This is my go-to Easy Homemade Bread recipe that always turns out great, uses simple pantry ingredients and makes my house smell amazing. The bread is so fluffy, delicious and is perfect for sandwiches.
An easy homemade bread recipe is the perfect place to start if you want to start making bread from scratch. There's something so satisfying with making your own bread - it is absolutely amazing. I love experimenting with all kinds of recipes for bread, but when I'm in the mood for simplicity, this is the one I go for.
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Why You'll Love This Simple Bread Recipe
Perfect for beginners: If you’re new to baking bread or just want an easy recipe, this is the perfect place to start.
Quick and easy: This recipe is a breeze—there aren’t many steps to follow, so you can enjoy fresh homemade bread without spending hours in the kitchen.
Absolutely nothing like homemade bread: Freshly baked bread is a game-changer. It’s amazing with Homemade Strawberry Jam or alongside a warm bowl of Chicken Noodle Soup.
A family favorite: Baking a loaf of bread brings everyone together—there’s nothing like the smell of fresh bread filling the house. You’ll have the whole family crowding around the kitchen, ready to grab a warm slice!
Ingredients:
- warm water (110-115 degrees Fahrenheit) - This temperature is perfect for activating the yeast without killing it—just warm enough to help it get to work.
- dry yeast (active dry yeast or instant yeast) *see note below
- sugar - Regular granulated sugar works fine, but I often swap it for honey.
- oil - Any neutral oil works, but I like using olive oil best, followed by avocado oil.
- flour - Bread flour is the best choice for a chewy, airy texture, but all-purpose flour works too.
- salt
The complete list of ingredients and their exact measurements can be found in the recipe card below.
Active Dry Yeast vs. Instant Yeast
They are very similar and can be used interchangeably in recipes. However, active dry yeast needs to be dissolved in warm water first, before using it in a recipe. Instant yeast can be added in dry.
If you're not sure which yeast you have, just add it to warm water first to be safe. The water should be about 90-110 degrees Fahrenheit. If the water is too hot, it will kill the yeast and your dough won't rise.
Is Your Yeast Still Active?
It's such a bummer if you make the bread dough and then wait and wait and it doesn't rise.
To check if your yeast is still active, sprinkle the yeast into some warm water (100-110 degrees Fahrenheit) with a little bit of sugar. Set it aside for 5-10 minutes. It should rise and foam up. It’s ready to use! If your yeast doesn’t do that, it’s time to get new yeast.
P.S. Store your yeast in the refrigerator or even your freezer so it stays fresh longer.
How To Make Homemade Bread
- Dissolve the yeast in the warm water with half of the sugar. (If you're not sure if your yeast is good, set it aside for about 5 minutes, it should foam up.)
- Mix the liquid ingredients. Pour the water with yeast into a large bowl of a stand mixer. Add the rest of the sugar and the oil.
- Add the dry ingredients. Mix in half of the flour, starting on low speed until it’s well combined. Gradually add the remaining flour and salt, continuing to mix until all the flour is fully incorporated. Knead the dough for at least 5 minutes, up to 10 minutes, if you're doing it by hand.
- Set the dough aside to rise until doubled in size, anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the temperature in your home. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Shape the dough. When the dough has doubled, place the dough on the counter and shape it into a rectangle. It should be roughly the width of your bread pan. Roll it up tightly, starting with the short side until you have a neat loaf. Place it seam side down into your bread pan. (Mine is about 9 X 5 inches)
- Set aside to rise until doubled again. The dough should rise slightly over the edges of the bread pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 23-25 minutes. Enjoy!
Expert Tips
Here are a few tips that make this easy bread recipe even more simple and perfect.
Oil the bowl: Before setting your dough to rise, brush a little oil on the bottom and sides of the bowl. This helps the dough come out easily once it’s risen, making the process much smoother.
Cover it up: Use plastic wrap (or a shower cap) to cover the bowl. This will keep the dough from drying out and create a nice, moist environment for it to rise properly.
Roll up the bread dough before placing it in the bread pan to rise. While it may seem like an extra step, rolling the dough helps create better structure. Dough that’s simply plopped into the pan tends to be denser and lacks the structure needed for a light, airy loaf. By flattening the dough into a rectangle and rolling it tightly, you’ll achieve a neater shape, a more tender crumb, and a loaf with better structure.
