Bread Machine White Bread

4.48 from 223 votes

The easiest soft, fluffy white bread machine recipe. Foolproof basic sandwich loaf with 1 1/2 lb and 2 lb amounts. Five minutes of active prep, three hours start to finish.

Prep Time10

Cook Time1 50

Additional Time1

Total Time3

Course: Bread

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Bread Machine, bread machine white bread, Bread Maker, bread maker white bread recipe, fluffy white bread machine recipe, soft white bread machine recipe, White Bread, white bread machine recipe

Servings: slices (2 lb loaf)

Author: Ashley Adamant

Equipment

Bread Machine

Ingredients

Liquid Ingredients (add first)

1 cup Water lukewarm
1/3 cup Milk
3 Tbsp. Butter

Dry Ingredients (on top of wet)

3 3/4 cup White Flour All Purpose or Bread
3 Tbsp. Sugar
1 tsp. Salt
2 tsp. SAF Instant Yeast or 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Add the liquid ingredients to the bread pan first: water, milk, butter.
Add the flour on top, covering the liquid completely.
Make a small well in the flour. Place the sugar and salt around the edges and the yeast in the center; keep salt and yeast from touching directly.
Select the Basic White cycle and medium crust setting. Press start.
Watch the first 2 to 3 minutes of kneading. The dough should form a smooth ball that pulls away from the sides. Add 1 tablespoon of water if dry, or 1 tablespoon of flour if wet.
Let the machine complete the cycle without opening the lid.
Remove the loaf onto a wire rack as soon as the bake finishes; don't leave it on the keep-warm cycle.
Cool completely (at least 1 hour) before slicing.

Notes

One and a Half Pound Loaf Ingredients

To make a 1 ½ pound loaf of Bread Machine White Bread, you’ll need the following:

Liquid Ingredients (add first)

3/4 cups (180 ml) lukewarm water
1/4 cup (60 ml) milk
2 Tbsp. (28 g) butter

Dry Ingredients (on top of wet)

2 3/4 cup (330 g) White Flour (All Purpose or Bread)
2 1/4 Tbsp. (28 g) Sugar
3/4 tsp. (5 g) salt
1 1/2 tsp. (5 g) SAF Instant Yeast (or 2 tsp bread machine yeast)

1-Pound Loaf: Cut the 2-pound amounts in half.

Yeast conversions:

SAF instant yeast or bread machine yeast: 2 tsp (interchangeable 1:1, same product).
Active dry yeast: 2 1/2 tsp, dissolved in the water for 10 minutes before starting. Not compatible with the delay timer.

If your loaf rises too high or touches the lid: reduce the yeast by 1/4 tsp on the next batch. More common in older Sunbeam, Breadman, or Oster machines that run slightly warmer than newer Zojirushi models.

Flour: All-purpose gives the softest crumb; bread flour gives a slightly chewier, taller loaf. UK readers using strong white bread flour get excellent results too. By weight: 1 cup all-purpose = 125 g.

Butter: Cold cut into pieces or melted, both work. Salted butter works; reduce salt by 1/4 tsp.

Milk: Any milk works, including non-dairy (oat, almond, soy). For an extra-soft loaf, replace the water with additional milk (so 1 1/3 cups milk total).

Storage: 4 to 5 days at room temperature in a bread bag. Do not refrigerate. For longer storage, slice and freeze in a zip-top bag; frozen slices toast straight from the freezer.

Oven baking option: Use the Dough cycle. When it finishes, turn the dough into a greased 9x5 loaf pan, rise covered for 60 to 90 minutes until 1 inch above the rim, and bake at 350°F for 30 to 35 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 190°F.

Nutrition