How to Make Bread Without Eggs, Milk, or Butter

Learn how to make delicious homemade bread without eggs, milk, or butter! This easy homemade recipe uses simple pantry ingredients to create two perfect loaves with a soft texture and golden crust.

YES, it’s possible. No, it doesn’t taste awful! You can absolutely make homemade bread without eggs, milk, or butter, and you might be shocked by how easy, and delicious, it is!

I love this recipe when my pantry is getting low on supplies, or when I just want to bake a loaf of homemade bread without having to prep a bunch of ingredients.

I love to make this and serve it warm with butter and jam for breakfast, as sandwich bread for lunch, or to make grilled cheese for supper (with some soup to dip, of course)!

Even if you’re “not a baker” or stay away from bread recipes at all costs (because let’s be honest, we’ve all messed up bread at some point or another OR have heard horror stories from loved ones ending up with dense, brick-like loaves), you can handle this. Pinky promise.

And you may even consider roping in some kiddo kitchen helpers to man the bread dough or set up your ingredients. It’s easy, it’s fool-proof, and it’s tasty! Can’t go wrong.

Ingredients

• Water: Water will be the liquid to form the dough together.
• Yeast: Yeast is what makes the bread rise.
• Honey: Honey gives the nicest subtle touch of sweetness.
• Oil: Oil will help the crust firm up and also keep the dough from being super sticky.
• Salt: A necessity with any and all bread making
• Flour: Flour is what brings the dough together; you can use all-purpose, bread, or whole wheat flour.

See recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities

Notes for Making Bread Without Eggs, Milk or Butter

Oil Choices: The type of oil you use is flexible — use canola, vegetable, avocado oil, or even melted butter.

Flour Flexibility: You can use all bread flour, all all-purpose flour, and even all whole wheat flour. My personal preference is a 50/50 split between a white flour and whole wheat flour or even a 2:3 ratio (2 cups whole wheat flour with about 3 cups white flour).

Yeast Tip: I use instant yeast. If you are using active dry yeast (or any kind of dry yeast other than instant), just let the yeast rest with the water and honey in the bowl for 5 minutes. If it starts to get foamy on the top of the bowl, you know that they yeast is good to use and that it is now ready for you to move forward with the recipe.

Bread Pan: The size/type of bread pan doesn’t matter much. A smaller pan will yield a loaf that is more domed on top; a large pan will make a loaf that is wider and flatter. Use what you have; they’ll all work great!

Tips for Making Amazing Homemade Bread

• Watch the video (below). I made the bread live and shared all my knowledge throughout the video. Plus, it’s good to see the dough and what it looks like at different stages.
• The video also shows you how to knead (spoiler alert: quarter turn and press forward with the heals for you hands) if you need a few pointers there.
• The key to using wheat flour is to add part of it first and stir well so that it has time to absorb the water. If you are using all whole wheat flour, you’ll want to add it slowly and stop adding it with the dough is nice and tender but still holds is shape well (you can see this in the video).
• You don’t need a stand mixer or anything to make this! Just be sure to knead it really well for a full 6 to 8 minutes. This will help to develop the gluten (which is especially important when using whole wheat products).

And to make this recipe even better, I did a free bread cooking class for it! You can view the video here which will help if you have questions about kneading or the size of pan to use. And don’t miss the blooper in the middle (spoiler alert: we dropped the camera!).

How to Make Bread Without Eggs

Step 1: Mix the wet ingredients and begin the dough

Combine warm water, instant yeast, honey, oil, and salt in a large bowl. Add 2 cups of flour (use whole wheat here if you’re doing a blend) and stir vigorously for one minute to create a thin batter.

Step 2: Form the dough

Gradually stir in additional white flour, one cup at a time, until a smooth dough begins to form. When it becomes difficult to stir, turn it out onto a well-floured surface and knead for 6-8 minutes until the dough is soft, elastic, and no longer sticky.

Step 3: First rise

Place the dough in your bowl, cover with a heavy towel or plastic wrap, and let it rise in a warm spot until doubled in size—about 30 minutes.

Step 4: Shape and second rise

Punch down the dough, divide it into two equal pieces, and shape each into a loaf. Place in two greased loaf pans and let rise until the dough reaches about one inch above the rim of the pan (or to the top if using larger 9×5-inch pans).

Step 5: Bake

Bake at 350°F for 35 minutes until the crust is golden brown and the bread sounds hollow when tapped.

Step 6: Cool and serve

Remove from the oven, turn the loaves out onto wire racks immediately, and rub butter over the tops while hot. Let cool slightly before slicing and enjoying.

Substitutions and Variations

Whole Wheat Bread: Use 100% whole wheat flour for a heartier, more nutritious loaf. Note that it won’t rise quite as high and will have a denser texture, but it’s still delicious. Add the flour gradually until the dough is soft but holds its shape.

Herb Bread: Knead in 2 tablespoons of dried herbs (rosemary, thyme, oregano, or Italian seasoning) for a savory variation that’s perfect alongside pasta or soup.

Honey Oat Bread: Replace 1 cup of flour with old-fashioned oats and increase the honey to 1/3 cup for a slightly sweet, hearty loaf with wonderful texture.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread: After the first rise, roll out one portion of dough into a rectangle, brush with melted butter, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, roll up tightly, and place in the loaf pan seam-side down.

Vegan Version: This recipe is already vegan if you use oil instead of butter for greasing and brushing. Just ensure your sugar is vegan-certified if using sugar instead of honey.