Homemade White Bread

I kicked off the weekend by baking a couple of loaves of homemade white bread.  This is a Amish recipe from Lovina Eicher, who shared much of her culture, tradition and recipes in her newspaper column, "The Amish Cook."  Many of her recipes have now been collected in a series of books: The Amish Cook at Home, The Amish Cook's Baking Book and The Amish Cook's Anniversary Book.

The following recipe can either make 1 large loaf, or 2 smaller loaves.  I use two 5 x 9 loaf pans.  Cast iron makes a better loaf, but the typical non-stick variety will do the job. 

Ingredients:

1 package active dry yeast
2 1/2 cups lukewarm water
Lard (the size of an egg); you can substitute Crisco here if needed
2 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon salt
Enough bread flour to make a soft dough (usually about 5 cups)

Grease pans and set aside.

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in a 1/2 cup warm water.  In a large bowl, combine the lard, sugar, salt and the remaining 2 cups of water.  Add the yeast mixture to the bowl and stir until combined.  Add the flour, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing until the dough is elastic and doesn't stick to the sides of the bowl.  Cover the bowl loosely with a damp cloth and let rise until double in size, about 1 1/2 hours in a warm, draft-free place.

Punch the dough down and place on lightly floured surface.  Cut the the dough into 2 equal portions.  Punch down a little more and form each into a loaf.  Place the dough into greased loaf pans.  Cover with a damp cloth and let rise again until the dough is level with the loaf pan, about 40-50 minutes.

While the dough is rising, preheat oven to 325 degrees.  TIP: place a cast iron pan on lower rack in oven and let heat. When you place the bread in the oven to cook, pour 1-2 cups of water into heated pan and leave in closed over for 5-10 minutes. The steam makes a fabulous crust on the bread.

Bake the bread for 40-45 minutes.  The bread is done when it sounds hollow when tapped on top.

After removing the bread from the oven, brush with butter for a softer crust.  Remove the bread from the pans and place on cooling rack. 

The bread freezes well and will keep for up to 6 months.