Imagine a loaf so amazing that even your toaster will do a double-take. Behold the marvel that is Amish White Bread—a bread so delightfully fluffy and subtly sweet, it could charm the crust off a baguette. Join the 2,500+ home bakers who call this their go-to white bread. You’ll see why after the first slice.
You’ll find the printable recipe card a little further down—but if you want the story (and the secrets), keep reading.
🎧 Too busy to scroll? listen instead
Pull up a chair, grab your coffee, and hit play—I'll walk you through the Amish white bread recipe with tips, tricks, and a few flour-dusted secrets. Then we’ll head on down to Picklefork, Texas, where the bread’s hot, the stories are hotter, and childhood memories bake up fresh every time.
Table of Contents
🎥 Watch and cook: step-by-step video tutorial
This soft, fluffy Amish white bread is pure comfort in loaf form—perfect for sandwiches, toast, or slathering with butter while it’s still warm. Be sure to watch the video to catch all the tips for getting that perfect rise and golden crust every time.
🧾 Gather your ingredients: what you'll need
If you are looking for the homemade equivalent of Wonder Bread you'll definitely want to try this classic Amish white bread!
Ginger’s totally optional—it won’t flavor the bread, promise. It just gives the yeast a little motivational pep talk to get rising faster.
🍞 Do I have to use bread flour?
All-purpose works in a pinch, but bread flour gives you a fluffier rise. If you’ve got vital wheat gluten on hand, swap in a tablespoon per cup to help boost it.
Be sure to download the free Amish White Bread Cheat Sheet with tips, faqs, storage, and more.
📖 Recipe
Amish White Bread Recipe
Print Pin Recipe Save Recipe Rate RecipeIngredients
- 1 cup water, 110F
- 1 pinch powdered ginger, optional - activates yeast
- 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 (and ginger if using).
- 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. An instant-read thermometer will register 190℉ when poked into the center of the loaf when it's done.
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
- 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.
- 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 to find more great ideas including a recipe for a natural dough enhancer -
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
🔪 How to make Amish white bread
Since this recipe freezes so well you can make several batches to have on hand when you need them.
- Mix the yeast, sugar, and warm water.
- Let it get foamy.
- Mix in the flour and knead until it is soft and elastic - squeeze a bit between your thumb and forefinger. Weird but true - if your dough feels like your earlobe, you're in the zone. (Welcome to the exclusive club of people who fondle their own ears while baking.)
- 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 a greased loaf pan - let rise. Bake.
Marye's Tips
The dough has been kneaded enough when it feels somewhat like your earlobe when you pinch it. When you gently pull on it, the dough will stretch a little instead of breaking off.
If you've had trouble with homemade bread recipes before be sure to read these posts on troubleshooting and tips:
Don't forget to to download the Amish White Bread Cheat Sheet with tips, faqs, storage, and more. It’s packed with secrets I wish someone had told me before my first sad, under-risen loaf. Snag it now—it’s free and fabulous.
📚 More Southern comfort: related recipes you'll love
Once you make your own bread you'll want to try your hand at different types of yeast baking! Here are some of my favorites.
- Vienna rolls are an old-fashioned yeast roll that were served at fancy restaurants. They are delicious as sandwich rolls, finger rolls, or made into a loaf. Perfect for fancy Sunday suppers.
- There's nothing like hot from the fryer homemade donuts! Saturday morning childhood memories in fried form.
- Angel biscuits are a cross between a dinner roll and a biscuit. They're a southern favorite. Great with leftover ham or butter and honey.
Have you made this bread? Did you sneak the first slice warm from the oven like I do? Tell me in the comments—Reva Mae says it doesn’t count as stealing if it’s still cooling.
Juliette says
The Amish bread is just delicious, a big hit. Easy to make, a lovely dough to work with. I made it two days ago and it's gone. I decided to do it again so it's rising now but I have added raisins this time so we will see how that goes. Thank you for sharing your recip
Bonafidemama says
Made one loaf of bread and a small pan of rolls using this recipe. Though it took a couple cups of flour to get my dough right. Over all it was super easy to make and delicious. My whole family enjoyed it. Thank you so much!
