Ingredients
- 1/4 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 2 cups warm milk (110 degrees)
- 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted and cooled (or use salad oil).
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 6 to 6 1/2 cups all purpose flour, unsifted
Preparation
Step 1
Pour water into mixing bowl.
Add yeast and stir until dissolved.
Add milk, butter, salt and sugar.
Stir until well blended.
Sprinkle in 3 cups of the flour, one (1) cup at a time.
Stir until evenly moistened.
Add 4th cup of flour and beat until dough is smooth and elastic (about 5 minutes).
Mix 5th cup of flour to make dough stiff.
Measure 6th cup of flour and sprinkle about half on board.
Turn dough out onto heavily floured area of board.
Keep a light coating of flour on dough as you begin to knead it.
Fold dough toward you with your fingers; push away with the heals of your hand.
Rotate dough a quarter turn and repeat folding-pushing motion, adding flour to board as you knead.
Kneading if finished when dough is non-sticky, smooth and satiny.
Put dough in greased bowl; turn over to grease top.
Cover bowl with clear plastic wrap or damp cloth.
Let rise in warm place (80 degrees) until doubled (about 1 1/2 hours).
Test by inserting two (2) fingers into dough - if indentations remain, dough is ready to shape.
After dough has risen, punch it down to release air bubbles.
Turn dough out onto lightly floured board.
Knead dough briefly and shape into a smooth oval.
To divide dough in half for two loaves, grasp dough in center and squeeze.
Then form each half into a loaf by gently pulling top surface toward underside to make top smooth.
Turn each loaf over in one hand and with your other hand, pinch a seam down the center, then turn ends and pinch to seal.
Put loaves, seam side down, into greased 9 by 5 inch loaf pans.
Cover; let rise in warm place until almost doubled (about 45 minutes).
Bake in a 375 degree oven (350 degree for glass pans) for about 45 minutes or until loaves are nicely browned and sound hollow when tapped.
Remove from oven.
Turn loaves out of pans onto racks for cooling.
Cool before slicing or wrapping.