When you get the bread out of the oven, brush the top with butter. It will be even more delicious, but will also make the bread have a glossy finish and will make the crust softer.
Quick Ways to Speed Up Dough Rising
Want your dough to rise faster? Here are a couple of my secret tricks to speed up the process ☺️.
- Use a Heated Blanket: Wrap your dough bowl in a heated blanket. This creates a cozy, warm environment that helps activate the yeast, so your dough rises faster.
- Use a Warm Garage or Laundry Room: A warm garage or small laundry room can work wonders for dough rising. These spaces often stay cozy and warm, providing the perfect environment for the yeast to activate and help your dough rise faster.
- Try the Instant Pot for Faster Rising: If you have an Instant Pot, place the dough inside the inner chamber and set it to the yogurt setting. The warm temperature (around 100°F) creates the perfect environment for your dough to rise in about half the usual time. It’s a quick and efficient way to speed up the process.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cover the bowl and the bread pan with plastic wrap. You can also brush the top of the dough with oil for extra insurance.
Homemade bread doesn't have any preservatives in it like store bought bread, so it will not stay fresh as long. (This is never a problem in our family - it's so delicious, it gets eaten much faster!)
Store the bread in a paper bag or wrapped in a clean kitchen towel if you don't want it to get softer. It will last at room temperature for a few days.
If you want to keep it fresh longer than 3-4 days, store it in the refrigerator for 7-9 days.
Yes! Bread freezes really well. Make an extra loaf and freeze it, or, cut a loaf in half if you have a smaller family. Make sure the bread is wrapped tightly, preferably in multiple layer. Freeze for 1-3 months. Here's a detailed post all about how to freeze bread.
Thaw at room temperature. (Remove the bread from the bag/container, wrap it in a towel while thawing, so it absorbs any condensation.)
If your bread has big air pockets or gaping holes, it’s likely that the dough wasn’t rolled up tightly enough. Make sure to roll the dough snugly when shaping it before placing it in the pan. This helps eliminate large air pockets and ensures a more even crumb, giving you a soft, uniform texture.
More Delicious Bread Recipes You Will Love
Easy Homemade Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water (110-115 degrees F)
- 2 ¼ teaspoon dry yeast
- 2 Tablespoons sugar or honey
- 2 Tablespoons oil olive oil, avocado oil (any neutral oil will work)
- 3 - 3 ¼ cups flour bread flour or unbleached all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- butter optional, for brushing on top of bread
Instructions
- Warm up the water until it's a nice, bath water temperature. (See note.) Sprinkle in the yeast and half the sugar. Mix it until the yeast and sugar dissolve. The yeast should get foamy within a few minutes.
- Pour all the liquid ingredients (water, yeast, sugar and oil) into a large bowl of a stand mixer and mix to combine.
- Add half the flour to the bowl and start on low speed and mix the dough with a dough hook attachment, until the it comes together. Add the remaining flour and salt, gradually increasing the speed and knead the dough for 5-10 minutes.
- Brush the bowl and coat the dough in a little bit of oil, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside to rise until it doubles in size 30-90 min.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- When the dough has doubled, place the dough on the counter and shape it into a rectangle. It should be about the width of your bread pan. (I use a 9 X 5 inch bread pan.)
- Roll it up tightly, starting with the short side and then place it seam side down into a greased loaf pan.
- Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a towel and set aside until the dough doubles once again, 30 minutes to an hour.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 23-27 minutes.
- Take the bread out of the bread pan within 5 minutes and let it cool on a rack. Brush the top of the bread with butter to make it more glossy and to make the crust softer.
- Store the bread, wrapped or in a bag, at room temperature, for 3-4 days. Store in the refrigerator if you need it to last 5-9 days. Bread can also be frozen for 1-3 months.
Notes
- Water Temperature: The water should be between 110-115°F. This is the ideal range for activating the yeast without killing it. If it’s too hot (above 120°F), it could kill the yeast; too cold, and it won’t activate properly. You can check the temperature with a kitchen thermometer or test it by dipping your finger in—it should feel warm but not hot.
