I'm normally a wheat bread kind of girl but for some reason or another this sounded good the other day. So I whipped up a batch of simple white bread.
What you need:
- 1/2 c. warm water
- 1 1/2 T yeast
- 1 T sugar
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1/3 c. oil
- 1/6 c. sugar
- 2 t. salt
- 1 1/4 c. cold water
- 3 c. flour
- 3 -4 c. flour
In a small bowl mix the 1/2 c. warm water, yeast, and 1 T. sugar. Let it sit for 5 minutes or so.
In a mixer or in another bowl mix the boiling water, oil, sugar, and salt. Stir until it dissolves.
Add in the cold water and mix and then add in the yeast mixture. (You want the mixture temp to be lukewarm before you add the yeast and thats why do you do this.)
Add in 3 cups of flour and stir. Let this mixture rise for 30 minutes.
This is after 30 minutes. We have some nice bubbling yeast action going on here. 
Add in the rest of the flour. It should form a nice not sticky dough. Let this rest for about 30 minutes.
Form into loaves and stick in a loaf pan. Let these rise for about an hour in a warm covered place. Or at least until doubled in size. Then bake them at 350F for 35-40 minutes.
Remove the loaves from the oven(this will make 2 loaves) and brush the tops with butter.
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{ 37 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow!! That looks so Yummy!! I bet that it tasted good and smelled so good too!! Just wanted you to know that you are an inspiration to me! Thank You so much!! Really enjoy your posts!!
I have failed many times making bread, but I’m going to try again. Somehow you make everything seem do-able! Thanks for helping us along.
I’ll share a little story with you… When I was 8 years old I joined a 4-H Club and signed up to do breadmaking in the fair. I made my little loaf of quick bread and took it to show the judge. It was my first fair and I was so nervous. The judge was so… judgmental…she didn’t tell me I did anything right and just focused on what I did wrong. So the next year I decided to try again. I made my bread the night before the fair, when I went to take it out of the oven it looked like soup. I had forgotten to add any rising agents. I was up so late that night making another batch of bread. After that year I stopped entering bread in the fair but I kept working on it and working on it. So yes, it took me that long to get breadmaking down! I always loved baking every since I was little but breadbaking was hard for me! It just took alot of time and alot of practice.
If you have a hard time getting dough to rise (especially in our cold, dry climate!) here is a tip that has always worked great for me – heat the oven to 200 degrees, then *Turn Off.* Boil a pot of water on the stove and stick it on the lowest rack of the oven. Put the dough on the rack above the boiling water. Close the oven and voila! This has never failed to get dough to rise for me! (I read it on the back of those frozen dough biscuits you can buy at Family Thrift!)
Hi,
I l ove your website , you are teaching me so much and love going back to the way things used to be. I would like to ask one thing please, I wish you could make it where we can print the receipe without the pictures. It just uses so much ink and paper..please help..and thank you..I really look forward to you in my emal.
Suz
Suz, when you click the Print Friendly button on the bottom of the post to print the recipe, there is a little box that you can check on the top of the pop up box that says “No Images” once you click that it will take away all the images and you will be able to just print the recipe. I hope that helps!
I have never tried making my own bread, but you make it seem almost easy, so I am going to give it a try. Two questions: Do you have to have a mixer or can you mix it by hand as well ? Also, if you bake the bread before the dough has risen, what happens? What is the purpose of having the dough rise first?
You don’t have to have a mixer but you will need to knead it well before you let it rise. Bread has to rise to let the yeast work, when it rises properly you will have the nice fluffy airy bread that you think of when you think bread, otherwise it will just be a hard flat loaf. Have fun!
Thanks!
Just about to pop my bread in the oven. I always thought making bread was scary hard… Definitely not thanks!
I just wanted to say thank you for posting this recipe. My family loves it. Also the Chocolate chip bagels are great. As far as the bread goes, I have stopped buying bread from the store and I make this one. We go through 4 loaves a week. THANK YOU! I can now say I make good bread.
Hi Merissa! This is a really interesting site. I managed to ‘stumble’ across it, while looking for ways to save and such. Anyway, as I was reading this fantastic receipe, I just wanted to double check your amounts. I’ve been baking a variety of different types of bread from scratch lately and most of those receipes only require a teaspoon of yeast and an equal amount of sugar. The capital “T” in baking generally stands for Tablespoon, which sounds like an awful lot of yeast, and sugar, even for two loaves. Are you sure you don’t mean teaspoon for both the yeast and sugar? The receipes that I’ve been using, from King Arthur Flour and Red Star Yeast, only call for a teaspoon of yeast and/or sugar even for their larger receipes – This also saves on ingredents – I’ve been able to make 3 bread receipes from just one small packet of yeast (which contains 2 1/4 tsp. of yeast). I now buy my yeast in bulk (one pound cake) and store it in the fridge. I easily make at least one to two loaves a day for my family (and everyone loves it so much better than store bought) that I go through enough yeast to make that cost effective for me. But I just wondered on the amounts you listed for your bread here. Thanks for all your tips! Can’t wait to check out the whole site.
Hi MaryBeth and welcome! I double checked my recipe and the amounts of 1 T of yeast and 1 T of sugar is correct to make 2 loaves for this recipe.
Can u let this dough rise in your bread machine . On the dough cycle.
You could try it!
Strawberry Lemon Muffins! They were AMAZING!!
Instead of two loaves do you know if this would make one big long loaf? I have the long commercial bread pan.
3 dozen yeast rolls. A cake, maybe brownies……
I made this & the 2 loaves that it made were delicious!..They were HUGE loves!..not the kind you get in the store!..I would say 1 1/2 lb. loaves..each..I don’t know why you couldn’t make it in a commercial bread pan?..Thanks for the recipe, Merissa..I had no problem with making them..am going to make some more!
I’m making baked apples as a nice chilly day snack.
You could try a commercial bread pan but Mel is right, they are huge loaves! With the double batch I plan on making 2 loaves and then a tray with sub sandwich buns.
Thank you, do you know if the dough can be made in a breadmaker or is too much for a 2lb. breadmaker?
Gluten free rolls.
I just made a batch of whole white wheat biscuits. They are delicious. We are having biscuits and (homemade) sausage for lunch today…but the kids and I all had to sample a biscuit fresh from the oven for breakfast, too!
It’s too much. If you are looking for one that will fit in the bread machine well I’d do this one: http://www.littlehouseliving.com/breadmaker-bread-mix.html
Do you have a wheat post or what would be the adjustment for wheat?
I made a chocolate cookie with a peppermint frosting, banana bread and then I made Alton Brown’s mayo. I love his recipe for it!
Letia, I haven’t made that recipe full wheat but I have substituted half wheat and half white and it was very good!
Well don’t you usually use some white in wheat recipes?
Betty Crocker has a good wheat and white bread machine recipe.
I’m cooking a turkey! I love doing turkeys year round – which provides delicious ‘real’ meat (aka ‘lunch meat’) for sandwiches, yummy and fast dinner options, jars of turkey soup and gallons of turkey stock. And the house smells sooooo good!
lol i made bread last night
We’re having a women’s night out at our church tonight. I was thinking about my bread machine, now I’ll have to use it to make something!
I baked a yellow cake last night, and will be baking again Saturday.
Making!!!
The recipe doesnt say anything about kneading. Does it not need to be kneaded?
I make this recipe in my mixer, as seen above, so I don’t have to knead it. But if you don’t have a mixer you will need to knead it well after you add the second batch of flour and before you let it rise. Then after you let it do the second rise ( 1 hour) punch it down and knead it a bit more.