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!
Liz smith
What if it dosent rise a inch over the bread pan ??? First bread I’ve ever made …
Marye
Go ahead and bake it anyhow.
Liz smith
I did and it turned out great !!! Made rolls and one loaf of bread . The instructions were written great . What I didn’t know I googled . Just one more question ???? Can I make the dough and put it in the fridge to bake the next day or does it need to baked right away ?
Marye
Yes you can! If Im going to do that I usually add about 1/4 teaspoon more yeast and a pinch m ore sugar but it's not necessary. I am glad you liked it.
Olivia H Aronson
Miss Marye, Youre kind of a snippity in your replies......geez!
Marye
I am. I really really am. It's because I am old and grouchy. 🙂 I also find that some people comment here in ways that they would never speak to me in person. Maybe not you...but many many people.
Candy
Baking time seems to be longer than 30 minutes. I did view two different recipes and add egg however the recipes mirrored each other so that should not affect the bread. The video I watched instructed to roll the dough when preparing it for the pan. This seemed odd however I still did as directed. The roll shape has remained which leads me to believe it’s probably best to just leave it balled up and then shape into a loaf. It’s back in the oven and hoping that it turns into some edible white bread. It did seems to take a very long time for the dough to rise. The rapid rise yeast almost seemed dead. This is my first attempt at bread making. Used roll butter and did an egg wash on top. Also used a mixer and hand kneaded the dough.
Marye
Candy - so basically baking times can vary a bit. Trying to mash a couple of different recipes together never is a good idea - especially for a first time bread maker. I made my first loaf of bread in 1974 and have literally made HUNDREDS since then and this recipe has hundreds of 5 star reviews... so I know that the instructions work really well - when followed exactly.
Tracy A
Just made this in my Pullman loaf pans. It looks and smells great, can't wait to slice it and try a piece!
STEPHANIE A MCGATLIN
Anyone ever try this with gluten free flour?
Marye
This will not work with gluten free flour.
Chelle
At what point do you freeze this? Before baking… after baking…? I’ve never made bread before, but want to try!
Marye
You can freeze it before the 2nd rise or after baking. Good luck!
Sandra
I am looking for a recipe like a recipe I found in a magazine way back in the 70’s. This bread had a wonderful yeasty taste and smell. I lost the recipe a long time ago and have been searching for years for a recipe that has that yeasty taste and aroma that I love. The smell permeated my house and it was delightful.
I hope this recipe will be it.
Jean
The recipe i had was the same except it did not add milk. What does the milk do for the bread flavor and texture?
Marye
It gives it a richer flavor and more tender crumb.
Adam
I’ve been baking bread since the 80’s and this is my go to soft white bread recipe. I’ve made this recipe half a dozen times now or more and it’s consistently sound. I reduce sugar to 1/2C and kneed for 15 min. I’ve used this recipe for cinnamon rolls also and it was very good.
Thank you.
Joel Medriano
My bread maker makes a 2lb loaf. I wish that the recipe would've been adjusted for that. It was way to much for it. Next time I will bake in loaf pans.
Marye
Joel - I'm sorry you had trouble. This recipe was written for loaf pans. Since each bread machine is a little different there's really no way to adjust for each one. Im sorry that you felt the the fact that the bread recipe, which was written for loaf pans, only warranted a 1 star because it didn't fit in your bread machine.