White Bread

Denise

Ingredients

• 5¾ to 6¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 pkg active dry yeast (about 2½ tsp)
• 2¼ cups milk
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp shortening or butter
• 1 tsp salt

Instructions

Preheat oven 375°

1. In a large mixing bowl combine 2½ cups of the flour and the yeast. In a saucepan, heat and stir milk, sugar, shortening, or butter, and salt until warm (120° to 130°) and shortening almost melts. Add to the flour. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping the bowl constantly. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Stir in as much remaining flour as you can.
2. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (6 to 8 minutes total). Shape into a ball. Place in a lightly greased bowl; turn once to the grease surface. Cover and let rise in a warm place till doubled (about 45 minutes).
3. Punch dough down. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.  Lightly grease two 8x4x2 inch loaf pans.
4. Shape each half of dough into a loaf by patting or rolling. To pat dough, gently pull dough into a loaf shape, tucking edges beneath. To shape dough by rolling, on a lightly floured surface, roll each half into a 12x8 inch rectangle. Roll up tightly, starting at a narrow edge. Seal with fingertips as you roll.
5. Place shaped dough in prepared loaf pans. Cover and let rise in a warm place till nearly double (30 to 40 minutes).
6. Bake for about 40 minutes or till bread tests done. Cover loosely with foil the last 10 minutes of baking to prevent over-browning, if necessary. Remove from pans immediately. Cool on wire racks. Makes 2 loaves (32 servings).

Hand-mixed method: Prepare as above, except soften yeast in ¼ cup warm water (105° to 115°). Reduce milk to 2 cups. After heating the milk mixture in a saucepan, transfer to a large mixing bowl. Stir in 2 cups of the flour; beat well by hand. Add softened yeast; stir till smooth. Using a spoon, stir in as much remaining flour as you can. Increase kneading time to 8 to 10 minutes.

Better Homes Cookbook