This bread recipe is simple to make and also thrifty. It requires no milk or eggs but makes the softest, most delicious sandwich bread. This is the recipe my momma taught me and she got it from my grandmother. It’s an Amish recipe and just can’t be beat. I’ve been baking this bread since I was a young girl. I make a 6 loaf batch of this bread every week to feed our family of ten.

I recommend using bread flour for this recipe or any high protein flour for the best results. But listen, use whatever flour you have, even if it’s cheap all purpose flour. I used that for years because that was all we could afford and it fed my family delicious bread that was much healthier than anything you can buy at the store.

I also use this same recipe to make delicious dinner rolls for Christmas and Thanksgiving and any other time that we need them. Make the recipe exactly the same as for bread loaves except when it’s time to shake the loaves, shape rolls instead. Let them rise and then bake. My kids devour them and wonder amongst themselves why the rolls seem to taste even better than the bread does. Haha! It’s exactly the same but they sure are delicious!

Mamaw’s Homemade Bread

Rachel Ballinger

This bread recipe is simple to make and also thrifty. It requires no milk or eggs but makes the softest, most delicious sandwich bread.

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Prep Time 3 30

Cook Time 30

Total Time 4

Course Bread

Cuisine American

Servings 2 Loaves

Ingredients

3 cups lukewarm water
2 tbsp sugar or honey
2 tsp salt
2 tsp active dry yeast
3 tbsp vegetable oil or olive oil
6-8 cups bread flour as needed to make a smooth dough

Instructions

In a large bowl put the water, sugar, and salt. Sprinkle the yeast on top. Add the oil and stir in flour. Continue adding flour and kneading until a smooth elastic dough is formed. Knead for about 6-8 minutes.
Cover and let rise for about an hour or until doubled in size.
Oil hands and bowl and punch down dough. Cover and let rise again until double, about an hour.
Divide dough evenly between two bread pans. Punch down dough to get rid of any air bubbles, form loaves, and place in oiled bread pans. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until lightly browned on top.
Butter tops of loaves if desired.

Notes

I recommend using bread flour or any high protein flour to get the best results. All purpose can be used if that’s what you have but there is a difference in the quality.

Add 6 cups flour and mix and then keep slowly adding flour and kneading until dough is smooth and elastic and not sticky. Pinch off a small ball of dough and roll it in your hand. If it’s sticky and gets stuck on your fingers, add more flour. If it’s not sticky and just rolls around nicely, then you’ve added enough flour.

This recipe is easy to scale to the amount of loaves you want to bake. However many loaves you want, use one more measurement of water and oil and then use the same measurement of the rest of ingredients. For example, for six loaves of bread use 7 cups water and 7 tbsp oil and then 6 tbsp sugar, 6 tsp salt, 6 tsp yeast, and flour as needed.

Keyword Bread

My bread dough bowl is an 8 quart stainless steel bowl. You can find them at Walmart or here on Amazon. My bread pans are 8.5”x3.5”. I’ve always found mine at garage sales over the years and was excited to have the same kind my mom always had but didn’t know where to actually buy them new. Imagine my surprise when I walk into the Dollar Tree and there are my bread pans for $1.25 each! I wasn’t sure whether to be happy or embarrassed 🤣 but they sure do work too and they season well and will last you a lifetime.

To clean my bread pans, I just wipe them out with a moist cloth. Don’t submerge them in water. Wipe them out, stack, and put away. They’re a gray/silver when they’re new but as they season they turn black.

I hope y’all enjoy this easy bread recipe and make lots of healthy and yummy bread for yourself and your loved ones.

Happy Baking,

~Rachel Ballinger ☕️💕🍞