WHITE SANDWICH BREAD

White Sandwich Bread Recipe

I have loved baking with yeast over the years. Especially since I started making fresh pav (dinner rolls) for my pav bhaji! Once I perfected that I knew I had to have a go to recipe for sandwich bread too. The fact that my husband does not eat store bought bread( long story, now is not the time I assure you) is a huge motivation. And trust me, freshly baked sandwich bread is way tastier than any store bought bread. Not if you’re buying your bread from a bakery that makes fresh bread everyday! But most of us (not so lucky) folks do end up buying bread from a grocery store, and this recipe just beats everything hands down!

I found this recipe from annie’s eats and took some time to get it absolutely right! The taste would always turn out fine, but the texture took me a while to perfect! Then I figured out that kneading the dough was the key to getting that perfect texture, a nice crunchy crust with a soft interior. This bread is not too sweet, and not entirely savory so its perfect for both sweet and savory sandwiches!

Ingredients

Bread Flour	3.5 cups
Yeast (Rapid Rise yeast)	1 packet i.e. 2 and ¼ tsp
Butter	2 tsp
Honey	3 tbsp
Salt	1 tsp
Water	1/3 cup (110 F)
Milk (whole or 2%)	1 cup (110 F)

Yeast is that beautiful microorganism that is responsible for processing carbohydrates to release carbon dioxide. This is the reason for those beautiful holes you see in breads that are formed when the gas is released in the bread dough while baking. Yeast is activated when dunked in warm (not hot, around 110F) water along with a little food(sugar or honey). When using active dry yeast, it needs to be activated before you put it in the contents of the recipe, just to give it a head start to do its magic. Rapid rise yeast can be added as is to the flour while using lukewarm liquids to make the dough. Though I have used rapid rise, I still gave it some time to activate. But if using rapid rise yeast, better to mix the yeast with the dry ingredients and ensure that the liquids to be added are lukewarm (around 110 F).

Method

Mix the flour with the salt and set aside.

Take the yeast in a bowl and add the honey and water and give it a whisk. Set aside for 10 minutes. If the quality of yeast is really good, then you will start to see bubbles form on the surface of the yeast solution. Melt the butter into the milk. Be careful to keep the liquids warm and not hot as this would kill the yeast.

Mix the yeast solution and milk into the flour and form dough. Once the dough is formed, it will be extremely sticky. Kneading is the process of strengthening the dough to form the final texture of the bread. It will enhance the formation of glutens which will render the bread its unique soft structure.

Kneading the dough

On a lightly floured surface, take the dough and stretch it by pulling on the ends of the dough. Fold the dough back over and press it . Now turn the dough to a right angle and repeat the process. Keep repeating this until the dough turns from a sticky mass to a shiny and elastic dough. I have started using my Kitchenaid Stand Mixer to do this job for me as it saves a lot of the time and effort! If using a stand mixer, set the mixer in the lowest speed with the dough hook attachment, to mix the dough and then crank up the speed to about 2 or 4 and let it run for about 10 minutes. The dough will start to twist around the dough hook. But from the surface it will look smooth and elastic which is when the dough has been well knead. More you knead the dough, softer the final bread will be. Take out the dough from the mixer, form a ball with it. To make the ball smooth, stretch the dough to form a semi circle and pull all the ends to the bottom so that the top is smooth. Scrunch it up so that all the ends are at the bottom and pinch it together. Don’t worry, the dough will rise and the imperfections go away once the dough is risen.

Let the dough rise until its double in size. Just rub the surface of the bowl with some oil or butter and coat the surface of the dough too. This prevents the dough from getting dry and also ensures it doesn’t stick to the surface of the bowl for easy removal. Cover it with plastic wrap and set it in a warm place. I usually keep it in my oven without it being turned on. You can also keep the oven light on, sometimes the bulbs heat is good for the yeast! The time it takes to rise varies. Most of the time an hour should do it, but if the yeast is slightly lazy(Hey, we can be lazy so why shouldn’t yeast be??) it may take longer or even lesser time (if its really active). Give it time to rise to double in size as this is a really important step. If the dough hasn’t risen after a long time (greater than 2 hours) then the yeast isn’t doing the job and the bread will be hard and dense. Better start over.

Once the dough is all pillowy and risen, punch the dough to let the air out. Then knead it with your hands for about 2 minutes and shape it in the form of a loaf. Set this in a greased loaf pan and let the dough rise for the second time. This time let it rise for 30-45 minutes, till you can see the dough rise above the loaf pan. This time do not cover the dough with plastic wrap as it tends to stick.

Place the loaf pan in a pre heated 350 F oven on the top rack. Ensure that the top surface of the dough is well away from the heating element in the oven as it tends to rise just a little bit more while baking. Also in the bottom rack set another loaf pan with 2 cups of boiling water. This steam will ensure the dough doesn’t dry out. Let it bake for 40-50 minutes. Every oven is different, so baking time varies. I take the bread out after 47 minutes.

The top will feel hard and crusty, it will be nice and brown. The bottom should sound hollow when you tap it. It will be considerably softer and spongier than the top. Set it in a cooling rack and let it cool down for atleast 5-10 minutes. Once it is cooled down slice it up and enjoy it whichever way you like!

Freshly baked bread tastes wonderful with just a dab of butter! I had mine with some butter and jam! Guess who else loved it?My little one! So satisfying when you can make something like this for family..

Tips

• Sometimes, cold weather can be a big dampener for yeast. In that case, you can add slightly hot water(slightly only) to the yeast. 
• The original recipe calls for 2 tsp of salt, I added 1 tsp because i wanted to make sweet sandwiches out of the bread too with butter and jam, but you can always add 2 tsp.
• This bread is freshly made, and lasts only a few days (lesser than store bought bread).
• Do not throw away stale bread, you can make croutons or bread crumbs with it.
• Store at room temperature only, it has to be covered well to prevent it from drying out.
• Use a sharp, serrated bread knife to cut the bread, do so only after the bread has cooled down considerably. 
• Slice it as and when you need the bread and keep the open side of the bread away from air, it tends to dry up otherwise.