Crack-Level Addictive Everyday Sandwich Bread

I read a book last summer whose author inspired me as she waxed rhapsodical about her weekly baking of sandwich bread for her two children. I immediately dug out some yeast from my cupboard and mixed up a batch. What. The ever-loving. Hell. Came out of my oven, I will never know. It was a cross between a brick and a heavier, denser version of a brick. Although it smelled delicious, it was inedible and what I could break off tasted like sawdust. My children wouldn't touch it. My husband manfully attempted a slice with about an inch of Kerry butter on top and still couldn't finish it. It was. Unequivocally, the worst.

It set me on the path to discover the best sandwich bread recipe, and I think I've found it. The original recipe comes from Daily Dish Recipes and I've just made a few modifications to make it easier to do on a weekly basis. This recipe, though it makes two full loaves, is so good my family typically eats one hot loaf on the first day and sometimes manages to eke out the week on the second loaf if I've cut it thin enough. Otherwise I end up making a second batch a few days early. There are no preservatives in this bread so I suppose it probably doesn't keep longer than a week in the refrigerator but I wouldn't know. I've literally never had a loaf make it that long. 

2 cups warm water (I use hottest possible from the tap)

2 tbl sugar

1 tbl dry active yeast

1 tsp salt

5 1/2 c all purpose flour

2 1/2 tbl butter, cut into small pieces

Bacon grease, optional

2 loaf pans

1. I use a 2 cup pyrex measuring cup for pourability, but a bowl will work as well; combine very warm water, sugar and yeast and leave for ten minutes to activate the yeast. Mixture should be tan and foamy after ten minutes or the yeast is not live. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 100 degrees (you can just turn on the oven and turn off again once you start mixing the dough if your oven won't go that low).

2. While yeast is proofing, measure out flour, butter and salt and mix in a large bowl. I use a stand mixer with a dough hook for this step but a bowl and your two hands will work just fine. Once the yeast is proofed and activated, mix all ingredients together and knead until smooth and elastic and not sticking to the bowl. 

3. Dampen a kitchen towel and cover the bowl, then place in the warm oven for one hour for the dough to rise. Make sure the oven is now OFF. I have tried leaving the dough on the counter with no luck in getting dough to rise, and I have tried leaving the dough next to the warm fireplace with the dough basically exploding out of the bowl. The warm oven seems to be the most reliable and consistent method for me. You may want to oil the bowl but I never do and haven't had any problems. 

4. After an hour uncover the dough; it should have filled your bowl and poufed a bit over the top. Punch it down and knead by hand in the bowl, then divide the dough in half. Rewarm the oven to 100. 

5. Grease your loaf pans. I save all my bacon fat to cook with in a sterile jar, so I oil my loaf pans with bacon fat, and the crust of the bread, normally my least favorite part, is the first thing that disappears in my house now that the dough is essentially fried in bacon. Put half of the dough into each greased loaf pan and return to warm oven, uncovered, for an hour for second rise. 

6. After dough has risen the second time and doubled in size, preheat oven to 350 and bake for 30 minutes. I like my bread soft and with just a bit of a golden crust but you may like your more well done. The original recipe recommends 35-40 minutes. 

7. Remove from oven and allow to sit in pans for 5 minutes; then turn onto cooling rack and allow to cool completely before cutting. Of course, that doesn't at all affect how quickly you can and should devour the heels with Kerry butter. I slice the heels off immediately to...to help the bread cool. That's it...and then gobble them down, gluten be damned. To slice for sandwich bread, really do wait until the bread has completely cooled, then slice into 1/2" slices and place into a gallon bag. I find that one gallon bag will hold one loaf without smooshing it. 

I make this bread on Saturdays since, although there's very little work involved, it does require a bit of babysitting by the oven. It makes the entire house smell delicious all day and we typically have a loaf for dinner that night unless for some foolish reason I've decided to gift a loaf to a friend; then the gifted loaf disappears into tinfoil and we mournfully moan about how good the sandwiches are going to be until ultimately I start a second batch that won't come out of the oven until late that night. It fills the house with a fragrance far more pervading than any candle, like a cozy blanket that settles over all of us and lingers into the morning. 

Yes, I do sometimes still buy sandwich bread. But I always regret it.