Just Like Grandma's Bread!

This week, with the sudden onset of FRIGID weather, I became desperate for some "old-fashioned" bread. I've got several recipes that would have done very nicely, but I was in the mood to try something new, so I went "surfing" and found this very delicious bread. How delicious, you ask? Soooooo delicious that, when I served it to my hubby on its SECOND day, he started exclaiming........"This is amazing bread! This is so good! I mean, so good maybe we should change the recipe on the EZ DOH bucket to this recipe! It's that good!!" Now.....let me say that he is a man who, though I bake almost everyday, usually passes on the baked goods - he's just not a "bread" person (Loves his meats, though!). He is presently in my kitchen eating the buns that I made with this recipe THREE days ago......and I'm serving a slice of the loaf with dinner tonight, too!  For a homemade bread to remain that flavorful and tender for that long is something......And for my honey to be nibbling on bread that's three days old is REALLY something!  With that strong endorsement, I now present to you: 

Just Like Grandma’s Bread

1 ½ Cups warm water

1 Tbsp./packet Red Star Platinum yeast

3 Cups unbleached, all-purpose flour

1 Cup unbleached bread flour

1 ½ tsp. salt

¼ Cup sugar

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

Place warm water and yeast in EZ DOH bucket and stir to dissolve yeast. Let rest 1 minute. Add one cup of flour, then additional dough ingredients. EZ DOH-it for 2-3 minutes, or until dough is smooth and soft and all ingredients are incorporated. Remove dough from bucket, knead once or twice on the counter to “smooth” the dough, spray bucket with cooking spray and replace dough in bucket. Cover and let rise until doubled.

Punch down the dough and remove from the bucket. Divide dough into two pieces, one approximately 2/3 of the dough and the other 1/3 of the dough. With the “2/3” portion, roll out slightly into a small rectangle and roll up into a loaf. Place in a 8 x4.5” loaf pan sprayed with cooking spray. With the smaller dough piece, you may make 4 large rolls (great for sandwiches)  or one smaller loaf (my smaller loaf pan measures 3 ¾”x 7 ¼” or so). Cover lightly and let rise in a warm place until doubled, or dough is about 1” above the top of the pan. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven, remove from pans and cool on a wire rack. Brush tops with butter. 

Just Like Grandma's Bread!