Favorite White Bread Recipes

COUNTRY WHITE BREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar, salt, eggs, oil and 3 cups flour; beat on medium speed until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. , Turn dough onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. , Punch down dough. Divide in half and shape into loaves. Place in 2 greased 9x5-in. loaf pans. Cover with kitchen towels; let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375°., Bake until golden brown, 25-30 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

TRADITIONAL WHITE BREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Stir in lard, salt and two cups of the flour. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.
• Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
• Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces and form into loaves. Place the loaves into two lightly greased 9x5 inch loaf pans. Cover the loaves with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for about 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

FAVORITE WHITE BREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the egg, shortening, sugar, salt and 5 cups flour; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a stiff dough., Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour., Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Roll each portion into a 12-in. x 10-in. rectangle. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side; pinch seam to seal. Place seam side down on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes., With a sharp knife, make five shallow diagonal slashes across the top of each loaf. Bake at 400° for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks. Brush with butter.

AMISH WHITE BREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam.
• Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
• Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes, and divide in half. Shape into loaves, and place into two well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.
• Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes.

JULIA CHILD'S WHITE BREAD

Steps:

• Pour 1/2 cup of the water into a bowl and mix with yeast and sugar til foamy.
• Let sit for 5 minutes until creamy.
• Put the yeast mixture, rest of the water and 3 1/2 cups of the flour into the mixer with the dough hook.
• Mix slowly until blended then add the rest of the flour.
• Increase speed and scrape down the sides til the dough comes together.
• (If it doesn't add a tbsp of flour at a time til it does.) Add salt and mix at medium speed for 10 minutes (or do half in mixer and half kneading) til dough is smooth and elastic.
• Back in mixer add butter 1 tbsp at a time (dough may come apart, but mixing will pull it back together).
• Turn dough out on lightly floured surface and shape it into a ball then place in a large buttered or oiled bowl.
• Turn dough so it is completely coated in the fat, then cover in plastic for 45 minutes to an hour, til it has doubled in size at room temperature.
• Butter 2 loaf pans.
• Deflate the dough, cut in half and turn out onto a lightly floured surface.
• Roll out into a 9 x 12-inch rectangle.
• With the short end facing you, fold the dough into thirds like a sheet of paper to go into an envelope, creating a roll.
• Pinch the seam closed, and pinch the ends enough so it will fit in the loaf pan.
• Drop in the loaf pan seam side down, and repeat.
• Cover the loaves with buttered plastic wrap and allow to rise again in a warm place (80°F) for 45 minutes, until they double in size.
• Preheat the oven to 375°F and put the rack in the center of the oven.
• Bake for 35-45 minutes til they are honey brown.
• Immediately turn out of pans onto a rack to cool.
• Once almost completely cool, they can be cut.
• Store in a brown paper bag for a day or two.
• Once cut, turn cut side down onto a cutting board and cover with a kitchen towel.

EXCELLENT WHITE BREAD

Steps:

• In a large electric mixer bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup warm milk. Add the remaining warm milk, the sugar, the salt, the butter and the eggs. Add 5 cups flour and mix with paddle attachment until smooth, about 2 minutes. Switch to hook attachment and knead on low speed, adding more flour if necessary until dough is stiff and slightly tacky, about 10 minutes.
• Grease a large bowl with butter and turn dough out into the bowl. Flip over dough so greased side is up, cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and set in a warm, draft-free spot until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Generously butter two 9-x-5 loaf pans.
• When dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto floured surface and knead for 3 minutes. Return to greased bowl, cover and let rise again for 30 minutes.
• Press down dough with your hand to expel the air. Divide dough in half and place each half into a loaf pan. Brush tops of loaves with remaining melted butter.
• Cover and let rise until dough is just above the tops of pans, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• Heat oven to 400 degrees. Bake bread for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 20 to 30 minutes, or until loaves sound hollow when tapped, the tops are brown and the internal temperatures are 200 degrees. Remove loaves from pans and let cool on wire racks.