White Bread Recipe for Beginning Bakers (2024)

• 1 cup milk

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 1 1/2 cups warm water, divided

• 2 (1/4-ounce) packagesactive dry yeast

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• 1 tablespoon salt

• 6 to 7 cups unbleached bread flour, approximately

Prepare the Bread Dough

1. Gather the ingredients.

   

2. Heat 1 cup of milk and 2 tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from the heat when the butter is melted and set aside to cool.

   

3. Pour 1/2 cup of warm water into a small bowl. Slowly pour the yeast into thebowl while stirring. The constant stirring while adding the yeast will prevent it from clumping. Set the bowl of yeast water aside for about 5 minutes while you work on the next two steps.

   

4. In a large bowl, add the sugar, salt, and the remaining 1 cup of warm water. Mix well.

   

5. Check the saucepan of milk and butter. If the contents are warm to the touch, pour the liquid into the large bowl and mix.

   

6. Pour the yeast water into the large bowl. It is important that the batter is warm, not boiling hot. Hot liquid, such as the milk you heated up, will kill the dry yeast and prevent the bread from rising.

   

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7. Begin mixing in the unbleached bread flour, one cup at a time.

   

8. By the fifth cup of flour, the dough will begin to get stiff and it will be difficult to mix it with a wooden spoon.

Knead the Dough and Wait for It to Rise

1. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and begin to knead the dough.

   

2. Continue adding more flour - a couple tablespoons at a time - and knead the flour into the dough until the dough is smooth and no longer sticky. How much flour you use will depend on many factors, including the temperature, humidity and altitudeof your home. It's likely that you will not use all 6 or 7 cups.

   

3. Grease a large bowl with butter, shortening or oil(the bowl should be 2 to 3 times the size of your dough). Place the bread dough into the bowl and then turn the dough over so that the top of the dough is also greased.

   

4. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let the dough rise at room temperature until it has doubled in size - about 1 hour.

   

Kneading and Shaping the Loaves

1. Punch down the dough.

   

2. Turn it out onto a floured board and knead out all the bubbles for about 5 minutes.

   

3. Divide the dough in half and form each half into a loaf by rolling the dough into a rectangle.

   

4. Roll the dough up like a jellyroll.

   

5. Pinch the seam closed, then pinch and tuck theedges under the loaf.

   

Final Proofing and Baking the Bread

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F.

   

2. Grease two loaf pans. Spread a light layer of yellow cornmeal on the loaf pans, if desired.

   

3. Set the loaves in the pans. Cover with a kitchen towel and allow the dough to rise until it has doubled in size (about 30 minutes).

   

4. Bake the bread for about 45 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

   

5. Remove the bread from the oven and turn out the loaves onto a rack or a clean kitchen towel.

   

6. Allow the bread to cool before cutting.

   

7. Serve and enjoy!

   

(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

Recipe Tags:

• bread
• white bread
• side dish
• american

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