3 cups flour (plus more for kneading) *substitute 1/2 c whole wheat flour and add 1/2 c oatmeal - very yummy. you can also add ground flax, or chopped nuts . . .
¼ c sugar
1 ½ tsp salt
1 pckg yeast (2 ¼ tsp)
1 c very warm water (120 – 130 degrees F) - let your tap water run till it's quite hot
2 Tbs veg oil
1 egg
mix 1 ½ c flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in large bowl
add warm water and oil
beat well by hand or with mixer on low speed
add egg
beat till smooth
mix in 1 ½ c flour
turn out of bowl onto floured surface *scrape the dough out with a rubber spatula. I use quite a bit of flour - this post shows what the dough looks like before I knead it
knead till smooth and springy *it won't really stick to your hands anymore - but it's not hard
place dough in large bowl greased with shortening
cover with damp towel and let rise till double – about 1
hour *if you use rapid rise yeast, this will cut the rise time by 15-30 minutes
flour your hands and punch down *press your fist into the dough about 4-6 times
form loaf and place in greased loaf pan
cover with damp towel and let rise till double – about 1
hour *again, if using rapid rise yeast, this rise time will be about 30 minutes
10 minutes before your rise time is up, preheat your oven to 375 degrees F bake for 30 minutes – till deep golden
brown
this dough works well for sweet breads – you can add ½ c of
raisins with the second addition of flour, then, after the first rising time,
roll out dough into a rectangle (18 x 9 in), brush with melted butter, sprinkle
with ¼ c sugar mixed with 2 tsp ground cinnamon, roll up into loaf, put in loaf
pan, let rise and bake
For BREAD MACHINE
Use ingredients above adding 1/4 c flour. Use room-temperature water. Place ingredients in bread machine pan in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select Dough/Manual cycle; do not use delay cycle. Remove dough from pan to shape into a loaf and bake. Rising time may be shorter because dough will be warm when removed from bread machine.
