Best Bread Machine Recipe

This easy white bread machine recipe uses unbleached all-purpose or bread flour, creating a soft, flavorful loaf that’s perfect for sandwiches and toast. In my humble opinion, it’s one of the best bread machine recipes you’ll ever try!

Easy Bread Machine Bread

There’s no arguing it, my Mom is 100% the best at baking homemade bread.

Me, on the other hand? It’s not one of my skills, I prefer sourdough baking! She’s handed down her recipe to me, tried to teach me, gave up teaching me, then taught my husband instead.

We’ve all decided that mom’s bread will live on with Kevy!

But my mom gave me this white bread recipe so that I could bake my own light, fluffy sandwich bread on my own and I’ve been using it for over 10 years!!

This easy bread machine recipe is dedicated to mom.

High Hydration

This is a high hydration recipe, about 72%.

It will look and behave differently than doughs you might be used to, but there’s a method to the madness. High hydration doughs:

All of these qualities add up to the perfect bread machine recipe, resulting in light, airy loaves that are full of flavor, with a beautiful rise and an irresistibly soft interior.

Key Ingredients

Flour

Use a high protein flour in this recipe, something like unbleached bread flour or all purpose flour with at least 12% protein.

Calculate protein content as follows:

Grams of Protein / Grams per Serving = _________ X 100 = ______%.
ex: 4g protein /30g per serving =.1333 x 100= 13.3% protein

Yeast:

This recipe calls for instant yeast, or bread machine yeast, but if you don’t have any, you can use active dry yeast. Increase the amount to 2 1/2 teaspoons of active dry yeast and add it along with the liquid ingredients instead of on top.

How To Make Bread Machine White Bread

Add Ingredients To Bread Pan:

1. Combine the liquid ingredients: 1 3/4 cup warm water, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 1 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar, and 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt in the baking pan of your bread machine.
2. Layer the dry ingredients as follows; 4 cups bread flour followed by 2 teaspoons rapid rise or bread machine yeast. Either sprinkle the yeast on top of the flour, where it’s not touching the water or create a well in the flour, then add the yeast there.

Bake:

1. Place the baking pan into the bread machine. Select Basic, Light Crust, and 2 lb Loaf options. If your machine does not have all these settings, simply select the Basic or White setting.
2. Allow the bread machine to bake.
   This is the hard part! Walk away! You’ll be tempted to check on your bread and then start panicking cause the texture looks weird, the dough looks too wet, or the corners still have dry flour. Don’t worry, I did all the peeking for you through the process – pics are below.

Cool:

1. Remove the bread pan from the bread machine. Overturn the baked loaf onto a wire mesh cooling rack. It’s important to get to your machine as soon as possible once it beeps complete to avoid it kicking into keep warm mode, this will dry out your bread and make it less than pleasant.
2. Allow the bread to cool completely (if possible, I know it’s hard!) before cutting.

Batch + Storage

Batch:

This easy bread machine recipe makes 1x 2 lb loaf. Be sure to check that your bread machine can handle a 2-pound loaf before you begin baking!

Storage:

Once your loaf is fully cooled, place it in a sealed plastic bag and store it at room temperature. It’ll stay fresh for 2–3 days, perfect for sandwiches, toast, or enjoying as-is!

Homemade bread doesn’t keep long. It doesn’t keep any better in the fridge either, so we often eat half fresh and freeze the other half.

Freezing a Whole Loaf:
To freeze, wrap the cooled loaf tightly in plastic wrap, then wrap it again in aluminum foil to protect it from freezer burn. You can freeze it for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to enjoy, let it thaw at room temperature (no need to unwrap until it’s fully defrosted!).

Freezing Slices:
For easy, grab-and-go portions, slice the cooled loaf and place the slices in a single layer on a baking sheet. Freeze until solid, then transfer the slices to a freezer-safe bag or container. This way, you can pull out just what you need! Simply toast or let the slices thaw at room temperature—either way, you’re ready to enjoy fresh bread in no time.

Shop The Recipe

Breville Bread Machine

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Fleishmann’s Rapid Rise Dry Yeast

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Bread Flour

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Bread Machine Recipe Troubleshooting

I have a complete guide to bread machine recipe troubleshooting but here are some quick suggestions:

Bread Too Dense:

1. Type of flour: As mentioned above, if you’re using a flour that doesn’t have a high enough protein content, you can expect a dense loaf of bread. Protein is necessary for the bread to produce gluten, and as we know, gluten is the amazing thing that gives bread it’s stretch and elasticity, and the ability to trap air and create bubbles in bread.
2. Quantity of flour: I never weigh my ingredients for this recipe, nor do I sift my flour. Here’s how I scoop my flour for this recipe – stir the flour in the bag or container well, then use a 1/2 cup measuring cup to scoop the stirred flour into my 1 cup measuring cup. Give it a quick shake, then level with a knife. It’s quick and easy, keep it simple!
3. Yeast – Add this at the very end of the ingredient layering. I toss all the flour into the baking pan, then sprinkle the yeast on top of the flour away from the water and liquid ingredients.

Bread Collapsed During Baking:

1. Too much liquid: ensure that you’re measuring with a liquid measuring cup.
2. Not enough salt: If you’re using coarse ground salt in this recipe, you may not be using enough salt! Try adding a bit more next time.
3. Yeast: Too much or too old yeast can cause your bread to collapse. To avoid this in the future, proof a small amount of your yeast to confirm it’s still active, and if so, decrease the quantity in your next loaf by 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoons.

Other Problems:

If this is your first time using this recipe, I highly recommend checking in on the recipe while it’s 10 or so minutes into the first kneading cycle. At this point, you’ll be able to tell if your dough is forming a nice ball and pulling away from the edges.

If the dough is too wet at this time, and not holding a ball, add a couple tablespoons of flour.

📖 Printable Recipe

Flour Protein Content

As a Canadian, I use purpose flour for literally all purposes. Here’s why it matters to you and the results for your recipe:

• CANADIAN flour is different than American flour!
• The protein content in Canadian flour is required by law to have at least 13% protein by weight.
• The protein content of the flour greatly affects the bread’s ability to absorb water, produce gluten, and, therefore, your final results.
• IF you are using American flour, please use Bread flour specifically – OR ensure that your flour passes the protein content test 12-13%

How to determine protein content in flour:

Simply do a little math – make your teachers proud!

Pin this awesome bread machine recipe for later!

Note:

The original photos from this recipe are located below: