While I talked to a delightful woman on Facebook, she noted that making fresh loaves of bread headed her list of items to do. She said the recipe she used was the best bread she ever made.
Having tried making bread and never being happy with the recipes, I asked her to share the recipe, which she did.
She said she found it on YouTube and asked that I give the credit to Mi’kmaq mama for a most delicious white bread. I also spoke online with Mi’kmaq mama and she was happy to share.
EASY SIMPLE BREAD
Recipe:
4 cups of lukewarm water (as warm as a baby’s bottle)
1/2 cup white sugar
4 tablespoons of active dry yeast*
1 tablespoon of salt
5 tablespoons of oil
lots of all purpose or wheat flour (until dough is no longer sticky)(about 8+ cups)
*note: 1 packette of yeast = 2 1/4 teaspoons (double check your packette), so 4 tablespoons = 12 teaspoons = 5 packettes
To the 4 cups of lukewarm water, add the ½ cup white sugar. Stir to dissolve sugar. Add 4 Tbsps active dry yeast. Allow the yeast to ferment for about 10 minutes.
Add the salt and oil and stir to combine before adding flour. Add the flour one cup at a time until bread pulls away from sides of bowl. Then add about half a cup more and briefly knead in. Put more flour onto surface where bread will be kneaded. Pour dough on floured surface and knead. If bread sticks, add more flour to surface under bread. Knead by folding dough toward you and using the heels of your hands to press down and push away until the dough loses its stickiness.
Take a second large bowl, spray with Pam or some other non-stick product and place dough into the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and a tea towel. Let it rest until for an hour in a warm place. Get your loaf pans greased or sprayed with Pam. Punch down the dough, which should be about two or three times the size when first put in the bowl. Reflour the kneading surface and turn the dough out onto it. Do not knead it. Instead form the dough into a rectangular shape and cut into four equal pieces of dough. Cut across first, then lengthwise on the two pieces to make the four. Use a rolling pin to get the air bubbles out.
After getting a semblance of a rectangle with one piece of dough, roll it into a log. Halfway through forming the log, press it down all across the ‘log’ and the flat piece of dough still left to roll. This ensures it holding together. When fully rolled, pinch the seam closed and seal the ends before putting it into the bread pan. Follow the same instructions for each loaf. Cover each loaf of bread dough with plastic and a tea cloth and allow to rise about thirty minutes.
Place loaves into a COLD oven which allows the loaves to rise a bit more as the oven heats. Turn oven to 375 degrees. Cook 25 minutes. At the end of that time, the bread should be light brown all over.
Turn them out onto racks to cool and put a light coating of butter over the tops. Cover with a tea towel to keep them from drying out.
After rolling out the dough is a perfect time to experiment with your favorite breads. For instance, I put cranberries and a sprinkling of sugar on one loaf before rolling it. The second I used various herbs like rosemary and thyme. The third was left plain as a sandwich bread and the last I spread a combination of cinnamon and sugar over the dough and added a hefty handful of raisins for cinnamon raisin bread!
Not disappointed in any of them so far.