Basic White Bread

After months of making super bread for sandwiches all the time, I thought maybe I’d switch things up and make a new bread. This white bread comes together faster than the super bread and has a very light, but noticeable and nice, butter flavor.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups warm water
• 2 tablespoons sugar or honey
• 1 tablespoon or packet active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup dry milk (optional)
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 6 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon salt

Begin by stirring the sugar and yeast into the warm water in a large bowl. Let sit for several minutes until it starts to bubble.

Once it’s started bubbling, add the dried milk, butter, salt, and 5 1/2 cups of the flour. Pour the remaining 1/2 cup out on your work surface. Stir the ingredients in the bowl together until it begins to hold together.

Turn the mixture out onto your floured surface and then knead 3 or 4 minutes, until most of the bits stay in the ball of dough as you work.

Set the dough aside to rest for several minutes while you wash, dry, and grease your large bowl. Return to the dough and knead 3 to 4 minutes further until it feels smooth and springy.

Put the bread in the greased bowl and rotate so it gets greased on all sides. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise until doubled (about an hour) somewhere warm and draft-free. In the oven with the oven light on usually works well.

When you can poke your finger into the dough without in springing back, it’s fully risen. Punch the dough down and knead briefly. Cut into two pieces, and place each in a lightly greased bread pan to rise another hour.

With 10 or 15 minutes left of the rise, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Bake the bread for 35-40 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the oven, and the pans, and let cool completely on wire racks until cool.

This bread is easy and tasty, although I think I’ll mostly still stick to the super bread because I like that it’s got lots of protein.

I’ll be submitting this to YeastSpotting, hosted this week by Tartine Bread Experiment.

From the King Arthur Flour Cookbook.

• 2 cups warm water
• 2 tablespoons sugar or honey
• 1 tablespoon or packet active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup dry milk (optional)
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 6 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon salt

Stir the sugar and yeast into the warm water in a large bowl. Let sit for several minutes until it starts to bubble. Once bubbling, add dried milk, butter, salt, and 5 1/2 cups of the flour. Pour the remaining 1/2 cup out on the work surface. Stir the ingredients in the bowl together until it begins to hold together.

Turn the mixture out onto your floured surface and then knead 3 or 4 minutes, until most of the bits stay in the ball of dough as you work. Set the dough aside to rest for several minutes while you wash, dry, and grease your large bowl. Return to the dough and knead 3 to 4 minutes further until it feels smooth and springy.

Put the bread in the greased bowl and rotate so it gets greased on all sides. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise until doubled (about an hour) somewhere warm and draft-free.

Punch the risen dough down and knead briefly. Cut into two pieces, and place each in a lightly greased bread pan to rise another hour. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Bake the bread for 35-40 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the oven, and the pans, and let cool completely on wire racks until cool.