Honey White Bread (Bread Machine & Oven Recipes)

This honey bread recipe produces a delicious & soft white bread with the natural sweetness of honey. Honey white bread is perfect for sandwiches or toast (as it is NOT a super sweet bread). FYI – Many people like to use honey as a sweetener for their baked goods. Why? Because they see honey as a more natural ingredient and they do not want to use processed sugar.

Your family will love the taste of honey bread and you will love how easy it is to make. Moreover, on this page, I teach you how to bake this honey white bread in your oven OR in your bread machine. So you will learn two easy ways to make this great-tasting bread!

Oven-Baked Honey Bread (With Butter “Basted” Top)

Recipe Sections

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Helpful Tips

FYI – This recipe takes me about 10-15 minutes to prepare (i.e. gather & measure the ingredients). The bread machine-only option is easier because you just load all of the ingredients into the bread machine bread pan and let the machine do most of the work (i.e. mixing, kneading & baking).

The oven version takes me a little longer to prepare and is more work (i.e. due to the shaping of the dough). Nevertheless, the end result looks nicer because you get a more “traditional” looking bread loaf (versus the typical bread machine “brick” shaped loaf).

Bread Machine Honey Bread (Without Butter Basting)

Ingredients

• 1 1/8 Cups – Milk (warm) – 266 milliliters
• 1/4 Cup – Honey – 58 milliliters
• 4 Tablespoons – Unsalted Butter (softened) – 57 grams
• 3 1/2 Cups – Bread Flour – 420 grams
• 1 1/4 Teaspoons – Salt – 7.5 grams
• 1 1/4 Teaspoons – Instant Yeast (or Bread Machine Yeast) – 4 grams – This recipe does not use active dry yeast.

Servings – Roughly 18 slices (oven-baked version) or 12 slices (bread machine version)

Equipment Needed (for oven-baked version) – Measuring cup & spoons, flexible spatula, cutting board, 9×5 bread pan, oven mitts, oven, wire cooling rack and a kneading machine to make the dough (either a bread machine or electric stand mixer with dough hook).

Equipment Needed (for bread machine-baked version) – Measuring cup & spoons, silicone spatula, oven mitts, cooling rack and a bread machine.

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Key Ingredient – Honey!!

Honey Bread Dough Rising In Bread Pan

Instructions (Bread Machine-Baked Version)

• Mixing, kneading & baking in a bread machine

Instructions (Oven-Baked Version) – Click on links to jump to appropriate sections

• Creating dough with a bread machine
• Or creating dough with an electric stand mixer & dough hook
• Shaping the dough & baking the bread in the oven

Instructions – Mixing, Kneading & Baking in a Bread Machine

• Bread machine settings – 2 pound loaf, light color and “basic” bread setting.
• Unplug your bread machine.
• Remove the bread pan from the unplugged bread machine (so when you add the ingredients, they can not accidentally spill into the machine).
• Soften the butter. FYI – I like to use a microwave to semi-melt the butter for better mixability.
• Pour the milk, honey & softened butter into the bread pan and then add the other ingredients. Place the instant yeast/bread machine yeast in last and the yeast should not touch the liquid (until the bread machine is turned on and the ingredients start to be mixed together by the bread machine). FYI – Many bakers like to make a crater/pocket in the top of the flour to hold the yeast so the yeast does not contact the liquid or salt in the bread pan.
• Put the bread pan with ingredients back into the unplugged bread machine.
• Plug in the bread machine. Enter the correct settings (2 lb, light color, basic bread) and press the “start” button.
• When the bread machine has finished baking the bread, unplug the bread machine and remove the bread pan from the bread machine. Wear oven mitts as the bread pan & bread machine will be hot.
• Remove the bread from the bread pan and place the bread on a wire cooling rack. Use oven mitts when removing the bread as the bread & bread pan will be hot.
• Optional (but Recommended) – Right after removing the bread from the bread pan (while the bread is still very hot), brush on 1 tablespoon of melted butter on the top crust of the bread. This creates a more buttery top to the bread. Use a pastry brush to brush on the butter.
• Let the bread cool on the wire cooling rack for 1-2 hours before cutting.
• Please read the tips section below for extra information on how to make this recipe successfully.

