This is the easiest homemade bread recipe ever! There is no kneading required whatsoever and it is the fastest, easiest bread you’ve ever made!
This homemade bread is the best ever. Seriously! And I say that as a person who really loves bread!
Part of what makes it so good is that you don’t have to work hard for it at all. It is the easiest bread recipe ever.
And it’s also extremely versatile, you can make it as a healthy whole wheat or brown bread or make a pristine loaf of white bread or something in-between. It all works great.
And if you love making breads then our cornbread recipe and our banana bread recipe are both totally divine too!
How To Make Homemade Bread
Full instructions and measurements can always be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Add whole wheat flour and all purpose flour to a mixing bowl along with instant yeast and salt and mix together.
- Add a little maple syrup or honey to warm water and mix it in. Pour this over the dry ingredients and add an egg and some olive oil. Mix it into a thick dough.
- Transfer to a 9×5 loaf pan and smooth down with the back of a spoon. Cover and leave to rise for 30 minutes or until the bread has risen almost to the top of the loaf pan (but not higher).
- Bake at 390°F for 40 minutes.
Recipe Tips
No Kneading: This recipe doesn’t require any kneading. The dough is quite wet and sticky so even if you wanted to knead it, you couldn’t.
The Flour: We used a mix of whole wheat flour and all purpose flour for a delicious bread texture. However, you can play with the amounts of flour used. You can even make this with only all purpose flour for a white bread loaf – more on that below!
It’s important to use the right amount of flour. Measure the flour correctly using the spoon and level method. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife. Alternatively, invest in a food scale and weigh your flour for the most accurate results.
Instant Yeast: This is also called rapid rise yeast and it is responsible for the quick rise of this bread.
Warm Water: The water should be warm to the touch, not hot.
Rising: Cover the bread and leave it to rise for around 30 minutes. However, keep a watch on it, depending on how warm the temperatures are it might rise in 20 minutes, or it might take a few minutes more. You want it to rise up to the top of the loaf pan or close to the top, but not much higher, or you can end up with an oddly shaped, muffin top loaf.
Recipe Variations
This recipe is really versatile! You can play around with the ratios of flour to create a more hearty whole wheat bread or something in-between. We used 3 cups of whole wheat flour and 1 cup of all purpose flour, but these variations also work:
- 2 cups whole wheat flour, 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour, 3 cups all purpose flour
- 4 cups whole wheat flour
- 4 cups all purpose flour
Flour Variations:
This recipe can be made with:
- whole wheat flour
- whole wheat bread flour
- white whole wheat flour
- brown bread flour
- other bread flour
- whole wheat pastry flour
- all purpose flour
There might be even more varieties of flour you can try, but that will be an experiment!
Make It Egg-Free
This recipe uses one egg. However, if you are egg-free, you can omit the egg completely and the recipe still works just great.
The bread is very slightly more dense without the egg, but the difference is so small as to be barely noticeable.
Make White Bread
We tested a white bread version of this recipe, which is to use all purpose flour only.
So instead of 3 cups whole wheat flour and 1 cup of all purpose flour as in the original recipe, we made a white bread version with 4 cups of all purpose flour.
Everything else in the recipe remains exactly the same and the resulting bread is absolutely delicious.
If you would like to make the white bread version egg-free then simply omit the egg altogether. As mentioned above, this can create a slightly more dense bread but the difference is very minor.
Storing and Freezing
This bread is absolutely BEST when fresh, on the day you bake it. In fact, if you have a few slices warm from the oven, spread with some butter, it’s pretty much the best thing ever.
The next day the bread is still very edible but it’s not as good as the first day you made it and you may prefer to use it to make toast.
On day 3 it’s toast only and that’s the final day for this bread.
This bread is also freezer friendly though. So if you think you may eat it more slowly then slice and freeze some of it and then use it to make toast right out of the freezer.
More Bread Recipes
Homemade Bread
Ingredients
- 3 cups Whole Wheat Flour
- 1 cup All Purpose Flour
- 1 Tbsp Instant Yeast Rapid Rise Yeast
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Maple Syrup or Honey
- 2 cups Warm Water Not Hot
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil Extra Virgin
- 1 Large Egg
Instructions
- Spray a 9×5 loaf pan with non-stick spray and line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Add the whole wheat flour and all purpose flour to a mixing bowl along with the instant yeast and salt and mix together.
- Add the maple syrup or honey to the warm water and mix in. Pour over the dry ingredients and add the egg and olive oil and mix into a thick dough.
- Transfer to your prepared loaf pan and smooth down with the back of a spoon. Cover and leave to rise for 20-30 minutes or until the bread has risen almost to the top of the loaf pan (but not higher).
- Preheat the oven to 390°F (200°C).
- Bake for 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a couple of minutes before removing the bread from the loaf pan and allowing to cool on a bread board or cooling rack.
- Slice and serve!
Video
Notes
- You can also use whole wheat bread flour or brown bread flour, white whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, stoneground whole wheat flour.
- You can also make variations of this recipe depending on what you have on hand, as follows: 3 cups whole wheat flour and 1 cup all purpose (as per recipe); or 2 cups whole wheat flour and 2 cups all purpose flour; or 1 cup whole wheat flour and 3 cups all purpose flour; or 4 cups whole wheat flour; or 4 cups all purpose flour.
- For White Bread: Simply use 4 cups (500g) of all purpose flour and no other flour at all. Follow all the other directions exactly as written.
- Make it Egg-Free: If you don’t eat eggs or have any on hand, you can simply omit the egg from this recipe without any substitutions. The result is an ever so slightly more dense bread but the difference is very slight and barely noticeable.
- Prep time is only for hands-on time and does not include the time for the bread to rise.
- Rising: Depending on how warm the room temperature is and the freshness of your yeast this bread might have risen within 20 minutes or it might take 30 minutes or even a little longer. So just keep an eye on it.
- Storing: This bread is BEST on the day it’s made. It’s absolutely delicious served warm from the oven with a spread of butter. Keep it in a covered container and the next day it’s still good but not nearly as good as the first day and you might prefer it as toast (it makes really good toast). The third day is the last day and it will only be good for toast on this day.
- Freezing: If you think you might take longer to eat it, then slice and freeze a portion and make toast directly from the freezer with the frozen bread.
Hi there
This bread is by far the best I have made!!!! 🙂 This is the only one I make now and it is also my daughter’s favorite one for school lunch…The only ingredient I omitted was the egg and I used only whole wheat flour…well it is still the BESTI have ever made….Thank you Alison…you are a star!!
🙂
Awesome! Thanks so much Sudha!
I have tried SO many bread recipes in the past and they always fail! Not this one! I finally had a perfect and completely successful loaf of bread. I made it as the all white loaf with all purpose flour and it was amazing. This is literally a no-fail recipe. I can’t thank you enough!
I’m thrilled to read your comment! Thank you so much for the wonderful review. I am honestly shocked myself at how easy this bread is, I’m so glad it was a great success for you too.