My FAVORITE food ever...BREAD!

I have one distinct memory of bread; my mom made a bread bowl to fill with a chili, dip of some sort to take to a party, and left the insides of the bread she scooped out in a bag, and I loved ever last bite!

I've never understood the whole "no carb" thing, I would see people eating their In-n-Out (which I REALLY miss) without the bun, and wrapped in lettuce, while that sounds good, and I love good, fresh, crunchy lettuce as the next one, I would just rather have that accompanied by a bun, fresh yummy bread!

And in recent weeks, I have been trying to cut back my spending at Costco the grocery store, so I have started to make my own bread, which mostly gets used for my loves lunches.

Awhile back I got the book,The Bread Baker's Apprentice
and so far so good, so I thought I woulds share with you, my yummy-ness. I've baked two different recipes for white bread (there's three total for white bread) in the book.

We, in our home, like Variation 3 the best, so far.

Here's what you'll need:

Sponge:
2 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour
2 tsp instant yeast
1 1/4 cups whole milk - lukewarm

Dough:
1 2/3 cups unbleached bread flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp sugar
1 lg egg yolk, slightly beaten at room temp
1/4 cup butter, margarine, or shortening at room temp


What you'll do:
To make the sponge, mix the flour & yeast in 4 qt bowl (I used my Kitchen Aid mixer bowl). Stir in milk until flour is hydrated. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and ferment at room temperature for 45-60 minutes, or until the sponge becomes aerated and frothy and swells, noticeably.

To make the dough, add the flour, salt, & sugar to the sponge. Then add the egg yolk & butter (or other fat). Mix using a paddle attachment until all the flour is absorbed and the dough forms a ball. If the dough seems very stiff and dry, add a little bit of water until the dough is soft and supple.

Sprinkle flour on your counter and kneed the dough for 6-8 minutes, or, put your dough hook on your mixer and knead that way, I like kneading myself, its fun. Lightly oil a big bowl and place dough in bowl coat it with a bit of oil and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit at room temperature for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until it doubles in size.


Remove fermented dough from the bowl and split in half to make two sandwich loves or eighteen 2oz dinner rolls, or twelve 3oz for hamburger or hot dog buns. I pulled apart and made 8 rolls, bigger than a regular hamburger bun, perfect for Rene's lunch. Place in lightly oil/sprayed pan and allow to sit for 20 minutes, covered with towel or plastic wrap.


Preheat oven, to 350 for loaves 400 for rolls, you can at this point brush with egg wash and add poppy seeds or sesame seeds if desired. Bake rolls for 15 minutes (mine were in for 20 minutes - remember mine were bigger than normal) or until they reach 180 degrees inside. For loaves you'll bake for 35-45 minutes or until golden brown (190 inside)


Remove loaves immediately from pan and allow to cool on rack at least 1 hour (ahhh heck slice it right away, it's best that way). Rolls should cool for about 15 minutes before serving.