The First Recipe

It took me awhile to decide on what recipe I was going to include in my first post but when it really came down to it, there was really no other choice, it had to be my bread. This is probably the recipe I am most famous for and I make it a lot. People always seem to be surprised to hear that I love to cook and even more so that I make all my own bread. We haven't bought store bread now for at least a couple years. I primarily make loaves out of this bread but it is such a versatile recipe. I make dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls and scones out of it quite often as well. For the ingredients that are in it, it is also one of the cheapest breads to make as it doesn't use milk or eggs and yet it is still so great!

One of my favorite things growing up was coming home to my Mom making fresh bread. Her bread was always so good and the smell filled the house for hours. I have to give credit for this recipe to my Grandma though. She shared it with my while I was in college and I have been using this ever since.

White Bread

Dissolve 2 T Active Yeast in 2 cups of warm water (with about 1/2 t sugar) for about 5 min.
Add 2 cups additional warm water
Add 4 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup Sugar
4 Tablespoons Shortening
Mix Well
Mix in 5 cups Bread Flour. Beat until smooth (I really let it go for about 3-5 minutes and this seems to get the gluten going)
Mix in 5-6 cups more flour, knead well.

Let rise until double, about 1 hr.
Divide into four balls and form into loaves. (Breanne will testify here that I am a perfectionist and actually use my scale to have all my loaves exactly the same size)
Press into greased loaf pans
Let rise 30-45 min until just over the lip of the loaf pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Cover with foil after the first 20 minutes.
Take out of pans immediately and let cool on a wire rack.

So it really is a simple recipe but one of my favorites. Let me know how it turns out for you or come over pretty much any Saturday or Sunday afternoon and there will probably be a fresh loaf on the counter.

Matt