Most bread recipes are for two loaves, which is way too much for one person to eat. I have another super-easy bread recipe, which is great for dipping in olive oil or eating on the side, but not ideal for a sandwich. This Kitchenaid white bread recipe makes a single loaf of bread that’s light, soft, and perfect for peanut butter and jelly, tuna salad, or your favorite sandwich fixing.

I got the recipe from the original Kitchenaid cookbook that came with my mixer. I cut the recipe in half (for one loaf) and I have also added instructions on how to shape the loaf of bread. Follow these simple tips and you’ll get a perfect loaf of fresh bread that looks like it came from a bakery.

The other key to the success of this Kitchenaid white bread recipe is my loaf pan. When I made the bread for this post I completely forgot to grease and flour the pan! I figured I would end up with a horrid mass of bread stuck to the pan. Nope! It came out perfect and popped right out of the pan!

One Loaf Kitchenaid Bread Recipe

Ingredients

1/4 C milk
4 1/2 tsp sugar (or 1 T plus 1 1/2 tsp)
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 T butter
1.5 tsp instant yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp standard active dry yeast)
3/4 C warm water
2 1/2-3 C flour

Instructions

Take a small saucepan and add the first four ingredients (milk, sugar, salt, and butter) to the pan. Heat that on a low flame, just enough to melt the butter. Stir it occasionally to make sure the sugar dissolves and is mixed thoroughly.
Remove the pan from the heat and set it aside to cool off. You want the mixture to be lukewarm (not too hot, or it will kill the yeast).
Add the yeast and warm water to the mixing bowl of your mixer. If you are using active yeast, let it sit for 5 minutes or so. If you are using instant yeast, go on to the next step.
Add the smaller amount of flour to the yeast mixture.
Now attach the dough hook to your mixer. Put the mixer on speed 2. Let that mix for a minute or two. Now check it and see if it has formed a tight ball around the dough hook. If it has, go to the next step. If not, add more flour.
Keep kneading the dough, on the same speed for 2 or 3 minutes more. The dough should be smooth and stretchy. When it's kneaded enough, a small piece will stretch enough, without breaking, so you can nearly see through it.
Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and grease that bowl (or a fresh one) with about a capful of neutral oil.
Put the dough back in the bowl and turn it around to grease the entire outside of the ball.
Cover it with a towel, and set it a warmish spot (about 75 degrees) for about an hour. It should now be about twice its original size.
Now punch it down.
Sprinkle some flour on a board or counter and put the ball of dough on top. Flour your rolling pin too. Now roll out the dough into a rough rectangle (about 9 x 14 inches). This helps to smooth it out. Starting from the narrower side, roll the dough up into a cylinder. Pinch the bottom and sides shut to form a seam. Put the dough in a greased/floured loaf pan with the seam side down.
Cover the pan and let the dough rise again for about another hour.
About 45 minutes in to the second rising, preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
Put the bread in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Once it's done, remove the loaf of bread from the pan and let it cool on a wire rack.

Tools and Ingredients for This Recipe

Norpro Stainless Steel Bread Pan

I call this my magic bread pan. It looks as clean and shiny as it did when I bought it. It’s not a standard non-stick pan, but whatever they did to it, the food does not stick. It cleans up from banana bread, apple bread, meatloaf, potato bread—doesn’t seem to matter. Which is great when you don’t have a dishwasher and don’t want to spend all day cleaning pots.

Saf Instant Yeast, 1 Pound Pouch

This is so much better than buying tiny, expensive packets of yeast. Those packets cost a dollar each and after three loaves it’s all gone. With this big bag, you can bake dozens of loaves rather than just three, and it’s far more economical. Keep the bag in the freezer so it stays fresh. Also, since it’s instant yeast you don’t have to wait for it to activate. Just add your ingredients and keep going.