Baking and Caking for Beginners: White Bread

We always have bread and usually buy the double loaf sold at Costco. But we ran out and we didn't want to buy another pair of loaves because we are going on vacation real soon. Anyway, I decided it's time I try to bake a loaf of bread.

I found a great recipe from Allrecipes.com with almost 2,000 5-star reviews - can't go wrong with that, right? I started at around 8:30pm, it was ready by 11pm. And yes, my son smelled the freshly baked bread and wanted to eat that late. I, of course, restrained myself.

I adjusted the recipe a little bit based on the comments left about using less sugar. I also wanted just a loaf of bread, not two.

WHITE BREAD

Ingredients:

1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1/4 cup white sugar
2-1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 small packet)
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 cups bread flour

Directions:

In a mixer bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast. Set aside for 10 minutes to activate yeast.

Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time with the dough hook in low speed. Once all the dry ingredients are in, continue on low speed until the whole dough sticks to the hook.

Take the dough out, fold it over on itself to redistribute the yeast, make a ball, and place it back in the same bowl after you drizzle a tablespoon of oil (veggie or olive) and turn the dough to coat evenly. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and then a kitchen towel. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes, shape into a loaf and place in a well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pan. Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pan.

Sprinkle a little bit of flour on top of the loaf. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes. Remove from pan and knock on the bottom of the loaf. If you hear a hollow sound, then it's fully baked. Cool completely in a cooling rack before slicing.