BREAD
I remember being 4- or 5-years old, and my mother making the most immaculate dish. It was simply a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It provided all the energy I needed to scamper around the house during a mid-summer day. When I think of mid-summer, I think of late-July or early-August; I think of sandwiches that fueled my adolescent adventures for years. That dish never failed to bring a smile to my face and warmth to my heart. To love a sandwich is to love bread.
Bread, although simple in execution, is complex in nature. I thought my first post on simplicity should be the most useful thing in the household—bread that can be used at any time of the day and night. The best bread. Sandwich bread.
Updated on 07/19/2024
sandwich bread
ingredients:
3 1/4c organic unbleached bread flour
1/2c organic whole milk
3/4c water
1t active dry yeast
1T fine sea salt
1T granulated sugar (and a little extra for the yeast)
3T unsalted butter softened (and some extra butter melted for later!)
1T unsalted butter cold
3-5T olive oil
Helpful items:
digital cooking thermometer
stand mixer
plastic wrap
9” x 5” loaf pan
wooden spoon
whisk
recipe:
In a small pot, pour water and milk inside and heat to 110F (or you can use the microwave in 20 second intervals). Pour milk mixture into measuring cup with a pinch of sugar. Add active dry yeast, whisk vigorously until yeast is well-mixed in and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside on top of stove for 10-15 minutes OR until mixture smells yeasty/looks like below.
In a large mixing bowl OR stand mixer bowl, add bread flour, sugar and salt. Mix together thoroughly.
Add yeast mixture to large mixing bowl and mix (on medium) until dough starts to come together—make sure to use the wooden spoon to push the flour down towards the forming dough. Then add each tablespoon of softened butter one at a time until mixed thoroughly into dough. Take dough out of mixture, add some bread flour to a surface area and gently knead into dough ball.
Plop dough ball into a large lightly oiled bowl, top with plastic wrap and place in warm area (like the oven) for 1 1/2 hours OR until dough doubles in size.
Take large oiled bowl out of oven, uncover, slap the dough (!!!!!!!) and place dough on lightly floured surface area. Roll dough into log the same length as the loaf pan (visual below might help here). Rub entire loaf pan with cold butter. Plop dough log into loaf pan and cover with a dampened kitchen towel. Place loaf pan in warm area (the oven says ‘hi’ again) for 1 1/2 hours OR until dough doubles in size.
Take loaf pan out of warm area, uncover and set aside. Set oven to 350F and place loaf pan into oven. Gently brush with melted butter or olive oil on the top of the bread if you’d like (I also used a wet knife to “score” or make an incision into mine). Place bread in oven and allow bread to bake for 35-40 minutes.
Once bread is baked, take loaf pan out of oven, remove bread from loaf pan by gently sliding out loaf and allow bread to rest for 35 minutes (and you better not touch it until then). Slice bread into desired widths. Bread can be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in fridge for 5-7 days. Enjoy!
