Easy White Bread

Easy White Bread

Ingredients

(Recipe makes 1- 1 ½ pound loaf or 1- 9X13 dish of cinnamon rolls

3-3 ½ cups bread flour (If you don’t have bread flour, All Purpose flour will work too. It may take a little longer to rise, though, so be patient.)

1/3 cup white sugar (Or substitute honey for a bit of a healthier loaf)

1 TBL active dry yeast

1 tsp Kosher salt

1 ½ TBL olive oil (Don’t have olive oil? Any time of oil will work. Or butter too! If you use salted butter, only add 1/2 tsp Kosher salt.)

1 cup warm/hot water

Directions

1-    In a large bowl, combine 1 ½ cups flour, sugar, oil, yeast, salt, oil and water. Mix thoroughly. Cover with parchment paper and a clean towel. This is the “sponge” of the bread. Let sponge rise until doubled in size (30-60 minutes).

2-    Add 1 ½ cup flour to risen sponge mixture, kneading until smooth. If dough is still too sticky, add more flour in ½ cup increments.

3-    Once dough is good consistency, take out of bowl, pour 1-2 TBL olive oil around bottom of bowl. Place dough in oiled bowl, and turn several times to coat. Cover with a cloth and allow to rise until doubled (30-45 minutes).

4-    TO MAKE LOAF: Punch down the risen dough. Shape into loaf by shaping into a ball and pinching the dough underneath. Place shaped dough in a bread pan sized about

 8 ½” x 4 ½”. Let rise until almost doubled (30 minutes). Bake at 350°F for

30-35 minutes. Cool on baking rack. Slice and enjoy!