Once you try this homemade milk bread, you may never want to go back to store-bought bread! 🍞

This milk bread is soft, fluffy, mildly sweet and incredibly delicious, yet surprisingly easy to make at home.

It is perfect for morning toast, sandwiches, bread pudding, or simply enjoying warm with some butter.

And the best part? You don't need any complicated bread-making techniques. With a few simple ingredients and some patience, you can make a beautifully soft loaf right in your own kitchen.

My 3-year-old absolutely loves this bread, so this has quickly become one of our family favorites. ❤️

And if you love Indian bakery-style snacks, don't miss my next video — I'll be using this homemade bread to make South Indian-style Vegetable Toast, popularly known as Iyengar Toast.

If you try this recipe, let me know how it turned out in the comments!

🍞 Ingredients
1 cup lukewarm milk
¼ cup sugar
1 packet active dry yeast (2¼ tsp / 7 g)
1 egg
375 g all-purpose flour or bread flour (3 cups spooned & leveled )
1 tsp salt
¼ cup softened unsalted butter
Milk, for brushing

👩‍🍳 Method
Add lukewarm milk, sugar and active dry yeast to a bowl. Mix well and let it sit for about 10 minutes, until frothy.
Beat one egg and set aside.
In a large bowl, mix flour and salt.
Add the yeast mixture and beaten egg. Mix until a sticky dough forms.
Cover and let the dough rest for 20 minutes.
Add softened butter and lift and fold the dough until the butter is fully incorporated, about 5 minutes.
Cover and rest for another 20 minutes.
Give the dough about 12 rounds of lifting and folding until it becomes smooth and elastic.
Cover and let it rise for about 40 minutes, or until doubled in size.
Gently release the air and transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface.
Flatten the dough and roll it tightly, making sure there are no large air pockets.
Tuck the ends and place the dough into a parchment-lined loaf pan.
Cover and let it rise again for about 30 minutes, or until almost tripled in size.
Brush the top with milk.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for about 25 minutes.
Let the bread cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.
For an extra buttery finish, brush some melted butter over the warm bread. This step is optional.
💡 Tips for Perfect Milk Bread
Make sure your milk is lukewarm, not hot, when activating the yeast.
If the yeast doesn't become frothy after about 10 minutes, start again with fresh yeast.
The dough will be sticky in the beginning — don't add too much extra flour.
Use softened butter so it incorporates easily into the dough.
Roll the dough tightly when shaping to prevent large air pockets inside the loaf.
Don't rush the proofing. Let the dough rise until it reaches the right size rather than relying only on the clock.
Let the bread cool before slicing so you get clean, beautiful slices.
Bread flour can give you an especially soft and elastic loaf, but all-purpose flour also works.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

00:00 — The easiest homemade milk bread
00:20 — Activating the yeast
01:15 — Making the dough
02:37 — Adding butter
03:17 — First rise
03:53 — Second rise
04:48 — Rolling the Dough
05:49 — Milk wash & baking
06:26 — Cooling & slicing
06:50 — What we're making with this bread next