Simple Dairy Free White Bread

If you're looking for a soft and chewy white bread that's perfect for sandwiches, toast, and snacking- this recipe is it! Best part? It's completely dairy free (and technically vegan too!)

There's nothing that I don't love about making homemade white bread. The smell of the yeast dough proofing and baking, all the way up to seeing that gorgeous golden top crust and slicing through to reveal the soft fluffy crumb inside.

This dairy free sandwich bread recipe is easy, simple, and PERFECT for beginner bread makers. Speaking of bread makers, I've included steps below and on the recipe card explaining how to make milk free white bread in the bread machine if you don't wish to make it by hand.

🥘 Ingredients

Flour: You can use all-purpose flour or bread flour depending on what you have on hand. Both are great, but bread flour has more protein and will give you a slightly chewier texture and stronger bread flavor.

Yeast: You can use any dry active or instant yeast. We will not be proofing the yeast beforehand, so make sure the expiration date on your yeast packet is still good.

Salt: This will help to enahnce the flavors and make the bread taste great.

Water: We will use water to bring the dough together and give it the moisture needed for baking. Room tempertautre water (or slightly warmed) is best.

Oil: You can use either vegetable oil, canola oil, or even olive oil depending on what you have on hand.

Sugar: To feed the yeast we need to add in a little granulated sugar. You could use honey or agave if desired.

🍽 Equipment Needed

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• Measuring cups
• Measuring spoons
• Large mixing bowl
• 8x4 bread loaf pan

🍴 Recipe Tips

If you've never made bread before (whether it is bread with dairy or bread without dairy) there's a thing you should note. When bread immediately comes out of the oven, the crust should be hard and sound hollow when tapped. As the loaf cools, the bread crust softens. Similar to how some pancakes feel firm when finished but as they sit on a plate they become flexible and soft.

Now then, when your bread has finished baking it will sound hollow to the tap and if you stick a toothpick inside it will come out clean. An instant read thermometer will read the internal temp at being close to 200 degrees as well. These are all great signs that the bread has finished baking.

I like to brush the top of my bread with butter as soon as it comes out of the oven to give me a nice shine and help add moisture into the crust.

Speaking of moisture in the crust, those little crackles you see on the crust of the bread as it cools are a GOOD THING. So are tiny white spots if your crust develops them. These are tell-tale signs that the crust has a good amount of moisture inside, making the bread nice and soft.

If desired, just before baking your bread loaf, you can score the top of the proofed dough with a sharp knife. This will help to keep your bread from going lopsided as it bakes and gives it somewhere to expand. Of course, bread does have a mind of its own, so it's more like a helpful suggestion from you to the dough to do what you want. It can still choose to surprise you.

Make sure you wait at least an hour (if not more) before slicing into the bread with a serrated knife after it cools. This time is important for the bread to soften, retain moisture locked inside, and become that fluffy white sandwich bread that rivals that of storebought.

💭 FAQs

🔪 Instructions

Check out how to make dairy free bread with these simple step-by-step instructions:

• Whisk together the flour, yeast, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
• Make a well in the center and add in the sugar, oil, and water.
• Stir the dough to combine.
• Turn the sticky dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Feed it more flour as you knead, until the dough is no longer sticky. The total amount of flour needed to feed it should be about ½-1 cup but can vary.
• Place dough into a large mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size.
• Roll the dough back out onto a floured surface and shape into a log a little longer than your bread pan.
• Place the log of dough into a greased bread pan, tucking the edges underneath so that it's pretty.
• Cover the top of the dough again and wait about an hour until doubled in size.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and bake bread for 30-35 minutes.
• Cool the bread for at least one hour before slicing.

Bread machine option

• Place the dough ingredients into your bread machine in the order specified by the owner's manual. Mine goes from wets to dry with yeast being added last.
• Close the lid and set the machine to "dough cycle" and wait for the beep at the end.
• Take your dough and turn it onto a lightly floured surface. Knead about a minute and then shape into a log.
• Place the log into the greased bread pan, tucking under the ends.
• Cover and let rise 1 hour until doubled.
• Bake 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees F until golden brown.
• Let cool an hour before slicing.

More great dairy free recipes to try

• Dairy Free Rice Krispie Treats
• Easy One Bowl Vegan Banana Bread with Applesauce
• Dairy Free Waffles
• Vegan Slider Buns
• Easy Dairy Free Coleslaw
• Vegan Hamburger Buns
• Rich and Chocolatey Vegan Mug Brownie

📖 Recipe

Print Recipe

5 from 7 votes

Simple Homemade White Bread (Dairy Free)

This dairy free white bread has a soft crust and a perfectly fluffy and chewy white interior. Perfect for sandwiches, toast, and snacking.

Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 30 mins

Rise Times 2 hrs

Total Time 2 hrs 45 mins

Servings: 1 loaf

1x2x3x

Calories: 146kcal

Cost Recipe $1.53

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Equipment

• Measuring Cups
• Measuring Spoons
• Large Mixing Bowl
• 8x4 Bread Loaf Pan

Ingredients

• 2 ½ cups all-purpose or bread flour ($0.20)
• 2 ¼ teaspoon yeast (one packet) ($0.54)
• 1 ½ teaspoon salt ($0.15)
• 1 cup water ($0.00)
• 3 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil ($0.36)
• 2 tablespoon sugar or honey ($0.28)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• In a bowl whisk together the flour, yeast, and salt.
• Make a well in the center and add to it the sugar, oil, and water.
• Stir to combine.
• Knead the dough on floured surface for about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Feed it more flour as needed to get it no longer sticky.
• Place in a bowl and cover. Let rise until doubled, about 1 hour in a warm place.
• Roll the dough out on a floured surface and form it up into a log.
• Place log in a pan, tucking ends underneath and cover. Let rise again until doubled.
• Bake in a greased bread pan for 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees F.
• Cool for at least one hour before slicing and serving.

Bread machine option

• Place ingredients in order of owner manual for your specific bread machine.
• Turn the machine to "dough cycle" and close the lid. Waiting for the beep.
• Take the dough and turn it onto a lightly floured surface. Knead a minute, roll into log, and place in a greased bread pan. Tuck the ends underneath as you place it in the pan.
• Cover and rise 1 hour or until doubled. Bake uncovered 35-40 min until golden brown.

Notes

Recipe Tips

To help direct the bread where to go as it rises and bakes, you can score down the center of the loaf with a sharp knife. Then as the bread bakes and expands, it will rise upwards towards that mark rather than try to spill out one or both sides or the pan.

If you've never made bread before (whether it is bread with dairy or bread without dairy) there's a thing you should note. When bread immediately comes out of the oven, the crust should be hard and sound hollow when tapped. As the loaf cools, the bread crust softens. Similar to how some pancakes feel firm when finished but as they sit on a plate they become flexible and soft.

Now then, when your bread has finished baking it will sound hollow to the tap and if you stick a toothpick inside it will come out clean. An instant read thermometer will read the internal temp at being close to 200 degrees as well. These are all great signs that the bread has finished baking.

I like to brush the top of my bread with butter as soon as it comes out of the oven to give me a nice shine and help add moisture into the crust. Speaking of moisture in the crust, those little crackles you see on the crust of the bread as it cools are a GOOD THING. So are tiny white spots if your crust develops them. These are tell-tale signs that the crust has a good amount of moisture inside, making the bread nice and soft.

If desired, just before baking your bread loaf, you can score the top of the proofed dough with a sharp knife. This will help to keep your bread from going lopsided as it bakes and gives it somewhere to expand. Of course, bread does have a mind of its own, so it's more like a helpful suggestion from you to the dough to do what you want. It can still choose to surprise you.

Make sure you wait at least an hour (if not more) before slicing into the bread with a serrated knife after it cools. This time is important for the bread to soften, retain moisture locked inside, and become that fluffy white sandwich bread that rivals that of storebought.

Storage

You can freeze the dough just before the second rise or you can freeze the loaf after it has completely cooled. For best result make sure its well wrapped and covered so it wont get freezer burnt or lose flavor/dry out. 

Once baked homemade bread should last about 3-5 days if stored in an airtight container at room temperature. It doesn't last as long as storebought loaves due to the lack of preservatives.

Make Ahead

You can make the dough and let it do it's first round of proofing in the bowl as directed. Then when you go to place in the the loaf pan for the second rise, simply cover it well in plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge for up to 8-10 hours or in the freezer.

Once frozen solid, place in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw the bread overnight in the fridge (in the pan) and once morning has arrived preheat the oven and for either method (fridge or freezer) let the loaf rest on the counter for about an hour to come to room temp. Bake as directed.

Nutritional Information

Serving: 2slices | Calories: 146kcal | Carbohydrates: 30.3g | Protein: 4.5g | Fat: 0.5g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 437.4mg | Potassium: 52.6mg | Fiber: 1.4g | Sugar: 0.1g | Calcium: 6.5mg | Iron: 1.8mg

Author NicoleDurham

Course Other, Snack

Cuisine American

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