Easy Bread Recipe with Video – Great for Sandwiches and More
This easy bread recipe is our “go to” for sandwich bread, buns and more – even monkey bread. My kids started making it when they were in their tweens. Now they can make (almost) as good as their mom.
There's nothing like the aroma of fresh baked bread, and this is one recipe that's turned out perfect every time.
Easy Bread Recipe Tips
Choose the Right Flour – For making bread, use bread flour for the best rise.
This recipe is more forgiving than most, and all purpose flour will work if that's what you have on hand. I like Gold N White organic if I'm using “off the shelf” flour. Sometimes I use half organic bread flour and half fresh ground hard white winter wheat. You can use 100% fresh ground whole wheat, but the dough will be heavier. I prefer organic flour to avoid glyphosate residue.
Use Warm Ingredients – Your water should be “bath water” warm – not boiling hot. Boiling water will kill the yeast. Room temperature ingredients in a warm kitchen work best. If the dough is cold, it won't rise well.
It's okay to substitute honey. If you want to substitute honey for the granulated sugar, that's fine. You may need to add a little extra flour, and your dough will be more sticky. You can reduce the sugar if you like, too. The bread doesn't taste particularly sweet, but I know some folks are reducing sugar.
It's okay to substitute other fats. Schmaltz works great in this recipe, as does melted lard. I'm not a fan of vegetable oils, but olive oil is fine if you enjoy the flavor.
Yeast Matters. Yeast bread needs fresh yeast, so make sure to check the date on your packet. If using active dry yeast, add the yeast to the warm water and allow it to warm and dissolve following the directions on yeast package before adding the rest of the ingredients.
For more tips, see “Troubleshooting Tips to Help You Make the Perfect Loaf of Bread“.
PrintEasy Bread Recipe
This easy bread recipe is our “go to” for sandwich bread, buns and more – even monkey bread.
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 2 medium loaves 1x
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 egg plus enough warm water to equal 1 1/3 cups
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 cups bread flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast/bread machine yeast or 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in mixer or bread machine and mix for 6-8 minutes, until ingredients are well mixed and gluten has had a chance to develop.
- If mixing by hand, blend all ingredients except flour. Add flour one cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. (You may need to adjust the amount of flour based on humidity conditions.) When dough is stiff enough to mix by hand, dump onto a well-floured counter and knead for 5-10 minutes. Continue as below.
- Cover and let rise in a warm location for 20 minutes. Punch down dough, let rise until double in size.
- Divide dough into desired number of buns and loaves and shape accordingly. Remember, the bread will rise again and double in size, so small buns will get much larger.
- Cover with a clean dish cloth and place in a warm location until buns double in size. Preheat oven to 375 °F for buns or 350 °F for bread while the dough is rising.
- Bake buns around 15 minutes at 375 °F, until lightly browned. Bake bread at 350 °F for 25 to 30 minutes.
- Cool on wire rack before slicing.
Notes
If using active dry yeast, add the yeast to the warm water and allow it to warm and dissolve following the directions on yeast package before adding the rest of the ingredients.
My Favorite Bread Baking Tools
When mixing up this easy bread recipe, I suggest either a large mixing bowl and a sturdy wooden spoon to mix by hand, or a solidly built stand mixer like the KitchenAid or Bosch Universal Stand Mixer. A six quart KitchenAid handles a single batch. The Bosch can handle a double or triple batch.
For baking, stoneware loaf pans rock. I have Pampered Chef stoneware loaf pans, but these USA Pan stoneware loaf pans are a little less expensive.
For buns, I like stainless steel baking sheets, and line them with reusable parchment paper as needed. The reusable parchment paper works so much better than silicone baking mats. It doesn't get stinky and tacky like silicone.
My preferred cooling rack is a 16×20 inch with a grid pattern, because it's large enough to hold a double batch of bread, but the grid pattern keeps small cookies and such from falling through.
More Easy Bread Recipes
We bake all our breads from scratch. (Once you're used to homemade bread, it's tough to eat the store stuff!)
You can find some of our favorites on the site in the Bread Recipe Roundup, or you can find all of those plus several more in my book, “Never Buy Bread Again – The Bread Book for Beginning Bakers“.
The book also includes:
- Quick breads such as buttermilk biscuits, corn bread and pancakes
- Gluten free breads
- How to Make a Sourdough Starter and Basic Sourdough Bread
- Holiday and special occasion breads, like fruit filled kolache, Polish doughnuts and pretzel bread
- How to store and freeze breads (before and after baking) for best quality
- Tips for adjusting bread recipes for high altitude baking
- Fun bread “go alongs” like flavored butters and cheese fondue
- Recipes to make with leftover bread
It's available in ebook and print format. (Get a free e-book copy with the purchase of every print copy to share with a friend.)
We hope you've enjoyed this recipe. If you have any questions, please leave a comment below, and thanks for visiting. (Subscribers may recognize this recipe from the bread recipe and troubleshooting guide included with your subscription.)
Ohhhhh, I can’t wait to try. I’m a beginner and wanting for awhile to attempt making my own. Your video will help, you made it so simple.
Thank you
Let me know if you have any questions. This recipe is very forgiving, so it’s a good one for beginners.
How much starter would you use instead of packaged yeast? Looking forward to trying this recipe!
I haven’t tried the recipe using starter. I’d opt for whatever you would use to make two medium loaves of bread.
Thanks for the quick response. I’ll let you know 🍀
Thanks!
I love the bread! So far the family favorite.
Can you put the doe in the fridge to bake later?
I’ve held it overnight in the fridge, but haven’t attempted to hold it for longer, so I’m not sure how well it would work. If you try holding it longer, let me know how it works for you.
Have you ever just totally made this in a breadmachine??
Yes, back before I killed my bread machine due to heavy use, I made this recipe using the default mixing/baking cycle.
Great recipie. Good texture. Very forgiving of mistakes and flexible.
How to freeze? cut, whole? before baking rise?
I don’t normally cut breads before freezing because it dries them out. I usually freeze whole after baking.
It’s possible to freeze the raw dough, but buns work better than loaves for even freezing for home bakers, since most of us don’t have blast chillers. The bread book (Never Buy Bread Again) also has instructions for par-baking and freezing.
You say it makes 2 medium loafs. Is that a 1 1/2 pound dough? I have a 13 in US pan Pullman pan which I think takes a 2 pound loaf. Knowing the size of your medium loafs would help. Many thanks.
I’ve never weighed the loaves, with with the amount of flour and water, a single batch should make a loaf weighing around 2 pounds.
Do you ever make hoagie style buns for sandwiches and if so, how would you roll and place those on the pan?
I haven’t because we opt for smaller sandwiches, but you would want to roll them out to roughly half the size you want them to be after baking. As they rise on the pan, they double in size before going into the oven.
I’d probably place them about an inch apart on a baking sheet, so they touch slightly along the edges after they rise.
I noticed you did not butter the tops. Why ? Most bread recipes say to butter the tops. I liked your video it was very informative.
You can butter the tops if you like, but this recipe gives a tender crust by default, so it’s not needed. If you like the flavor, go for it. You can also brush the tops with beaten egg before baking for a more glassy, chewy crust, and sprinkle with seeds (like sesame seeds).
For more variations, feel free to add in some dried herbs while mixing, or substitute different types of wheat flour, or add in some seeds or ground flax (up to 1/4 cup).