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Home / Easy Bread Recipes

EASY HOMEMADE BREAD RECIPE

PUBLISHED BY JESSICA ON FEBRUARY 7, 2023

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Easy 5 Star Homemade Bread recipe made

with simple ingredients & detailed instructions
showing how to make bread! Thousands of
comments & reviewers agree this is the BEST
homemade loaf for both beginners and expert
bakers.

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Homemade Bread is one of my favorite foods of

all time. Can you tell by the name of this site?!
There really is nothing quite like a warm slice of
fresh bread served with a thick pat of butter on
top. Mmmmm! This recipe is perfect. It’s simple to
follow, takes about 2 hours to make and yields 2
loaves of wonderful bread. It’s quite versatile too,
so feel free to use part whole wheat flour if you’d
like. Brush butter on top when it’s out of the oven
and partially cooled and everyone will thank you.

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Yes, you can make this recipe in a bread

machine! Scroll down to see full Homemade
Bread recipe and ingredients, with printable
instructions for your bread machine.

A decade ago when I was just beginning to bake

confidently, I still struggled with making bread. I
tried countless recipes and none of them were
quite right. I found this one and never looked
back. It uses basic ingredients, comes together
fast and I love the bread it makes. It’s soft, chewy
with fantastic flavor. Feel free to reduce the sugar
if you prefer. Enjoy the process and enjoy that
bread!

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WHERE TO START ON YOUR

BREAD MAKING JOURNEY
This is a very comprehensive post with tons of
information I’ve gleaned over the years making
bread. Where would you like to start first?

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JUMP TO–> LEARN THE BASIC STEPS TO

MAKING BREAD

JUMP TO–> HELPFUL TIPS FOR MAKING

YOUR FIRST LOAF OF BREAD

JUMP TO–> GET THE OVEN BAKED BREAD

RECIPE

JUMP TO–> GET THE BREAD MACHINE

BREAD RECIPE

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BASIC STEPS FOR MAKING YEAST

BREAD RECIPES
If you’ve never made bread before, here is the
basic formula for making your own at home. My
recipe below follows this perfectly. It’s so much
easier and trust me, the scent of fresh bread
baking will make everyone really, really excited
for dinner!

STEP 1: ASSEMBLE BREAD

INGREDIENTS
You’ll need warm water, granulated sugar, instant
OR active dry yeast, salt, vegetable or canola oil
and flour. That’s it!

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STEP 2: DISSOLVE THE YEAST AND

ACTIVATE IT BY PROOFING
This is a simple process that takes about 5
minutes. You can see a picture below what yeast
looks like when it’s proofed. It’s possible to kill
yeast if you use too hot of water, so aim for
slightly warmer than luke-warm, or about 105°F.
Combine warm water, yeast and 1 TBSP of the
granulated sugar in your mixing bowl. Give it a
quick stir and then let it sit for 5 minutes. You’ll
begin to see the yeast puff up until it covers the
entire surface of the water.

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STEP 3: ADD REMAINING

INGREDIENTS AND MIX
Add the rest of the sugar, the oil, salt and flour
(You can use all-purpose flour OR bread flour!),
then mix using an electric mixer until it’s well
combined, about 2 minutes. You can mix by hand
but it will take longer.

STEP 4: KNEAD THE BREAD

You might be thinking, “Wait! It’s already mixed!”
Ha! Not so fast! Going through the process of
kneading bread dough is crucial for bread with
great texture. Kneading dough allows gluten to
form which enables dough to rise better, be
lighter and fluffier. you can knead by hand or with
a mixer. I use the dough hook on my mixer and
knead for 7 minutes. If you knead by hand, you’ll
want to knead for 10-11 minutes, depending on
how consistent you are.

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STEP 5: FIRST RISE

Place your lovely smooth, elastic bread dough in
an oiled bowl and cover it with plastic wrap or a
clean towel. I think plastic wrap works better
because it traps hot air inside and thus, my dough
requires a shorter first rise. Be sure to spray the
side of the plastic wrap that will touch the dough
with oil!

If your house is cool, your bread will take longer

to rise. In the wintertime when my house is cooler
than normal, I like to turn the oven on for 2-3
minutes, then turn it off and let the bowl of dough
rise in there. The oven traps the heat for a
longtime and it’s the perfect atmosphere for rising
dough.

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STEP 6: PUNCH DOUGH AND SHAPE

IT
Punching the dough down quickly releases any
air pockets that have developed and helps your
bread have a more consistent rise and texture.
Shape your dough by rolling it gently into a ball
and rolling it 2 or 3 times on the countertop so
that the ball is more oblong. I usually punch down
and shape the dough quickly, then place in a
greased bread pan.

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STEP 7: SECOND RISE

I like to do my second rise in a warm oven that’s
not turned on. I turn the oven on just before I
punch my dough down, then turn it off once I
place the dough in the oven for the 2nd rise. It’s
really only on for a minute or two, which is fine!
The second rise will help shape your loaf of bread
and takes about 30 minutes.

STEP 8: BAKE THE BREAD

You’re nearly there! Bread bakes for about 30-40
minutes. You know what I do to make sure my
bread is perfectly cooked? I use a digital
cooking thermometer! Fully cooked bread will
be 190-200 degrees F. Bread recipes that include
milk will need to cook until 200 degrees, but since
this one doesn’t, I take it out once it reaches 190
degrees. The top will be golden brown.

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My all-time favorite cooking thermometer is the

Thermapen. It’s super fast and incredibly
durable. Another great thermometer is the
ThermoPop which is a more basic version that
works just as well!

STEP 9: COOL THE BREAD

Cool baked bread in the pan for 10-15 minutes,
then overturn pan and turn loaf out onto a cooling
rack or folded towel to finish cooling. If you leave
the bread in the pan for much longer than that,
you’ll steam it, which may cause some parts of
your loaf to go soggy. No one likes soggy bread!

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BEST BREAD PAN?

I bake a lot of bread and the pans I prefer are
either ceramic, glass or cast iron. These pans
will bake bread more evenly and release the
MENU
bread more easily after baking. I don’t like using
dark or nonstick pans because the bread cooks
unevenly. It darkens on the outside before the
bread is cooked on the inside, so the coloring is