In a rush? You can skip straight to the Simple Vanilla Sweet Bread recipe at my Tumblr. Or you can jump to my Just the Basics section.
Stressful things seem to pop up when they’re least expected, right?
But if there’s one thing I can count on to counteract stress, it’s desserts. After all, stressed is merely desserts spelled backwards!
So this week I made something so ridiculously easy and simple that it didn’t add to my stress levels at all: Simple Vanilla Sweet Bread.
This recipe takes almost no time at all. Just a few minutes of mixing, and it’s ready to go in the oven. No need for special tools or equipment. No need for special ingredients.
And it’s just plain yummy, pure and simple.
Better still, this vanilla sweet bread is incredibly flexible and versatile. You can add nuts, chocolate chips, fruit, frosting, glaze – you name it, you can add to the recipe and it will still taste amazing.
Time
Prep time: 5-10 Minutes
Rise time: None
Cook time: 45-50 Minutes
Total time: 50 Minutes to 1 Hour
Ingredients
Don’t have a lot of ingredients in your pantry? No worries. You only need a few staples for this recipe:
- 240 Grams (2 Cups) All-Purpose Flour
- 201 Grams (1 Cup) White Granulated Sugar
- 12 Grams (1 Tablespoon)Baking Powder
- 3 Grams (1/2 Teaspoon) Salt
- 80 Grams (1/3 Cup) Vegetable Oil
- 240 Grams (1 Cup) Milk
- 4.2 Grams (1 Teaspoon) Vanilla Extract
- 1 Large Egg
Although this recipe is for sweet vanilla bread, you can leave out the vanilla if you wish and go for a simpler more neutral flavor or swap it out for something more your style, like lemon extract.
Additional Equipment
While you don’t need fancy equipment to make this recipe, you do need the following items on hand:
I’ve provided links to a few basics on Amazon, but you can just as easily find these items in any convenience store.
Instructions
Simple Vanilla Sweet Bread comes together fast, so if you’re ready to bake, go ahead and preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (176 degrees Celsius).
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
In a smaller bowl, combine vegetable oil, milk, vanilla, and egg.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
Pour batter into lightly greased bread pan. Feel free to sprinkle a light layer of sugar on top for an extra hint of sweetness.
Bake 45 to 50 minutes. If you insert a toothpick into the bread and it comes out clean, you’re done!
Let the bread cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 10 minutes.
Then turn the loaf out onto the wire rack to finish cooling.
While your bread cools, feel free to make your own glaze or frosting to the bread. But in my opinion, this bread is beautiful all on its own, with maybe a bit of butter.
This bread stays freshest when stored in a sealed plastic bag or covered in plastic wrap. It will keep for 5 days at room temperature.
You can also wrap this loaf in heavy foil or place it in a freezer Ziploc bag and freeze it for about 3 months, though you’ll want to bring it to room temperature again before serving.
Just the Basics
Simple Vanilla Sweet Bread
Ingredients
- 240 Grams All-Purpose Flour (2 Cups)
- 201 Grams White Granulated Sugar (1 Cup)
- 12 Grams Baking Powder (1 Tablespoon)
- 3 Grams Salt (1/2 Teaspoon)
- 80 Grams Vegetable Oil (1/3 Cup)
- 240 Grams Milk (1 Cup)
- 4.2 Grams Vanilla Extract (1 Teaspoon)
- 1 Large Egg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit (176° Celsius).
- In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine wet ingredients: vegetable oil, milk, vanilla extract, and egg.
- Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until just incorporated.
- Pour batter into 9" by 5" bread pan.
- Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Insert a toothpick. If it comes away clean, the bread is done.
- Let cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, and then turn out bread onto wire rack to finish cooling.
Notes
Secrets to Success
This vanilla sweet bread recipe is a great one for beginners. All you need to do is a little mixing and you’re good to go.
However, I feel like I should emphasize little mixing.
As with many quick bread recipes, you don’t want to overmix your bread. If you overmix, your bread might sink in the middle. You want to mix until the flour is just moistened – and that’s it.
If you keep mixing minimal and you still struggle with a sinking loaf, consider only spraying the bottom of the pan. The batter will still to the sides of the pan and give the bread a little extra support while it bakes.
Additionally, you may want to measure your ingredients by weight rather than volume. Some measuring cups are less accurate than others, so measuring by weight will guarantee consistent results.
Nutritional Information
Simple Vanilla Sweet Bread is a sweet bread, which means it has quite a bit of sugar in it. If you’re tracking your calories, keep this nutritional information in mind:
Please remember that calories per serving will vary depending on how you slice your bread. I managed about 12 slices per loaf, but your slices may be bigger or larger than mine.
