This easy loaf of white bread is made with basic ingredients. It's easy enough for beginners and always comes out fluffy and light with a thin, crispy crust.
Table of Contents
❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- basic ingredients
- the best homemade bread ever in just a few hours
- great for beginning bread makers
This farmhouse white sandwich bread recipe is made from scratch with ingredients that are probably in your pantry right now.
This recipe makes two loaves of the BEST homemade bread and is perfect for new bakers. Soft and buttery on the inside with a crisp, golden crust - this has been pleasing families just like yours for centuries!
If you've never worked with yeast dough before I suggest reading my complete guide to working with yeast doughs before you start this recipe. It has a ton of information that will make you an experienced baker in no time!
🧾 Ingredients
This farmhouse loaf is a traditional homemade recipe, one that is probably very similar to what your grandmother or great-grandmother made.
You don't need to use a special flour, all purpose flour is fine. That means that you can knead it by hand without too much trouble. Here's an overview of the ingredients.
- All purpose flour - gives the dough structure and holds the air bubbles that the yeast gives off during rising. Click here to find out more about different types of flours.
- Active dry yeast eats the sugars in the dough and gives off a gas. This is what causes it to rise.
- Ginger gets the yeast going. Think of it as the bread's first cup of coffee in the morning. It's called an activator. Check out this article if you're wondering about other possible yeast activators. You do not have to use it if you prefer not to.
- Sugar feeds the yeast and helps it to grow.
- Milk gives the texture a delicate softness. You can use all water if you like.
- Butter helps the crumb stay soft and gives it more flavor. You can substitute a light oil as well.
- Salt enhances the flavor and keeps it from rising too much.
- Water adds moisture and helps the other ingredients to blend.
🔪 Instructions
Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the green recipe card below.
- Sprinkle yeast, ginger and a pinch of sugar on the water into a small
mixing bowl . Stir to dissolve and let it stand until bubbly. - Stir the sugar and butter into the warm milk into a medium bowl and set aside until it has cooled to 110F degrees.
- Add the milk mixture to the yeast.
- Add to the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Add 3 cups of flour.
- Beat at medium speed about 2 minutes or stir by hand until batter is smooth.
- Switch to the dough hook and add enough remaining flour to form a dough that leaves the sides of the bowl.
- Let rest for 10 minutes then knead until smooth and elastic.
- Form into a ball, cover, and let rise 1-½ hours.
Form loaves
- Punch the dough down.
- Form into two oblong loaves.
- Fit into greased bread pans and brush tops with butter. Let rise until double.
- Bake until golden. Remove from oven and brush with butter.
- Let cool and slice.
- Store tightly wrapped for up to 2 days at room temperature or freeze for up to 3 months.
How to tell if the dough has doubled
When dough has doubled you can make a dent in it with your finger and it won't fill back in. It will be very soft and puffy as shown here.
With practice you'll be making beautiful homemade bread loaves like these!🥫 Storage
Store this country loaf in an airtight container on the counter or in the pantry. You can also cover it with plastic wrap.
Refrigerating bread dries it out so keep it at room temperature.
Homemade bread doesn't keep long and will often begin to mold by the third day.
For longer storage freeze it for up to 3 or 4 months.
Find more information about freezing and storing bread dough and baked loaves here.
📖 Variations
One of the reasons I love making homemade breads so much is there are so many little things you can do to change it up! Here are a few of my favorites -
- Add 1 ½ cups of raisins during kneading.
- Use honey in place of the sugar.
- Use brown sugar.
- You can substitute almond, soy, oat, or other non-dairy product for the milk. You can even leave the milk out and use plain water.
- You can use any light flavored oil instead of butter.
- Pinch off balls of dough and use as dinner rolls.
- Add an envelope of dry onion soup mix during mixing for onion bread or rolls.
Next time try the homemade buttermilk bread recipe. It's so soft and fluffy!
💭 Things to know
- If you've had trouble getting yeast to grow it may be too much chlorine in your water. Try using bottled water and see if that works better.
- Use an instaread thermometer to check the temperature of the water or milk (110F), as well as checking to see if the bread is done. When done the middle of the loaf will be 195F to 200F.
- Did you know you can use a food processor to make bread dough? You can!
- If you put a pan of water on the bottom rack under the bread it will create steam. This helps your bread to rise higher.
- Love a crispy crust? Brush the risen bread dough with an egg beaten with 1 teaspoon of water before baking.
- If you want a soft crust let the bread cool with a clean, damp tea towel over it.
- Let bread cool completely before slicing.
👩🍳 FAQs
A farmhouse loaf is an easy bread recipe with just a few basic ingredients. It's usually a white bread and is often baked in an extra deep bread pan.
Sure! If you use instant yeast, sometimes called rapid rise, you will skip the section on proofing the yeast with sugar, ginger, and water. Just add the yeast to the dry ingredients.
