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Beginner All Purpose Yeast Bread
Many people love the idea of warm fresh bread but never try baking it because the process seems so time-consuming, complicated, and even magical. Bread is amazing and magical, but making a simple yeast bread is truly not difficult. Here’s a recipe that gives you key tips, walks you through the steps, and yields a delicious and fragrant loaf of bread.
You’ll use ingredients and gear that you probably already have, and the entire process takes less than three hours – most of which is just waiting for the dough to rise. This might be the only bread you ever bake or this could be your springboard to eventually baking all sorts of breads with different flours and even sourdough leavening.
[Jump to recipe]
Checking Your Yeast
Some new bakers are anxious about using yeast because they’ve heard it requires a certain room temperature or that it might be dead before they even open the packet and all the bread baking effort, anticipation, and ingredients might be wasted. The truth is that a yeast dough can rise in a wide range of temperatures, from a refrigerator to a heat wave; the difference is in how long the dough takes to rise. Cold dough rises slower than hot dough, but the final breads are both great.
And as for dead yeast, this indeed can happen but you can always check the yeast’s liveliness before using it to make sure it’s fine, and we give instructions for performing this simple 5-minute test in the recipe below. It’s worth noting that many people keep the same package of SAF Instant Yeast in their freezers for several years and the yeast shows no signs of slowing down.
Five-minute yeast test
How much should the dough rise?
The second thing that worries new bakers is timing. If a recipe says that the dough should double for the first rise in 1-2 hours, is it one or two? And what does doubling look like in a bowl anyway? The answer is that the timing of the expansion depends on the temperature of the dough, and it might actually take less than an hour or even more than two hours! Also, the dough doesn’t have to precisely double, it can be a little smaller or bigger, but you can keep track of where on your bowl your dough rises to and learn from each bake.
Here are some photos of the target expansion of this dough during the first and second rises. My dough was warm and the first rise was 1 hour long and the second rise was 30 minutes long. If I had used cold water in the dough and had the dough sitting in a cold kitchen, the timing would have been longer.
First rise dough expansion
Second rise dough expansion
Barely risen over the pan edge
Easy Shaping
This is a relatively wet dough, which helps it ferment faster and have a lighter, airy texture when baked. You will form this dough into a loaf shape after the first rise with wet fingers, inside the bowl and loaf pan. This makes it relatively easy and mess free, as you’re just roughly shaping the dough, moving it to the greased loaf pan, and then tucking it into a tube shape. See the short video below for a demonstration.
Loaf Pan Options
I used a medium USA loaf pan for this recipe. It’s 9 x 5 x 2.75 inches and about the same volume as glass loaf pans that are 1.5 liters.
It takes longer for glass to heat up than aluminum so you should extend the bake time if you use a glass pan. Cover the bread with aluminum foil if it begins to browns excessively before the interior reaches 190F.
If you have a different size pan, you can read this FAQ to learn how to scale a recipe, or simply bake this size dough in your pan and be prepared for a different fit, either low and wide in the pan or overflowing.
Additional expansion while baking
Beginner All Purpose Yeast Bread
Here's a recipe for fresh baked bread using simple ingredients and gear that you probably already have in your kitchen. The time commitment is minimal and a shaping video and before-and-after dough photos will guide you through the parts of the process that are tricky for beginners.
Ingredients
Instructions
Check ("bloom") the Yeast
Mix and First Rise
Shape and Second Rise (aka Final Proof)
Bake
Notes
Active vs. Instant Yeast: If using instant yeast that you know is good, you can skip the blooming step and simply incorporate your yeast and the extra 1/4 cup of water in with the rest of the ingredients. But don't skip the blooming step if you use active yeast. Also expect slightly longer rise times.
Different Flours: Use more water in the dough if you substitute some or all of the flour with whole wheat flour or bread flour. Note that whole wheat flour tends to ferment faster than white flour, and the presence of bran makes a whole wheat dough less stretchy and the final bread a little less airy. Also, bread flour tends to have more oven spring, so you may want to score the dough to control the bursting if you make this substitution.
Extending the Process with Refrigeration: The easiest time to refrigerate the dough is probably overnight after it is shaped and in the bread pan. To ensure the shaped dough doesn't overproof, don't use warm water or the lit oven for the first rise and then put the loaf pan into the coldest part of your refrigerator as soon as it is shaped. You can then bake the dough from cold and simply add a few minutes to the total bake time.
Extending the Process at Room Temperature: A good way to extend the rising time at room temperature is to use cool water and very little yeast (1/8 - 1/4 tsp). The dough will then take 8-12 hours to rise while you are sleeping or out all day. You may need to do some trial and error based on your kitchen temperature to figure out the best amount of yeast to use.
Shopping List
All Purpose Flour
American Made Bread Loaf Pan from USA Pan
Bowl Covers (5 pcs)
Magnetic Measuring Spoons
$17.00Stainless Steel 4 Pc Measuring Cup Set
$22.00Danish Dough Whisk — Large
Flour Duster
Bread Lame
Expandable Cooling Rack
Roll Top Bread Bin by Brabantia
$65.00Breadtopia’s Choice Kitchen Scale
$18.00Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls — Set of 3
$39.99Beginner All Purpose Yeast Bread