You may have heard this called milk bread. Make this by hand or in a bread machine - both instructions are included. It freezes well, too!
Be sure to read to the end where I'll be sharing my best tips for getting yeast dough to rise! More Bread Recipes here.
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Ingredients
If you are looking for the homemade equivalent of Wonder Bread you'll definitely want to try Amish white bread! It is somewhat sweet — and when I say somewhat I mean like those fabulous, hot dinner rolls they have at Logan's Roadhouse or Hawaiian rolls.
If you want a real treat try it with a spoonful of this apricot pineapple jam!
- whole milk
- sugar
- yeast
- salt
- light vegetable oil or coconut oil (or melted butter)
- bread flour ( or all-purpose)
- butter
- two 9 by 5 inch loaf pans (measured from outside edge to outside edge. 1- ½ quart)
- instant read thermometer.
You can find a list of tools and helpful information on the Essentials page.
Instructions
Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the green recipe card below.
- Mix the yeast, sugar, and warm water.
- Let it get foamy.
- Mix in the flour and knead until it is soft and elastic - it will feel like your earlobe when you squeeze a bit between your thumb and forefinger. Weird but true.
- Place in an oiled bowl and cover.
- Let rise until doubled.
- Check by pushing your finger in. If the indent stays it has doubled.
- Punch down.
- Shape and place in greased loaf pan - let rise.
- Bake.
Bread flour or all-purpose
This recipe works best with bread flour but you can also use all-purpose if you like. Just be aware that the texture may be a little more dense and your loaf will not rise as high.
If you are using all-purpose flour and you happen to have some wheat gluten around you can replace 1 tablespoon of flour with 1 tablespoon of gluten for every cup.
That will give it the rise and fluffiness you're looking for.
Tips
If you've had trouble with homemade bread recipes before be sure to read these posts on troubleshooting and tips:
- If you want something less sweet you can cut the sugar in half. It will change the texture a bit but will still be great.
- This is one recipe I don't often use butter in. I use organic extra-virgin coconut oil because it adds just a little flavor to the bread. A light vegetable oil will work, too. Try it with coconut oil, light vegetable oil, or melted butter and just see what you like best. Make sure whatever you use is melted and cooled to 100F before adding.
Variations
Amish white bread is a basic loaf with lots of different possible variations. Here are some of my favorite variations.
- Dinner rolls
- Cinnamon rolls
- Sweet rolls
- Hamburger buns
- Cinnamon swirl loaf
- Add 2 cups raisins
- Add 2 cups chocolate chips
- Add 2 cups chopped nuts
Since this recipe freezes so well you can make several batches to have on hand when you need them.
Amish white bread is one of the main breads on my list of homemade pantry staples because it's so easy!
Equipment
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I use a Bosch to make bread with. I love my Kitchenaid but it just doesn't handle heavy doughs as well as I'd like. If you plan on making bread often I'd recommend saving up for a Bosch. It lasts forever. You won't regret it.
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Help it rise!
There are definitely a lot of ways to get yeast doughs to rise - such as keeping it in the oven with the light on, etc.
My favorite is to use a natural dough enhancer like one of these-
- Ground ginger helps to activate the yeast and really get it going.
- Potato water strengthens the structure of the dough allowing it to rise higher.
Click through to 5 Ingredients to Help Your Bread Rise (updated for 2020) to find more great ideas including a recipe for a natural dough enhancer -
Many people have asked me if you "have" to use bread flour. The bread will rise higher and lighter if you do but you can substitute all-purpose flour .
📖 Recipe
Amish White Bread
Print Pin Recipe SaveEquipment Needed
Ingredients
- 1 cup water, 110F
- 1 cup milk, 110F
- ⅔ cup sugar, (you can use less)
- 1 ½ tablespoons active dry yeast
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- ¼ cup vegetable oil, -- coconut oil works really well here (melt it first and let it cool to 100F)! OR use melted butter
- 5-½ cups bread flour, you may need a little more or a little less
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
Instructions
Conventional method
- Dissolve the sugar in the warm water and milk in a large bowl.
- Whisk in the yeast.
- Set aside for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the yeast mixture gets foamy.
- Stir in 1 cup of the flour.
- Whisk in the salt and oil.
- With the mixer running add the remaining flour, one cup at a time, until the dough pulls away from the bowl.
- Knead by machine about 5 minutes.
Hand kneading
- If you are hand kneading mix in the flour until you have a sticky dough, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic - adding flour as needed.
Rising and shaping
- Oil a large bowl and place the ball of dough in it.
- Oil the top of the dough and then cover with a damp cloth.
- Allow it to rise until it has doubled in bulk. This will take about an hour.
- Punch the dough down.
- Knead for three minutes or so and divide in half.
- Let rest for five minutes.
- Shape into loaves and then place in greased 9x5-inch loaf pans.
- Brush the tops with the melted butter.
- Let rise for 30 minutes, or until the dough has risen an inch or so above the pans.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes, or until loaves sound hollow when tapped.
For a soft crust
- For a soft crust butter the tops and place a clean tea towel over the baked loaves as soon as you take them out of the oven. Let them cool for about 5 minutes and then take them out of the pans to finish cooling, covering them back up with the tea towel.
Bread machine instructions
- Add ingredients to your bread machine in the order the manufacturer recommends.
- Select white bread cycle.
- Press "start".
- When the dough has risen once and second cycle of kneading begins, turn the machine off. Press "start" again to reset the machine.
- The dough will rise a second time before it bakes.
Notes
- Dinner rolls
- Cinnamon rolls
- Sweet rolls
- Hamburger buns
- Cinnamon swirl loaf
- Add 2 cups raisins
- Add 2 cups chocolate chips
- Add 2 cups chopped nuts
- Ground ginger helps to activate the yeast and really get it going.
- Potato water strengthens the structure of the dough allowing it to rise higher.
- Click through to 5 Ingredients to Help Your Bread Rise (updated for 2020) to find more great ideas including a recipe for a natural dough enhancer -
Nutrition Facts
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Free Bread Baking Mini Series
Get my bread making tips and tricks in this 2 week bread baking email mini series:
- Equipment
- Ingredients
- Rising
- Kneading
- Shaping
- Plus I'll walk you step by step through making 2 different loaves of homemade bread. Recipes included!
Monica
Love this bread recipe!! Family fav!
What’s the best way to store the bread after baking. First time making this and not sure where the best place is to keep it? Thank you!!
Marye
Homemade bread doesn't last long - so it's fine wrapped in plastic wrap and stored on the counter for a day or two but after that it needs to be frozen. When I make bread I cool it, slice it, put squares of parchment paper between the slices and freeze it in Ziploc. Then I just thaw a slice or two as needed.
Marie Folsom
This is actually a question not a comment.
Can I substitute the water for potato water?
Marye
Yes.
Patty
I’m slightly confused. On this page the first recipe doesn’t say anything about milk but when a scroll down to the full recipe , milk is needed. If I do need milk, what step is it added. I tried to add it at the beginning and the yeast wasn’t doing anything.
I’m new to baking bread
Marye
The milk is in the recipe and it tells you what to do with is in step one.