Instructions – Creating Dough with a Bread Machine

• Your bread machine should be unplugged.
• Remove the bread pan from the bread machine (so when you add the ingredients, they can not accidentally spill into the machine).
• Soften the butter. FYI – I like to use a microwave to semi-melt the butter for better mixability.
• Pour the milk, honey & softened butter into the bread pan and then add the other ingredients. Place the instant yeast (bread machine yeast) in last and the yeast should not touch the liquid (until the bread machine is turned on and the ingredients start to be mixed together by the bread machine). Some bakers like to make a small indent on top of the flour to prevent the yeast from spilling into the liquids or mixing with the salt before the machine is turned on.
• Put the bread pan with ingredients back into the unplugged bread machine.
• Plug in the bread machine. Enter the “Dough” setting on your bread machine and then press the “Start” button.
• When the bread machine has finished making the bread dough, unplug the bread machine.
• Remove the bread pan from the bread machine.
• Now go to the instruction section below on “shaping the dough & baking the bread”. FYI – Ignore the instructions for the electric stand mixer below if you are using a bread machine to make your dough. Skip down to the shaping the dough & baking the bread section.

Instructions – Creating Dough with an Electric Stand Mixer with Dough Hook

• Your electric mixer should be unplugged.
• Remove the mixing bowl from the electric mixer.
• Insert a dough hook into the electric mixer.
• Soften the butter. FYI – I like to use a microwave to semi-melt the butter for better mixability.
• Pour the milk, honey & softened butter into the mixing bowl and then add the other ingredients. Place the instant yeast (bread machine yeast) in last and the yeast should not touch the liquid (until the electric mixer is turned on and the ingredients start to be mixed together). Some bakers like to make a small indent on the top of the flour to prevent the yeast from spilling into the liquids or mixing with the salt before the machine is turned on.
• Place the mixing bowl back into the electric stand mixer.
• Plug in the electric mixer and use a low speed (i.e. setting 2) to mix the dough. Mix the dough for 7-10 minutes.
• When done with the kneading, turn off the electric mixer and unplug the machine.
• Remove the mixing bowl from the electric mixer. Pour the dough into a second large mixing bowl that has been lightly “greased” with olive oil, cooking spray, etc.
• Optional – Lightly coat the top of the dough with olive oil in order to prevent the dough exterior from drying out.
• Loosely cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for 60-90 minutes until it doubles in size.
• After the dough has risen, go to the instruction section below on “shaping the dough & baking the bread”.

Instructions – Shaping the Dough & Baking the Bread

• Sprinkle a little bit of flour onto a large cutting board.
• Remove the dough from the bread pan or mixing bowl and place the dough on the cutting board.
• Press down on the dough with your hands and create a “flattish” rectangle with the dough. The dough should be roughly 1 inch high.
• Roll up the dough into a tight “jelly roll”. FYI – Please see the short instructional videos in the tips section below on how to shape the dough if you haven’t shaped bread dough before. It is easier to watch & learn from these short videos versus trying to explain the rolling technique step by step.
• Place the rolled up dough into the bread pan.
• Press down on top of the dough so the edges of the dough press out towards the sides of the bread pan. This should result in little or no gaps between the dough and the bread pan. This helps the bread to turn into a nice loaf shape without any misshapen edges. Make sure that the top of the pressed down dough is roughly level (so one side isn’t much higher than the other).
• Optional – Brush olive oil on top of the dough with a pastry brush. This prevents the crust from drying out as the dough rises.
• Loosely cover the top of the bread pan with plastic wrap. Set the covered bread pan aside for 60-90 minutes for the dough to rise into a loaf shape. Once the dough has risen 1 – 1.5 inches (2.5 – 3.8 cm) above the rim of the bread pan, the dough should be ready to be placed in the oven. FYI – You want the dough to fully rise during this stage. So don’t try to shorten this rising time. If the dough is still significantly rising while in the oven, you are more likely to see crust/seam cracks or “bursts” in the oven. In addition, the speed of the dough rise will vary in part based on the temperature of your kitchen (i.e. rise faster in the summer & slower in the winter).
• Preheat the oven to 350 F for about 20 minutes before you plan to put the dough in the oven. FYI – I like to set my timer to go off 40 minutes after I place the dough in the bread pan. Given variability in the dough rising time, this can be a little early sometimes (but better to be a little early versus being late!).
• Place the bread pan in the (preheated) oven to bake at 350 F for 37-42 minutes. Wear oven mitts when dealing with a hot oven. Place the bread pan in the middle of the oven.
• Rotate the bread pan in the oven after 15-20 minutes (in order to ensure an even browning of the bread).
• After the 37-42 minute baking period has finished, remove the bread pan from the oven. Wear oven mitts. Optional – Use a digital thermometer to confirm that the bread has been fully baked. See tips below.
• Remove the bread from the bread pan and place the bread on a wire cooling rack. Wear oven mitts.
• Optional (but Recommended) – Right after removing the bread from the bread pan (while the bread is still very hot), brush on 1 tablespoon of melted butter on the top crust of the bread. This creates a more buttery top to the bread. Use a pastry brush to brush on the butter.
• Allow the bread to cool down on the wire cooling rack for 1-2 hours before cutting the bread.
• Please read the tips section below for extra information on how to make this recipe successfully.

