If you are wanting to get into baking loaves of bread for your family, but have been too intimidated to try, this farmhouse white bread is an excellent loaf to start with. It is fluffy, flavorful, and pretty forgiving to those new to bread making.

My family loves this farmhouse white bread. It is a large recipe making three loaves. I have discovered that if you are going to make a loaf of bread, you might as well make 2 or 3 for the work put in. Especially since half a loaf is usually gobbled up right away.

This bread makes the best grilled cheese and BLT sandwiches ever.

It is also good for slathering with butter and homemade jam.

Have it with a hearty bowl of soup or any other time!

A Few Things I wish I knew About Baking Bread Before I Started

Seven years ago I made a goal of learning to bake bread. I had been too scared for many years due to my first attempt being a total and utter flop. My first attempt were whole grain rolls I learned how to make through a church group. But they were as hard as rocks when I made them by myself the first time.

If someone had told me not to start my bred baking career with a small army of whole wheat flours this particular recipe had called for, it might have been a bit smoother of a start.

What I wish I had known are these few things about baking bread. And I think I would have been making bread for my family much sooner. Especially this Farmhouse White Loaf Bread.

Start with Unbleached White Flour

First of all, start out with white flour when you start baking. There are so many great flours out there that are more healthy, but if you start with whole wheat, spelt, or even einkorn, your learning curve will be a bit more steep. Starting with white will give you more quick successes and make you want to continue. As you learn, you will realize what a loaf is supposed to feel like and will be able to start making changes. One of the alterations on this bread recipe is adding some whole wheat flour, but I would suggest starting with all white flour. It is a great baseline. I do always source organic flour.

Measurements Can Change

Bread making should come with the warning label that measurements aren’t always exact with the flour. There is a lot it depends on. The weather, the temperature of your house, and the humidity. Many recipes I’ve seen never mention this. There will be a base amount of flour in a recipe, but you should know that you never put in the whole amount in the beginning. You might need more or less depending on the factors stated above. Also, if you do end up adding some whole wheat flour, it will change the amount because of how the whole wheat sucks up the liquid.

Shaggy Dough and Smooth and Elastic

This is a recipe that needs to be kneaded. There were two terms that I didn’t know when I started bread making. One was when it says to mix until it is “shaggy.” I’ll put a picture below, but basically it means that it is as mixed as can be at that point, but still things aren’t quite together. It seems as if too much flour was added. But if it looks like the picture, you got the “shaggy” part right.

The next term I wasn’t completely sure on was “smooth and elastic.” This is when your bread has gone through the first rest and you are kneading it. You will need to knead until the dough has reached the point of being smooth and elastic.

Many recipes say this, but then add a time that you knead for. Many never say that this time is a base time, but it could also change. It is another part that is flexible due to weather, temperature, and humidity. The picture below is of my roll recipe dough that has reached the smooth and elastic stage. It goes quicker if you used bread flour with the all-purpose as the recipe states and not jut all-purpose flour.

There have been times that this dough has come together quite quickly to the smooth and elastic stage (mostly when we lived in Arizona and it was much warmer). But now that we live in a northern climate, it takes quite a bit longer to knead.

You will have to get the feel for the bread by practice with kneading. In my experience, when I feel like giving up with the kneading stage, but go a little longer, it gets to just the right stage. When it gets to the correct smoothness, you won’t see it ripping apart.

It will be at the correct elastic stage when you can do the “window pane” test. I learned a bit more about this from Caroline at Homesteading Family on YouTube. Basically, you will take a small ball of dough and pull it apart slowly. If it rips before you can get it thin enough to see through, it is not yet done being kneaded. But if you are able to spread the dough out slowly enough to get it thin enough to see through, it is ready (smooth and elastic).

Everything in the recipe below will be enough for you to make a great loaf, but if you want to make sure you have a little more background, watching the short video series from Caroline at Homesteading Family is a great idea. In her free mini series, she taught me more about some of these rules to make sure you make a great loaf.

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Ingredients Needed for Farmhouse White Bread

4 cups all-purpose flour
1½ Tablespoons instant yeast
2 Tablespoons sugar / brown sugar / honey
2 Tablespoons melted butter or neutral oil (avocado)
4 cups milk (or water), warmed 85°-100° (can leave cold if your kitchen is really hot)
About 6 cups bread flour (can use all-purpose)
1½ Tablespoons salt

*Note – If you don’t have bread flour, you can use all all-purpose flour or any combo of both.

Instructions for Farmhouse White Bread

Mixing the Dough

First I take my largest bowl and add: the all-purpose flour, yeast, and sugar/honey. I stir it up with a big wooden spoon.

Then make a well in the middle to pour in the butter/oil and the milk/water. Mix well.

Continue mixing while adding the bread flour. Only add one cup at a time, stirring in between. By 3 to 4 cups of flour, you will most likely be to that shaggy dough stage I was talking about. It might be a little sticky, but not too sticky. Stir it as much as you can until it seems like nothing more can be added.

Now it’s time for a quick rest. Set the timer for 20 minutes and cover the bowl with a tea towel to rest.

