White Bread
There's something just so basic about getting your hands into a mound of dough and manipulating it until it almost seems to take on a life of its own. Even if you've always been reluctant to make your own bread, I urge you to try this one. It's a lot easier than you ever thought, and the smell of it baking in your oven is the most heavenly scent that you can possibly imagine!!
2 pkg. active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water
2 cups lukewarm milk
3 Tbsp. sugar
3 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. salt
7-8 cups all-purpose flour
butter or margarine, softened
Dissolve yeast in warm water in large bowl. Stir in milk, sugar, butter, salt and 4 cups of flour.
Beat until smooth. Mix in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle.
Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.
Place in greased bowl; turn greased side up. Cover lightly. Let rise in warm, draft-free place until double—about 1 hour. Punch down. Divide in half. Roll each half into 18x9-inch rectangles. Fold 9-inch sides crosswise into thirds, overlapping ends. Roll up tightly, beginning at narrow end. Pinch edge of dough into roll to seal well; press in ends of roll. Press each end with side of hand to seal; fold ends under.
Place loaves seam side down in 2 9x5x3-inch loaf pans. Brush lightly with butter. Cover lightly and let rise until double—about 1 hour.
Heat oven to 425º F. Place pans in center of oven. Do not allow pans to touch. Bake until loaves are deep golden brown and sound hollow when tapped, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from pans. Brush tops with butter. Cool on wire racks.
Makes 2 loaves.
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