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Other Bread Dad Sections

• Bread Machines – My favorites
• Bread Machine Cookbooks
• Bread Mixes – Ingredient kits
• Bread Tools – Bread slicers, etc.

Tips

• The tips below are designed to help baking & bread making “novices”. Intermediate and advanced bread makers probably know most of these bread making tips.
• Click on our “print recipe” link if you want to print out this recipe. It includes all of the recipe’s ingredients and instructions. However, the recipe print function does not include our tips section. Please read the tips section in order to avoid common recipe problems.
• This recipe is part of Bread Dad’s series on Easy Bread Recipes (such as recipes for extra soft white bread, multigrain bread and French bread).
• This honey bread recipe will not work in small bread machines (i.e. compact bread machines). To bake the bread in your bread machine, it will need at least a 2lb loaf capacity.

• FYI – This bread is known as honey bread, honey white bread, milk & honey bread, etc.
• This recipe does NOT create a super sweet bread. Rather it uses honey to replace the sugar used in regular white breads. Therefore, my honey bread is a delicious white bread with a mild honey taste.
• I created this honey white bread recipe because some of my visitors prefer to use honey in their baked goods instead of sugars such as white granulated sugar, etc. They want to use a more natural sweetener versus processed sugar.
• Other bakers like to use honey in order to enhance the flavor of their baked goods. As you probably know, honey comes in many different flavors such as orange blossom honey, buckwheat honey, alfalfa honey and eucalyptus honey.
• FYI – This honey bread is great as toast… especially, when you spread some honey on the toast!
• Visitors – Why do you like to use honey instead of processed sugar? Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

• Do not add more honey than what is listed in my recipe. Extra honey means you will be adding extra liquid. Adding too much liquid to a bread recipe can throw off the liquid/dry ratio of a recipe. This can result in a greater potential for bread “collapses” or misshapen tops.
• FYI – As a Bread Dad (in other words a Bread Mad Scientist!!), I experimented with different amounts of honey when creating this recipe. I tried making this bread with 1/3 cup of honey as well as 1/2 cup of honey. Of course, those experimental breads were sweeter but IMO did not taste nearly as nice as the bread made with 1/4 cup of honey. You do not need a lot of honey to make a great sandwich bread.
• Have a problem getting the honey out of your measuring cup? Some people like to spray the interior of the measuring cup with cooking spray. This allows the honey to stick less to the sides of the measuring cup.
• Have a problem with honey coming very slowly out of its container? Some people like to place the entire honey container in a bowl of warm water. The water will warm the honey and improve its viscosity (making it more pourable).
• If you like honey bread, you might also like to try out Bread Dad’s Honey Oat Bread (bread machine & oven options) or Bread Machine Honey Wheat Bread.

• According to Wikipedia, “Honey is sweet because of its high concentrations of the monosaccharides fructose and glucose. It has about the same relative sweetness as sucrose (table sugar)… It has attractive chemical properties for baking and a distinctive flavor when used as a sweetener”.
• Moreover, according to Wikipedia, “Typical examples of North American monofloral honeys are clover, orange blossom, sage, tupelo, buckwheat, fireweed, mesquite, sourwood, cherry, and blueberry. Some typical European examples include thyme, thistle, heather, acacia, dandelion, sunflower, lavender, honeysuckle, and varieties from lime and chestnut trees. In North Africa (e.g. Egypt), examples include clover, cotton, and citrus (mainly orange blossoms). The unique flora of Australia yields a number of distinctive honeys, with some of the most popular being yellow box, blue gum, ironbark, bush mallee, Tasmanian leatherwood, and macadamia”.
• To learn about some potential benefits of honey, you might like to read this Smiley Honey article.

