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    Home » Recipes » Breakfast

    Traditional Homemade White Bread

    BY: Kimberly Grabinski PUBLISHED: 26 Aug, '12 UPDATED: 20 Mar, '23 25 Comments

    RecipePrintComments
    4.31 from 13 votes

    Who doesn't love the yummy softness of Wonder Bread? Old-fashioned bread that brings us back to our childhood. White. Fluffy. Wholesome. Wait, what? Wholesome?

    homemade bread recipe 1 1 e1589582389334
    Contents
    • 📋 Recipe
    • 💬 Comments

    Have you ever looked at the ingredients of Wonder Bread? I count around 29 different ingredients. Do you have any clue what most of them are? Take a look at this: Wonder Bread Ingredients Explained for more information on exactly what is in Wonder Bread.

    Now, we all know that 100% whole wheat is the best option for a healthy diet, assuming you are eating bread to begin with. 100% whole wheat is unaltered, where white wheat has the outer, darker bran layer removed. This also removes the fiber, which is why most breads use "enriched" flour. They remove the bran layer and replace it with an artificial fiber.

    But let's be real here. Sometimes you just want white bread. And while they do have to mill the grain to make white bread flour, you can make your own white bread that is considerably better for you. It tastes great and has no artificial anything in it, and has only 7 ingredients. That's a lot less than 29. A whole lot less.

    Look at how beautiful this is:

    It's really not that difficult to make either.

    You do need a little bit of time - time for the dough to rise, but there is little effort involved, especially if you have a bread machine or mixer. Below is my traditional white bread recipe.

    📋 Recipe

    homemade bread recipe 1 1 e1589582389334

    Traditional White Bread

    This Traditional White Bread recipe is so easy to make and tastes delicious! The loaves bake up incredibly soft and fluffy. The perfect white bread!
    4.31 from 13 votes
    Print Pin Rate Save Saved! Share
    Course: Bread
    Cuisine: American
    Prep Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
    Cook Time: 20 minutes
    Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
    Servings: 20
    Calories: 118kcal
    Author: Kim Grabinski

    Ingredients
     

    • 1 cup warm water - sometimes I need more or less
    • 1 tablespoon olive oil - other oils will work, but olive oil is a healthier choice
    • 1 egg
    • 3 ½ cups bread flour - I use organic flour
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 2 teaspoons yeast
    • ½ cup raw honey - you can use sugar here if you don't have honey but honey is a better option

    Instructions

    • Mix all ingredients together in mixer with dough blade until dough forms. It should be dry enough to not be sticky but wet enough to not crumble.
    • Lift dough out of bowl, spray with olive oil (I spray the bowl) and place dough back in bowl covered with towel, allow to rise for 30-60 minutes.
    • Knead with dough blade (will deflate).
    • Remove from bowl, place dough on flowered surface and knead by hand a few times.
    • Divide in half.
    • Roll into 2 loaf shapes and place in loaf pans (mist pan with olive oil first).
    • Cover and allow to rise (depends upon temp in room, but usually around 60 minutes - it should be slightly over the top edge of the pan, do not allow to over-rise).
    • Bake at 350 for around 20-30 minutes or until golden brown on top. At around the 15 minute mark, I mist the top of the loaf with olive oil and continue cooking until done.

    Notes

    If you prefer you can use a bread machine to mix and raise the dough, and even bake the bread (verify capacity and order of ingredients with your specific machine), but personally I prefer a traditional loaf pan in the oven for baking the bread. It gives a better shape and really is very easy to do.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 118kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 8mg | Sodium: 121mg | Potassium: 41mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 12IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 5mg | Iron: 1mg
    2020 april 64

    Reader Interactions

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      Recipe Rating




    1. Nichol

      August 27, 2012 at 1:23 pm

      Beautiful looking bread Kim!!!

      Reply
      • Kim

        August 27, 2012 at 1:43 pm

        Thank you! I want to try and make it 100% whole wheat. I bought a "white whole wheat" flour and am going to try it with that next time. I also want to try gluten-free too.

        I make buns from this recipe too, instructions to come in a few days.

        Reply
        • Henrietta

          August 29, 2012 at 10:54 am

          I use the white whole wheat flour all the time in recipes that call for white flour, it works well and adds a very nice flavor!

          Reply
    2. Dee @ Cocktails with Mom

      August 27, 2012 at 8:59 pm

      Oh that looks good! I'm such a bread eater.

      Reply
    3. Robin @ Mom Foodie

      August 28, 2012 at 10:14 am

      5 stars
      I have been baking a ton from scratch since putting my daughter on gluten-free diet. I haven't made loaves (although at the price of frozen gf loaves I should), but the foccaccia dough I have been making is good & makes great regular pizza too.

      I long to bake with wheat again though. No bones about it, GF baking is a PITA!

      Reply
      • Kim

        August 28, 2012 at 11:22 am

        I am going to try it GF one of these days. It just seems like so much more work.

        Reply
    4. Jenn @therebelchick

      August 29, 2012 at 8:57 am

      5 stars
      I had no idea it was that easy to make your own bread!! I don't eat bread very often because I save my carbs for sweets but I have to try this!

      Reply
    5. Henrietta

      August 29, 2012 at 10:53 am

      5 stars
      I love bread but haven't been eating it as much. There's nothing like homemade!

      Reply
    6. pam

      August 30, 2012 at 7:10 am

      I love my bread machine but usually use a box mix. I'll try this recipe, thanks!!

