http://www.howtobaker.com/recipes/yeast-bread/basic-white-sandwich-bread/ February 17, 2011

Basic White Sandwich Bread :www.howtobaker.com

Rise Time: about 4 – 4 1/2 hours

Bake Time: 40-45 minutes

Yield: two 8 X 4-inch loaves

Recipe inspired by:The Bread Bible

Tearing into a freshly baked loaf of bread is truly one oflife’s simple pleasures. This traditional white breadmakes an excellent loaf for sandwiches and is very easyto make. Thankfully, this recipe makes two loaves

because we often eat one entire loaf as soon as it comes from the oven!

The dry milk and butter help trap the bread’s moisture which produces a very soft interior crumb.This bread lasts for several days and is perfect for the iconic school lunch staple of peanut butterand jelly.

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Ingredients:

Dough Starter

Ingredients Volume Grams

Unbleached, all-purpose flour2-1/4 cups (+)2-1/2 tablespoons

341

Water, room temperature (70-90° F) 1-3/4 cups 405

Honey2 tablespoons (+)1 teaspoon

45

Instant Yeast 3/4 teaspoon 2.4

Flour and Dough Mixture

Ingredients Volume Grams

Unbleached, all-purpose flour2 cups (+)3 tablespoons

311

Nonfat dry milk 1/4 cups 40

Instant yeast 3/4 teaspoons 2.4

Unsalted butter, softened 9 tablespoons 128

Salt 2-1/4 teaspoons 15

Directions:

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1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, water, honeyand yeast. Whisk until the mixture is smooth and the consistencyof a thick batter, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of thebowl and set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together all but 1/4 cup flour, drymilk and yeast. Gently pour the flour mixture on top of thestarter. Spread out the flour until it is level but do not mix it in.Tightly cover the bowl and allow it to rest at room temperature for1 – 4 hours.

3. While the mixture is fermenting, the starter will bubblethrough the flour layer. This is the sign of a perfectly healthydough.

Making the Dough4. Once the dough has fermented, add the salt and butter to thebowl. Use a mixing spoon to stir the mixture until all the flour ismoistened. Using the spoon, knead the dough in the bowl until itcomes together.

5. Scrape the rough dough onto a floured counter. Knead for 5minutes to begin developing the gluten structure. Try to use aslittle of the reserved 1/4 cup flour as possible. Cover the doughwith a bowl and allow it to rest for 20 minutes.

6. Knead the dough for another 5-8 minutes, or until it becomessmooth and elastic. The dough should be slightly sticky. If it isstill very sticky, add a small amount of flour.

7. Transfer the kneaded dough to a dough rising bucket ormixing bowl sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Tightly coverthe container and allow the dough to rise until doubled, about 11/2 – 2 hours.

8. When doubled in size, transfer the dough to a lightly flouredcounter and give gently shape it into a rectangle. Try to maintainas much air as possible in the dough. Pull out and fold thedough over on itself from all four sides to form a tight package.Place dough back in the container and allow it to rise again untildoubled in size, about 1-2 hours.

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Shaping the Dough9. Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured counter. Cut thedough in half. Working with one piece at a time, gently stretchthe dough into a large rectangle.

10. With the long side facing toward you, start with one of theshort ends and roll up the dough. Pinch together the seam tocreate a good seal. Roll the dough back and forth a few times tostretch it out.

11. Turn the dough so the seam is facing the counter. About 1-2inches in from each end, gently tuck under the sides to makesmooth ends. Place the shaped dough into loaf pans sprayedwith nonstick cooking spray or butter. Loosely cover the pansand allow the dough to rise until doubled, about 1 1/2-2 hours.

12. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 350° F at least45 minutes before baking. Place the risen loaves in the oven andbake for 45-50 minutes, or until golden-brown in color. A woodenskewer inserted in the center will come out clean and a kitchenthermometer will read 210° F when the loaves are finished.

13. Remove the bread from the loaf pans and place them on awire rack to cool until barely warm.

Related Techniques:

Measuring flour

Baker’s Tips:

If you do not have instant yeast, you can substitute with activedry yeast. Just multiply the necessary amount of instant yeast by1.25 to get the correct amount of active dry yeast.This recipe can also be made with fluid milk instead of dry

milk. Simply replace 1 cup of the water with 1 cup milk that hasbeen scalded and cooled to lukewarm temperature (about 115°F).

Got a tip to share? Let us know.

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