200 Simple, Foolproof Recipes for Delicious Family Treats to Get You Through Every Birthday Party, Class Picnic, Potluck, Bake Sale, Holiday, and No-School Day
This simple loaf has so much more flavor and character than store-bought white bread. It makes the best tuna or egg salad sandwiches. I toast Day-old slices for BLTs made with thick-cut bacon and end-of-summer tomatoes.
Makes one 9-inch loaf
1 1/3 cups whole milk
1 envelope (2 1/2 teaspoons) rapid-rise yeast
3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more if necessary
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Nonstick cooking spray
Heat the milk over low heat in a small saucepan until just warm to the touch. Pour it into a glass measuring cup and whisk in the yeast. Let the mixture stand for 5 minutes to give the yeast a chance to dissolve.
Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor and pulse 2 or 3 times to combine. With the motor running, pour the milk and yeast mixture and cooled melted butter into the feed tube and process until the dough forms a smooth ball, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula once or twice if necessary. To knead the dough, continue to process for 1 minute.
Coat the inside of a large mixing bowl with cooking spray. Shape the dough into a rough ball and place it in the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough stand in a warm, draft-free spot until the dough has doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Coat the inside of a 9x5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and gently press it into a rectangle measuring about 1 inch thick and 9 inches long. Tightly roll the rectangle into a 9-inch-long cylinder and place it in the prepared pan, seam side down. Press the dough into the pan so that it touches the sides and reaches into the corners. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free spot until doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Remove the plastic wrap from the loaf pan and place the pan in the oven. Bake the bread until it is golden brown and firm, 40 to 50 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and turn the bread out onto a wire rack. Let it cool to room temperature before slicing and serving.
Fluffy White Sandwich Bread may be wrapped in plastic
and then aluminum foil and frozen for up to 2 weeks.
Kids Can Help Let your child punch down the dough when you are making this or any other yeasted dough recipe that doesn't contain raw eggs. My older daughter loves to bury her hand in the risen dough and watch it deflate. It's something that involves so many of her senses - she loves the way the dough feels, the sound it makes as it sinks, the yeasty smell.
