White Bread Recipe
Yield 4 loaves

Ingredients

2 cups milk
2 cups water
2 pkg. active dry yeast OR 2 compressed yeast cakes
1 TBS salt
4 TBS sugar
4 TBS shortening or oil
About 12 cups sifted flour

*Note — You may make this white bread recipe with less yeast, if longer rising periods are allowed. Use 1 pkg. dry yeast or 1 yeast cake instead of 2. Allow dough to rise for 3 hours and loaves for 2 hours.

Method

• Have all ingredients at warm room temperature.
• Scald milk. Add boiling water. Measure 1 cup of liquid into small bowl. Allow to cool to luke warm (test on wrist for warmth). Add dry yeast and 2 teaspoons sugar and let stand 15 minutes. If compressed yeast is used crumble it into lukewarm water and blend. Let stand 15 minutes. Add remaining sugar and salt to remaining 3 cups of liquid. Mix. Let stand until lukewarm.
• Add shortening and dissolved yeast to lukewarm liquid, then add half the sifted flour (6 cups) and mix with spoon. Add almost all the rest of the flour (about 5 1/2 cups) and mix with hand. Using one hand mix dough in bowl by using a rotary motion. At first dough will be sticky but by the end of about 5 minutes mixing it should be smooth and come away readily from inside of bowl. If it does not, add some of the reserved flour until it does come away from the bowl readily.
• Turn out on greased board. Knead by folding dough over toward you. Then press down away from you with heel of hand. Give dough quarter turn, repeat until it’s smooth, elastic and doesn’t stick to board. (Takes 5 - 8 minutes).
• Place dough in warm, lightly greased bowl, turning once to bring greased side up. Cover with lightweight damp cloth and let rise at warm room temperature 75° - 85° F. away from draughts for 2 hours or until double in bulk.
• Punch down (thrust fist into dough to allow gas bubbles to escape). Turn out on lightly greased board. Cut into four even pieces. Form each into a ball. Cover and let rest 15 minutes. Grease loaf pans.
• Shape balls of dough into loaves; first roll dough out to even thickness, using hands, pat and stretch it to form rectangle about 9 x 12 inches. Be sure no gas bubbles remain in edge of dough. From upper edge, roll dough towards you, sealing dough with heel of hand after each roll of dough. (It will take about four turns.) Seal well the final seam on bottom of loaf. Seal ends of loaf by using the side of the hand. Using fingers fold sealed ends of loaf under.
• Place loaf, sealed edge down, in well greased bread pan. Cover. Let rise at warm room temperature 1 1/2 hours or until double in bulk. Bake at 400° F. about 55-60 minutes until brown. To test, tap loaf, tip gently out of pan and tap bottom. It should sound hollow. If not, bake a few more minutes.

*Loose page from an old cookbook (1960), “Very Good” written on top corner of recipe. Be sure to read the tips from yesterday for bread baking tips.

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