Name: Easy White Bread from Scratch
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Ingredients: 2 teaspoons active dry yeast or instant yeast; 2 tablespoons room-temperature water; 1 teaspoon sugar; 1 cup whole milk with 1 egg ((place the egg first and then fill the rest of the cup with milk, both room temperature)); 2 tablespoons whipping cream ((I use the canned kind or sour cream, room temperature)); 1-1/2 teaspoons salt; 2 tablespoons sugar; 3-1/2 cups all purpose flour ((437.5 g))

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Light, fluffy and a touch of sweetness. Perfect for toast or sandwiches.

{recipe updated from January 7th, 2016}

I know baking can be stressful if you've never done it before, or if you've tried it and failed.

Because I love eating fresh, out of the oven bread with a thick layer of butter, I want you to have the same experience!

I hope that the step by step instructions and pictures on how to make easy white bread from scratch will help you make the best bread ever! ?

Yeast Dough

Yeast dough bread… I think lots of people are afraid of yeast or the process involved in working with it.

Yes, it takes more time than whipping up a cake or some muffins, but it isn’t hard and the smell when it’s finally baking…mmm! makes it all worth it.

One of the things that scared me the most about baking with yeast was having approximate amounts of flour in the recipe, like ‘5 to 6 cups’. If you've never made bread before, how do you know you've added enough flour?

I was frustrated about that until I got a bread machine (which kneads the dough and bakes the bread) that came with a recipe book with the exact amounts!

But, to be honest, the quality of the flour varies among different countries. A bread that came out perfectly in Paraguay, didn’t turn out well in the USA.

Thanks to that cookbook I overcame my fears when baking with yeast and helped me create my own recipes.

This is one of my favorite recipes and it comes from my bread machine cookbook. It’s so soft and spongy, great for sandwiches, and as I said before, the smell that lingers in the house… yum, amazing!

How to Make Yeast Bread from Scratch

In a small bowl, mix two tablespoons water, a teaspoon of sugar and yeast. Set aside for 8 minutes.

For liquid ingredients: start adding the egg and then add milk until you get a cup of the egg-milk mixture. Then, add the cream and mix well with a fork until combined.

Add the yeast and the liquid ingredients to the flour. Mix well.

Place the dough on a flat surface and cover your hands in flour. This dough will be a bit sticky, so the flour will prevent it from being stuck to your hands. Do this every two minutes or every time you feel it too sticky.

When working with this dough, I prefer flouring my hands rather than sprinkling it on the countertop.

This is how it looks like after kneading for 10 minutes. If you have never made bread before, this a good site that shows you how to knead the dough.

After kneading for 10 minutes, place the dough in a greased bowl (use neutral, vegetal oil), flip the dough to cover it in oil, and cover with plastic film.

Set aside in a warm place. I generally leave it in the laundry room. This time, I let it rise for an hour.

When the weather is cold, it takes between an hour and a half and two hours. It will be ready by the time it has doubled its size.

After the dough has doubled in size, place it on a floured flat surface and stretch it a little with your hands. Then, bring a point to the middle and press with the palm of your hand to seal.

Take the other point of the dough wrapping the other half. You’ll get a roll-like shape. Press with the palm of your hand.

Flip the dough and fold the points around ¼ towards the middle of the roll. Press with the palm of your hand again. Place in a greased mold with the folded part facing down.

Cover the pan with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes. Since my oven takes around 20 minutes to reach 200°C/400°F, I turn it on considering the time the dough needs to rest.

Bake at 200°C/400°F for 5 minutes, then, lower to 175°C / 350°F and keep baking for 35 more minutes.

It will be in the oven for 40 minutes. When you take it out of the oven, you can brush it with melted butter.

Now, the hard part is waiting for the bread to get cool!

I love eating warm, fresh bread with butter, but if you cut it while still hot, the crumb will stick or fold and it will not have a nice shape… but it will be tasty!

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5 from 6 votes