After the timer goes off, sprinkle the salt over the top. Then add one more cup of the bread flour and give it a stir. It won’t mix in too well at this point. But if the dough is still sticky, go ahead and add another cup of flour. I usually end up adding more flour in the kneading stage, so don’t worry if you aren’t close to the 6 cups of bread flour. (Remember it won’t always be exact measurement anyway.)

Now you are ready to turn that baby out onto a clean, floured work surface. I pull out my most used kitchen item, my silicone pastry mat and flour it up with a light dusting so the dough doesn’t stick.

If you have never seen anyone knead dough before or never done it yourself, here is a quick video (under a minute) from King Arthur Baking Company on how to knead dough. There are many styles and techniques, but this will give you the basic how-to. It will show what you need for this farmhouse white bread.

Back to the bread – knead it with floured hands until the dough is soft and smooth, starting at 10 minutes and sometimes up to 20. I usually end up adding more flour during this time as my hands get sticky or if the dough starts to stick to the mat. Remember that you want a soft dough that is not sticky, and that the flour and timing measurements are guidelines. You may need more or less flour and time for kneading the dough.

This is where you would perform the windowpane test to see if you have kneaded the dough enough.

Hint: You will need the clean work surface to turn the dough out onto later on.

Letting the Dough Rise

Now it is time to let your farmhouse white bread dough rise.

One part of making bread is the part when they tell you to grease the bowl to let the dough rise. That’s what most recipes will say at this part. The extra oil has made a few other recipes have an off taste, so I have started using a large food grade plastic container with a lid. I love this way of rising my breads. I don’t have to put any oil or flour on the container to get it to not stick. It naturally doesn’t stick to the container. And because the container is see-through, it is easy to see when it has doubled in size.

So, set the dough into the plastic container and pop on the lid (or if you don’t have it, a large bowl that is dusted with flour or greased and covered with that tea towel).

Set the dough on the counter or another room if needed. 70°F to 75°F is ideal. Let it rise until has doubled in size. This usually takes about an hour.

This is not when you want to leave your house to run an errand or go out and work in the garden for long. Pay attention to the dough. You don’t want it to over rise and use up all the yeast.

When it looks like the dough has doubled in size, push a floured finger into the dough to double check it is ready. It should leave an indentation in the dough when you remove your finger. If it does, it is ready to turn out to shape into loaves. If not, let rise a bit longer.

Shaping the Farmhouse White Bread Dough into Loaves

Once again, turn the dough out onto the floured work surface. Contrary to what you may have seen before, punching down the dough is not necessary.

Use a bench scraper to cut the dough into 3 sections

You do want to flatten the dough out with your hands in a gentle manner though. You don’t want to keep the air bubbles.

Since this recipe makes 3 full sized loaves, you will now use a dough scraper or knife to divide the dough into three pieces. You can eyeball this. I have never weighed them to make sure they are the same. I actually try to make one a little smaller because one of my loaf pans is smaller than the other two. But you can also weigh it out with a digital scale.

Working with one ball of dough at a time, you will now shape your loaf and place into a greased pan. I tend to rush this part and when I do, my loaves can be a bit wonky. So, take your time and make sure to shape well for the best result. Here is another super quick video that shows just how to shape a loaf for a pan from the San Diego Artisan Bread School. I finally got one of the pans she mentions in the video, and they sure are worth it. Aren’t they beautiful? I hope to replace all my bread pans with these one day. They are perfect for this farmhouse white bread loaves.

When all three loaves of the farmhouse white bread are shaped and placed into the loaf pans, you will need to dust them with some flour on the top so that they don’t stick to the tea towel for the last rise.

Then you will let them rise for a second time covered with the dampened tea towel. This rise is usually shorter, about 45 minutes. Check with the floured finger poke again. The dough should spring back a little when you poke it.

Once again, don’t go out and leave the bread to proof too long. Keep an eye on it. It would be a shame to over proof after all that work. Go ahead and turn on the oven to 375° while the farmhouse white bread if proofing.

Bake at 375° for 35 minutes, or until the loaves are golden brown. I always test by removing one of the loaves and carefully taking it out of the pan and tapping on the bottom. It should be hard and sound hollow.

farmhouse white loaves look like this when done

The next step is important. Remove all the loaves of farmhouse white bread from the pans and let cool on a wire rack. They are not like a banana bread where you leave them in the pan for a bit to cool. They will become soggy. Believe me, it is really sad when you do this to your beautiful loaves. But alas, if you do, they can be saved, but a little more soggy on the bottom.

Now the hard part while you are smelling that beautiful fresh baked bread smell – you have to wait to eat it!!

The bread will continue baking on the inside and forming the best texture for your loaf while you wait. About 40 minutes worth! Ugh! Yes, just wait.

Or sacrifice a loaf for immediate enjoyment.

Since this farmhouse white bread recipe makes 3 loaves and we aren’t a big enough family to eat it all before going bad, I will usually leave one or two loaves out and then freeze the rest after the loaves are cooled all the way. For those loaves you are leaving out, I like them stored tucked in a tea towel on the counter or in a gallon zip lock bag for longer storage.

