White Bread

I can't believe the grease spots on my walls! UGH! I didn't know they were there until I looked at this picture -- guess that's another cleaning project on the to-do list!

My favorite white bread is really a combination of the Jewish challah bread and white bread. I like my bread with egg and milk, I think it gives it more flavor without having to use a starter. It took me about six months of playing with this recipe to get it where I wanted it.

Now, I just dump it in the bread machine in the order listed and put it on dough. I DO NOT bake it in the bread machine -- what a yucky crust and I don't think bread should come in a square with a hole in the bottom, just not natural if you ask me.

This bread takes about 5 minutes to prep and dump. Then about 2 minutes to shape into loaves. Not shabby! It means I'm more than willing to make homemade bread because it's not a tax on my time.

Darcy's White Bread

1 cup milk, scalded

2 eggs

1/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup honey

1 1/2 tsp salt

3 1/2 cups bread flour

3 tsp yeast

1. First, scald the milk in the microwave by heating it for about 1 minute.

2. Add the oil and honey to the milk to cool it a bit. Stir thoroughly.

3. Add the eggs, salt, then flour, then yeast. Turn bread machine to the dough cycle and let it go -- check during the first kneading process to make sure the dough has enough flour to 'clean' the sides of the dish. If it needs more flour, slowly add by the teaspoonful until it is cleaning the sides of the container.

4. When the dough cycle is finished, remove and punch down dough. Form into two loaves. Place in greased baking pans. Let rise for about 45 minutes.

5. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until internal thermometer reads 180 degrees. I usually put aluminium foil on the top about 15 minutes into the baking time so that the tops don't get too dark.

6. Remove from pans immediately and transfer to a cooling rack.