Big Beautiful White Pan Loaves Recipes

MOM'S HOMEMADE WHITE BREAD ROLLS (OR LOAVES)

Steps:

• Dissolve yeast and 2 Tablespoons sugar in 1/4 cup warm water, set aside.
• Microwave 2 cups water, shortening and salt, until the shortening melts.
• Stir this mixture until it completely dissolves.
• Start adding flour about 2 cups to start to this mixture, just a little at a time so that it stays smooth and doesn't get lumpy.
• Then add yeast mixture, mix well.
• Continue adding flour and then turn out on floured surface and knead in remaining flour, until no longer tacky.
• Grease a large bowl or pan with vegetable oil.
• Put the bread in this bowl cover and let it rise.
• If you use a fast acting yeast it should take about 45 minutes.
• Turn out on the counter and fold in sides, put back in bowl and let rise again.
• After the second rising it is time to turn it out and make the rolls or bread and place it in a pan.
• Make sure the pan is well oiled with vegetable oil.
• Place them in the pan (pans) and let rise one last time and then bake them at 375°F oven until done, about 20 minutes or so.

BASIC SOFT WHITE SANDWICH LOAF

Steps:

• 1. Make the sponge. In a mixer bowl or other large bowl, combine the flour, water, honey, and instant yeast. Whisk until very smooth, to incorporate air, about 2 minutes. The sponge will be the consistency of a thick batter, Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and cover with plastic wrap.
• 2. Make the flour mixture and add to the sponge. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour (reserve 1/4 cup if mixing by hand), dry milk, and instant yeast. Sprinkle this on top of the sponge and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Allow it to ferment for 1 to 4 hours at room temperature. (During this time, the sponge will bubble through the flour blanket in places: this is fine.)
• 3. Mix the dough.
• Mixer Method Add the butter to the bowl and mix with the dough hook on low speed (#2 if using a KitchenAid) for 1 minute or until the flour is moistened enough to form a rough dough. Scrape down any bits of dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes.
• Sprinkle on the salt and knead the dough on medium speed (#4 KitchenAid) for 7 to 10 minutes. It will not come away from the bowl until the last minute or so of kneading; it will be smooth and shiny and stick to your fingers. With an oiled spatula, scrape down any dough clinging to the sides of the bowl. If the dough is not stiff, knead in a little flour. If it is not at all sticky, spray it with a little water and knead it in. (The dough will weigh about 44.25 ounces/1258 grams.)
• Hand Method Add the salt and butter to the bowl and, with a wooden spoon or your hand, stir until all the flour is moistened. Knead the dough in the bowl until it comes together, then scrape it onto a lightly floured counter. Knead the dough for 5 minutes, enough to develop the gluten structure a little, adding as little of the reserved flour as possible to keep the dough from sticking. Use a bench scraper to scrape the dough and gather it together as you knead it. At this point, it will be very sticky. Cover it with the inverted bowl and allow it to rest for 20 minutes. (This resting time will make the dough less sticky and easier to work with.)
• Knead the dough for another 5 minutes or until it is very smooth and elastic. It should still be tacky (sticky) enough to cling slightly to your fingers a little. If the dough is still very sticky, however, add some of the remaining reserved flour, or a little extra. (The dough will weigh about 44.25 ounces/1258 grams.)
• Both Methods 4. Let the dough rise. Using an oiled spatula or dough scraper, scrape the dough into a 4-quart dough-rising container or bowl, lightly oiled with cooking spray or oil. Push down the dough and lightly spray or oil the surface. Cover the container with a lid or plastic wrap. With a piece of tape, mark the side of the container at approximately where double the height of the dough would be. Allow the dough to rise (ideally at 75°to 80°F) until doubled, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• Using an oiled spatula or dough scraper, scrape the dough onto a floured counter and press down on it gently to form a rectangle. It will be full of air and resilient. Try to maintain as many of the air bubbles as possible. Pull out and fold the dough over from all four sides into a tight package, or give it 2 business letter turns and set it back in the container. Again oil the surface, cover, and mark where double the height would now be. (It will fill the container fuller than before because it is puffier with air.) Allow the dough to rise for 1 to 2 hours or until it reaches the mark.
