Easy White Bread

Soft and fluffy classic white bread. And it's ginormous!

Ingredients:

2 1/4 tsps instant yeast

1 cup lukewarm water (105°-110°F)

1 tbsp honey

19 1/2 oz (4 1/3 cups) flour (AP, bread flour, or some of each)

1/3 cup lukewarm water (105°-110°F)

1 1/4 tsp salt

2 tbsps honey

1/4 tsp white vinegar

2 tbsps vegetable oil

Put 1 cup lukewarm water in a large mixer bowl. Stir in 1 tbsp honey to dissolve then sprinkle the yeast on top. Gently stir, cover bowl with dishtowel and leave for 15 minutes until foamy and active.

Add the flour (I used half all purpose and half bread flour), warm water, salt, honey, vinegar and vegetable oil. Mix using dough hook to form a rough dough. Knead on low speed 2-5 minutes.

Then increase speed by 1 level and knead for 12-15 minutes keeping an eye on it so it doesn't creep up over the edge of the bowl. Stop and put it back down in the bowl if this happens. I had to adjust it 4 or 5 times.

While the dough is kneading butter a 9 X 5" loaf pan. I use butter wrappers that I keep in the freezer for this purpose.

Once the dough is smooth and elastic remove from the bowl and fold over and few times to form a smooth ball. Place smooth side up in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap.

Let it rise in a warm, draft-free place. In the past I have put my oven on (any temp) for 1 minute then turned it off after 1 minute. That was my warm spot. But my daughter showed me this method and it works great! Simply microwave a cup of water 1 - 1 1/2 minutes, then put the bowl in the microwave along side it and wait 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

Now turn the risen dough out onto a floured surface and press gently to form a rectangle about 8 X 9 or 10".

Starting at the 8" side, firmly roll up the dough and pinch and seal the edges.

Place in prepared pan, seam side down and firmly press in.

Cover loosely with plastic wrap and return to it's warm, happy place for about 1 hour or again until doubled in size. This rose waaaay above the 1" over the top edge of the pan the original recipe called for! Preheat oven to 375°F for 30 minutes before baking.