This Week's Bread: Threadgill's Homestyle White Bread
Finally! A bread loaf that looks like a bread loaf! It better look like one given that over two rises, it rose for three hours. The bread LOOKS amazing, but is still a touch dryer than I'd like. And, as usual, could use a pinch or two more of salt.
While the recipe says to just dump in the dry yeast, I did bloom the yeast in the warm water for 15 minutes, since I use active dry yeast. Also, I needed about 1/4 cup more water than it called for to dough-up.
Like all recipes in the Threadgill's book, this makes a LOT of bread. Scale down as needed.
# Homestyle White Bread
Threadgill's: The Cook Book
10.0 cups unbleached bread flour
0.5 cup sugar
0.3333333333333333 cup nonfat dry milk powder
3.0 tbsp dry yeast
1.0 tbsp salt
3.0 cups warm water (110 degrees)
3.0 tbsp vegetable oil
1.0 whole egg (beaten)
1.0 tbsp water
1 - Combine dry ingredients in the bowl of a mixer with a dough hook and mix well.
2 - Add the warm water and oil and mix on low speed to moisten dry ingredients.
3 - Increase the mixer speed to medium and knead for about 4 minutes. Extra flour may be needed at this point to keep dough from sticking to the sides of the bowl.
4 - When dough is smooth and elastic, remove to a well-oiled bowl, cover loosely with a clean cloth, and allow to double in bulk in a warm, draft-free place for about 1 1/2 hours.
5 - Punch the dough down and divide in quarters.
6 - Place dough into 2 greased 4x8x3-inch loaf pans, cover loosely, and allow to double in bulk again.
7 - Toward the end of the rising time, preheat oven to 350°.
8 - Bake loaves about 25 minutes, then brush tops with egg wash and return to oven for 20 minutes or until loaves are brown on top and sound hollow when thumped on the bottom.
9 - Turn loaves out of pans and cool before slicing.
Yields 2 1.5 pound loaves.