• 5. Shape the dough and let it rise. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and cut it in half. Shape each piece into a loaf: begin by gently pressing the dough (or lightly rolling it with a rolling pin) into a wide rectangle; the exact size is not important at this point. (A long side of the dough should be facing toward you.) Dimple the dough with your fingertips to deflate any large bubbles. Fold over the right side of the dough to a little past the center. Fold over the left side of the dough to overlap it slightly. Press the center overlap section with the side of your hand to seal the dough. (If you have a lot of experience shaping, you may prefer at this point to rotate the dough 90 degrees-a quarter turn.) Starting at the top edge of the dough, roll it over three or four times, until it reaches the bottom edge of the dough: with each roll, press with your thumbs to seal it and at the same time push it away from you slightly to tighten the outer skin. As you roll and press, the dough will become wider. If it is not as long as the pan, place both hands close together on top of the dough and, rolling back and forth, gradually work your way toward the ends, gently stretching the dough. For the most even shape, it is important to keep a tight skin on the surface of the dough and not to tear it. If you want the edges of the loaf to be smooth, tuck the sides under.
• Place the loaves in the prepared loaf pans; the dough will be about 1/2 inch from the top of the pans. Cover them with a large container, or cover them loosely with oiled plastic wrap, and allow to rise until the center is about 1 inch above the sides of the pan, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. When the dough is pressed with a fingertip, the depression will very slowly fill in.
• 6. Preheat the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F 45 minutes before baking. Have an oven shelf at the lowest level and place a baking stone or baking sheet on it, and a cast-iron skillet or sheet pan on the floor of the oven, before preheating.
• 7. Bake the bread. Quickly but gently set the pans on the hot baking stone or hot baking sheet. Toss 1/2 cup of ice cubes into the pan beneath and immediately shut the door. Bake for 50 minutes or until medium golden brown and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean (an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center will read about 210°F). Halfway through baking, turn the pans around for even baking.
• 8. Glaze and cool the bread. Remove the bread from the oven and set it on a wire rack. Brush the top of the bread with the optional melted butter. Unmold and cool top side up on a wire rack until barely warm, about 1 hour.
• ULTIMATE FULL FLAVOR VARIATION
• For the best flavor development, in Step 2, allow the sponge to ferment for 1 hour at room temperature and then refrigerate it for 8 to 24 hours. If using the hand mixing method, remove it from the refrigerator about 1 hour before mixing the dough.
• POINTERS FOR SUCCESS
• • If not using the dry milk, you can replace 1 cup of the water with 1 cup milk, preferably nonfat, scalded (brought to the boiling point) and cooled to lukewarm.
• UNDERSTANDING
• A greater amount of sponge dough starter (pre-ferment) offers a fuller flavor in this "plain" bread, so almost 50 percent of total amount of flour is used in the sponge, compared to the usual 30 percent of hearth breads.
• If using liquid milk, it is scalded to deactivate the enzyme in it that could make the dough sticky.
• Baking the bread at too high a temperature, would result in too thin a crust, which would cause keyholing, or caving in at the sides of the loaf. Therefore, this bread is baked at 350°F. It is also important for the bread to be thoroughly baked so that the crust is firm enough to prevent it from compressing. The loaves should not be cut until completely cool for the same reason.
• THE DOUGH PERCENTAGE
• Flour: 100% Water: 66.3% (includes the water in the butter and honey) Yeast: 0.74% Salt: 2.3% Butterfat: 15.9%

DAN'S OLD FASHIONED WHITE BREAD

Steps:

