How To Make GRANDMA’S COUNTRY WHITE BREAD

Fantastic recipe! I opted to use regular flour, emulating what Grandma Van Doren probably did, as I’m pretty sure “bread flour” wasn’t a thing during her time. A little tip: if you double the amount of yeast, it halves the rising time, which is a real time-saver.

This bread is incredibly delicious and surprisingly easy to make using a mixer. I like to place the unbaked loaves in disposable bread pans and freeze them before they rise. That way, I can enjoy fresh home-baked bread anytime. Simply leave the frozen dough out on the counter in the morning to rise throughout the day, then bake it in the evening. This bread pairs wonderfully with all kinds of food, but be warned, it disappears fast!

Wow, this recipe is truly impressive! I’m a big fan of baking bread and it’s always disappointing when it turns out dense. This bread, however, was beautifully light with a soft and chewy crust! I ended up using 4 packets of Rapid Rise Yeast since that’s what I had on hand. Regular all-purpose flour worked just fine too. I allowed the dough to rise for an hour between each step and let the cinnamon rolls rise an additional 35 minutes while the bread baked. The result? Two nice loaves and a generous batch of 18 cinnamon rolls topped with cream cheese icing. Delicious! We polished off an entire loaf with a Peasant soup for dinner and had a cinnamon roll for dessert. I’m stuffed! The bread has a nice tangy flavor and a wonderful texture. Don’t hesitate, you must TRY IT!

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups lukewarm water

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons yeast

1/3 cup oil

1 tablespoon salt

6 to 7 cups unbleached ground white wheat flour (Alternatively, regular all-purpose flour can be used. This might require a little more quantity, around 8 cups, leading to a softer, less coarse bread.)

Optional: 1 tablespoon vital wheat gluten (applicable if you’re using whole white wheat flour)

PROCEDURE:

Initiate the process by dissolving the yeast in a blend of warm water and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Let this mixture rest for about 10 minutes before adding the oil. Now, integrate the salt and start with 6 cups of flour into the mixture. Combine all the ingredients to form a dough.

Indulge in a kneading spree, ensuring all the ingredients have melded together and the dough has turned smooth and elastic. It should be mildly sticky and start to detach from the bowl. This should take you anywhere between 6 to 10 minutes. If needed, keep adding more flour gradually until you attain the perfect dough consistency.

Once your dough is ready, cover the bowl with a dishcloth or plastic wrap. Let it sit until it doubles in volume. This may take an hour or more, depending on the warmth of your kitchen. To expedite the rising process, you can place the covered bowl in the oven with the oven light switched on, and another bowl of warm water stationed on the lower rack.

DIRECTIONS:

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in
warm water and sugar. Let sit 10 minutes. Add the oil. Add the salt and flour (starting with 6 cups of flour). Mix all together. Knead the dough thoroughly until all ingredients are incorporated, and dough is smooth, elastic, very slightly sticky, and pulls away from the bowl (6-10 minutes). As you knead the dough, you may add more flour as needed, and repeat the process until dough reaches the desired consistency.
Cover the bowl of dough with a dish towel or plastic wrap and let rise until doubled (an hour or more depending on how warm your kitchen is.) You may speed up this process by placing the covered bowl inside the oven with the oven light on, and another bowl of warm water sitting on the lower rack.

INGREDIENTS:

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