Why is white bread so soft?

The optional vital wheat gluten in this homemade bread recipe helps make a soft, pliable loaf.

Can you make white bread in a bread machine?

I haven’t tried this white bread recipe in a bread machine. Honestly, this recipe is pretty easy on its own, so even if you’re a beginner at baking bread, I bet you can do it!

How do I know if the bread is done rising?

Following the rise times listed in this post should get you a yummy loaf of bread. To check if the bread is done rising, gently press your index finger into the dough. If it bounces back and fills in the indentation, it needs more rise time. If the indent stays, it’s ready for the next step.

Why is my bread so dense?

Your bread could be dense for a couple of reasons. You may have added too much flour . Or the bread might have needed more rise time. Luckily, bread is a great frugal baking recipe to learn with, so you can try it again. Dense bread still tastes good toasted or as French Toast or Croutons !

Easiest White Bread Recipe: Ready in 90 Minutes! (+ Video)

Man Bread: Homemade White Bread

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4.9 from 81 reviews

This easy white bread recipe, AKA man bread, is so easy to make! Create an awesome, man-sized loaf or a dozen rolls of homemade bread in just a quick 90 minutes. This is the perfect bread recipe for beginning bakers.

Author: Tiffany
Prep Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Yield: 1 loaf or a dozen dinner rolls 1x
Category: Breads
Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale

1 ½ cups of warm water (105–115 degrees)
1 Tbsp honey
2 ¼ tsp active-dry yeast
2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp salt
Vital wheat gluten – 1 Tbsp per cup flour (optional)

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Instructions

If your kitchen is not warm, turn your oven to low. This is simply to warm your kitchen up a little bit (since it’s cool where we live).
In your mixer bowl add warm water, honey, and yeast. Stir a few times until honey dissolves. Once yeast starts foaming (5 minutes or so), add flour, melted coconut oil, and salt. Using dough hook, knead for 10 minutes on low/medium low. Leave your dough ball in the bowl and cover with a towel. Let rise for 30 minutes.
After the first rise, lightly flour a surface and scoop your dough ball on it. Knead your lump of dough by hand a few times, until it forms a firm ball. Cover this ball of dough with a towel.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. If you have a pizza stone, make sure this is in the oven to warm up. Alternatively, you can use a cast iron skillet while the oven is preheating – as one reader had great luck with! (Note: We have only tested this recipe with a pizza stone.)
Let rise for 30 minutes.
After the second rise, place dough ball directly on pizza stone, cut two slits on the top of the dough ball and bake for 25 minutes at 400 degrees. If you are using a loaf or cast iron skillet, the cook time may need to be increased an additional 10-15 minutes. (bread is done when the internal temp is 220 degrees).
Let cool on a wire rack and enjoy.

Notes

We move this dough from the counter to the pizza stone, but if you don’t feel confident in that transition, flour a piece of parchment paper and shape the dough on that for the second rise. Then move the entire paper with the dough to the oven for baking.
Vital wheat gluten is optional but helps create a more pliable, softer loaf.

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1 slice
Calories: 179

Find it online: https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/90-minute-man-bread/