How to Make a Quick Homemade Bread

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Explore this Article Making the Dough Rising and Kneading Dividing and Baking Questions & Answers Related Articles References

Certain meals call for a loaf of fresh bread, but you don't always have time to wait hours on end for it to rise. When you need hearty, fresh bread in under an hour, making this quick recipe won't let you down. This crusty, fragrant bread is the perfect partner for any meal.


  • 2 cups very warm (not boiling hot) water
  • 4 tablespoons instant yeast
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 5 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Part 1
Making the Dough

  1. 1
    Pour the water into a bowl. It's important that you use water that's very warm, but not too hot! Hot water could kill the yeast. Warm water will wake it up without killing it, which is what you want - that way the yeast will help the bread rise.[1]
  2. 2
    Add the yeast and sugar. Use a spoon to stir it all together. The yeast will begin to react with the sugar, and the mixture will become bubbly and foamy. This should happen within just a few minutes.
    • If 3 minutes have passed and nothing has happened, your yeast might be stale, and you may need to use another batch.
    • You could also try again using water that's a little warmer or cooler, depending on what temperature you initially tried.
  3. 3
    Pour the flour into a big mixing bowl. Five cups will yield two loaves of bread. You can use either all-purpose flour or bread flour. The bread flour might have a bit more height, but all-purpose flour works just fine, too.
  4. 4
    Add the oil, salt and yeast mixture. Pour them one at a time over the flour.
  5. 5
    Mix the dough. Use either a mixture with a dough hook attachment, a hand mixer or a wooden spoon to mix all the ingredients until they come together in a big, sticky ball of dough.

Part 2
Rising and Kneading

  1. 1
    Put the ball of dough in an oiled bowl. You can wash out the mixing bowl and oil that one, or use a separate oiled bowl. It should be at least twice the size as the ball of dough, so the dough has room to rise.
  2. 2
    Cover the dough and put it in a warm place. Cover it loosely with plastic wrap - it shouldn't be airtight - or place a clean dishcloth over the bowl. Put it in a warm area in your kitchen. If your kitchen tends to be drafty, preheat your oven to 200 degrees, turn it off, and put the bowl in there. It'll be just the right temperature for the dough to rise.
  3. 3
    Let the dough rise for 25 minutes. During this time it will start puffing up. It won't quite double in size, but it will rise enough to give the dough a good texture.
  4. 4
    Punch and knead the dough. If you have a stand mixer, use the dough hook attachment and knead the dough until it relaxes - about 5 minutes. If you don't have a mixer, you can knead the dough by hand. Turn it out onto a floured surface and use the heels of your hands to knead for 10 minutes, or until the dough relaxes.
    • You'll know the dough has relaxed when it stops pulling back into a ball shape when you pause your kneading. It should be loose and malleable.
    • The dough will also start to look shiny and stretchy.

Part 3
Dividing and Baking

  1. 1
  2. 2
    Divide the dough. Roll it out or press it into a circular shape, like a pizza crust. Use a knife to cut the dough in half, so you have two half-moons of dough.
  3. 3
    Roll it up. Place one piece of dough in front of you so that one of the corners is pointing toward you. Pick up the corner and roll the dough away from your body, like you would a jelly roll. Roll it all the way up until you have a loaf. Repeat with the other piece of dough.
    • If you don't want a rolled loaf shape, you can divide and shape the dough any way you want. Make traditional loaves, dinner rolls, pizza crust, or any other shape you like.
  4. 4
    Make slits in the top. Use a knife to make a few slits in the top of each loaf. This helps the bread cook more evenly.[2]
  5. 5
    Place the unbaked bread on a baking sheet. A cookie sheet works great, or you could nestle it into a loaf pan.
  6. 6
    Bake the bread for 30 minutes. It's ready when the top looks slightly golden brown. Serve it with butter and jam or alongside soups and stews.
  7. 7

Community Q&A

Add New Question
  • Question
    What's causing my bread to have holes throughout it?
    Community Answer
    Yeast is what causes bread to rise. Yeast is a type of live fungi that consumes sugar and releases carbon dioxide as a waste product. The little holes in bread are from the pockets of carbon dioxide gas that the yeast released. If you have bigger, uneven holes in your bread, perhaps you did not evenly distribute the yeast.
  • Question
    Can I use baking powder instead of yeast?
    Community Answer
    No, baking powder and yeast work in fundamentally different ways.
  • Question
    What temperature should I set the oven at?
    Community Answer
    You should set the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celcius). Bake the bread for 30 minutes.
  • Question
    Can I use self-raising flour for bread?
    Community Answer
    I wouldn't. Bread flour has a high protein content, which helps gluten develop, which gives bread structure and texture.
  • Question
    I used this recipe and the bread was awful. Are you sure the amount of yeast is correct?
    Community Answer
    It sounds right to me. Are you sure you haven't killed the yeast? Try it again and see if it works.
  • Question
    Can I bake bread in the microwave?
    Community Answer
    Not well. Try an oven or microwave oven instead.
Ask a Question
200 characters left



    • Eat within two or three days; remember, there are no preservatives to make it last a week.
    • Adjust the ingredients; use 2 cups self-raising flour, 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, and 2-3 teaspoons of flax seeds + 1 beer for a healthy bread.

    Made Recently

    Did you try these steps?
    Upload a picture for other readers to see.
    Upload error

    Article Info


    Categories: Breads

    In other languages:

    Español: hacer pan casero, Italiano: Preparare Velocemente il Pane in Casa, Deutsch: Schnell ein hausgemachtes Brot backen, Português: Fazer um Pão Caseiro Rápido, Русский: быстро приготовить домашний хлеб, Français: préparer rapidement du pain maison, 中文: 快速自制面包, Bahasa Indonesia: Membuat Roti Buatan Sendiri Dengan Cepat

    Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 46,720 times.
    Did this article help you?