The Best White Bread Recipe...EVER! Makes 2 Loaves Ingredients: ½ cup milk 3 tablespoons of sugar (can substitute honey) 2 teaspoons of salt (real salt like from the sea! Not that sodium chloride crap table salt!) 3 tablespoons of butter 2 packages of ACTIVE DRY YEAST (4 ½ teaspoons if using from the jar) (I do not use Instant Yeast, Rapid Rise Yeast, Fast Rising Yeast or Bread Machine Yeast, only use the Active Dry Yeast) 1 ½ cups of spring water (or water that does not have chlorine added…chlorine is death to yeast!) 5 to 6 cups of UNBLEACHED BREAD FLOUR OR ALL PURPOSE FLOUR Directions: In a Microwave or on the stove, in a pan or in a small bowl: Add butter to milk and heat milk (Not too hot) Just enough to melt butter. Add in the salt and sugar and stir until dissolved I have a Kitchen Aid Mixer but you can use a mixing bowl so these next instructions will be for the Kitchen Aid Mixer but if you are a hands on bread kneader, you can use a large bowl… Warm the water to WARM not HOT!!! If too hot, you will actually murder your yeast! Warm is Warm so if you can stick your finger in it and it feels warm and you can leave it there for more than 10 seconds without getting a second degree burn, than it is perfect. Add the warm water to your mixing bowl and add in your yeast along with 1 cup of flour and mix on low speed for 1 minute and step away for about 5 minutes. This allows for the yeast to dissolve and begin its activation After 5 minutes have passed, add 2nd cup of flour and mix on low for about 2 minutes and then stir and add the milk, butter, salt and sugar mixture to the bowl and mix on low for another 2 minutes. Add the 3rd cup of flour and mix on low for about 2 minutes and then add the 4th cup of flour and mix on low for another 2 minutes. Your dough should be sticky and sticking to the dough hook of your Kitchen Aid mixer. Now the most important part… As stated above, I say 5 to 6 cups of flour. Add the 5th cup of flour and let it mix for 2 minutes and stop mixing and wait for about a minute and a half and LOOK at your dough. Poke it with 2 or three fingers about 2 inches deep. Walk away and for about a minute. Come back and see if those holes have collapsed or stayed the same and if your dough has slid off the dough hook. If it has, add about 1/4th cup of the 6th cup of flour. Mix for another 2 minutes. If your dough looks smooth and a bit shiny, and when you poke it with your finger just to dent and it slowly springs back when you remove your finger, you are done!!! If it still is a bit sticky, add another 1/4th cup of flour and mix for another 2 minutes until you achieve a smooth slightly shiny look. Take out your dough from the bowl, and put it on your kneading board and knead it by hand for about a minute and shape it into a ball. Put about a tablespoon of oil into a large bowl (large meaning that your dough is going to proof and rise and double in size so bake sure it is a large enough bowl) and rub it on the sides of the bowl and place the dough ball in the bowl. Drizzle some more oil on the top of the dough to keep it moist. You can spray cooking spray to the bowl and on the top of the dough as an alternative. Cover the bowl with a damp non terry cloth towel or Clear Saran Wrap. Place bowl in a warm draft free area (I use my oven which is electric and I turn the oven light on as it keeps it at a steady warm temperature. If you have a gas stove, just put it in the oven as the pilot light will keep it warm) If you live in a dry area or your humidity level is very low, you can add about 2 cups of hot water to a pan and place it on the bottom rack of your oven below your bowl. This adds humidity to the environment! Let the dough rise for 30 to 45 minutes until it has doubled in size. After the dough has risen to double its size, empty dough onto your kneading board and punch it down. Basically, you are to deflate it by flattening it out. Fold the dough on itself and gently knead it for about a minute. Shape it into a large loaf and then cut into to individual pieces. Spray your bread loaf pans with non stick cooking spray. Word of caution, spray it over your sink and not over your kitchen floor. Trust me, it is slippery and you do not want to slip on your kitchen floor and sprain your ankle or bruise your tail bone! Take if from my experience! Flatten each piece of your dough pieces and roll it into a loaf and as you roll, press down on the dough and seal the seams shut. This will reduce the possibility of a big air bubble in your finished bread. Shape its length to the length of your bread pans and place the dough with the seam side down toward the bottom of the pan. Spray or spread some oil on the top of each loaf and cover each loaf pan lightly with your damp towel or Saran wrap. Place your covered loaves in that same warm place as you did above and let them rise for at least 55 minutes or until they rise about an half inch above the loaf pan rims. Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees F and place them on the rack in the middle of your oven. Set your timer for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes have passed, reduce the heat to 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Your bread should be a nice golden brown on top. Remove the loaf pans from the oven. Check your crust. If it is fairly hard, you can spread some melted butter on the top of the crust as this softens the crust. Let the bread cool in the pans for a few minutes and they will shrink just enough to remove from the pans. Then let them fully cool off for about 45 minutes to about an hour before slicing. You can freeze your bread for a few weeks and it will keep very well. When you are ready to use, remove from the freezer and let it defrost and it will taste just as fresh. I guarantee that once you bake your own bread, you will never go back to that store bought bread! Also, look at the ingredients…no preservatives and no chemicals that are toxic and damaging to your body! Enjoy!
Posted on: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 03:52:15 +0000
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