• Optional – I like to brush on 1 or 2 tablespoons of melted butter (with a pastry brush) on the top crust of the bread right after the bread is baked (while the honey bread is still hot). This adds a nice buttery top to the honey bread.
• Do not use cold milk (or super hot milk) to make this recipe or the yeast may have trouble growing properly. Yeast is sort of like Goldilocks – it doesn’t like things too hot or too cold.
• I like to use whole milk when making this bread because it adds a richer flavor. However, skim milk or plant-based milk (i.e. soy milk or oat milk) is okay too!

• Use FRESH ingredients (i.e. flour) for the best results. Ingredients that have been sitting in the pantry for months can become stale or pick up weird smells & flavors.
• Try to keep your ingredients (i.e. flour) in airtight food containers in order to extend their shelf life. Airtight containers also help to prevent ingredients (i.e. flour and sugar) from absorbing moisture from the air. This extra moisture can throw off recipes (as it can disrupt the liquid-to-dry ingredient ratio in the recipe) and shorten an ingredient’s shelf life. They also help to prevent exposure to pests, dust, etc.
• This recipe calls for the use of bread flour. If you are out of bread flour, you can use all purpose flour in a pinch. However, an all purpose flour bread will be less airy and fluffy (when compared to honey bread made with bread flour).

• The flattening & shaping of the dough and the press down of the dough in the bread pan is the “punch down” phase. This helps to squeeze out any large bubbles produced by the yeast in the dough.
• If you don’t do this punch down phase, your bread will have large air pockets. Large air pockets are fine for ciabatta-type breads but are not ideal for sandwich bread. The punch down & second rising helps to create a lighter & chewier bread. It also creates a more uniform & tighter bread texture which is better for sandwich breads.
• If you are having problems shaping your dough, you should watch the “how to” instructional videos below. These are links to bread dough shaping videos on Youtube.
• King Arthur Baking Video
• San Diego Artisan Bread School Video
• Father Dominic Video – a slightly different method versus the videos above
• Don’t worry if you are a beginner and the bread top comes out a little lopsided. The bread will still taste great. It takes a little while for new bakers to learn how to shape a bread consistently. 

• How do you know when the dough has risen enough in the second rise (when the dough is in the bread pan)? After letting the dough rise for 60-90 minutes (and when it is roughly 1-1.1.5 inches above the 9 x 5 bread pan), you can try the “poke test“. Poke your finger into the dough (going in about an inch). If the poke hole rebounds immediately, you need to allow more time for the dough to rise further (it is “under proofed”). If the hole doesn’t come back at all, the dough has risen too much (it is “over proofed”). If the hole slowly fills over 2-3 seconds, the dough is at the right stage of proofing.
• Unfortunately, the temperature of your kitchen can make the timing for this perfect poke result hard to predict (because there is a faster dough rise in hot kitchens and a slower rise in cold kitchens). Experience with “proofing” will make this easier (but it can be a problem for beginning bakers).
• If the dough is “underproofed” (hasn’t risen enough) when you place it in the oven, the bread is more likely to burst/crack when baked in the oven (as the still rising dough will push against the hardening crust and “burst” at the seams of the crust). Bakers try to get around this issue via testing for the right “proofing” level (i.e. use the poke test), “scoring” breads (slicing the top of the dough so the cracks occur where you want them), adding moisture inside the oven (so the dough doesn’t harden as quickly), using a dutch oven (in order to trap the dough moisture inside the dutch oven container & not spread out into the oven), etc.

• Don’t overproof the dough (let it rise too long). This occasionally happens when someone forgets about the rising dough and comes back hours later to check. Overproofed dough leads to deflated dough as well as flat and/or sunken bread tops. According to Wikipedia, “Overproofing occurs when a fermenting dough has rested too long. Its bubbles have grown so large that they have popped and tunneled, and dough baked at this point would result in a bread with poor structure.”
• If your dough is “over proofed”, you might like to read the King Arthur Baking article “How to save over-proofed dough” as it gives tips on how to save the dough.
• The oven-baked version of this bread recipe calls for the use of a 9 x 5 inch bread pan. You can also use a 8.5 x 4.5 inch bread pan but the “crown” of the bread might come out too tall (or overflow) if your yeast is very active.

• This bread recipe uses instant yeast or bread machine yeast. It is not focused on active dry yeast. This recipe is targeted towards instant yeast & bread machine yeast as many of our visitors are bread machine users.
• Active dry yeast is different from instant yeast & bread machine yeast. Instant yeast & bread machine yeast are added directly to the recipe’s ingredients. In contrast, active dry yeast must be activated in water before being added to a recipe’s ingredients. Many bakers find it quicker to use instant yeast because you just add it to the dry ingredients. With active dry yeast, you need to spend roughly 10 minutes “proofing” (activating) the yeast with a liquid & sugar.