      Reply
    7. SCM (SocialCafe Magazine)

      September 04, 2012 at 10:00 am

      5 stars
      Your bread came out beautiful! I love bread, but I have cut down on it almost completely since I started my weight loss this year. I have it maybe once every two weeks and always homemade. I'll have to try your recipe, since mine doesn't have egg or honey/sugar in it.

      Reply
    8. Karen of 3G2S

      September 09, 2012 at 8:16 pm

      It's so hard to believe that making fresh bread is that easy. Maybe Santa will bring me a bread machine for Christmas this year! 😀

      Reply
    9. Alison

      September 14, 2012 at 3:53 am

      5 stars
      The bread looks great Kim!!

      Reply
    10. Kasandria Reasoner

      October 11, 2012 at 8:38 am

      5 stars
      YUM!
      Kas

      Reply
    11. Courtney

      October 12, 2012 at 6:28 am

      This bread looks so soft! I've never made homemade bread - excited to try!

      Reply
    12. Online Gym

      November 27, 2012 at 6:18 pm

      I haven't had Wonder bread since i was a kid. So bad for you. But it did taste good.Your Whole wheat recipe looks awesome. Much healthier. Does look soft

      Reply
      • Dee

        October 05, 2014 at 9:17 pm

        You're not missing much with the Wonder Bread. Our local grocer just started carrying it and we bought a loaf. It's awful. Very coarse, yellow/beige in color and just doesn't taste right.

        Reply
    13. Kase

      January 09, 2013 at 3:06 pm

      3 stars
      OMG!! This is the best homemade bread I have ever made! I used my bread machine to make the dough, but I baked in the oven!! This recipe is a KEEPER!

      Reply
    14. Ashley

      April 04, 2013 at 2:14 pm

      What kid of yeast did you use for this recipe? Active dry or instant?

      Reply
    15. kristin

      February 10, 2014 at 11:46 am

      Thanks for the recipe, totally trying this!

      Reply
    16. Leighann

      June 15, 2014 at 4:10 pm

      I couldn't get my bread to rise to save my life. I used all purpose flour, active dry yeast, and honey. the second time i added a pinch of ginger and used a tbsp of sugar because someone told me it would activate the yeast. Any suggestions?
      P.S. This might be pretty obvious but I'm pretty new to cooking. any suggestions will help!!!

      Reply
      • Kimberly Grabinski

        June 15, 2014 at 7:49 pm

        How old is your yeast? Also you need some warmth for it to rise too, doing it in a cool room can cause problems.

        Reply
      • Dee

        October 05, 2014 at 9:16 pm

        As Kim said, you need warmth, usually lukewarm water but be careful it's not too hot. Sugar does nothing to the yeast to activate it.

        To poof your yeast to make sure your yeast is good mix it with a cup of lukewarm water (less if the recipe calls for less water) and let sit for at least 10 minutes. If it foams or has a layer of bubbles at the top then the yeast is active, if not then the yeast is bad.

        Reply
    17. @nicky_olea

      October 01, 2014 at 9:00 am

      5 stars
      I'd like to jump into a giant loaf of that! Yum! Thank you for sharing.

      Reply
    18. Dee

      October 05, 2014 at 9:10 pm

      I make my own pizza dough, usually white flour but have used wheat and while wheat flour has just as many calories per cup it's more dense so you can use less thus less carbs and calories. Also, years ago i started substituting honey for sugar in my dough and it's much better (got that tip from a chef at an Italian restaurant).

      Off topic of breads my husband makes his own spaghetti sauce and we let it cool to use as our pizza sauce (also got that tip from the owner of an Italian Deli) and he uses honey in his sauce. Use to use sugar but when we ran out when he was making lasagna he substituted honey and everyone said it was the best lasagna he's ever made.

      So, honey is not only healthier but also makes some dishes taste better.

      Reply
    19. Chaz Shepard

      November 04, 2014 at 9:41 am

      2 stars
      I have no gluten intolerance so I don't have to worry about gluten. I have given up on store bought bread and make my own. My bread tastes better, is healthier and costs about half as much. Currently, GMO wheat is illegal and I like that. The GMO doesn't bother me as much as the concentration of herbicides and pesticides on the end product. I have seen GMO corn is less healthy, but the sites have poor or no reliable references. I use olive oil because soy and corn are GMO. For this recipe, I followed it carefully, adding 1 T of vital gluten to help it rise higher. For flour, I use about a cup of King Arthur Whole Wheat and 2.5 cups Ultragrain White whole wheat. Both are unbleached and not bromated. Ultra. grain is a brand that claims to be softer and smoother. I like that it has one ingredient, wheat. I put the bread machine yeast in the bread machine first, then the honey and oil. I heat the water to 125 degrees in the microwave and use a thermometer. This is very warm for the yeast, but I pour the water into measuring cup I used for the honey to melt a little more honey out of the cup and when pour the water into the bread machine, it reads a proper 105 degrees. I use the bred machine to mix and raise the dough , and use cookie sheets to make rolls of various sizes for different uses, depending on the menu for the week. Smaller for dinner rolls, bigger for 1/4 pound burgers, and medium to split for my wife's open faced sandwiches for work. Your recipe with my modifications made about half the usual amount of dough I get with three cups of flour, and the rolls were doughy inside while having a lovely brown crust. The dough did not rise as much and was thicker and rubbery. It is ok, after cutting it up, I am drying it out with the residue oven heat for crotons and bread crumbs.

      Reply

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    Kim @ 730 Sage Street

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