Easy Homemade Yeast Bread Recipe

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I ain’t gonna lie… I love sourdough bread. The taste, the texture… there’s nothing like it!

However, my ADHD ain’t aligned for pampering a starter – because let’s be honest, most days I can barely keep my head above water.

Being a sourdough dropout does not keep me from having fresh made bread, though! I’ve been making yeast bread for years and years, and this version is the easiest one I’ve ever tried.

It’s so little work – but it does require a stand mixer. You could probably do it by hand, but these days finding stand mixers is much more affordable than when I got mine about 10 years ago.

And listen, I know you don’t wanna read a whole ass novel before we get to making the recipe. So let’s make homemade yeast bread, shall we?

This recipe works either with a loaf pan or a dutch oven, so use what you have. You also do not need any special equipment, though I do use a few items from a sourdough kit that I bought.

Easy Yeast Bread Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups of all purpose or bread flour
• 2 1/2 tablespoons of dry active yeast
• 2 1/2 tablespoons of granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cup of milk
• 2 tablespoons butter
• Drizzle of olive oil

Easy Yeast Bread Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350° – and if you are using a dutch oven, go ahead and put it in there before you turn it on. A dutch oven needs about an hour to fully preheat inside an oven. This gives your yeast bread a better texture crust. it will not be super similar to sourdough, but it will be amazing, trust me.

In the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle and the speed on low, mix together 2 1/4 cup of flour (save the other 1/4 out for later), yeast, sugar, and salt and turn on low. Let it mix while you do the next steps.

Using a microwave proof measuring cup or bowl, put the milk and butter in the microwave on high for 90 seconds. Once it comes out, stir it up and make sure that the butter is completely melted.

While the stand mixer is still running, slowly add in the hot milk into the dry ingredients. Let it completely mix in and if the dough does not start to pull away from the sides of the bowl, then slowly add in the last 1/4 cup of flour until it starts pulling away.

After the yeast bread mixture starts to pull away, swap out the paddle for the dough hook. Lock down the neck of the mixer and let it run on medium for seven minutes.

Once the yeast bread dough has kneaded for 7 minutes, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface and form into a ball gently.

After your ball is formed, Take a large bowl and drizzle in some olive oil. Swirling and turning gently, coat the dough ball in the oil. Cover with a towel and let it rise for one hour. It should double in size (at least).

When the dough has risen for an hour, gently punch down in the middle, then form it back into a ball. Place the yeast bread dough onto a long piece of parchment paper or a silicone dough sling (most commonly used for sourdough bread.)

While it is not at all required, to be extra fancy use a bread razor to cut a design if desired.

If you’re not using a dutch oven, then gently form the dough into a loaf shape and bake in a loaf pan.

For dutch oven baking: Place it back into the oven with the lid on top for 15-20 minutes, remove lid, then bake until golden brown.

For loaf pan: Just place directly in oven and bake until golden – around 25-30 minutes.

You can tell it’s done if it sounds hollow when you thump it.

Bonus level: If you want a crunchier crust like sour dough, give the dough an egg wash before scoring dough.

Enjoy bread however it is that you love it. I like it with some butter and homemade cranberry jelly. But that’s a whole different post.

PS – if you enjoy this recipe, you would love my easy yeast dough beignets. They’re better than the New Orleans classic version. Yes, I said it. No, I will not be apologizing. 😉