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You may have noticed the bread in the background of the photos of the lasagne I made the other day. It wasn't Italian bread, but I did it eat it alongside the yummy pasta dish because I made this bread a couple days beforehand and didn't feel it was wise to make more bread.I've made white sandwich bread before, but when I saw the bread on King Arthur Flour's fantastic blog, I knew I had to try the recipe out. This bread will now be my go-to for sandwich bread. It came out soft with a hint of sweetness, and it had a buttery, yellowish hue to it. It didn't overpower the fillings in my sandwiches; it was easy to cut into thin slices. Also, it was perfect with my dip of oil and Italian spices (I should blog about my dip one day).
Anyway, I hope you get to try out this recipe. It's very easy to make, and KAF has step-by-step photos of the process to make it all even easier.
TIP: Since I live alone, I don't go through bread as fast as other households. I slice all of the bread, then I wrap the slices in foil (2 slices per foil packet), then I place the foil packets in a freezer bag, and freeze the slices until I need them. So, whenever I need a sandwich, I just take out one foil packet and heat up the slices in a toaster while I prepare the rest of the sandwich!
adapted from King Arthur's Flour
1 cup + 2 tablespoons to 1 1/4 cups (9-10 oz) lukewarm water (about 105 degrees F)
1 heaping tablespoon honey (or sugar, if you don't have honey. I used honey)
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons soft butter
4 cups (17 ounces) AP Flour
1/2 cup nonfat dry milk granules (I'm going to try using ~1 1/2 cup of regular milk in place of dry milk and water)
Mix all of the ingredients in the bowl of a stand or regular mixer with the flat paddle. Scrap off the sides, if necessary. Knead the dough for 10 minutes by hand or via a dough hook. Oil lightly a big bowl or use the same stand mixer bowl with a bit of oil in it (that's what I do!). Roll the bread around in the oil, and cover it with a towel or a shower cap. Allow dough to double in size for 60 to 90 minutes in a warm area.
While the dough is rising, butter a loaf pan (my addition). Once the dough has risen, roll the dough out into a thick, rectangular shape on a pastry mat, Silpat, or wax paper. Roll the dough into a tight log the same length as the loaf pan you're using.
Place the rolled log of dough into the loaf pan, cover it with a towel or shower cap, and allow it to rise 1 to 1 1/2 inches over the loaf pan in about 60 minutes. During the last 30 minutes of rising, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Once the dough has risen high enough, bake the bread for about 20 minutes. If it starts to get too brown on top, place foil over it and bake it for 10 more minutes. (So, a total of 30 minutes). The temperature of the dough should be between 195 and 200 degrees F.
Butter the top of the bread. Then, allow the bread to cool before cutting into it!!!! Then enjoy! :D
Hi,Mem
ReplyDeleteFirst thought: scrumpdillicious! Oh my goodness--I am in love with this bread; I mean I am seriously crushing here! Just staring at these pictures, I can smell the yeast and taste the buttery softness, and I am so glad that you have inherited the necessary patience from me to freeze the bread so that I can have some when I come to visit you in a few days! Thank you so much for making this bread :o)
The bread looks delicious, it is so rewarding making your own bread isn't it? I have not heard of yeast spotting before, thanks for the intro, I went and had a look.
ReplyDeleteHi Memoria,
ReplyDeleteI'm happy you posted King Arthur Flour's bread! They are a great group of people. Two of the ladies, a chef and a photographer took me to dinner a few months back. They are just awesome people.
They said their bread baker was good, although I've never met him.
Your bread looks amazing!! I wonder if I could do it as good as you. Maybe not!
Laura
What a beautiful loaf of bread.
ReplyDeletegorgeous! I noticed this bread yesterday and I meant to ask you about it and now here it is!
ReplyDeleteThis loaf caught my eye on the KAF blog the other day. Love them and I will definitely give this a try. Why do you suggest using less dry milk powder?
This bread is lovely and your photos are amazing! It looks so soft on the inside... I've been wanting to bake a loaf, but was still shopping around for a recipe. This might be it!
ReplyDeleteMonica - a couple of days after making this bread, it had a gritty texture to it that I am attributing to the dry milk powder. Since KAF recommended using 1/3 cup of their mixture as opposed to 1/2 cup of the nonfat dry milk, I'm wondering if using a smaller portion would improve the texture a bit more. I'll be testing it out for myself very soon. It was merely a suggestion.
ReplyDeleteMom - Unfortunately, there isn't anymore of the bread in the house. I ate it all with my scrumptious lasagne. I'll make more for you when you get here, if you want!
peasepudding - Yes, it is rewarding. I love making my own bread. It's also fun to work with the dough. I'm glad you like the yeastspotting site; I like it, too!
Laura - That's so cool that you've met some of the employee-owners there!!! I'm sure your bread and your photos would look a million times better than mine!
Pam - Thanks!
Azusa - It is very soft on the inside, especially the first day. I still need to find a way to preserve that softness in homemade bread, though. Please try out this recipe; it really is good.
Hi, I'm not much of a baker, and haven't quite worked up the nerve to try baking bread. But last week, I brought bread flour and instant yeast. I might just try it this weekend _ I love how wholesome your bread looks in the pictures.
ReplyDeleteYeah, in my head, I sometimes fantasise that I have a neat home, and everyone wakes up to the aroma of baking bread.
Adorei o seu blog tem receitas fantásticas.
ReplyDeleteJá o estou a seguir.
Visite-me,
www.strawberrycandymoreira.blogspot.com
I love KAF recipes and books! That loaf looks fantastic and so does that sadwich!
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Rosa
Memoria, o pão se vei muito gostoso. Agora que nao posso comer muita farina refinada e bom pasar aqui e ver pelo menos que outras desfrutam. Pq vc nao faz algo brasileiro menina?
ReplyDeleteVc ten que seguir cocinando. Acho que um negocio de cocina pode estar em seu futuro.
It really is a lovely loaf! I am taking a KA bread baking class this month. So I was happy to read your review of this bread. What a great idea to freeze the sliced bread. Muy inteligente!
ReplyDeleteNice looking loaf and thanks for the freezer tip!
ReplyDeleteIf there's ever a perfect loaf, this would be it! Look at it GLOW!
ReplyDeleteHow delicious! Way better than store-bought. I want to hear about that dip!
ReplyDeleteI love the shine of that bread. Looks so professional. KA has some great recipes for sure.
ReplyDeletesplendido questo pane! mi sembra di sentirne il profumo!!
ReplyDeleteGrazie della tua visita nel mio blog!
I am always on the lookout for good white bread recipes and this one looks outstanding. Your bread is perfection!
ReplyDeleteOh boy, oh boy--I must try this! Yours looks fabuloso and it's been too long since I made my own bread.
ReplyDeleteI hate that I don't get to read and blog as much as I used to. I miss out on fabulous recipes like I almost did with this one!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE bread and am over my yeast issues so I'll definitely be giving this a try!
~ingrid
My little one was sad that I ran out of white bread.. so I started looking for recipes online and found this one. The dough is rising as we speak! I didn't have instant yeast, so I used three teaspoons of active dry instead - let it proof for 10 mins with 1/2 cup of warm water and the honey. I used 3/4 cup of water in the dough itself... but then had to add almost 1/2 cup more. Hopefully it will come out good! Cross your fingers for me!!
ReplyDelete