Does anyone have a good bread recepie? I mean for white bread. We are moving in about a month and I packed?

Question

white read. We are moving in about a month and I can't find any of my cookbooks.
Aslo if you could answer me this? How do you all get the bread crust to come out so soft. EVERY time I make bread the crust is as hard a rock! The inside comes out nice,but the crust is hard. Even when I use the breadmaker, but mine broke so I have to do it by hand.
Thanks for all you help.

Answer 1

Ingredients;


5+ cups bread flour
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 package dry yeast (rapid rise if possible)
1 cup water
1 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup milk
1 egg, beaten

baking pans:
cookie sheets, or 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch muffin pans (greased/teflon).
warm milk water and butter in sauce pan to 110 degrees F. It may look slightly curdled, but don't worry. A microwave oven can be used instead. DO NOT OVERHEAT - you will kill the yeast.

by hand/mixer:
mix 2 cups flour with sugar salt soda and yeast. Add the liquids, and mix by hand for 2 minutes. Add 1 additional cup flour and beat until a thick batter (about 2 minutes). Add 1 additional cup flour, then dump out onto a board and start kneading. Add flour as needed to make a nice dough. Knead for about 8 minutes.

by processor:
place 2 cups flour/sugar/salt/soda/yeast in the work bowl and pulse to mix. Add 1/2 the liquid, and pulse mix. Then add 1 additional cup of flour and pulse mix. Add 1 more cup flour and pulse mix. Add flour in 1/2 cup increments until the dough forms a ball. Then knead for 45 seconds.

rising:
place dough ball in a greased bowl and cover tightly with saran wrap. Place in a warm place ( 80-100 F ) and let rise until doubled in volume (1 hour with normal yeast, about 1/2 with rapid rise). You should see respiration products on the saran wrap within 5 minutes. If not, you killed the yeast.

punch down in the bowl, and divide into two halves. Place each half in the loaf pan on or on a cookie sheet. Cover with wax paper and let rise for about 45 minutes (1/2 hour with rapid rise). start preheating the oven 20 minutes (to 375 F) before the rising is done.

Brush the loaves with the egg wash, and bake 45 minutes. A loaf will sound hollow when thumped on the bottom when done. Cool on wire racks.

to freeze:
after cooling completely, wrap tightly in a plastic bag. Will keep frozen for up to two months.

to rewarm/defrost:
place in a 200 F oven for up to 20 minutes.

Answer 2

Soft and Fluffy White Bread
This recipe is adapted from King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion. It produces a fine-textured loaf, very soft, fluffy and definitely delicious. And it's easy too. You may do it by hand/mixer/bread machine. Instructions are given for hand-method as i usually make manually.
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (12 3/4 oz)
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 1/8 cups lukewarm milk (1 cup + 2 tablespoon)
1/4 cup potato flour (1 1/2 oz)
16 servings

1. Combine all ingredients (reserve about 1/2 cup of flour) and mix thoroughly in a large mixing bowl.
2. Add reserved flour a tablespoon at a time to mixture until a soft, smooth dough is formed.
3. You may not need the whole amount or you may need more.
4. Anyway, add JUST enough flour until dough comes away from bowl and it doesn't stick to your fingers (ie the dough becomes manageable) Remember, the more flour you add while kneading, the heavier and drier your loaf will be.
5. Turn dough out on lightly greased surface and knead for a while, about 10mins.
6. Cover and let rise for about 1 hour, until puffy (dough might not double in bulk).
7. Transfer dough to a lightly greased surface and shape it into a 8" log.
8. Transfer log to a lightly greased loaf pan (8 1/2" x 4 1/2"), cover the pan with plastic proof cover (i just cover with a greased cling wrap, loosely).
9. Let dough rise for about 1 hour, until outer edge has risen about 1" over the rim of the pan.
10. Preheat oven to 350F.
11. Uncover pan and bake for 35-40mins, tenting lightly with foil for the final 10-15mins if the top is browning too quickly.
12. Remove bread from oven, take it out of the pan, and cool on wire rack.
13. After 15mins, brush with butter, if desired; to give loaf an exceptionally soft crust.
14. NOTE 1: I've tried substituting 2 tbsp lecithin granules for half of the butter (2 tbsp lecithin+ 2 tbsp butter)- it makes an even more tender loaf, and extends the shelf life a bit.
15. NOTE 2:You may also use 1/4 cup nonfat dry milk+ 1 1/8 cup of lukewarm water to replace the milk called for in recipe.
16. NOTE 3: Potato flour (1/4 cup) may be replaced with 1/3 cup potato flakes.