• Pour milk in a heatproof bowl, and gently warm in a microwave oven set on Low until milk is about 100 degrees F (38 degrees C), about 15 seconds. Mix in the sugar and honey, and stir to dissolve. Mix in the yeast, and let stand until the yeast activates and forms a creamy layer on the milk, about 15 minutes.
• Place 4 cups of bread flour and the salt into the mixing bowl of a stand mixer; pour in the yeast mixture, and mix on slow speed with a mixing paddle until thoroughly combined, about 1 minute; dough will be very wet. Add the butter, and mix in the remaining 2 cups of bread flour, or as needed, until the dough begins to gather itself into a ball. Change the fitting from the mixing paddle to a dough hook, and machine-knead the dough until smooth and springy, about 4 minutes.
• Transfer the dough onto a well-floured work surface, and knead until you see the surface of the dough begin to break during folding and kneading. Roll dough into a ball, and place into a lightly floured large bowl. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel, and set into a warm place to rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Spray 2 9x5-inch loaf pans with cooking spray.
• Punch down the dough, remove to the floured surface, and knead for 2 more minutes; cut the dough in half with a sharp knife. Form the dough into logs, adding more flour if necessary, and place the loaves into the sprayed pans. Cover the pans with a kitchen towel, and place into a warm place to rise until doubled, about 1 more hour.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Place the bread loaves into the preheated oven, and turn the heat down to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake until the tops are golden brown and the loaves make a hollow sound when thumped, about 25 minutes. Cool the pans on baking racks for about 5 minutes before turning the bread loaves out to finish cooling on racks. Cover the loaves with a kitchen towel as they cool.

BIG BEAUTIFUL WHITE PAN LOAVES

Steps:

• In a small measuring cup, mix the warm water and yeast with a fork to dissolve the yeast. Let stand for 3 minutes.
• Mix the flour and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Add the yeast mixture and the cool water. Using your fingers, mix the dough into a sticky mass.
• When all of the flour is incorporated, move the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead for 4 minutes. The dough should be sticky and will not look smooth. If the dough feels stiff or dry, knead in additional cool water, a tablespoon at a time.
• Put the dough in a lightly floured bowl, cover, and let rest for 20 minutes.
• Return the dough to the lightly floured surface and knead it for 7 to 8 minutes. The dough will go from being sticky to smooth and will become supple but not too firm.
• Place the dough in a clean bowl lightly dusted with flour. Cover the bowl with a towel and allow the dough to rise at room temperature (75 to 77 degrees) for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, until it doubles in volume. (An indentation made by poking your finger deep into the dough should not spring back.)
• Place the dough on a very lightly floured surface. Gently deflate the dough and pat it into a rectangle. The short sides should be the top and bottom edges. Fold the top edge down and the bottom edge up, overlapping them slightly, then turn the dough a quarter turn and fold the top down and the bottom up again to form an envelope. Shape the dough into a log shape by rolling the loaf down two to three times and sealing the seam with the heel of your palm. Roll the loaf back and forth on the table to smooth out.
• Place the loaf seam side down in a lightly oiled 9 by 5inch loaf pan. Gently press down on the loaf to spread it to fill the corners of the pan, and cover it with oiled plastic wrap.
• Let the loaf rise at 75 degrees to 77 degrees for about 1 to 1 1/4 hours, or until it has doubled and risen about 1-inch above the edge of the pan.
• Meanwhile preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• Gently place the loaf pan on the center rack of the oven. Using a plant sprayer, quickly mist the loaf with water 6 to 8 times, then shut the oven door. After 3 minutes, mist the loaf again.
• Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 400 degrees and bake for 30 minutes longer, or until the top is a deep golden brown. Remove the loaf from the panit should come out with ease. The bread should sound slightly hollow when tapped on the bottom, and the sides of the loaf should be brown. Immediately place the loaf from the pan on a wire rack to cool. Serve slightly warm, with butter and lots of homemade jam

EASY WHITE BREAD FOR LARGE 13" PULLMAN PAN

Steps:

• Select Dough setting on your bread machine.
• Put ingredients in the machine in the order suggested by your machine manufacturer. Let rise. about 90 minutes, until double in size.
• Meanwhile, generously butter your Pullman Pan and lid.
• Remove dough from machine. Handle dough with greased hands. Form into a log approximately 12-13 inches long. Place in pan, pressing the ends into corners and pan edges.
• Place lid on, leaving open about an inch so you can peek.
• Let rise until about 2/3 full, or about an inch and a half from the pan top. About 60 minutes. Near the end of the rising time, preheat your oven to 350.
• Close lid fully. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove lid. Bake for another 15-20 minutes until golden brown or desired crust color is achieved.
• Internal temp of bread should be 190 f when tested with an instant read thermometer.
• Remove from pan to rack. If desired, brush crust with butter for a softer crust. Let cool before slicing. Store in airtight bag.