- Bread Flour vs. All-Purpose Flour: Bread flour has a higher protein content, which gives the bread its chewy, airy texture. If you don’t have bread flour, all-purpose flour will work just fine, though the loaf might be a little softer. If you have access to it, I recommend using bread flour for the best results.
- Sweeteners: You can substitute honey for sugar in this recipe if you prefer. Honey adds a subtle sweetness and can give the bread a slightly richer flavor.
- Optional Step - Brush with Oil: Before baking, you can brush or spray the top of the dough with a little oil. This will help create a more golden crust and prevent the dough from sticking to the plastic wrap.
I am a little confused about the amount of flower you put in the recipe?
The amount of flour is 3 cups or 3 and 1/4 cups.
So I went ahead and made both of your breads (Simple Homemade and American). My husband liked the bread with water and oil and I liked the bread with milk and butter. 🙂 Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Isn't it awesome how everyone has different tastes?
Hey Olga, I would like to double this bread recipe in the future. Do you know if this bread will come out perfect if I double all of the ingredients?
Yes, the bread will be just fine. Just bake in in 2 bread pans. I mentioned in the post that I used to bake 5 loaves of bread at once when I still lived with my parents.
Yep. You can freeze it. However, I don't advise storing any kind of bread in the refrigerator. The bread will dry out and stale much more quickly in the refrigerator. I usually store bread at room temperature, with in a bag or wrapped in a clean kitchen towel.
Ok, so I have to write another comment again. Since my first post, I've made this bread like 6 times now and will be making another one before the week is out (can't make a double batch because I only have one bread pan). The house smells like a bakery several times a week.
To anyone who was like me before, the idea of homemade bread seems impossible, or that you have to have a bread machine to make good bread, don't give up. Seriously, every time I made this bread, turns out the same awesomeness(is that a real word?). Wow your friends and family.
Olga, I can't thank you enough, my husband and kids equally love this bread. Is there an easy recipe for whole wheat bread too? My husband wants to expand my cooking skills, lol.
Wow. Good for you, Oksana. I'm glad to hear that you and your family are enjoying some homemade bread. You've inspired me to bake some bread tomorrow. Thank you so much for the kind words, Oksana!
I'll try to post some of my favorite whole wheat bread recipes sometime in the future.
Do you like Russian Black Bread? It's one of my favorites and I have the recipe here on the blog.
Just looked up that recipe, and I made a list of ingredients to buy. So maybe I'll tackle this recipe next week and surprise my husband. Thanks so much.
I just made this bread yesterday night. It is not hard at all and tastes really, really, really good (get the point?). My husband also liked it alot. I am wondering though, when the dough is stretched into the rectangle, before rolling it up, if it would be ok to sprinkle cinnamon and sugar, so that it bakes into the bread. Safeway has this french toast bread, where you can see the cinnamon swirls on each slice. Do you think that will work with this bread? I might have to try it myself next time (very soon) when I bake this again.
Ok, so I did it. Today I made the bread again, and this time I put in the cinnamon and sugar on it before I rolled it. Oh, and I added extra tablespoon of sugar to the recipe because my intention was to make it taste kind of like safeway french toast bread. It was the right idea, the bread turned out beautifully. My son especially liked this new version with the cinnamon. One thing though, I didn't roll it too tightly, so there is a swirly gap in the bread when cutting it. But besides that, put a little honey on it, and you've got your dessert. Thanks Olga for posting your recipe, this is definately a keeper.
p.s. you should put a disclaimer on your site: If anyone who cooks often from this website can't fit into any of their regular clothing again, Olga's not to blame, and will not be paying your new wardrobe. 😉
That's great to know, Oksana. I'm glad your cinnamon bread turned out so well. I would have used a bread dough that is based on milk and butter instead of water, though.
That disclaimer is a good idea, thanks! You made me smile!
That's awesome, Oksana. I'm glad my humble bread recipe is enjoyed by others. Homemade bread is so wonderful!
I see you already tried making it with cinnamon with great success. Good job!