📚 Related recipes
Once you've worked with homemade yeast dough it's hard to stop! Here are some more great recipes to try.
- Honey Oatmeal Bread is a soft, slightly sweet sandwich loaf with the old fashioned goodness of oatmeal and honey. Makes amazing toast! You can also shape this dough into homemade sandwich or dinner rolls.
- No Knead English Muffin Toasting Bread is an easy, homemade bread with the texture and flavor of an English muffin. Perfect toasted and served warm with butter and honey.
- Amish Milk Bread is an old fashioned yeast loaf that's soft and slightly sweet with that good, from scratch flavor!
- No Knead Crockpot Cinnamon Raisin Bread is SO easy - you'll love it!
You'll find even more homemade bread recipes here!
Nothing better than butter on a warm slice of homemade bread!📞 The last word
Nothing smells as good as homemade bread baking in the oven!
When my dad was alive it was almost like he had an internal radar. I am not necessarily a scheduled kind of person but just about the time I put a loaf to cool on the counter he would knock at my door...
The heels were his favorite and I rarely had intact loaf by the time he left. The heels were all gone every single time.
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need. Don't forget that you can click on "add to collection" to save it to your own, private recipe box!
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 Recipe
Farmhouse White Bread Recipe
Print Pin Recipe Save Recipe Rate RecipeIngredients
- 1 cup Milk , 110F. If you have sour milk you can use that.
- 2 tablespoons Sugar
- ¼ teaspoons Ginger, it is a yeast activator, you wont taste it.
- 2 teaspoons Salt, I use kosher salt - if you use table salt use about ¼ teaspoon less
- 2 tablespoons Butter, room temperature
- 2 packages Active dry yeast
- ½ cup warm water, about 110 degrees f
- 5 cups All-purpose flour, you may need a bit more
- Oil, to grease pans
Instructions
- Stir the sugar and butter into the warm milk and set aside.
- Sprinkle yeast, ginger and a pinch of sugar on the water.
- Stir to dissolve and let it stand until bubbly.
- Add to milk mixture and stir in 3 cups of flour.
- Stir in the salt.
- Beat at medium speed about 2 minutes or stir by hand until batter is smooth.
- Add enough remaining flour to form a dough that leaves the sides of the bowl.
- Turn on to lightly floured surface, cover and let rest 10 minutes.
- Knead until smooth and elastic-about 10 minutes.
- Round up into a ball and oil all sides.
- Place in a lightly greased bowl and cover with a tea towel.
- Let rise in a warm place until doubled about 1 ½ hours. (The inside of the oven with the light on is perfect). This is the first rise and will take the longest.
- Punch down or gently deflate the dough.
- Cover and let rise again until doubled, about 30 minutes. You may omit this second rise if you are pushed for time. It does help the texture, however.
- Shape dough into a loaf and place in an oiled loaf pan. To do this roll or pat out into a rectangular shape and then roll up, pinching the seams tightly together.
- Lightly oil the tops.
- Let the dough rise until almost doubled, and top of the dough is rounded above the pan, 30-45 minutes. This is the last rise before baking.
- Bake at 375 for 20 to 30 minutes, or until loaves sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.
- Cool in pan for 5 minutes, remove from pan, and finish cooling.
- If a soft crust is desired cover the loaf with a clean tea towel during the cooling process.
- Once cooled completely you can slice the bread with a sharp serrated knife.
Notes
- Store this country loaf in an airtight container on the counter or in the pantry. You can also cover it with plastic wrap.
- Refrigerating bread dries it out so keep it at room temperature.
- Homemade bread doesn't keep long and will often begin to mold by the third day.
- For longer storage freeze it for up to 3 or 4 months.
- If you've had trouble getting yeast to grow it may be too much chlorine in your water. Try using bottled water and see if that works better.
- Use an instaread thermometer to check the temperature of the water or milk (110F), as well as checking to see if the bread is done. When done the middle of the loaf will be 195F to 200F.
- If you put a pan of water on the bottom rack under the bread it will create steam. This helps your bread to rise higher.
- Love a crispy crust? Brush the risen bread dough with an egg beaten with 1 teaspoon of water before baking.
- If you want a soft crust let the bread cool with a clean, damp tea towel over it.
- Let bread cool completely before slicing.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
Originally published June 2007 - this post has been updated for easier to understand instructions and better reader experience. Last updated January 27, 2023..
Elsa says
Elsa I.
Just tried making this (third effort at bread, other two failed miserably) and look to be into another failure.
I can make soufflés w it h my eyes closed but bread .... gah.
No idea what went wrong.
The yeast proofed fine in the water/ginger/pinch salt mixture; the milk was not too hot, nor the butter too stiff.
Added the flour to these combined and it seemed to be sufficient at four cups - scraggly and dry enough. But I forged on, moved it to my kitchen aid and added 5.5 cups slowly— by which time it was a scraggly, unhohomogeneous mess.
