Homemade White Bread

My first homemade loaf of bread! I have recently been obsessed with my honey-yeast rolls. (I even made a batch tonight along side my loaf.) This gave me the courage to finally try making a loaf of bread from scratch. You know what? It wasn't hard at all and was very tasty!

Homemade White Bread

Ingredients

2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 2/3 cups warm fat-free milk
2 Tbsp. butter or stick margarine, melted
4 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 1/2 tsp. salt

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm milk. Let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in butter. Add 4 1/4 cups flour and salt to yeast mixture; stir until blended. Switch to dough hook, and knead dough on low speed for 10 minutes. (I used the mixer for 5 minutes, and hand kneaded for the remaining 5 minutes.) While kneading, add enough remaining flour, 1 Tbsp. at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel tacky).

Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat. Cover with a damp rag, and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, for 1 hour or until doubled in size. Plunch dough down; cover and let rest 5 minutes. Roll into a 14 x 7 inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Roll up rectangle tightly, starting with the a short edge, pressing firmly to eliminate air pockets. Pinch seam and ends to seal. Place roll, seam side down, in a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan, coated with cooking spray. Cover and let ride 1 hour or until double in size.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 45 minutes or until loaf is brown on the bottom and sounds hollow when tapped. (Mine only took 35 minutes, so watch it carefully.) Remove loaf from pan, and cool on wire rack.

Source: All Recipes