How To Make Bread (without a bread machine)

This is an easy, basic recipe for bread that does not require much skill.

There are many ways to make bread and this is one of them (and in my opinion, a very simple way). Remember, bread making is not an exact science.

Step 1: What you'll need

You will need:

• Yeast - 2 Tbsp
• Hot-ish* water - 2 cups
• Bread flour - 5 cups total, 2 for the sponge and 3 for later. (NOT regular flour)
• Sugar - 2 Tbsp.
• Salt - 2 tsp.
• Oil - 2 Tbsp.
• 3 loaf pans
• Quick-read thermometer
• Oven pre-heated to 375

*Hot-ish means between 95 and 115 degrees F. much colder and it won't activate, much warmer and it will kill the little guys.

Comments

[nowayride]

For the main article, try pulling the bread under before the second rise. Basically, stretching the top a bit. It not only makes the top smooth but helps seal the top for a good rise.

@dutch981 (because this site keeps complaining about a capcha that doesn't exist).

Your bread was probably one of the following:

Under kneaded. If it was really crumbly/coarse it wasn't kneaded enough. Also avoid whole wheat as it does the same. The dough should feel really tough. If you over knead it your bread will turn out more tough (think pizza) not dense.

Not enough water. Your dough needs to be really tacky and wet. Also cover very lightly with oil. Bread will not double properly if it's too dry.

Under/over rise. It needs to have just doubled in size and making an indentation with your finger will have no spring back. This goes for first and second rise, especially the first. You know it's risen too much when it comes out with large air pockets in the top.

Too drafty. Try turning the oven to warm for a couple of minutes. It should feel like 90F (or a nice warm day). Turn it off and shut the bread in. The warmth will help it rise at a good pace.

Keep trying. You'll quickly learn what the dough is suppose to feel/look like at different stages. The whole process becomes second nature and feels a lot less like work (the clean up is a different story).

[lmp0607]

I was wondering if a whole wheat flour can be used?

[dutch981]

Tried this for the first time. My loaf was really heavy and dense. I think it's because I got impatient on the second rise. Or maybe I over kneaded it. I don't know, I guess the only way to find out is to try it again!

[Bev1949]

need to see the reply to can I use my electric mixer in this recipe... please thanks

[rlarios]

This instructable popped up when I googled how to bake bread back in 2007. I have become an instructable fan since then..... and after many batches of delicious baked bread, of course !

Great instructable !

[diy_bloke]

Interesting. Heard many statements on what flour to use and everybody disagrees :-)
I have baked many loafs with regular flour which goes very very well

[winnieeeeelam]

Can I use electric mixer for the sponge part? :D

[jsummers43]

Thank you!
It was my very first time making bread, and it turned out delightful! We were all very pleased!
Great instructions! and photos! I'll be following them again :)

[Adomini]

Hi, what if i'd like to keep some dough in the freezer, should i do this after second rising? Will i get same quality bread if i directly put the defrosted dough inside the oven?

[anjaylah]

WOW! I thought I would never be able to make bread without a machine or a complex method. This was right up my alley. It really is not time consuming, just waiting. You do not have to sit and watch it. Thank you so much, i enjoyed this a lot.

[AwareAmerican]

This is my first time baking bread... or anything from scratch really, and it worked really well!! I had a rough start in the beginning due to a poor yeast purchase in the bulk foods section at the grocery store. Apparently, there is such a thing as nutritional yeast, or basically, a kind of deactivated yeast that people just add straight to certain dishes.... I didn't know that. It was a fine yellow powder and it smelled "yeasty" but it made NO bubbles! LOL... so with dry ACTIVE yeast the recipe went smoothly, AND without bread pans!

So, with this basic recipe, can I throw in some extra sugar and say, cinnamon for some sweet bread, or is there something else I need to know or do before I just start throwing things in the mix?

[kkarwan]

the thing about cooking and baking is the directions are basically an outline you can adjust pretty much anything in the recipe to your tastes word to the wise though make sure if you adjust something you try it before you serve and always write down what you did so when you get it perfect you'll know exactly what you did right

[links4111]

This was my first attempt at making bread and it was a total success. I cut the recipt in half because I didn't think it could possibly work the first time and it was perfect!

[neongloss]

I made some modifications...

I'm making it right now. I halved the recipe and I'm currently on the first rise. (I'm giving it 90min on first rise, 30min on second).

About the water temperature, I know it's hard to get right if you don't have a thermometer. Use your wrist to judge. The water shouldn't feel too hot or too cold. It should pretty much match your body temperature. I added it to a big mug and quickly added the yeast and sugar before the water cooled down, and covered it with a paper towel for 10 minutes. My first try with this was successful, but unfortunately a fruit fly got in there and died. :/ I think this is a good fruit fly trap lol.

Instead of kneading it, I used a dough hook on my mixer and it took half of the time. I kneaded it for a minute with my hand just to add some olive oil around it so that it wouldn't stick to the bowl.

I think that half of the recipe will make 2 smaller loaves of bread, which is perfect for just the 2 of us. I'm going to braid one plain, and make a cinnamon raisin loaf because I have a ton of raisins.

Thanks for the recipe!

[sltai]

Thanks for sharing this recipe.. Tried to bake bread with half of the ingredient listed and it tastes good !!

[Antonio Fortuni]

YO YO YO!! One of the best receipies Iv'e used. And one of the best info sites Iv'e seen. Keep it up. When I start making money from my breads i'll pay for a membership. That is a big thing u are too!! Thank you.
AFortuni

[breadmaker2]

good recipe now what if i want to bake less; say one loaf of bread or a normal baguette size...
what's the recipe for that ? thank you.

