I’ve been making bread for a very long time now but there is one thing that many of my loaves were lacking – lightness and softness.
My loaves were often on the dense side, not in an unpleasant way, actually in quite a substantial way, but I did have the desire to be able to make a lighter bread if I wanted to – more like a bakery style sandwich loaf.
So I started testing ingredients and methods and investigating bakery methods.
There are a few things I stumbled upon that led to the formulation of this recipe:
- A higher yeast proportion for a faster rise plus using sugar for taste and fast rising
- The addition of butter
- A long mixing time with the mixer
Using a mixer with a dough hook takes a lot of work out of it for you and just kneads up the most beautiful dough.
I have an older model Kenwood mixer, it does the job OK, but if and when I have to replace it I think I would be leaning towards a Kitchenaid or something similar.
The bread is quite sweet and you could definitely reduce the sugar (though each batch does make 2 loaves) or you could also substitute honey. Other sweeteners I’m not sure on as I haven’t used them.
Personally I don’t use fancy bread tins, just something similar to these rectangle loaf tins and I line them with parchment baking paper on a roll that I then save a reuse many times, this really cuts down on dishes to wash.
Soft Sandwich Bread
Ingredients
- 1 kg White baker's flour
- 620 ml Warm water
- 3.5 tsp Instant dried baker's yeast
- 3 tbs White granulated sugar
- 2.5 tsp Salt
- 2 tbsp Butter (room temperature)
Instructions
- Place yeast, sugar and warm water in a mixer bowl. Allow to sit until the yeast froths (5-10 minutes).
- Add flour and salt and mix on low until ingredients start to incorporate. Keep mixer going as you add softened butter, a couple of cubes at a time.
- Turn mixer up to level 1 and allow machine to knead dough for 10 minutes. Dough should be smooth and soft and pull away from sides of bowl.
- Oil bowl lightly, cover with plastic wrap and leave in warm place until dough has doubled in size (may take 45 minutes to 1.5 hours or even longer if placed in a cool place).
- Divide dough into 2. On a lightly floured surface, press each piece out with your hands into a rectangle shape. Roll the rectangle starting at one short end, tucking in ends a little as you go. Pinch the seam lightly. Place in baking tin lined with parchment paper with seam side down. Do the same to the other loaf. (Don’t fuss over this part, just try to get a seam at the bottom)
- Cover lightly with plastic wrap and leave until risen, this can take 20 minutes to 1 hour, depending on room temperature.
- Preheat oven to 200C (fan forced) or 210 conventional.
- Bake loaves for 35mins.Allow to cool on a rack before cutting.
The bread is freshest when eaten on the same day but it makes wonderful toast for days after that!
I love eating it toasted and topped with eggs from our homestead. The bread also freezes well, I leave the loaves whole to freeze, or you could cut into smaller pieces if you need less bread at once.
I hope you enjoy this recipe. If you try it out I would love your feedback 😊
Until next time…
Happy Baking!
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