Did You Try It?
I love hearing from my fellow bakers. If you tried it, feel free to come back and rate the recipe. Share your suggestions in the comments below, too. If you have recommendations to make this bread even better, let me know! Your comments matter to me and make my entire week.
I have a question I made the bread and when it was done I removed it from the oven when it come time to remove bread and place on wire rack the bread a had a hard crust around the edge and especially the corners was hard as a rock what did I do wrong
Hey Janet, thanks for asking. I’m not entirely sure why the corners were hard as a rock. Was your pan metal? Metal pans tend to cook hotter than glass ones. Also, some ovens cook hotter than others, so it’s possible it over baked by just a bit. Lining the pan with parchment paper could also help minimize contact with the edges of the pan, so your bread’s crust could be softer.
I loved the recipe
I’m so glad. Thank you for the kind feedback.
This was PERFECT! New baker here!
Yay! I’m so glad 🙂
The sweet bread turned out perfect. Like a cake without all of the work. Comes together quick! Perfect for when I need a little snack. Homemade and I can add anything I want or adjust.
I’ve added cinnamon and nutmeg and a cream cheese frosting.
So perfect…thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much for your kind words and positive feedback 🙂
I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve made this now. I’ve added chocolate chips, berries, swapped vanilla for maple.. all so good, and perfect every time. Thank you!
Oh that’s so wonderful to hear. Thank you!
This recipe was great! I was looking for a simple sweet bread and I found this one. I don’t have a bread tin so I used my muffin pan. 12 minutes was not enough for mine at all! They were still very wet. I let them bake for a total of 20-22 minutes and they came out great! Kids loved them! Thank you for the recipe!
Thank you so much for your kind feedback. It’s very helpful. 🙂
Great recipe! My husband, who is from Afghanistan, always asks me to replicate a cake that comes from local bakeries. I tried and modified at least 10 recipes and this one here was the winner. I make it the same way except I cut down the sugar to about 150 g. Thanks!
I’m so glad to hear that! Thank you.
I made this one afternoon when I had a ton of work but also had to get something together for my kid’s class party. I was sooo stressed out, I’d been looking up all sorts of recipes but was always missing something, and then I chanced upon this. I swear, I just kind of threw everything in the two bowls and got it all together in less than _10 minutes_. It came out beautiful, I put some marmalade on top, that was fine but not even necessary. Everyone loved it, it was almost completely eaten. This is going to become my favourite “I can’t bake and am stressed out but need something for some school function” cake. Thank you!
Oh that is wonderful to hear! Thank you for sharing. I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
Haven’t tried making this yet. Any suggestions for using small loaf pans?
Do you have qwick bread recipes for diabetics that are qwick and easy
Hey Ginger, that is a great question. Unfortunately, I’m not an expert in what’s okay for diabetics – I wouldn’t even call myself an expert baker. I’m just as mom doing my thing when I have the time. A quick Google search tells me that diabetics should use whole grains like whole wheat or rye and have minimal sugars to keep blood sugar levels from spiking. So far, all my whole grain recipes with no sugar are sourdough recipes that take days to pull together. My quick bread recipes tend to be on the sweet side because sugar counteracts the bitterness of baking soda. The closest recipe I have is honey almond bread which uses honey as a sweetener rather than sugar and almond flour instead of all purpose. I also have a savory sourdough discard quick bread that doesn’t use very much sugar and you could potentially swap out the all-purpose flour for whole wheat flour but it might come out a bit dry. I’m not sure if either of these are diabetic-approved, but you’re welcome to take a look.
What a great simple recipe . . .we’ve made this quite a few times with varying combinations of dried fruit, and even gluten free, and each time it’s turned out great. Only other change was we used canola oil rather than vegetable due to soy allergy.
Thank you so much! I appreciate your kind words.
I did make it following instructions exactly but it sunk in the middle, disappointed but still tasty
Oh Jan, I’m sorry your bread sunk in the little. It can take a few tries to pinpoint what’s causing your bread to sink. Thank you for leaving your feedback! I appreciate it.
I’ve made this several times with various different combinations. Every time I’ve made it, it always ends up gone in less than two days. If I were to put cocoa powder in it for something different, how much would I use?
That is a good question – I’m not entirely sure, but if I were to take a guess, maybe 1/2 cup? I have two chocolate bread recipes that both use that amount so perhaps this recipe could use a similar amount. Thanks for your feedback! Let me know how your baking adventure goes.