Some Bread Recipes We Love

One of our many readers (ha, ha) requested that we post the aforementioned white bread recipe we loved so much. I am embarrassed to say that I thought I would remember which cookbook I got the recipe from, but, of course, I forgot. After a search, I believe I have determined which recipe I used. I hope it turns out well! We decided we would also post other bread recipes we like just for fun (or the links to them). Enjoy!

Bread--White or Half Whole Wheat--from Valonne Freeman, the mother of one of our neighbors when we were first married

2 cups warm water
1 pkg (or 1 Tb) yeast
1/3 cup sugar or honey
2 Tb butter
1/4 cup powdered milk
2 tsp. salt
6 cups flour

Mix first 4 ingredients and let stand 5 min. Add milk, salt, and 3 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in rest of flour. Knead. Let raise double. Shape into 2 loaves. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes.
West's note: We used instant yeast, so we didn't let the first four ingredients sit for 5 minutes. We used honey. We also used powdered buttermilk in the place of the powdered plain milk because that's what we had on hand (odd, we know). The bread tasted so good!

Basic White Bread For the Breadmaker--from Jaymie Brierley Reynolds

1 1/3 C. water
2 T. butter
2 t. salt
1 T. plus 2 t. sugar
4 C. bread flour
2 T. nonfat dry milk
1 1/2 t. active dry yeast

Place all ingredients in bread pan. Add the powdered milk either before the flour or in the middle so that it isn't floating around. :) Add the yeast last. Use the basic, light cycle. Makes a 2 lb. loaf.

Honey Whole Wheat Bread- Bread Machine--from Jaymie

1 1/8 C. Warm water
1/4 C. honey
1 t. salt
2 T. vegetable oil
2 C. Wheat flour
1 C. Bread flour
1 1/2 t. dry active yeast

Add ingredients according to manufacturer's directions. Use wheat bread cycle and light color setting. Add flour second to last and yeast on top of that.

Grandma West's Amazing Sourdough Biscuits--Justin's Grandma West lives in Diamond Springs, California, just west of Placerville. She uses sourdough starter in lots of things, and is an amazing cook! She loves to enter her original recipes in the local fair, and she always wins a prize!

2 cups sourdough starter (see recipe below)
1 cup flour
1 Tb. sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Mix well. Turn out onto a well-floured board and knead to a soft dough, adding more flour if necessary. Let rest for 20-30 minutes. Roll out to 1/2" thickness and cut with cookie/biscuit cutter. Dip each biscuit in oil and place on greased cookie sheet. Let rise until double--about 15 minutes. Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.
Sourdough Starter: Put 1 cup milk in glass container and leave at room temperature until clabbered. It may take a week. Add 1 cup flour. Stir well. Let sit on the kitchen counter--uncovered--for at least 24 hours until bubbly and double in bulk. Grandma says: "I keep my starter in a 3-lb. peanut butter jar. I use 2 1/2 c. milk and 2 1/2 c. flour. After (the starter) is bubbly you can use it in recipes. Replenish with equal amounts of milk and flour. Each time let it sit out for 24 hours, then cover and store in the fridge." Grandma makes wonderful bread, french bread, pancakes, the biscuits above, and even puts the starter in cakes and quick breads. Yum!

And last, but not least, the recipe for whole wheat bread we love and use. . .
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/recipe.jsp?recipe_id=R428

The recipe is long, and this post is getting huge, so I included the link here. Some personal notes: we have used both powdered buttermilk and regular dry milk when baking the bread. The buttermilk adds a nice buttery taste to the bread. Both ways are good. I also use my Bosch mixer when making the bread. I add the first half of the flour with the other ingredients and mix well. Then, with the mixer going, I add the rest of the flour, making sure to add the last couple of cups gradually. I stop when the dough starts to clean the sides of the bowl. Sometimes I don't end up using all the flour the recipe calls for. But it's important to pay attention, otherwise it'll be too dry--yuck! Once the dough is the right consistency, I cover it and let the mixer do the work for 5-6 minutes. Then I remove the hook and let it rise in the bowl, covered. I also double and triple the recipe regularly.