How to Make Basic White Sandwich Bread

Well my search for the perfect bread recipe is continuing.  This claims to be really good sandwich bread.  I could see where you could make sandwiches out of it.  The only problem with this one is that you have to budget your time.  There are several steps you have to take with this recipe so you need a good afternoon to make it.  It was good but the amount of time was a drawback.

There is nothing better than hot bread with some butter.  The smell of baking bread is also one of the benefits of baking bread.

 Very basic ingredients.

 Start with 2 teaspoons yeast.

 While you are waiting for the water to get warm, melt 2 Tablespoons butter in the microwave so it has time to cool.

 1 cup warm water.

 You know my issues with "warm"  Okay most recipes will say they want "warm" to be 105-110 degrees.  I saw this instant reading thermometer on one of the blogs I found for bread.  I ordered one so I could be more accurate.  It isn't instant as in instant coffee, but it is pretty quick.

 Let this stand for about 5 minutes.  I would suggest you have you timer on your phone or another timer handy for this recipe.

 1 cup milk

 2 Tablespoons sugar

 1 tablespoon salt

 1 cup all purpose flour

 Pour all that into the bowl after the 5 minutes.

 Add that 1 cup of flour

 Mix it until it is a nice lumpy mix.

 Then start adding the other 4 1/2 cups flour save one cup for as needed.

 Stir until a shaggy dough is formed.

 Then with the dough hook knead the dough for 8-10 minutes.  Or you can do it by hand.  But why do it by hand if you can get your mixer to do all the work?

 It is all coming together and pulling away from the sides.  I added a little extra flour.  The dough should not be sticky.

 Take the dough out of the bowl and clean the bowl a little and pour a little bit of oil and swirl around to coat.

 Then put the dough back in and swirl around in the oil to coat. Cover and let sit for 1 hour in a warm spot.

 Then take the dough out of the bowl onto a lightly floured surface.  Turn over a couple of times.

 The cut the dough in half.  Let rest for 10 minutes.

 Knead a little and fold over and pull the top tight.

 Place in two sprayed loaf pans.  Cover and let rise for 30-40 minutes. Told you there was a lot of time involved.

 Halfway through this second rising preheat the oven to 425.  Before you place in the oven slit the top of the bread.  Place in the oven and turn the temp down to 375. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

 They look really pretty.

Time to break out the butter and honey if you like.


How to Make Basic White Sandwich Bread Recipe

2 teaspoons yeast
1 cup warm water
2 Tablespoons butter
1 cup milk
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoons salt
5 1/2 to 6 1/2 cups all purpose flour ( you could use bread flour too)