Over the years I have said to myself I will stop buying bread in the shops because once its a few days old I do not like it. Unless it fresh from the oven it is not popular here. Over the past two months I have actually successfully not bought bread because I have been making all kinds of rolls. I started missing bread so I decided to make bread today.
Actually I made a couple of loaves of bread today and I think this time I will be sticking to this recipe for some time. It is a white sandwich bread.
It is nice and sturdy and when I took it from the oven reminded me of TM bread. TM is or was(I can not remember if it still exists as such or was it sold) a large supermarket chain store in Zimbabwe. They used to do have some of the best bread because they would have a bakery in each store. If you got to the store at the right time you would get the bread still hot. I especially loved their whole wheat bread.
From the recipe you will notice that this recipe uses a lot of flour, it yields three loaves of bread. We will not be able to eat it all before it becomes stale so I sliced the bread and froze it. When I want to use it I will simply thaw it and it will still be fresh.
White Sandwich Bread
Ingredients
- 4 and 1/2 teaspoons dry active yeast or the equivalent of two packets
- 3/4 cup warm water
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature and cut into pieces
- 1/2 cup powdered milk
- 2 and 2/3 cup additional warm water
- 9-10 cups bread flour
- 4 tablespoons 1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted, for brushing the tops of the loaves
Instructions
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In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in 3/4 cup warm water with a teaspoon of the sugar. When the yeast is bubbly and foamy, mix in the rest of the sugar, salt, butter, powdered milk and 2 2/3 cup of warm water. Slowly mix in 5 cups of flour until smooth. Gradually add remaining flour, adding just enough to make a smooth and slightly sticky dough. Knead for 10 minutes. Lightly grease a large bowl with cooking oil. Place dough in the greased bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover and let rise in a warm place for one hour or until double in size.
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When the dough has risen, punch it down and divide into three equal sized pieces. Roll each piece into a rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Roll each rectangle up into a cylinder, and place each seam-side down in a lightly-greased bread pan (I used 9 inch bread pans). Cover and let rise in a warm place for one hour or until double in size.
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Preheat oven to 425F.
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When the loaves have risen, place them in the preheated oven on the lowest rake and bake 15 minutes. Cover the tops of the loaves with foil paper to prevent excessive browning, and bake 15 minutes. Remove from oven and brush with melted butter. Let cool before slicing.
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Slice bread that you will not be using and freeze