Far too dry to come together. So I added about half a cup in total of more water.
Am now sure I overkneaded it.
Might you do a video of the entire kneading process? Saw one of you making this bread (by which I know my mixture is a stodgy lump of bleach) and your fear kneading for ten minutes will be dull but trust me, some of us need (knead?) it.
Thank you
Marye says
Hi Elsa,
I do have a video at the top of the page - it wasn't working but I've fixed it.. I'll also try to do another soon that's more in depth. Thanks!
judith judge says
could i use butter instead olf oil and wil it taste as good
Marye says
Yes - just be sure to melt it. 🙂
Anamika @ Supplement Crunch says
Looks fantastic! Thanks to share your healthy and tasty recipe...........
Carolina Radovan says
This has become my go-to recipe for bread. I have a wonderful mixer (Ankarsrum) that can handle mixing/kneading 4 loaves at one time (could do six, but I just make 4). Highly recommend this machine as I've been making my own bread for a couple years now and am not into making every day LOL!
Either way, texture for this bread is beautiful, it toasts beautifully, it can take globs of butter, is so nostalgia inducing, that cute perfect white bread sandwich shape... I could go on and on... I have 4 loaves in the oven now!
I proof for longer, only because I'm easily distracted, but I think this makes it even yummier!! I double twice in the mixer container, to double or more size. Then a third time in the bread pans. Thank-you so much for sharing this recipe with us - sincerely appreciated.
Anyone hesitating, don't! just make it and yum! for the whole gang ;o)
Marye says
Caroline you are the sweetest! Thank you!
Stephanie says
Does this recipe make one or two loaves
Marye Audet says
two.
Virginia Julain says
Can regular salted butter be used?
Marye Audet says
sure! You might want to cut back on the salt in the recipe though.
Amanda says
When you say sour milk do you mean buttermilk? And you say a lot of sour milk so exactly how much would you be using double of the regular milk? And have you tried it with the buttermilk?
Marye Audet says
I mean sour milk - milk that has soured. The measurement is the same no matter which you use.
Jo-ann Anderson says
I have been making my bread for years and love trying new recipes, I will be trying your recipe soon and will let you know how it turns out. Thanks for sharing.
Allison says
Just wanted to point out a spelling error. You put 2 loves instead of 2 loaves lol
Marye Audet says
LOL! Well I do love bread
Jerry says
My bread turn out really thick on the inside, any idea as why that might've happened?
Marye Audet says
It wasn't baked through and it didn't rise enough - those are the two most common reasons.
Kathleen says
How do you warm your milk? On the counter or microwave?
Marye Audet says
Usually in the microwave
Bob says
I have a question regarding the use of ginger and bread machines. Many bread machines have a difference in their order or putting wet/dry ingredients in. For my particular bread maker, I put the wet stuff first, then salts and sugar followed by the flour. I then make a small well and put the yeast granules there and turn the bread machine on. I am wondering where I should add the ginger, in the well with the yeast or to the water? Has anyone else experimented with this before and would have the answer?
Thanks
Marye Audet says
I've never used a bread machine so I can't really answer. Sorry.
Janet says
You.mix the ginger wIth the flour.
Marye Audet says
With the yeast.
Bea says
I didn't see where you added the salt??
Marye Audet says
I forgot to put it in. I've fixed it now..You put it in right after you add the 3 cups of flour.
Char says
Ooooh...awesome! I have been wanting to learn how to make my own bread! Thank you for this awesome recipe!
Marye Audet says
🙂 have fun with it!
Vicki says
Is the white flower self rising or plain?
Marye Audet says
All purpose flour or bread flour.
jack says
Hi Marye
Can I use Crisco shorting in the bread. Thanks from Jack
Do you have a Multigrain bread recipe.
Marye Audet says
You "could" use Crisco but I don't recommend it for a variety of reasons, flavor being one.
I do have a multigrain recipe...https://www.restlesschipotle.com/multi-grain-flaxseed-bread/
Carole says
Why do bread recipes call for sooo much yeast? I used to make 8 loaves at least as big if not bigger than your picture shows, and use 1 tablespoon of yeast.
Is the yeast different, or are people just in too much of a hurry to 'let' it rise?
Thanx
Marye Audet says
I suppose it is the time factor. You can certainly use less... I get the best results with this measurement though.
May says
How much yeast is "2 pkg"? The photo of your yeast is in a 2lb bag so I'm not sure how much to use.
Marye Audet says
about 1 tablespoon
Holly Sims says
My first ever attempt at baking bread from scratch is rising with the oven light right now! My forearms are killing me from kneading, but it will be well worth it if my loaves turn out well. This just might have to be a new part of my workout! Will update later!!!
Holly Sims says
Oh my goodness! This bread is delicious!!! The first loaf disappeared FAST!
Tammy says
Is that powdered ginger?
Marye Audet says
Yes, it is.
Misti says
That is some beautiful bread!