Brenda Berndt says
I did it! I adjusted the flour and water for the sourdough. I divided the bread and made a loaf and then rolled four rolls as one would do for Japanese Milk Bread. Very easy dough to work with and rising now.
Marye says
Brenda that's awesome!
Brenda Berndt says
Question please. Have you ever adjusted the recipe for sourdough and not yeast?
Thanks,
Brenda
Marye says
No I haven't. Sorry. 🙁
Karl Fricke says
Can I use the same recipe for Wheat Bread using half wheat and bread flour
Marye says
You can or you can make one of the wheat bread recipes you can find in the recipe index.
Angie says
What would be the adjustments to turn into 4 mini loafs?
Marye says
I'm not sure. I've never made it that way.
Brandy says
This bread recipe makes THE BEST cinnamon rolls! I can pretty easily say that I won't have to buy Cinnabon anymore. LOL! I am so happy I found this recipe. I have made at least 200 loaves so far. I use to bake for a local farmers market, and would occasionally take bread. This one is for sure a hit!
Vanessa says
Very tasty but will use less sugar next time since it is a little too much fo me. Loaves turned out beautifully.
Karen Honey says
I just made 2 loaves of this bread. I was pretty sure it was not going to turn out, but it did. I had 2 jars of unopened yeast, the first one smelled super stale, the second one was good (both were dated 2022). All went well until I started adding in the flour - with 3/4 of a cup to go I turned it out to begin kneading and it was falling apart, I added the flour anyway, and it became very tough to knead - I knew it was too much flour (I used bread flour and exact measurements). I added 1 table spoon of milk and it became more elastic. It did not rise all that high in the bowl, but did rise in the bread pans. End result, pretty good - not as high as I would like, but decent. The one thing I do not like is how sweet the bread tastes. Is there any way one could adjust the amount of sugar to add?
Marye says
sure you can cut it as much as you'd like.
Wanda Hendrixson says
I have been looking for a good white bread recipe for my bread maker. I just made this and the only problem I have with it is I can't stop nibbling on it. It is so good. My search is over. Thanks so much for this recipe.
Suzan Lilly says
Easy peasy best bread EVER!! Thank you for posting. So delicious
Stormey says
I stumbled upon your recipe early yesterday morning. It sounded so good and fairly easy that I just had to give it a shot. I've been on a quest to find a bread recipe that would stop my husband from saying "it's pretty good but not as good as my grandma's".
Your recipe fit the bill. He even called his mother to rub it in that he was eating hot out of the oven bread like grandma used to make! So thankful I found this jewel!
Mee says
Question? First I'm just starting to make my own bread but when just using my bread machine for dough only ,do I need to run it through dough cycle twice? Might be a really stupid question but first time I had a tad bit of very sticky and not a lot of risen dough🙄
Marye says
I've never used a bread machine so I can't tell you. Sorry!
Alexandra says
I've been using this bread recipe for years now. I've never used my bread maker or a mixer and it just turns out fabulous every time. I've used butter and vegetable oil interchangeably and it's just always amazing. It mimics those Hawaiian rolls from the grocery store...
I'm the official roll-bringer to all holiday gatherings, and I also make loaves of it and hamburger buns. I also give away premade frozen dough to requesting family members every Thanksgiving/Christmas. My point is that this is AMAZING bread and its suprising how simple it is, even for a beginner. I was going to post photos but dont see an option to do so....
anyway was just making some for Thanksgiving tomorrow and realized I've never written a review in all these years ive used the recipe
..happy holidays everyone!
Marye says
Thank you!!!
Lisa Schaal says
Can I use all purpose flour instead of bread flour?
Marye says
yes
Mary says
Tablespoons or teaspoons for the yeast? Seems like alot
Marye says
Exactly how it's written.
Teija says
I don’t have a stand mixer. I do have a hand mixer. Suggestions??
Marye says
You'll have to knead it by hand.
Rhonda T says
Can you use cake flour?
Marye says
No. It doesn't have enough gluten to maintain the rise.
Aprill says
Any suggestions on adjusting for high altitude bread making
Marye says
Im sorry,no. I've never had to do that.
SAnderson says
Can I let this rise in the fridge?
Marye says
yes but I'd use just a little more yeast than called for in the recipe.