The Softest, Fluffiest Homemade White Bread You Can Make - Flour Child (2024)

This recipe for simple white bread is super soft, moist, fluffy and surprisingly easy to make.

The Best Thing Since...

I've always enjoyed making bread at home. Pro tip: always eat breakfast or lunch ahead of baking bread. Otherwise the smell of the fresh, hot baking bread that fills every corner of the house will drive you crazy -- ask me how I know!

Bread has been a part of our diets for at least the last 12,000 years, when it was made from grass grains. Over time the grains and methods changed, and it was probably the ancient Egyptians who created an early version of wheat bread that we may recognize. Here in the US, breads continued changing and white bread was developed as a way of showing how clean and pure the flour was. Since it required more processing and was expensive, people saw it as a status symbol. In the mid century there were plenty of brands of sandwich bread available nationally and regionally. But many mid century cooks still made it from scratch.

Some breads are easier than others to make. Factors include whether it requires many ingredients, or it takes a long time to make because you have to let the dough rise and then punch it down multiple times. Sometimes you just want to make an easy, quick white bread, but choosing which one can be a challenge. Just because it's easy doesn't mean it will taste good. In fact, it's usually the opposite. There are plenty of recipes for this simple staple, but they vary widely in terms of density and hardness.

I remember my grandmother in Kentucky hardly ever came home with 'store bought' bread; she always baked it. Her 'recipe' was pretty simple because she tended to use just the staples. It was always fun watching her cook and listening to her tell the old time mountain stories. She never wrote anything down, but having watched her make white bread many times I felt confident I could recreate it. Nancy had a mid century handwritten recipe that was very similar to how she made it. I've made a few modifications to this recipe over the years, but it's a very good recipe just as it is.

When we were first experiencing the shutdown and shortages due to Covid, I wanted some comfort food. Nothing says that like hot, crusty, fresh bread from the oven. Just one problem -- we couldn't get dairy products in our area and there was no powdered milk to be found. So I had to experiment making bread without milk. I'd seen my grandmother do it, so it didn't seem all that hard. It turns out to have been a blessing in disguise. Removing the milk and adding more water made that batch the fluffiest, softest bread I'd ever baked. This is how I will make it from now on.

Only 5 Ingredients for Tasty White Bread

Compared to some recipes, this one is pretty simple in both the ingredients and the steps. You'll want to make sure you have enough all-purpose flour on hand, but that's the only caveat. This recipe makes two loaves, and friends are delighted to receive one if it is too much for you. To make it, it only takes only 5 ingredients plus water:

• Warm water
• Yeast
• Unsalted butter
• Sugar
• Salt
• All-purpose flour

One Last Twist

One thing my grandmother always did when baking white bread was to shape the dough by hand into a rectangle as wide as her baking pan--usually about 8 or 9 inches. Then she would roll that rectangle up into a tube and fold the ends under and place that into the baking pan. It gives the bread a very nice swirl look when you slice it open, like in the picture above. There may also be some practical reason for that step, but I don't know -- I just like how it looks.

Tips for Successful White Bread

Some people are a little afraid to bake bread so they use a bread machine, which is the next best thing. If you haven't already, I encourage you to give it a try from scratch with this easy recipe. Once you make it yourself you'll see it's really fun and delicious. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Use a stand mixer with a dough hook for the easiest mixing of the dough
• Don't get concerned about forming the dough into an exact rectangle or tube shape
• Place dough in a greased 9" x 5" loaf pan for baking
• Keep a piece of foil nearby to place over the top of the loaves as they bake to keep the crust from getting too brown
• Store cooled bread in airtight containers or plastic wrap and eat it promptly. It gets stale quickly without preservatives

What twists do you put on your homemade white bread recipes? Do you add any other ingredients? Drop us a line and let us know.

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