Basic White Bread Recipe

Prep Time

4h 30m

Cook Time

30m

Total Time

5h

Yield

1 loaf around 1lb in size

Basic White Bread Loaf

The basic white bread recipe is the typical start of anyone's breadmaking journey.

It's easy to master, doesn't take forever to make and tastes great.

Let's take a look at the ingredients for a basic white loaf. This loaf should fit a 1lb loaf tin, the dimensions for that tin should be something in the range of  24cm x 10cm x 5cm.

Ingredients

For 1 small loaf

  • 250g strong white bread flour
  • 150ml warm water
  • 3.5g yeast
  • 0.5 tsp salt
  • 1.5 tsp sugar
  • 2 tsp olive oil

Method

Step 1

Basic white bread ingredients

To start, sieve your flour into a large mixing bowl and add in the yeast, sugar and salt.  Give this a bit of a mix and combine everything together

Step 2

Basic white bread mixture

Next we want to add in our wet ingredients, add the oil and then the water to this. You can either use a dough hook or get messy with your hands and really mix this together.

Step 3

Basic white bread ready for proving

Once we have this all mixed add some oil to a work surface and pour the mix onto the surface.

We now need to knead this dough for around 10 mins, if the dough appeared to be a bit too wet you can add small amounts of flour to help.

Once this feels nice and smooth, transfer this to a bowl that has been lightly oiled and cover it with some cling film or saran wrap.


Step 4

Basic white bread after proving

Its now time for the first rise, leave this in a warm place for 1 hour or until it has doubled in size.

Step 5

White bread mixture after second prove

We then need to knock the dough back with around 5 more minutes of kneading. This dough can now be shaped into something that is about the same size as your loaf tin.

You can now put the dough in the tin and leave this for another short rise of about 30 mins


Step 6

Preheat your oven to 200F / 180 Fan / Gas Mark 6

Step 7

When the oven is pre-heated, you can score the top of the loaf. This will help the bread to expand. It also makes your bread look pretty good!

Cook in the middle of your oven for around  30 - 35 mins


Step 8

Basic white bread after cooking

When it is done take the bread out of the tin and tap the bottom. It should sound hollow inside. This is the sign of a cooked loaf.

You then need to allow this to cool on wire rack for 15 mins before slicing into it.


Shane Jones

Hey there! I'm Shane, the face and hands behind BakeSomeBread. My journey into the world of bread and pastries started over 10 years ago, and what began as a simple hobby quickly turned into an all-consuming passion. While I might not have formal qualifications or fancy titles, I've spent countless hours perfecting my recipes, experimenting with flavors, and, yes, learning from a few (or maybe more than a few) baking blunders along the way.

I've never been featured in glossy magazines, and I don't have any teaching stints to boast about, but what I do have is genuine love for baking and a drive to share that with all of you. Every recipe you find here is a result of my personal adventures in the kitchen—tried, tested, and baked with love.

Trust is a big deal for me. So, while I'm always up for a bit of baking fun, I'm serious when it comes to authenticity. Every bit of advice and every recipe on this site comes straight from my own experience. And hey, if I can help even one of you find joy in baking, then all those flour-covered days and nights have been worth it! Happy baking, folks! Oh, and come and say hi on Social Media too!