Description
This Best Basic White Bread recipe is a simple and classic homemade bread that yields a soft, fluffy loaf with a golden crust. Perfect for sandwiches, toast, or snacking, it involves mixing basic ingredients, long fermentation for flavor development, and baking for a delicious, fresh bread experience.
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups bread flour (plus a few extra tablespoons for shaping)
- 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
- 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
Wet Ingredients
- 1 2/3 cups lukewarm water (about 90°F), plus more if needed
- 1 tablespoon oil (any type: coconut, avocado, grapeseed, olive, etc.)
Instructions
- Measure and combine dry ingredients: Pour bread flour into a measuring cup and level off with a knife. In a large bowl, mix the bread flour, salt, and yeast thoroughly until evenly combined with no lumps visible.
- Add water and mix dough: Add lukewarm water to dry ingredients and mix with hands or wooden spoon until dough is uniform, wet, and sloppy like wet Play-Doh. Add extra water or flour by tablespoons as needed to achieve a thick, sloppy consistency that won’t pour easily.
- Let dough rise at room temperature: Cover the bowl with plate or plastic wrap to retain moisture and let sit at room temperature for about 3 hours until dough roughly doubles in size but remains sticky.
- Refrigerate dough for flavor development: Place dough in the fridge for at least 3 hours, ideally between 1 day and up to a week, to cool completely and develop deeper flavor through slow yeast fermentation.
- Prepare loaf pan and shape dough: Generously oil an 8" x 4" loaf pan. Sprinkle a couple tablespoons of flour on a clean surface and dough. Turn dough out onto surface, pat gently to deflate and flatten into a round.
- Fold dough into loaf shape: Fold one side of dough into center, then fold the other side over. Roll or fold into a tight log and place seam side down into the prepared pan, smooth side facing up.
- Brush with oil and cover: Brush the top of the dough with oil. Cover the pan loosely with foil, tenting it to allow the dough to rise about 2 inches without touching the foil.
- Final rise at room temperature: Let dough rise covered at room temperature for 3 to 4 hours until it rises about 2 inches above the pan edges. If baking is delayed, rise for 2 hours then refrigerate 1 to 3 days.
- Preheat oven: Place oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 475°F for at least 20-30 minutes. Remove dough from fridge while oven preheats to warm to room temperature.
- Bake with foil on: Place loaf in oven with foil covering and bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove foil and continue baking: Remove foil, rotate loaf 180°, and bake another 15-20 minutes until deep golden brown. Bake longer (5-8 minutes) if still light in color.
- Cool bread: Remove pan from oven, let bread cool in pan a few minutes, then invert onto cooling rack. Allow bread to cool completely for at least one hour before slicing to avoid gummy texture.
- Serve: Slice and enjoy as sandwich bread, toast, or snack.
Notes
- Measuring flour by pouring and leveling ensures more accurate measurement than scooping.
- The dough will be very sticky and wet; flour and water adjustments are normal to achieve proper consistency.
- Long, slow refrigeration develops better flavor but can be varied from 3 hours to up to a week.
- Cover dough loosely when rising to allow expansion without drying out.
- Allow bread to cool completely before slicing to maintain optimal crumb texture.
- Any neutral oil can be used for brushing and pan greasing.
