Braided White Bread Recipe

braided white bread pulled apart

StockFood - Ian Batchelor / Getty Images

Prep: 2 hrs 30 mins
Cook: 40 mins
Total: 3 hrs 10 mins
Servings: 14 servings
Yield: 2 loaves

Looking for the perfect bread to serve with your soup or pasta? Make this braided white bread to serve at intimate dinner settings and at family gatherings.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups water, room temperature

  • 2 (1/4-ounce) packages (4 1/2 teaspoons) active dry yeast

  • 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, or shortening

  • 1 tablespoon sugar

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 4 cups bread flour

Steps to Make It

  1. In a large bowl, mix together the room temperature water and the yeast. Add the butter, sugar, and salt. Stir. Add 3 cups of the bread flour and mix it well. Add in enough remaining bread flour to make a dough that follows the spoon around the bowl.

  2. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it for 10 minutes, adding more flour as needed until the dough is firm and smooth to the touch. Place the dough in a medium greased bowl. Turn dough over in the bowl so that the top is also lightly greased. Cover with a clean cloth or plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm, draft-free place for 1 hour.

  3. Punch down dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board or surface and knead out the bubbles for about 5 minutes. Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces. Set 3 pieces aside. Roll out the remaining 3 pieces of dough between your hands, making 3 strips, about 12 inches long. Line strips side-by-side on floured board.

    Braid strips, starting from the center and working to the end, and pinch bottom ends together. Braid the other side of the loaf, from the center to the end, and pinch the ends together.

  4. Set the braided loaf on a greased baking sheet and repeat the steps for braiding the remaining 3 pieces of dough. Cover the loaves with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let it rise for 30 minutes or until doubled in size.

  5. Bake the bread at 350 F for 40 minutes or until the bread top is golden brown and the bread sounds hollow when the top is tapped. Remove the loaves from the baking sheets and let them cool on a rack.

Tip

  • Bread flour has a higher amount of gluten than all-purpose flour. This means that bread made with bread flour will rise higher than that made with all-purpose flour. You can make your own bread flour by adding 1 and 1/2 teaspoons gluten to each cup of all-purpose flour you use in your recipe.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
191 Calories
5g Fat
31g Carbs
6g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 14
Amount per serving
Calories 191
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 5g 6%
Saturated Fat 2g 8%
Cholesterol 2mg 1%
Sodium 170mg 7%
Total Carbohydrate 31g 11%
Dietary Fiber 2g 7%
Total Sugars 1g
Protein 6g
Vitamin C 0mg 0%
Calcium 8mg 1%
Iron 0mg 2%
Potassium 78mg 2%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)