WHITE BREAD

About a year ago a friend taught me to make bread and I have been testing and playing with bread recipes ever since. Even though I have found many that I like, I have always come back to this one for a standard bread to go with stews and to make sandwiches. This recipe can be easily be doubled or halved. This can also be turned into dinner buns, submarine buns or round loaves rather than the traditional loaves. Total time is 3 hours with bread rising times

• Ready In: 55 mins
• Yields: 3 loaves

Ingredients

• 200  g warm water
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons  yeast (traditional not fast-rising)
• 625  g warm water
• 20  g sugar
• 30  g salt
• 62  g non-fat powdered milk
• 50  g shortening
• 1250  g bread flour

Directions

1. Sprinkle the yeast on the 200 grams of warm water (about 85 to 95'F) and set aside.
2. Mix the 625 grams warm water,sugar, salt, dry milk, shortening and about 420 grams of the flour (approximately 1/3 of the flour). Add Yeast mixture if the yeast has been activated. If not, wait until the yeast mixture has started to foam up.
3. Mix using a digging or canoeing type motion, lifting the dough slightly to stretch the mixture and add air to activated the gluten in the flour. Mix for 8 minutes.
4. Start incorporating all but approximately 200 grams of the flour (reserved to dust the counter for kneading). When most of the flour is incorporated, pour onto a floured surface and knead the dough for about a minute or two. Adding more flour if the dough is still sticky.
5. Place dough on a greased pan and cover with a kitchen towel. Let rise in a warm room for about an hour or until it has at least doubled its original size. If your house is cool, turn the oven light on at the beginning of the process and let the dough rise in the oven with just the light on for warmth.
6. Punch down the dough and rest for 15 minutes.
7. Cut dough into three equal parts. Stretch each part while tapping it firmly on the counter. Fold the left and right sides in to the center and press firmly starting at the top and working your way down to create a rectangle. Starting at the bottom, roll the dough up to form a log.
8. Place into greased loaf tins and let rise for 45 minutes to an hour or until it just starts to rise above the pan edge.
9. Bake at 350'F for 30 to 35 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack immediately when removed from the oven to prevent sweating.
10. Let cool slightly before slicing.