Best White Bread

Now that it has finally settled down to our normal brisk Fall weather, I had to make bread today. My recipe comes from an old (1969) Farm Journal cookbook and was simply entitled “Best-Ever White Bread.” And it is about the best too. I added the egg for richness and came up with the Raisin Loaf from some other recipe.

Erma, your alcohol enhanced ways have rubbed off on me. I wouldn’t think of using raisins straight from the package in any of my cooking after I tried your trick of keeping several packages soaked in lots of bourbon so they are nice and plump, and extra flavorful. One should always “test” these raisins by eating a few while you are cooking. All women need the iron in raisins, and the bourbon sauce makes the cooking go faster.

I found this cookbook at my library on the library discard shelf. Each book was a quarter and there are some real dogs on the shelf, but occasionally you come across a real gem and “Homemade Bread” was a diamond in the rough. Over the past few years, I have collected all of the Farm Journal cookbook I can find. You know they are good because they are always stained and very used looking.

A highlight of each month as a child was the arrival of the “Farm Journal Magazine.” There was a kid’s page, and a nice women’s section with down-home, comfort recipes for farm wives who didn’t have access to a lot of fancy ingredients or time to prepare elegant meals.

Erma, if you ever come across some of their cookbooks, grab them. They are our kind of food. Their one on food preservation is my Bible on canning and preserving foods.

Farm Journal’s Best-Ever White Bread and Raisin Bread:

2 cups milk
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon lard or shortening (butter works too) (see how old this recipe is?)
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 package dry yeast
¼ cup warm water
6 to 6 ½ cups flour

Original recipe said: “Scald milk.” Today we only have to bring the milk up to medium warm in a saucepan, then stir in sugar, salt and lard. Cool to luke warm.

Sprinkle the yeast on the warm water and stir to dissolve.

When yeast is dissolved and milk mixture is about body temperature, pour the milk, yeast and 3 cups of the flour into a large mixing bowl. Beat with a wooden spoon until batter is smooth. You could also beat for about 2 minutes in a mixer.

Slowly begin adding the remaining flour until you have a soft dough that leaves the sides of the mixing bowl. Turn onto a lightly floured bread board. Turn the mixing bowl over the dough and let sit for at least 10 minutes.

Begin kneading by hand (or in a mixer with a dough hook) and knead for about 10 minutes. You may need to add small amounts of flour so the dough does not stick to the board. At end of the kneading, pour a bit of oil into the bottom of a mixing bowl. Turn the dough so that all surfaces and sides of the bowl are greased.

Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 ½ hours. Punch the dough down, and divide into 2 loaves. Place into two 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pans that are greased, if not Teflon coated. Cover and let rise again until doubled, which will be about an hour.

Bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes until a deep golden brown and hollow sounding when thumped. Remove at once from pans and place on wire cooling racks to cool. For a softer, shiny crust, lightly oil or butter the tops.

As soon as the bread is cool enough to cool, cut a slice to sample and slather on the real butter. This step is essential. You would not want to serve your family an inferior bread, would you?

To make a superb Raisin Bread (I always make one loaf Raisin Bread.) Go to the point when you have kneaded the bread well and divide in half. Set the plain loaf in one small bowl. For the other half spread the dough out with your hands and sprinkle on about ¼ of a teaspoon cardamon and a generous ½ teaspoon cinnamon. Knead for another minute or so until the spices are well mixed in the bread. A few streaks may remain, but that just adds interest to the loaf.

When the dough has raised, again pat it out into a rectangle. Sprinkle on a thin layer of brown sugar, a light dusting of cinnamon, and as many raisins as you like. Press raisins into the dough. Roll the dough up tightly so there are no air pockets in the dough. Continue as with regular bread.

This makes a wonderful breakfast toast by slicing and buttering one side of the bread. Bake in a hot 400 degree oven for several minutes, turn over and bake another minute or so until lightly toasted. Watch carefully as once it begins to brown, it cooks fast.

Old Time Hint: When you are shaping your dough into loaves, use a rolling pin to roll out the dough. This removes the bubbles of air that makes holes in the bread.