A simple and basic easy homemade bread recipe that is great for beginner bread makers.
Learning to make homemade bread can seem intimidating. But the truth is that homemade bread is actually very easy to make. The hardest part is waiting around for the dough to rise. Making homemade bread as a family is a great tradition to start with your kids. Bake up a couple of loaves every week together. Homemade bread loaves also make awesome gifts!
Homemade bread makes incredible homemade toast! It’s even better when topped with homemade jam like Simple Homemade Blueberry Instant Pot Jam Recipe or Freezer Strawberry Jam.
Homemade Bread Recipe – Ingredients
The ingredients you need to make homemade bread are quite simple. Once you have yeast in your house, the rest of the ingredients are pantry staples.
- Dry active yeast – You can buy the packets to start but yeast is cheaper in bulk. Keep a small jar of yeast in the freezer (heat kills yeast) for baking. We haven’t found any major difference in the brand of yeast.
- Warm water – The water should be warm but not hot. Err on the side of it being too cool rather than too hot. It will just take longer to rise. We have always used regular tap water.
- Granulated sugar – The sugar helps activate the yeast but you can skip it if you are limiting sugar intake.
- Salt – The salt adds flavor to the bread so definitely add it.
- Olive oil – Olive oil adds fat to the bread which makes it richer. You can skip the oil or use melted butter (not hot!) or coconut oil, too.
- Bread flour – Bread flour has a higher gluten content than all purpose flour. This makes the bread have a lighter crumb. But you can still make decent homemade bread with all purpose flour.
Homemade Bread Recipe
Place the warm water in the bowl of your mixer. Add the sugar to the warm water, and stir until dissolved.
Sprinkle the packets of dry active yeast over the surface of the warm water, and gently stir it in. Let the yeast mixture sit until it is foamy and activated.
Add in the salt and olive oil. Mix well.
Slowly mix in the 5 cups of bread flour one cup at a time. The dough should be a little bit sticky once all the flour is incorporated. If it is too dry, add a little bit of water. If it is too sticky, add more flour by the Tablespoon.
Use the bread hook attachment on your mixer if it has one for the best results. If you do not have a mixer, you can work the ingredients together by kneading on a well floured surface with your hands.
Once well combined, place the dough in a bowl coated with oil, and turn it around over and over so that all sides are coated in the oil.
Cover the bowl lightly with a towel. Let the bowl sit covered for about 2 hours or until the dough has at least doubled in size.
When the dough is ready, remove it from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface. Knead it a few times. Cut the dough in half, and place each half in a greased loaf pan.
Use a sharp knife to cut three slits down the center of the bread dough. Let the dough sit again until it has risen close to the top of the loaf pan.
While the dough rises in the loaf pans, pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Once the bread is ready, bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, or until browned on top and cooked through. Allow the bread to cool completely before slicing.
Homemade Bread Recipe
A simple and basic easy homemade bread recipe that is great for beginner bread makers.
Ingredients
- 2 Packets dry active yeast
- 2 c. warm water
- ⅓ c. granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tsp Salt
- ¼ c. olive oil
- 5 c. bread flour
- Olive oil for coating
- Extra flour for kneading
Instructions
- Place the warm water in the bowl of your mixer.
- Add the sugar to the warm water, and stir until dissolved.
- Sprinkle the packets of dry active yeast over the surface of the warm water, and carefully stir it in. Let the yeast mixture sit until it is foamy and activated.
- Add in the salt and olive oil. Mix well.
- Slowly add in the 5 cups of bread flour a little at a time. Use the bread hook attachment on your mixer if it has one for the best results. If you do not have a mixer, you can work the ingredients together by kneading on a well floured surface with your hands.
- Once well combined, place the dough in a bowl coated with oil, and turn it around over and over so that all sides are coated in the oil.
- Let the bowl sit covered for about 2 hours until it has at least doubled in size.
- Remove the bread, and knead it a few times on a floured surface.
- Cut the dough in half, and place each half in a greased loaf pan.
- Use a sharp knife to cut three slits down the center of the bread dough.
- Let the dough sit again until it has risen close to the top of the loaf pan.
- Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, or until browned on top and cooked through.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
2Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 1914Total Fat: 41gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 32gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 1766mgCarbohydrates: 332gFiber: 12gSugar: 34gProtein: 50g