[drinkmorecoffee]

Try making half the recipe. Or freeze half the dough for later.

[breadmaker2]

Yeast - 1 Tbsp
Hot-ish* water - 1 cup
Bread flour - 2.5 cups total, 2 for the sponge and 3 for later. (NOT regular flour)
Sugar - 1 Tbsp.
Salt - 1 tsp.
Oil - 1 Tbsp.
1 loaf pan
Quick-read thermometer
Oven pre-heated to 375

?

[breadmaker2]

i tried freezing it's no good. this is only good for awhile. which is somewhat good i guess since it makes you keep baking fresh bread.

[nawahinekoa]

Are we only supposed to white bread flour or can we use wheat. I used wheat and for some reason the thing didn't raise all that high. I'm going to try white bread flour but I'm just trying to figured out what went wrong... =(

[mgarner2]

trying this today im at the second rise stage and its not looking good lol but hay i have never made bread by hand before so will try again .....it didnt quite look right at the first stage to be honest the mix wasnt wet enough but i put the correct amount of water in but i think that my water may have been too hot as well hmmmm oh well we will see wish me luck lol

[mgarner2]

me thinks i have killed the yeast will have another stab at it either this afternoon or tomorrow :(

[mgarner2]

well the wet mix looked right this time but after the second prove its nowhere near looking like the pics :(

[LadyKatie]

Dry salt kills yeast. So add the yeast last.

[nawahinekoa]

I have been using wheat bread flour so I was wondering if that might be a factor

[nawahinekoa]

I followed all the steps and they all looked right except that I couldn't get the dough to rise and stay full in the bread pans. I put the yeast in last but, still no luck. Any advice.

[dfrederick2]

I think if you use wheat flour in the recipe you need to increase the water a tad and since wheat flour has less gluten in it than bread flour you have to work it a bit more, one wheat bread recipe that I tried had me do a second punch down and a third rise with a 15 minute resting period before shaping the loaves. One thing you could do is replace two cups of wheat flour with the bread flour, you would not have 100% wheat bread, but you would have a lighter, less dense loaf that would rise nicely. I have been using this recipe for about two months now and it's great, I'd never made my own bread before and now I am comfortable enough with it that I have been experimenting a bit :)

[KarlaLynn]

Made this for the first time! It is so delicious! Each bite is so addicting and mouthwatering ^.^ I made one loaf with raisins, cinnamon sugar, and crushed walnuts. It's really easy to make on a college student's salary! I'll upload pics in a bit!

[bobix]

Made it, looks great. As soon as I find my camera's usb cable I'll upload some photos of the final product

[VictorEspinoza]

I have a question i haven't been able to find any yeast at all and i'm currently making some but the process i learned takes about 7 or so days so i'm wondering if there's a substitue i can use instead of yeast i'd really appreciate any help regarding that matter

[llopez1984]

First time ever attempting to make bread, it's cooling right now, can't wait to taste it

[FamilyRoots]

I made this for Christmas dinner to go with our prime rib and it was amazing! I got some new stoneware pans for Christmas and those combined with this recipe were a huge hit tonight. Thank you very much for sharing this recipe!

I though I would also share that I made 2 loaves in my new stoneware pans and one loaf in my old cheap metal pan and the stoneware made a huge difference. It rose a lot higher and was fluffier inside and crunchier outside. Love these pans.

[am. revell]

umm i want to try making break but do i have to make it umm in three pans im by my self so can i you know make a smaller dose of it um like rounder and on a pan type deal plz reply hehe

[PoppyK]

You could make the bread as suggested here, but instead of letting the bread rise you could freeze 2 loaves for another time... Just take the frozen dough out and let it thaw and come to room temperature, rise, punch down, and rise again then bake... Hope this helps =)

[kemerson]

What if I don't have bread pans? What could I use instead?

[PoppyK]

Make the loaves into long ovals or rounds and put them on a cookie sheet or pizza pan. Any pan will work, loaf pans are for shape really and keeping the dough from seeping between the rails of the oven racks... A sheet cake pan will also work... If you are without any of these pans, several layers of reynolds wrap on the oven racks will also work... Pam cooking spray these and use a very light dusting of flour over the spray, or use the one with the flour already in it... I hope this helps... let me know what you think =)

[Flourbaker]

I used this guide to make my first loaf of bread today and am so happy!! They turned out beautifully and are so yummy!! I brushed one loaf with olive oil before putting it in the oven, and I believe that's the darker loaf. My son loved kneading the dough with me as well. It's delicious and I have to stop myself from eating half a loaf tonight!! I still have to bake the third loaf. Was going to see if I can refrigerate it for a few days before baking. Anyone tried this? Thanks again for posting this guide. I'm soooo glad I tried it!!!

[jlynn19]

I just made this bread.. I haven't tried it yet, but it looks delish!! I was a moron when putting it into the pan until the last one.. which i braided. It turned out really cute.. :)

[schaparral]

One is often instructed to let the dough rise in a "warm place" Exactly where is a warm place? I usually put the first rise in the oven with the temperature turned off but the oven switch turned on and the door ajar. The dough is covered with a damp cloth and seems to rise fine. But the second rise seems to suffer because the top crust dries out and prevents a good rise. I can't leave it on the counter because my house isn't what I would call "a warm place".