Fast Homemade Bread Recipe

This fast homemade bread recipe gives you two soft, fluffy loaves using instant yeast and six basic ingredients. If you're new to baking bread, start here. It's the recipe I send everyone before they try my brioche bread recipe or anything fancier.

I love this super fast bread for last-minute bread. Sometimes it's 4 pm and suddenly I decide I want fresh bread for dinner! I've had TONS of reviews from people all over the world who have never made bread before but could make this bread perfectly the first time. Shape it free-form on a baking sheet (no special pans needed) or bake it in two loaf pans for sandwich bread. Either way, it's the perfect partner for a bowl of homemade cream of chicken soup.

Homemade Bread Ingredients

You only need six ingredients, plus an egg for the wash. I always recommend weighing your ingredients with a digital kitchen scale for the most accurate results. Too much flour is the number one reason homemade bread comes out dense.

• Bread flour. Gives your bread a soft, chewy structure. All-purpose flour works too. For whole wheat, use a little less flour because wheat flour is denser than white (see the recipe card notes).
• Instant yeast. The secret to fast bread. Instant yeast is like regular yeast on steroids. You don't need to bloom it in the milk and sugar, just mix it in with the flour, and it rises much faster than active dry yeast. I use saf-instant yeast, but any brand that says instant will work (Red Star Instant is another popular one). Only have active dry? It works, it just takes longer to rise (see the recipe card notes).
• Milk. Warm milk makes a soft, tender loaf. Water or almond milk work in its place.
• Sugar. Feeds the yeast and adds a little sweetness.
• Salt. Seasons the bread and strengthens the dough. It goes in after the first minute of mixing.
• Unsalted butter, melted. Adds flavor and softness. You can use oil instead. It also goes in after the first minute.
• Egg. Whisked with water for the egg wash. It gives your loaves that shiny golden brown crust. Without it your bread will be very pale, so use milk if you skip the egg.

How To Make Homemade Bread Step-By-Step

Before you begin, heat your milk to 110 to 115º F. Any hotter and you risk killing your yeast. If you're baking in loaf pans, grease two 9" x 5" pans. For free-form loaves, line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

1. Mix your flour, instant yeast, sugar, and warm milk in the bowl of your stand mixer with the dough hook for one minute on low speed.

2. Add your salt and melted butter. If the butter makes your dough slide around the bowl instead of catching on the hook, sprinkle in a little more flour. If it still won't grab the sides, add a Tablespoon or two of water.

PRO TIP: Holding back the salt and butter lets the water fully hydrate the flour (autolyse) and start developing gluten. Salt tightens gluten strands and slows down helpful flour enzymes, and butter coats the flour proteins so water can't reach them. Delaying both makes your dough softer, stretchier, and easier to knead.

3. Knead until your dough passes the windowpane test. Mix on medium speed for 5 minutes. Poke your dough, does it bounce back? Is it smooth and silky? Stretch a piece between your fingers. If you can make it super thin without it tearing, you're good to go. If not, mix for 2 more minutes. No mixer? Knead by hand for 10 to 12 minutes.

4. Let it rise for 25 minutes. Place your dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover it with a tea towel, and set it somewhere warm until it doubles. I put mine next to an open oven set to 170º F.

PRO TIP: Mixing is the MOST important step in making homemade bread. Developing that gluten is key, and it's basically impossible to over-knead dough by hand, so don't stop early.

5. Shape your loaves. Divide the dough in two and tuck all the rough edges underneath to form a nice smooth skin on top. For free-form loaves, place them on your baking sheet with a good 8" between them. For sandwich bread, place one in each loaf pan.

6. Give them time to rise. Free-form loaves only need to rest for 20 minutes. Loaf pan loaves need about 45 minutes, until they're domed about 1" above the rim of the pan.

PRO TIP: Don't put your dough IN the oven to rise or the hot temperature will kill your yeast. Right next to the open oven door at the lowest setting is the sweet spot.

7. Egg wash and score. Brush your loaves with egg wash. For free-form loaves, make 3 or 4 slices on top with a sharp knife at a 30º angle about ¼" deep (wow that is super specific I know). For loaf pan loaves, make one slice right down the center. These slices help the bread rise evenly and keep it from tearing.

8. Bake until golden. Bake free-form loaves at 375º F for 25 to 30 minutes, rotating halfway through for even browning. Bake loaf pan loaves at 350º F for 30 to 35 minutes. The best way to know your bread is done is an instant-read thermometer in the center of the loaf. The internal temperature should be about 190ºF.

How To Store Homemade Bread

We usually devour one whole loaf with dinner and save the other for tomorrow. Here's how to keep it fresh:

• On the counter: Let your bread cool completely, then wrap it in plastic wrap to seal in moisture and leave it on the countertop.
• In the freezer: Wrap cooled loaves well and freeze them for 3 to 6 months.
• To make more: The great thing about this recipe is you can make fresh bread easily whenever you need it, so there's no need to make a huge batch.

Leftover slices are great toasted and slathered with homemade French butter, or dunked in a bowl of chicken gnocchi soup.

Common Homemade Bread Problems To Avoid

• Dense, heavy bread. Usually too much flour, not enough kneading, or the room wasn't warm enough, and your bread didn't rise. Weigh your flour (or spoon and level it) and don't stop kneading until your dough passes the windowpane test.
• Dough that didn't rise. Your milk was too hot, or the dough proofed inside a hot oven. Both kill the yeast. Keep your milk at 110 to 115º F and proof next to the oven, not in it. If your room is too cold, your dough may also need extra time to rise.
• Slow rise with active dry yeast. The fast timing only works with instant yeast. Active dry needs about 90 minutes for the first rise and 30 minutes for the second.
• Salt and butter added too early. They slow down gluten development, so your dough ends up tighter and harder to knead. Wait until after the first minute of mixing.
• Pale, dull crust. You skipped the egg wash. Use milk if you don't want to use egg.
• Underbaked center. Ovens vary, and some loaves need a few extra minutes. Check the internal temperature instead of the clock.

Final Thoughts

This is the recipe I make when it's 4 pm and I suddenly want fresh bread for dinner, and it's the one I tell every nervous first-time bread baker to try. My one last lesson: don't rush the kneading. The rise is fast, but the gluten still needs its time, and the windowpane test will never lie to you. Once you've got this down, try my soft and buttery dinner rolls, honey whole wheat bread, my easy bagel recipe, an easy focaccia recipe, or my soft homemade cinnamon rolls. And if you want a slower, tangier loaf someday, my sourdough sandwich bread is the next step.

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