White bread recipe

[CoM]

I have only been seriously making bread for a year. Prior to that I would occassionally turn out bagettes suitable enough to serve as baseball bats! I guess that's what happens when a newbie's first attempt at baking bread are bagettes.

 

Since then I have baked whole wheat, bran, sour dough, white bread and bagettes. I am finally starting to turn out some great bread. I have made EVERY mistake there is I think, along the way but have learned much. I am still by no means an expert but I now have confidence that I CAN do it. I now bake bread every weekend and have almost totally replaced store bought bread. I still have bloopers once in a while.

 

Following is a really nice white sandwich loaf recipe I found online.

 

I use a digital scale. I chose to use milk instead of water in the recipe. I also added slightly more sugar and more salt to this recipe. My flour was not organic.

 

Susan's Farmhouse White Sandwich Bread

Makes 3 loaves, approximately 1-1/2 pounds each

 

Ingredient US volume Metric Volume US weight Metric

organic all-purpose flour 4 cups | 940 ml | 1 lb, 4 ounces | 566 grams

instant yeast 2 Tablespoons | 30 ml | 22 grams

granulated sugar 2 Tablespoons | 30 ml | 28 grams

canola oil 2 Tablespoons | 30 ml | 30 grams

warm milk (or water) 4 cups | 940 ml | 2 lbs | 908 grams

organic bread flour (approximately) 6 cups | 1,410 ml | 1 lb, 13-1/8 ounces | 825 grams

salt 1-1/2 Tablespoons | 22 ml | 3/4 ounce | 22 grams

 

Mixing and fermentation

 

In a very large bowl, stir together the all-purpose flour, yeast, and sugar (I use a wooden spoon). Make a small well in the middle of the flour mixture and pour in the canola oil and then the milk. Mix well, then continue to stir vigorously, slowly adding 1 cup of the bread flour at a time, until you've added about 5 cups, or until you have a soft, slightly sticky dough; this should take several minutes.

 

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about 6 or 7 minutes, adding more flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking to your hands or the work surface.

 

Place the mixing bowl over the dough, and let it rest for 20 minutes. This rest period is called the autolyse.

 

Remove the bowl, flatten out the dough with your hands, and sprinkle about half of the salt over it. Begin kneading the salt into the dough. After a few turns, sprinkle on the rest of the salt and continue to knead for 5 to 7 minutes, until the salt is completely incorporated and the dough is soft and smooth.

 

Sprinkle flour in the dough bowl, place the dough in it, liberally dust it with flour, and cover it with a damp tea towel (not terry cloth, as it will shed lint on your dough). Or put it in a straight sided plastic container with a snap-on lid and mark the spot on the container that the dough will reach when it has doubled in volume.

 

Set it somewhere that is preferably between 70F and 78F for 60 to 90 minutes. Ideally, the dough should also be between 70F and 78F. It's easy to check the temperature of your dough and ingredients with an inexpensive instant read thermometer.

 

When the dough is ready to be shaped, you should be able to push a floured finger deep into it and leave an indentation that doesn't spring back. Unless your dough is rising in a straight-sided container, it can be difficult to judge whether it has "doubled in size" which is the guideline most recipes use. I find the finger poking method to be more reliable, though lately I've been letting all my doughs rise in plastic containers.

 

Shaping and final rise (proof)

Turn the risen dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, flattening gently with your hands to break up any large air bubbles. Divide the dough into three equal pieces.

 

Shape the dough into loaves and dust the tops with flour. There are dozens of ways to do this; for the way I like to do it, check out this post on how to shape dough into sandwich loaves. Place loaves seam side down in greased loaf pans. I like my sandwich breads to be tall, so I use smaller loaf pans. I can't say enough good things about these commercial loaf pans from Chicago Metallic. They call this size a 1-pound loaf pan, and it measures 8-1/2 inches x 4-1/2 inches and is just under 3 inches tall. For the price of a few loaves of bread, they're definitely worth the investment—and with a 25-year warranty. Chicago Metallic also makes this larger 1-1/2 pound size pan for those of you who prefer a wider, shorter loaf.

 

Cover the loaves with a damp tea towel and let them rise for 45 to 60 minutes. When you lightly poke the dough with a floured finger it should spring back just a little.

 

If you let the loaves rise too long, they may not have enough energy left to rise once they're in the oven--and they may even collapse. I was always so afraid this would happen that for years I unknowingly under-proofed my loaves of Farmhouse White.

 

Bake at 375 degrees* for 35 minutes or until the loaves are golden brown and the bottoms sound hollow if tapped. Remove immediately from pans and let cool on a wire rack. Try to wait at least 40 minutes before cutting into a loaf. Store at room temperature or freeze in zipper freezer bags. Make sure loaves are completely cooled before sealing in bags.

 

 

 

Photos are included on the site. Scroll down page for this recipe on site.

 

http://ayearinbread.earthandhearth.com/200...-farmhouse.html

[Homemaker]

White bread!!!

 

Empty carbs!!!

 

Sorry, automatic response. I'm a nutrition nut.

[Skagitgal]

CoM,

 

Your recipie does make a tasty loaf; doesn't it. I use something similiar. I throw in a T. of flax & 1 of wheat bran. But my grandkids.......who have never known want and hunger.........will eat this.

 

Thanks for sharing.

[Violet]

I will print this recipe off. My daughter and her family like white bread. Would be nice to make 3 loaves at a time.

Thank you for the recipe !