Basic Yeast Bread

Recipe:
2 cups milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
6 1/2 to 7 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 packages (4 1/2 teaspoons) active dry yeast
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 375.

Heat milk and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat just until butter is melted. Remove from heat. Cool to about 120-130 degrees.

Combine 4 cups flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Whisk. Add milk mixture and eggs. Beat vigorously for 2 minutes. Add remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time, until dough begins to pull away from sides of the bowl.

Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface, flatten slightly. Knead 10 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Add flour if necessary to prevent sticking.

Shape dough into ball. Place in a large lightly oiled bowl: turn dough over once to oil surface. Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm area for about an hour or until doubled in bulk.

Grease 2 9x5 loaf pans and set aside. Turn out dough onto lightly oiled work surface, divide in half. Shape each half into a loaf and place in prepared pans. Cover with a towel and let rise 45 minutes.

Bake 25 minutes or until loaves are golden and sound hollow when tapped. Immediately remove bread from pans and cool on wire rack.

Recipe from 101 Garlic Recipes by Publications International.

Changes:
Made half the batch. Used 3 1/8 cup flour. Let rise 1 hour both times. Cooked for 20 minutes with foil on top for the last 5 minutes. Used salted butter.

Review:
My new favorite white bread! Moist and soft and much lighter and fluffier than others.

Next Time:
Make again soon!