Farmhouse White Bread
The milk in our Farmhouse White Bread recipe not only adds protein and minerals, but it also creates a tender, spongy texture, a greater sweetness and a golden crust. The dough rises high in the bowl, promising plenitude.
Though we’re glad that chewy, rustic breads of the European type are becoming more widely available, we fear that old-fashioned farmhouse white bread is on the endangered species list.
It makes great butter rolls, too. Just roll out a loaf’s worth, spread with melted butter, and roll like a jelly roll. Cut 1-½ inch lengths, put them cut-side down in well-buttered muffin tins, and bake at 425 degrees F until risen and well browned, about 20 minutes.
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Ingredients
Instructions
Scald milk with butter. Set aside to cool.
Dissolve yeast in warm water.
Combine 2 cups all-purpose flour, salt, and sugar in large mixing bowl. To this mixture add the dissolved yeast and milk. Gradually stir in about 7 more cups of flour.
Knead until dough is smooth and elastic (about 6 minutes), then set the dough to rise in large bowl in a warm place until it has doubled in size (1-½ hours). Punch down and let rise again (about 1 hour). After the second rising, form into loaves and let rise again in bread pans.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and bake until loaves are nicely browned and sound hollow when turned out of the pan and tapped on the bottom, about 35 minutes.
Delicious when warm, in sandwiches, as toast, and when several days old, as French toast.
Yield:
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Reader Comments
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Bread Machine Viable?
i would like to know if I can use this recipe in my bread machine. sounds like a delicious recipe but I would rather my machine do the work for me!
homemade bread recipe
Hi, Katherine. We would not recommend making this bread in a bread machine.
REGARDING SCALDING
I was very happy to read Audra's comment about scalding milk (or not) when baking bread and it made a lot of sense, but being me I had to do some research on my own. I found this comment on a cooking website;
"In a lot of recipes, especially older ones passed down from family members, scalding the milk is likely a hold-over from the days before milk was pasteurized and distributed commercially. These days, if you’re buying your milk from a store, scalding milk for health reasons isn’t really a concern.
But there are some other reasons why you still might want to scald the milk going into a recipe!
In bread making, scalding the milk serves a more scientific purpose. The whey protein in milk can weaken gluten and prevent the dough from rising properly. Scalding the milk deactivates the protein so this doesn’t happen.
So I guess that I'll keep on scalding. Sigh!
scalding milk in the Farmhouse White Bread Recipe
The reason milk was scalded in your grand (or great grand) mother's recipe was because she was using raw milk.. today we use pasteurized milk which has essentially already been scalded, so the only reason for heating the milk in today's recipes is to melt the fat/butter/shortening before adding to the dry ingredients. note: I did double check this with an authority on baking.
Bread
I make a recipe similar to this only instead of using whole milk and needing to scald it, I use warm water and add dehydrated (dry) milk with the first adding of dry ingredients. You get the same results with less steps and less calories. I make this bread on a regular basis. I got started using dry milk when my mother was getting so much dry milk (she was not a milk user) in her Senior's Food Supplement monthly allotment.
Is there a bread machine
Is there a bread machine recipe for this bread? I would knead it except I have a problem with one of my hands. This recipe sounds delicious and I can't wait to bake it!
We've learned an easy
We've learned an easy alternative to manual kneading--use the "dough" function found on your bread machine. You'll want to keep an eye on it the first time you try the recipe. You will still need to put it in a bowl to rise.
You can also try using a stand mixer with a dough hook for kneading.
When the dough is ready, it will form small bubbles under the surface and will be elastic and soft.
I made this bread yesterday
I made this bread yesterday after finding the recipe I used half and half because all I had was 2% and half and half and thought the half and half would be closer to whole milk...I made 2 loaves and 10 rolls...they came out great.
When I was a girl, every
When I was a girl, every Saturday my mother did the same things. She made bread and rolls, did laundry, and made a kettle of goulash for supper. There were warm rolls with the goulash to eat while watching "Gunsmoke" on tv. This recipe brought me right back to those days. It's been at least 25 years since I made bread from scratch, so it didn't turn out perfect, but it was still good enough that I am going to keep making it until I get it right. Bread making only seems hard, but it's more tedious with all that kneading and waiting for it to raise. This is a great recipe, very basic and easily fits into the realm of comfort food.
I tried it and it came out
I tried it and it came out great. I think I would grease the bowl before letting it rise, the dough was a little sticky. And the recipe doesn't mention reshaping or kneading a little again after rising, before the second rising, or even the third. But it needs to be done.
I made the butter rolls, and I thought they were just alright, but my husband loved them. He asked if it's possible to over dose on bread (he plans to find out) :D
I will make it again.
This sounds like a wonderful
This sounds like a wonderful bread.
Please tell me what size bread pans, loaf pans to use.
Hi Adriana, you can use any
Hi Adriana, you can use any standard size loaf pan, we suggest 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2.
Thank you so much. I will
Thank you so much.
I will give this bread a try real soon.
Happy Baking!
how long do you let it rise
how long do you let it rise in the pan?
I didn't write the recipe but
I didn't write the recipe but without any other input, I would probably let it rise for another hour.
Let rise in the pan for 1
Let rise in the pan for 1 hour.
Reader rating of 5 out of
Reader rating of 5 out of 5.100% of readers would make this recipe again.
Would I make this recipe again? I make it on a weekly basis. It is a high rising bread that is excellent for everything and stays fresh a long time. I would highly recommend this bread for anyone looking to replace store bought bread. It looks difficult to make but is very easy and forgiving if you make a mistake in rising. – Reviewed by Margaret Niles
Yes, this is a very good white bread. When I made it the first time, it was gone in one day --a very easy recipe even for a beginner. I will make it again and again. – Reviewed by Bob Sekerak
This bread was easy to make and tasted fantastic. It rose and browned into a very attractive loaf, with a nice consistency. Easy to cut for sandwiches, and didn't collapse. I will make this one again. cheers!! Kim M – Anonymous Review
I gave a loaf to a friend who said he had not tasted bread like this since that which his mother baked! – Anonymous Review
This is the same bread Mother made every week when we were kids. I was 19 when I had my first store-bought bread. – Anonymous Review