Most moms I know have been baking bread lately. The common consensus is that they want to bake something easy that doesn’t require fancy equipment or special ovens. So I hope you enjoy this Easy Homemade Bread, it’s not shaped perfectly but it’s delicious!!
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Only 5 Ingredients Bread
This bread only requires 5 ingredients: bread flour, instant yeast, sugar, salt and water!! That’s it.
What I love about this bread is that I don’t even need a kitchen scale or special bread stones for baking. Sure, the bread it won’t come out as pretty as a professionally made one but I assure you everyone will love the taste.
Also, you can shape the bread anyway you like. I use this same recipe to make bread loaves or just big rolls like ciabatta bread. You can even make baguettes with this but might need to raise the temperature to achieve a bit of a more crunchy crust.
Dough Rising
This recipe requires for the dough to rise twice. First time after you have made the dough you need to let it rise so the dough triples in size (about 1.5 hrs in my kitchen). Then you can create the shape you want and let the dough rise (shorter time, about 45 minutes).
Activating Instant Yeast
I was taught early on that to activate yeast properly, you just need lukewarm water and some sugar. Not sure that’s how it supposed to be really, but old habits die hard. This works for me when I make bread, so why mess with this process!
Homemade Bread Tip: I know chefs and professional bakers are very picky about equipment they use and how they weigh the ingredients. If you are eyeballing everything, don’t focus so much on weigh of ingredients and time but instead on consistency of the dough and rising!!!
Looking for Other Bread Recipes? Check these recipes out!!
This bread recipe is vegan and only requires 5 ingredients. However, if you would like to check out some of my other recipes check these recipes out.
- Homemade Bread (Vegetarian)
- Gluten Free Cheese Breads
- Keto Almond Flour, Flaxseed Bread with Cheese
- Rosemary Cornbread
Bread Recipe Notes & Tips
A lot of times, the art of making bread is so precise that you need a special scale to weigh the flour and other ingredients. This specific recipe allows for a bit more flexibility. Once you mix the dough, you keep dusting it with flour until you get the desired consistency of the dough. See video at the bottom of recipe card for more details.
As mentioned earlier, you need to let the dough rise twice. The first time it took me about 1.5 hrs. Usually I eyeball the dough until it triples in size. Now it might take you more time than that or less, so focus more on the size and shape of the dough than timing it exactly to 1.5 hrs.
The reason timing might vary, depends on the room temperature. I live in a warm climate so the dough tends to rise quite fast at this time of the year. See below picture of what you’ll be looking for from the first rise.
Easy Homemade Bread (5 Ingredients)
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- Standard Oven
Ingredients
- 5 cups bread flour
- 2.5 cups lukewarm water
- 1 packet Instant Yeast (Rapid Rise) about 7 grams
- 2 tsps sugar
- 1.5 tsps salt
Instructions
- Separate flour, 4 cups, 0.5 cups and 0.5 cups.
- Add powdered yeast on a bowl. Then add sugar and 1 cup of warm water (make sure water is not hot). Mix well until everything is dissolved. Set aside for few minutes.
- Add salt to 4 cups of bread flour. Mix well. Then create a hole in the middle, the flour will look like a volcano crater.
- Start pouring the yeast mix into the crater and mix slowly with the spoon. Continue doing this until you pour the whole mix.
- Then add 1.5 remaining cups of water. Use a spoon to mix well. See video for details. You mix from the bottom up to be able to incorporate all the flour into the dough. In the beginning dough is sticky so that's why it's preferable to use the spoon. If you don't mind the texture, use your hands to make this mix into a dough.
- Once dough is ready, it can still be a bit sticky and too soft at this point. Use 0.5 cups of flour and your hands, dust a bit of flour and fold the dough. Continue doing so until you have a soft and pliable dough that is not sticky anymore. You should be able to remove the dough from bowl at this point and hold in one hand.
- Remove the dough, dust the bowl with some flour and place the dough back in. Cover with a clean kitchen towel or a tea towel if you have one. Let rise until it triples in size. It took 1.5 hrs in my kitchen to achieve this step.
- Then remove dough from bowl into a clean surface where you can knead the dough.
- Knead the dough from outside in and fold in the middle. See video for kneading details. Use some flour (the 2nd 0.5 cup of flour) to dust the surface.
- Once you have kneading the dough for few minutes, cut in 8 equal size pieces. Estimate if you don't have a kitchen scale.
- Knead each individual dough piece. Place parchment paper on a baking tray and place the dough about 2 inches apart from each other.
- Let the dough rise again, cover the dough. This time I only let it rise for about 45 minutes.
- Cut a straight line on top of each dough piece.
- Pre-Heat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Place another baking tray in the bottom rack with some water in it to create steam in the oven.
- Place the bread to bake once oven is preheated. After 10 minutes of baking, lower temperature to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Let bake for another 10 minutes.
- Remove from oven and handle carefully, the breads are really hot and the oven has steam inside so don't get too close to the oven door when you open it.
- Place breads in a cooking rack and repeat the process if needed. I had to bake them 4 at a time so needed to bake twice.
- Let the breads cool for at least 30 minutes before you cut them! Enjoy with butter, cheese, coffee or with you favorite dish:).
Video
Notes
- Calories are estimated using MyFitnessPal.
Nutrition Label
Nutrition
If you would like to save this recipe for later, please pin the below image to Pinterest. Don’t hesitate to contact me with questions or tag me in social media if you made the recipe:). Thank you!!!
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Kate
What beautiful loaves of homemade bread—and it looks so easy! Next time I can find some yeast I’ll give them a try.
admin
Thank you Kate:)), yeah yeast is not easy to come by lately. I’m dying to do the sourdough starter but don’t have enough flour for that!
Yasmari Bello
I looking recipe easy homemade bread! I love it your recipe
María
I have to make this easy homemade bread soon! I promise to show it to you the day I do it 🙂
Sonila
Thank you Maria:), hope you like it!! Can’t wait for the pictures!
Blanca
There is nothing like home made bread! I’ve been making bread too and I love it.
Sonila
I agree, homemade bread it’s delicious!!
Andrea Minski
What a delight toenjoy fresh bread at home
Sonila
Thank you Andrea:)