Kittencal's Old Fashioned White Bread

Total Time: 2 hrs 30 mins Preparation Time: 2 hrs Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 4 -6 cups white flour (or as needed)
• 3 tablespoons shortening, room temperature (or use 3 tablespoons lard)
• 1 1/4 cups warm water
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon dry yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon dry yeast

Recipe

• 1 fit a heavy-duty stand mixer with kneader blade.
• 2 in a small saucepan scald 1/2 cup milk with 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 teaspoons salt until very warm stirring with a spoon until no sugar or salt granules remain; set aside until luke-warm (for faster cooling place in the fridge for about 15-20 minutes on your top fridge shelf).
• 3 place 4 cups white flour and 3 tablespoons shortening (or lard) in the stainless steel mixing bowl along with the warm milk mixture; cover bowl with a towel to keep the milk warm.
• 4 in a cup mix together 1-1/4 cups warm water with 2 teaspoons sugar, mix with a spoon until the sugar is dissolved; add in 1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon dry yeast, stir with a spoon for about 15 seconds.
• 5 place a towel over the cup and proof for about 8-10 minutes or until foamy.
• 6 place the water/yeast mixture in the bowl.
• 7 start mixing/kneading add in more flour as needed to create a soft smooth dough (about 8 minutes).
• 8 remove the dough to a very lightly floured surface; cover with a clean tea towel and let rest for about 5-8 minutes.
• 9 gather up the dough and shape into a ball, then place in a large well greased bowl.
• 10 cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour (i use my oven!).
• 11 punch down the dough and place on a surface.
• 12 using hands (not a rolling pin) flatten to a 10 x 14-inch rectangle (trust me this dough will shape beautifully, no need for a rolling pin!).
• 13 roll the dough up tightly then seal the long seam.
• 14 using a knife slice off the dough ends just enough to fit into your 8x4-inch pan, then pinch the dough ends together to seal (you can shape the two ends in a ball and freeze to make buns or discard the dough).
• 15 place in a dark metal 8 x 4-inch bread pan.
• 16 cover and let rise in a warm place for about 30-40 minutes or until doubled.
• 17 bake in a 375 degree oven for about 25 minutes, or until golden brown.