Homeade Sandwich Bread

First cut.


Right out of the oven.


About to go in the oven.


For some reason I'm in a baking mood. Well more specifically a bread mood. I made popovers last month and the other day I made mini French Loaves (they were only a moderate success and I never did photograph them.) I wanted to make some sandwich bread but I've never had success at the breadmachine so I decided to ditch it and make this in the oven. It is so beautiful. The sad part? NO butter in the house. NONE. How can one have homemade fresh from the oven bread with NO butter? That is cruelty at it's finest. Sigh.

By the way I followed the instructions from The Simple Dollar that I found when googling "homemade sandwich bread." The Simple Dollar had really great step by step pictures and instructions for making it by hand. I used the my kitchen aid.

Reprinted here:

1/4 cup milk
5 teaspoons sugar (or 1 1/2 tablespoons)
1 teaspoons salt
5 teaspoons butter (or 1 1/2 tablespoons) (or use Olive Oil)
1 cup warm water
1 package active dry yeast (you can get yeast near the flour at your local grocery store)
2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups flour (get unbleached white for your first attempt)
Corn starch or nonstick cooking spray (just to prevent the bread from sticking to the bowl or pan)

Prep yeast in 1 cup of warm water & sugar (food for the yeast.) In kitchen aid mixer (and using the dough hook add melted butter, milk and salt. Then add the yeast after it has had time to "bloom" (about 5 minutes.)

Next add 2 cups of the flour and mix well. Slowly add flour 1/4 cup at a time until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and isn't as "wet." Knead on medium for 5-6 minutes with the dough hook. Remove dough and form into a smooth ball. If the dough isn't smooth you probably didn't use enough flour.

Oil a bowl and place dough in the bowl. Spray the dough with oil spray so it doesn't form a skin. Cover with a towel and let rise for 1 hour.

Punch down the dough really well. (I skipped this step with my wheat bread and I got a hollow loaf!) Form into a square and roll it like a jelly roll. Place in your bread pan and cover. Let rise for another hour. Bake at 400 for 30 min.

Let cool completely (yeah right...) before cutting. It really does make it easier to cut if it is cool. Also, using an electric knife will help get "sandwich" thin slices!