Sandwich Bread

Dinner With Julie - Sandwich Bread

Tim's Variation

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 Tbsp. active dry yeast
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 cups multi-grain flour
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 cup butter, softened

Directions

1. Pour 1/2 cup of the water into a bowl (preferably that of a stand mixer) and stir in the yeast and sugar. Let sit for 5 minutes, unit foamy. (If the yeast doesn't do anything, toss it out and buy fresh yeast.)
2. Add the rest of the water and about half of the flour. Stir until well blended. Add the rest of the flour, the salt and butter and stir with the dough hook (or by hand) until well combined and shaggy. Continue to knead (I let the dough hook go for about 8 minutes, poking it down once in awhile) until it's smooth and elastic. You could do this by hand, too. If you used the dough hook, turn the dough out onto the countertop and knead a few times to make sure it's evenly smooth. Doesn't it feel great?
3. Shape it into a ball and put it back into the bowl. Cover with a tea towel and let it sit for 1 - 1 1/2 hours, until it's doubled in size.
4. Butter two 4"x8" loaf pans. Punch the dough down (love that part!) and pat each piece into a rectangle that's about 9"x12" - or a bit bigger than a standard piece of paper.
5. Starting at a short end, fold it in thirds, like a letter. Place seam side down in the loaf pans, tucking the ends in. Cover with the tea towel again and leave them for an hour, until they puff right up out of the pan.
6. Preheat the oven to 375°F and put the rack in the middle of the oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the loaves are honey brown. Immediately turn the loaves out of their pans and onto a rack to cool.

Timing

• Assembly: 15 minutes
• Rest: 2 1/2 hours
• Bake 1/2 hour
• Total: 3.25 hours

For Freezing:

1. Add twice as much yeast
2. Let the bread go through its first rise, as most yeast bread goes through two rises. Allow the bread to rise in a greased bowl as per recipe instructions.
3. After the first rise, punch down the dough and knead. Then, shape the bread dough into loaves or one single loaf.
4. Place the loaf (or loaves) in a greased bread pan and cover with a greased plastic wrap to prevent sticking. This also allows the dough loaves to hold their shape when frozen.
5. Place bread pans in the freezer and let the dough freeze for about 10 hours.
6. After 10 hours, remove the bread dough from the pans. Then, wrap it in plastic wrap and place it in a resealable plastic freezer bag.
7. Date the bag(s) of dough loaves and place in the freezer immediately. Your dough can be frozen for up to four weeks.