. SDH
Very good recipe. I followed it just the way you have it written and turned out prefect!
So glad you found this recipe useful! Thank you for the 5-star review! 🙂
Dianna, thank you for your generous and super positive comment - I really appreciate it! 🙂
Hey Julie the first time I made it , it was perfect. This time I checked it while it was in the first knead, it was not formed at all just gooie heap not moving around the pan
I started adding heaping tablespoons of flour it finally looks right. Now I'm hoping the lid wasn't open too long and I didn't put too much flour in it... I think I did everything right. I sifted the flour and row it really does end up w s lot more when it's fluffed up... so if I did sift a bowl full then sifted it into measuring cups? And leveled off
Do you think that could have left me with a lot less flour in the pan??? That's all I can think... I thought if it was sifted a second time it might be even more tender... shoot, now I have to wait 3 hours to see how it turned out... I'll let you know
SDH
Sifting will definitely make a huge difference in the final product if you're going by cups rather than weight.
Sifting before measuring can result in 20 - 30 % less flour by weight so for something like bread that relies heavily on the ratios being correct I would say rather measure first and then sift or use a scale and weigh it out after sifting.
Alice, you make such great points here - thank you! So very helpful.
This was my first time using my bread maker and it turned out great!
Mallory, I am so pleased to hear that!
Made this recipe for the first time and it was amazing! So light and fluffy, with incredible flavour and crust. Before we finished the first loaf we already started to make another. Great tips.
Cheri, I really appreciate your positive comment! Glad the recipe was a success, and thank you for the 5-star review! 🙂
Forgot to post star rating
5 out of 5
Thank you
Turned out perfectly
Absolutely perfect!! This will be the only white bread recipe I will use! Can cheese be added to make a cheese bread?
Lisa, thank you for such a wonderful comment - I so appreciate it! 🙂
Here are some variations that you can do using this recipe, starting with a cheese bread variation that you requested:
1) 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.
2) 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.
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).
Thank you, Dianna! 🙂