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Bread

White Bread

A basic loaf of white bread made with water, flour, salt, and yeast.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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White Bread

White Bread

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Make the dough

  1. Combine warm water and yeast in a large bowl and stir until dissolved.

  2. Gradually add flour and salt, mixing until a dough forms.

  3. Knead the dough on a floured surface until smooth and elastic.

  4. Place the dough in a greased bowl.

  5. Cover and let it rise in a warm place until doubled in size.

  6. Punch down the dough.

Shape and rise

  1. Shape the dough into loaves.

  2. Place the loaves in greased pans.

  3. Let the loaves rise again until doubled.

Bake

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. Bake for 30-40 minutes until golden brown.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Flour
Forms the gluten network that gives the bread its structure and chew.
Yeast
Ferments sugars and produces carbon dioxide gas that makes the dough rise.
Warm water
Hydrates the flour and activates the yeast, forming the dough.
Salt
Controls yeast activity and strengthens the gluten for flavor and texture.

The step that matters

Kneading until smooth and elastic. Kneading aligns gluten strands so the dough can trap gas. Under-kneaded dough rises poorly and bakes up dense and crumbly.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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