Chef Joost
Beschuit met Muisjes
The airy Dutch rusk sold in rolls of thirteen, twice baked until crisp, then buttered and crowned with sugared aniseed for the birth of a child.
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Hollands Witbrood
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This is the soft white loaf under Dutch breakfasts and school lunches: pale, tender, practical bread, rich enough with milk and butter to remember when whiteness meant a treat.
Breads
Dutch
Weeknight
Budget Friendly
Make Ahead
25 min
Active Time
35 min cook•3 hr total
Yield1 loaf, about 14 slices
In my grandmother's second notebook, between jam labels and a careful account of how much yeast cost that year, there is a recipe simply called witbrood, white bread. No flourish. No little drawing. Just flour, milk, butter, yeast, salt, and a line in her hand that says: snijd dun, cut thin. That is the Dutch instruction hiding in plain sight.
But let me tell you a secret. The ordinary Dutch white loaf was not always ordinary. The name already tells you the story, because white meant fine bloem, flour sifted clean of bran, and for centuries that was the expensive bread, the bread of feast days, sickbeds, weddings, and city tables. We still have wittebroodsweken, the honeymoon weeks, a phrase that remembers when white bread meant ease at the start of married life. Language keeps crumbs in its pockets.
What makes Hollands witbrood Dutch is not drama but use. It should be soft enough for a child's lunchbox, firm enough to slice thin, and mild enough to carry hagelslag, pindakaas, jam, or a plakje kaas, a slice of cheese, without arguing. Milk softens the crumb, butter keeps it tender, and a covered first bake gives the loaf that pale, close, sandwich-bread character. Hou het altijd simpel: knead well, let it rise properly, and don't cut it hot. Bread has patience even when we don't.
White bread in the Netherlands long signaled refinement because finely bolted wheat flour was dearer than rye or coarse mixed grains; the old expression wittebroodsweken, literally white-bread weeks, preserves that association with comfort and new marriage. By the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, roller milling, commercial yeast, and urban bakeries helped turn witbrood from a luxury into the everyday loaf of the Dutch broodmaaltijd, the bread meal that structures breakfast and lunch. Its mildness is the point: Dutch table culture made thin-sliced bread a carrier for butter, cheese, jam, hagelslag, and peanut butter rather than a showpiece by itself.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
strong white bread flour or Dutch bloem
Quantity
500g
plus extra for dusting
instant yeast
Quantity
7g
fine salt
Quantity
10g
caster sugar
Quantity
25g
whole milk
Quantity
300ml
lukewarm
unsalted butter
Quantity
50g
softened
neutral oil or butter
Quantity
as needed
for greasing
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| strong white bread flour or Dutch bloemplus extra for dusting | 500g |
| instant yeast | 7g |
| fine salt | 10g |
| caster sugar | 25g |
| whole milklukewarm | 300ml |
| unsalted buttersoftened | 50g |
| neutral oil or butterfor greasing | as needed |
Equipment Needed
- •23 x 13cm loaf tin
- •Large mixing bowl
- •Wire cooling rack
- •Serrated bread knife
Instructions
- 1
Mix the dough
Put the flour in a large bowl and stir in the yeast, salt, and sugar, keeping the salt from sitting directly on the yeast at first. Pour in the lukewarm milk and mix until no dry flour remains, then work in the softened butter. The dough will feel slightly tacky and plain, which is correct; this is bread for slicing, not showing off.
Lukewarm means body-warm, not hot. If the milk feels like bath water, let it cool; yeast is alive and does not appreciate being boiled before work. - 2
Knead until smooth
Knead on the counter for 10 to 12 minutes, or in a stand mixer with a dough hook for 7 to 8 minutes, until the dough becomes smooth, elastic, and only faintly sticky. Press it with one finger; it should spring back slowly. That spring is your future slice holding together under butter and hagelslag.
- 3
Let it rise
Shape the dough into a ball, place it in a lightly greased bowl, cover it, and let it rise until doubled, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours depending on the warmth of the room. Don't rush this. A pale loaf still needs time to build flavour, even if it speaks softly.
- 4
Shape the loaf
Lightly butter a 23 x 13cm loaf tin. Turn the dough out, press it gently into a rectangle about as wide as the tin, then roll it up firmly from the short side, sealing the seam with the heel of your hand. Lay it seam-side down in the tin. A firm roll gives you an even crumb, the kind that slices thin without great tunnels where the butter falls through.
- 5
Prove again
Cover the tin and let the loaf rise until the dough domes about 2cm above the rim, usually 45 to 60 minutes. Heat the oven to 200C while it rises. If the dough springs back at once when pressed, it needs more time; if the dent stays collapsed, it has waited too long. You want the middle ground, like most Dutch virtues.
- 6
Bake the bread
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, loosely covering the top with foil after 15 minutes if it browns quickly. Hollands witbrood should be golden, not dark and crusty. It is done when the loaf sounds hollow underneath or the centre reaches 94C.
- 7
Cool before slicing
Lift the loaf from the tin and cool it on a rack for at least 1 hour before cutting. This is the hardest instruction because the kitchen smells persuasive, but hot bread tears and gums under the knife. Wait, then slice thinly. The loaf was built for breakfast, lunchboxes, and the quiet Dutch pleasure of bread doing its work.
Chef Tips
- •Use bread flour if you can. Dutch bloem varies, and some is softer than British or American bread flour; a stronger flour gives the slice enough backbone for thin cutting.
- •For the softest crust, brush the loaf with a little melted butter as soon as it comes out of the tin. That is not bakery theatre, just good household sense.
- •Store it wrapped once fully cool. It keeps two days at room temperature and toasts well on the third, especially under peanut butter or oude kaas, aged Dutch cheese.
- •For a taller lunchbox loaf, bake it in a lidded pullman tin if you own one. A normal loaf tin is perfectly honest; the bread will only be a little more rounded on top.
Advance Preparation
- •The dough can have its first rise overnight in the refrigerator, covered. Let it stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before shaping.
- •The baked loaf freezes well sliced. Freeze with small pieces of baking paper between portions so breakfast does not become a chisel exercise.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 57g)
Calories
180 calories
Total Fat
4 g
Saturated Fat
2 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
2 g
Cholesterol
10 mg
Sodium
290 mg
Total Carbohydrates
29 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
3 g
Protein
5 g
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