Basic White Bread
Did you make it to Manhattan, Kansas, on June 8, for the National Festival of Breads? If you did, chances are, you sampled this basic white bread from the Nebraska Wheat Mobile Baking Lab. We got so many requests for the recipe, that we're sharing it here. We've cut the recipe down so that it makes 2, 1 pound loaves, rather than the 13 loaves at a time that we were baking at the Festival!
If you sampled all the finalists' breads and want to get the recipes for those breads too, head on over to nationalfestivalofbreads.com/recipes. There, you will find all kinds of amazing bread recipes from finalists over the years, plus those that have been developed in the Kansas Wheat Commission Test Kitchen. Happy baking!
Servings 13 2 pound loaves
Baking Temp 350°F
Equipment
- Two 8 ½” x 4 ½” loaf pans
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water (105-110°F)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons nonfat dry milk
- 1 tablespoon yeast, divided
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons canola oil
Instructions
For the Bread
- In a large mixing bowl (a standing mixer bowl works best) combine water, granulated sugar, powdered milk and 1 packet (2 ¼ teaspoons) of yeast. Let stand until the yeast begins to foam (about 10 minutes).
- Add flour, salt and remaining ¾ teaspoon yeast. Mix by hand for about 30 seconds (or with a dough hook if you have one).
- Add canola oil and mix by hand for additional 30 seconds.
- Mix or knead dough (dough hook on a standing mixer is best) until reaches desired consistency. In a standing mixture, dough should only stick to the very bottom of the bowl. Target kneading time is 8 minutes.
- Place dough in a greased bowl and let rise until doubled in size (about 30 minutes).
- Spray two 8 ½” x 4 ½” loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray. Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface. Divide dough in half; cover, let rest 10 minutes.
- Shape into loaves by rolling each into a 10” x 6” rectangle. Starting with 6” edge, roll up tightly, pressing dough into roll. Pinch edges and ends to seal. Place in pans with seam underneath.
- Cover; let rise until doubled in size (30-45 minutes). Near the end of the rise, preheat oven to 350°F.
- Bake 18-20 minutes. The bread is done when golden brown and a thermometer inserted into the center registers about 205°F. Remove loaves from oven and after 5 minutes turn out onto a rack to cool.
- Visit the National Festival of Breads website to learn more about bread and to get winning recipes.