• Cooler home temperatures in the winter can cause rising problems for bread dough. Ideally, your room temperature should be around 75-80 degrees F. Colder winter room temperatures can significantly delay the rise of the dough. You will need to raise the temperature of your kitchen (if you like a cold house in the winter) or find a warm spot for the dough to rise. I often put my dough (covered of course) next to a heating vent in the winter to make sure it is getting enough heat.
• Conversely, dough can rise faster than expected in a very hot kitchen.
• Kitchen humidity can also impact a recipe. A winter kitchen tends to be drier due to your heating system drying out the air. In contrast, a kitchen in the summer can be much more humid. This change in humidity impacts baking as flour can soak up humidity from the air. Therefore, you might have to add 1-2 teaspoons of liquid in the winter if the dough is looking too dry. Or you might have to add 1-2 teaspoons of flour in the summer if the dough is looking too wet. If your kitchen is very dry or humid, you might have to add even a little more (but start with 1 teaspoon at a time until you achieve the right consistency).
• Of course, excessive kitchen humidity or dryness can impact a recipe at any time during the year (not just in the summer & winter)!

• Other factors that can impact the rise of the dough include old or expired yeast, contaminated yeast (i.e. the yeast was left in an open jar & air moisture contaminated it), water that is too cold or too hot, using heavily chlorinated tap water, placing salt next to or on top of the yeast (salt can kill yeast or inhibit its growth), not covering the dough during the rising period (as the exterior of the dough can dry out & limit the ability to rise), etc.
• It takes roughly 15-20 minutes to preheat most ovens with some variability due to the size of the oven, planned baking temperature (hotter takes longer), etc.
• Optional – Use an oven thermometer as your expected oven temperature may be different than reality. Some ovens can be 25-50+ degrees F hotter or colder than the number you set with your oven dial. An oven thermometer (which usually costs less than $10) is an easy way to measure the actual temperature inside your oven.
• Optional – Use a digital bread thermometer to test if your bread is completely done. The interior temperature of the bread should be 190-200 degrees F. This inexpensive tool can save you from underbaked breads.

• You should let your bread cool down for 1-2 hours on the wire cooling rack before you cut any slices (or the slices will be “gummy” and not taste as good as expected). Excess interior moisture is released (via steam) during the cooldown period.
• If you have not made bread in a long time, please buy some NEW bread machine yeast or instant yeast before making your bread. Old yeast can die or lose its potency and this will lead to bread that does not rise properly. Yeast is not likely to be viable if it has been sitting in your pantry for years.
• Once you have opened the container that contains the yeast, the yeast will last longer if you store the bottle in the refrigerator or freezer. Just make sure the bottle is sealed tight (as yeast will deteriorate quickly if exposed to air, moisture and/or heat).

• My recipes are based on US ingredient measurements (i.e. US cups & tablespoons). However, as a courtesy to our European visitors, I have also included some very ROUGH European equivalents (i.e. grams & milliliters). Since I rarely use European measurements when baking, please let me know in the comment section below if any of the European ingredient measurements need to be changed (i.e. for XYZ ingredient, milliliters are more commonly used versus the grams information listed in the recipe).
• Always wear oven mitts/gloves when dealing with a bread machine and/or oven. Both can get very hot!
• For more easy bread ideas, please visit Bread Dad’s sections on Bread Machine Recipes and Homemade Bread Recipes.

If you liked this recipe, please leave a comment below & give us a 5 star rating. It is ALWAYS fantastic to hear from someone who has enjoyed our recipes!! Jump to comment section

Gourmet Bread Mixes – Packaged bread mixes are an easy way to make delicious homemade bread because the ingredients are already pre-measured. At no extra cost to you, we make a small commission if you buy products via the links below.

• Farmhouse Honey Wheat Bread Mix
• California Raisin Gourmet Bread Mix
• Black Russian (Pumpernickel) Bread Mix
• New York Rye Gourmet Bread Mix
• San Francisco Style Sourdough Bread Mix
• Other Popular Mixes such as Buttermilk White Bread, Cranberry Nut Bread, Italian Country Bread, Lumberjack Bread, etc.

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Reference Sources

• Wikipedia, Bread
• Wikipedia, Bread Machine
• Wikipedia, Honey

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• White Bread Instant Yeast (Oven Baked)

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