Posted by I’ve been trying out in making bread and I finally have a recipe that I toyed around with (which I mean…is pretty standard so it isn’t that impressive) and it is delicious! It makes a beautiful sandwich. The texture of the bread is just right and has a nice chewy crust and soft inside.
I knead my dough by hand, but you can definitely use a bread hook attachment in your stand-mixer.
Here are some progressive pictures, the first picture is before the second rise in the loaf pan. The second picture is after the second rise and the bread is about an inch above the pan, third picture is baked, fourth is on the cooling rack:
Sandwich Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup of milk (I used 2%)
- 2 1/4 teaspoon of yeast (or 1 standard packet)
- 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar
- 3 1/4 cup bread flour (or AP flour)
- 1 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup of unsalted butter, softened
Directions
- Warm the water and milk in the microwave. I used one of those 2 cup Pyrex measuring cups and microwaved for 45 seconds, just enough so that when you stick your finger in it’s warm, but not hot (you don’t want to kill your yeast, it’ll make your bread dense)
- Add the yeast and sugar to the liquid mixture, stir it so the sugar dissolves and the yeast is mixed in. Let that sit for 5 minutes (I have instant yeast so you probably don’t have to do this, but I do it anyway)
- In a big mixing bowl add flour, salt, and butter and mix until the butter is broken apart and dispersed though the dry mixture. I just use my hand.
- When the yeast and sugar is ready add it to the mixing bowl and mix it together until you get a shaggy dough. And I don’t like a ton of clean up, so I actually knead the dough in the bowl until it gets smooth (5ish minutes?)
- Annnnd because I don’t want to do a lot of dishes…I get the dough into a nice ball then pop it out into my hand, then add some olive oil to the same bowl I kneaded the dough in and get it greased. I plop the dough into the greased bowl then swirl it around to make sure the sides of the bowl are coated
- First Rise: Cover the bowl with a clean tea/kitchen towel, or greased plastic wrap (unless you have a high bowl like I do) and let the dough rise for 1-2 hours or until it is doubled in size. I just leave it on my counter. Depending on the weather where you are it could take less time
- Grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan
- When the dough is ready, punch it down to release the air. Lightly flour an area to roll the dough out and roll it into a large rectangle with a rolling pin then roll the dough into a log and place it in the loaf pan
- Second Rise: Cover the loaf pan and let it rise again until the dough is about an inch above the loaf pan, this can take up to another 1-2 hours
- Adjust the oven rack to a lower position and turn it onto 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake the bread 30-34 minutes or until the top is golden brown .To check if it’s done tap on the dome and it should sound hollow.
- Pop the bread out of the pan and make sure you put it on a rack to cool so moisture doesn’t build up on the bottom and make it soggy
To store the bread I actually ended up buying bread bags since I plan to make pretzels, bagels, and bread again, but you can wrap it in plastic wrap. It is good for 3-4 days on the counter or up to 10 days in the fridge.
Natalie Journeys 