What kind of flour do you use? I never made home made bread before for all of your other recipes I used Canadian flour. We also bought "bread flour" but I never used it. Which one would you recommend? Thank you
Mariya,
I've never used Canadian flour, so I'm not sure what it's all about. I recommend unbleached all purpose flour. That's the one I use for all my baking. Bread flour will work great for this recipe too.
I use Canadian flour, basically its just flour made in Canada. My mom and some other people I know always prefer this flour when baking. One thing though, when using this flour you need to decrease how much you use. Like for this bread recipe, I needed only slightly less than 3 full cups of flour, otherwise the dough gets too tough. I haven't bought other type of flour in a long time. This flour is usually sold at Winco and Cash & Carry.
I've never seen Canadian flour sold here and we don't have any of those stores in our area. As a blogger, I like to use ingredients that are accessible to most people. That's not always possible, but I do my best. I'm glad it worked out for you.
Aha! That is what I did wrong. I am using Canadian flour as well, 12 years after your comment. I added some more warm water to get all the flour to mix and knead well.
Bread is... AAAAMMAAAAZIIING!!! The most PERFECT bread!! Doubt I'll be buying bread again! Paired with your soup with meatballs... Match made in heaven 🙂
Thanks for taking the time to let me know you enjoyed the bread, Tanya. I think there is nothing more perfect than soup and homemade bread. Glad you liked it.
Hi Olga!!
This bread is absolutely wonderful!! I've been trying to find a recipe for bread that is similar to the kind my aunt makes and I must say, this one might be better (shhhh 🙂 )... It's like perfectly fluffy but not too fluffy and soft and yummy! With everything! Honey, jam, butter, for sandwiches!!! WOW!!!! OK, you probably got the point-- it's sooooo goooood!!! My husband said, "I don't think we'll ever be buying bread anymore. This one is delicious!"
Thank you soooo much!!!!
Natasha,
I'm so happy to hear that! Your comment just made me grin and feel bubbly. I'm so glad you liked it. Thanks for taking the time to write.
There’s nothing yummier than freshly baked homemade bread! 😋😋😋😋😋This sounds delicious and I will have to try it soon!
I absolutely agree!
I was looking for the perrrfect bread recipe and just couldn't find, yours is perrrfect, thank you for sharing, love your blog
I sure hope you're pleased with this bread, Veronika.
Have you tried making it with whole wheat flour?
Nope, not this bread. I have another recipe that I make with whole wheat flour. It's a multigrain bread, and I love it too. You can try this bread with whole wheat flour, just substitute part of the all purpose flour for whole wheat, not the full amount, or the bread will be too dense and hard.
Made this bread today and it came out great! So delicious! My 2 1/2 and 18 months old boys couldn't stop eating it. There is still few little pieces left for my husband when he comes back from work 🙂 Thank you so much for all of your amazing recipes. You are the best!
That's awesome, Natasha! Kudos to you for saving your husband a piece:).
I want to try a new bread recipe. What is the difference would you say is between this recipe and American Sandwich bread? Does this one taste more Russian?
I wouldn't say one or the other tastes more "Russian". The American Sandwich bread uses milk and butter instead of water and oil, so it has a similar texture to a sweet yeast bread, if you know what I mean, except it's not sweet. It's hard to explain.
I will try this next week 🙂
I wonder if you could use milk instead of water to make the bread. Would it work?
If you want to use milk, I have another recipe for bread that uses milk, American Sandwich Bread. Check it out.
Even though my dough was tough (error on my part, I'm sure) this bread was amazing! Thank you so much - this recipe is a keeper!
Thank you so much for your kind words, Jenn! I’m so happy to hear the bread turned out amazing, even with the tough dough. It’s totally understandable—sometimes it just takes a little practice to get the dough just right. For next time, you might try using a little less flour, especially when you’re mixing the dough, as it can affect the texture.
I’m thrilled to hear this recipe is a keeper for you! Thanks again for trying it, and happy baking!
Beautiful bread. Nothing like homemade bread. Will have to try your recipe. What is the reason for rolling up the dough?
Thanks, lana! Absolutely agree. Homemade bread is awesome. Rolling up the dough helps to have an even texture inside.
This bread recipe is totally magnificent!! The flavor and texture are ideal:) especially when fresh out of the oven with a little butter:) mmm mmm good!!