Easy White Bread Recipe For Beginners
New to bread baking? Try this beginner-friendly white bread recipe! With clear instructions and 5 basic ingredients, you'll bake delicious bread with a perfect golden-brown crust from scratch.
Equipment
- kitchen scale
- digital thermometer
- measuring jug
- big bowl (for resting the dough)
- wooden spoon
- plastic bowl scraper
Ingredients
FOR ACTIVATING YEAST
- 14 g active dry yeast
- 50 g all-purpose flour
- 60 g water (35-37°C/95°F-99°F)
FOR THE DOUGH
- 950 g all-purpose flour
- 22 g sea salt
- 600 g water (35-37°C/95°F-99°F)
- 50 g extra virgin olive oil (replace with sunflower or canola oil)
- additional flour (for flouring the working surface)
- additional oil (for oiling the dough before proofing)
Instructions
- Prepare and weigh all the ingredients for this bread first.
ACTIVATING YEAST
- In a measuring jug, add flour, yeast, and water. Mix thoroughly with a small whisk and cover loosely with a lid. Leave for about 10 minutes until it doubles in size and becomes bubbly.
MAKING DOUGH
- In a large bowl sift the rest of the flour and salt together.
- Make a well in the center and start adding the wet ingredients: activated yeast, water, and oil. Do this gradually and stir with a wooden spoon to incorporate all ingredients. Finish with your hands if it becomes too hard to handle it with a spoon. The dough should feel quite sticky and a bit shaggy. Cover with a lid and leave for 10-15 minutes.
- Tip the dough onto a generously floured working surface. Make sure you have plenty of room to work. Use the heel of your hands to push the dough away from you. Fold the dough in half towards you then give the dough a quarter turn. Repeat this process until the dough feels and looks like an elastic ball. It's a quite big dough to handle so be patient in this process.
- Lightly oil the bowl, transfer the dough, and cover it with a damp kitchen towel and a lid. It's ready for the next step when it doubles in size. This should take from 1-2 hours, depending on the room temperature.
- Punch the air from the dough and transfer it again onto a lightly floured working surface. Divide it into two equal halves (if needed, weigh each half) and shape them into loaves. Place them on a baking tray covered with parchment paper to proof for 1-1,5 hours and cover.
- Preheat the oven to 230°C (446°F). Place an old baking tray or metal pan on the bottom rack of the oven.
- Dust the proofed loaves with flour and score them with a serrated knife. Place the bread in the oven on the middle rack and quickly pour a cup of hot water into the old baking tray to create steam. Bake for 35-40 minutes until the bread gets a nice, golden crust and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.
- Transfer the baked loaves of bread onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely, for about 2 hours. Slice and serve.
Notes
Please note that all ingredients for this bread are measured in grams. In the recipe card, you can find US measurements but I highly recommend using a kitchen scale for this recipe.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Nutrition
Serving: 1sliceCalories: 115kcalCarbohydrates: 21gProtein: 3gFat: 2gSaturated Fat: 0.2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.3gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 239mgPotassium: 33mgFiber: 1gSugar: 0.1gVitamin A: 1IUVitamin C: 0.001mgCalcium: 5mgIron: 1mg
Nutritional information provided is an estimate based on ingredients data and should be used for informational purposes only. Actual nutritional content may vary based on factors such as portion size, preparation methods and ingredients used.