My grandpa had to have a slice of white bread with dinner.
Fork, spoon, knife, slice of white bread smeared with the most even, yet thin coat of counter butter-that was my grandma’s touch.
My love of bread started there, but now I’m a little crunchy and prefer a rustic homemade loaf.
Here is my recipe.
Homemade White Bread
Simple recipe for basic bread
Ingredients
- 236 grams lukewarm water
- 7 grams active dry yeast
- 4 grams sugar
- Additional 158 grams water
- 42 grams honey
- 29 grams butter, soft
- 639 grams bread flour
- add 6 grams salt after flour
- 2 tablespoons melted butter for brushing after baking
Instructions
- Combine the first 3 ingredients, let sit for 10 minutes until frothy
- Add the rest of the ingredients in the order listed and mix until combined.
- You want a tacky dough that cleans the sides of the bowl.
- Knead for 8-10 minutes.
- Let dough rise for 45 minutes (or until doubled in size) in a buttered bowl covered with plastic wrap to retain hydration ratio.
- Punch down and split into 2 halves. Flatten each half and roll into a loaf shape, pinching seams together and tucking/pinching the ends under. Place each loaf into a buttered loaf pan. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise for 45 minutes (or until a slight finger indent doesn't spring back)
- Bake for 18-20 minutes at 390 F or until internal temp reaches 195-200.
- Brush with melted butter and let cool in loaf pans for 5-10 minutes or until the loaf lifts easily from the pan. Cool completely before slicing for sandwiches, or eat the whole loaf with butter right away while it's warm.
Notes
Making good bread takes practice.
The best bread comes from a tacky dough that won't stick to your hands or the surface you flatten the dough out on on before rolling it into loaves.