Yield: 3 Loaves

Farmhouse White Loaf Bread

This is an excellent recipe for beginning bread bakers looking to make a farmhouse white loaf for sandwiches. It makes 3 loaves.

Ingredients

4 cups all-purpose flour
1½ Tablespoons instant yeast (I also use non-instant)
2 Tablespoons sugar / brown sugar / honey
2 Tablespoons melted butter or neutral oil (avocado or sunflower)
4 cups milk (or water), warmed 85°-100° (can leave cold if your kitchen is really hot)
About 6 cups bread flour (can use all-purpose)
1½ Tablespoons salt

Instructions

In an extra large bowl, add the all-purpose flour, yeast, and sugar. Stir it to combine. (use a wooden spoon or a Danish bread whisk) Then add in the oil and warm milk.
Using the wooden spoon mix thoroughly. When combined, add 4 cups of the bread flour - 1 cup at a time. It will get harder to mix the more you add, but mix as well as you can until the dough is sticky and shaggy.
Next you will rest the dough for 20 minutes. Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel and set the timer.
After the 20 minute rest, sprinkle the salt over the top of the dough and mix it in. Then add in another cup of the bread flour and mix it in. If your dough is quite sticky at this point, add more bread flour.
Once the dough is mixed as much as you can, turn it out onto a floured work surface to knead. Keep the flour jar close and flour your hands. Depending on the temperature and humidity of your home, you might be adding more flour to keep it from being overly sticky as you knead. Expect to knead it for at least 10 minutes, sometimes more.
You will add flour as needed, but you don't want to add too much. Keep kneading the dough and as long as it isn't sticking to your hands too much, knead more before adding more flour.
Remember that bread baking is not a science with how much flour you add - the temperature and humidity can change the amount needed. You might use all 6 cups, or maybe a bit more or less. When you think you might have kneaded enough, test with the windowpane test.
When the dough is done being kneaded, you will put it in a bowl or plasitc container to rise. I use a tall food-grade plastic container with a lid. It does not need grease or flour. If you do not have that, use a bowl that has been greased and floured and cover with a damp tea towel.
Dough rises best between 70 degrees and 75 degrees. Move it to a warmer place in your house if your kitchen is too cold. Let it rise until doubled in size. It usually takes about an hour. The cooler your house, the more time it will need to rise.
When the dough looks ready to shape, test with the finger test (push a floured finger into the dough and if it does not spring back, it is ready).
Turn out your dough onto a clean, lightly floured surface. I like to use my large silicone mat for this. Let it spread out naturally on the surface and press it out with your hands. You want to lightly work out the air bubbles.
Divide the dough into three sections. You can weigh them using a digital scale or eyeball it. Shape the dough into loaves and place into the greased loaf pans. Then dust the tops of the loaves with flour.
Now you will have them rise for a second time. Cover with the damp tea towel from earlier and let them rise for around 40-60 minutes. Test again with a floured finger, poking lightly and seeing it the dough springs back.
Heat the oven to 375 degrees before the dough has risen all the way.
Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes. The loaves should be golden brown on top. Check at the 35 minute mark by taking out one loaf and carefully turning it upside down and removing. Tap the bottom - it should sound hollow and be baked golden brown too.
When done baking, remove the loaves from the pans immediately (so they don't sweat and turn soggy) and let cool on wire cooling racks. Let cool for about 40 minutes for best results. The bread will continue baking a bit as it cools, setting the structure of the loaf. (If you can't handle waiting with the delicious smell, I say sacrafice a loaf and go ahead and eat a slice warm with butter and jam!)
To store: Let cool all the way. I like to wrap a sliced loaf in a tea towel and place in a large zip top bag. Uncut loaves can go directly into a zip top bag. They also freeze well. Let cool completely and then place in a zip top bag and store in the freezer.

Notes

Read the blog post before starting - there are a lot of tips and tricks in there.

Tips for a Successful Farmhouse White Bread

Don’t forget to grease your pans is probably the most important tip! I forgot this once and it was a pain to get the loaves out. They ripped up pretty darn good on the bottom.

Keep kneading a bit longer than you think you should.

I think I already covered the rest of the tips above that you need for success.

Variations After You’ve Made The First Loaves

There are several things you can add or substitute to this dough so that you have a few different types of loaves beyond the farmhouse white bread.

Things I have tried:

Substitute 1 cup of whole wheat flour for the all-purpose flour
Substitute 1/2 to 1 cup of the all-purpose flour for oats and sprinkle some one top before baking
Turn a loaf (or all) into cinnamon raisin bread by adding cinnamon, sugar, and raisins into the dough after the first rise. You can mix in or spread on like when you make cinnamon rolls.
Make a garlic loaf by adding fresh/roasted chopped garlic, fresh herbs, and using olive oil instead of the other oil/butter, and maybe some fresh Parmesan cheese
Add some tomato powder along with fresh herbs for a fun colored loaf.