Quick and Easy Homemade Bread Recipe

Not everyone is ready for sourdough, but how about starting with a quick and easy homemade bread recipe that takes a little over an hour to whip up, rise and bake? This is a great entry-level recipe for you to start making homemade bread in no time!

In the last year, the word sourdough has been floating around more than ever. Many people decided to tackle making sourdough bread while in quarantine, which is fantastic, but it takes time. Maybe sourdough seems overwhelming to you. Or maybe you just aren’t ready for something so involved, but you still want a made from scratch bread.

One of the biggest mistakes I made on my made from scratch journey was jumping into too many things at once. Now, some fifteen years later, I have learned that baby steps are what set me up for success. So how does this relate to bread? Well, perhaps instead of jumping straight into sourdough bread, you focus on making a quick and easy homemade bread that you can whip up in a little over an hour. Yep, you read that right! You can make this delicious homemade bread recipe in about an hour.

This bread recipe allows you to still have a made from scratch loaf AND learn the discipline of making bread regularly. Besides being easy and delicious, it is versatile. It can be use as a sandwich bread or as a thick sliced bread to compliment your dinner. I like to use it for both!

So let’s get started!

You will need just a few ingredients…

2 cups of warm water

1 1/2 T active yeast

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

4 cups of unbleached all purpose flour

How to make this Quick and Easy Homemade Bread

Start by combining the water, yeast and sugar in a bowl. Once it begins to bubble, (it takes a few minutes) add your salt.

Now, if you’re using a mixer, turn it on a low medium setting while you add the flour, adding a 1/2 cup of flour at a time. Once you have added all the flour knead for a few minutes.

At this point, you can transfer the dough ball to an oiled bowl…I just take out my kneading hook and let mine rise in the mixing bowl.

Once it has doubled in volume, it is time to form your loaves. My kitchen tends to be a bit hotter so my rise time at this step is anywhere from 20-30 minutes (20 minutes in summer).

Now, separate your dough into equal halves and begin forming the loaves. I take the ends of my dough ball and tuck them under and then place the loaves in proofing baskets. If you don’t have a proofing basket you can let it rise right on your baking pan, just dust the pan with a little flour to prevent the loaf from sticking. They will sit covered with a cloth for another 20 minutes depending on the heat of your kitchen. I don’t like to focus too much on the rising times because they can be deceiving. I focus more on the rise, again, you want it to almost double in size.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Place the loaves on a baking pan and bake them in the oven for 20 minutes (on the middle rack) or until the top is golden brown. Take them out and lather the tops with butter and let them sit for 1 hour before slicing (that is if you can stand it, I break this rule all the time). If you like a crustier top, leave off the butter.

This bread pairs great with my yummy Easy Fig Preserves recipe!

Tips for perfect bread

• Make sure that you use warm water, if it is too hot it will keep the active yeast from rising

• Focus more on the “double in size” than exact rising times

• You don’t want the dough to rise too long in the first stage, if it does, then the second stage won’t rise well (um been there done that)

• Covering the dough is important because you don’t want the tops of the dough to dry out