Baking Amish White Bread

  This is a bread I make regularly. The  recipe is easy and the bread always  turns out. To see the last two times and the recipe click here and here.

 The dough is quite easy to work. I generally add a little less flour than the recipe calls for (just about 1/4 cup less) and figure I'll use that much on the pastry cloth as I knead the dough. That works out. The dough needs to be dry enough to work without it sticking to my fingers and this recipe fits the bill.

 I let it rise the first time for an hour and a half. That's a little longer than necessary because I found  the dough more than doubled in bulk.

 I always let the dough rise in the oven. I turn the oven on briefly to just slightly warm it and that's a perfect place for the dough to rest. It's protected from me bumping into it and there are no drafts,

 After the first rise I kneaded the dough briefly and then cut it in half and placed each piece in a greased loaf pan. I didn't take much care with  the top and that shows in the finished product. But I like homemade breads to look less than perfect ... and mine generally do. I gave the dough 45 minutes for the second rise (again, a little longer than necessary).

 The goal is to have the loaves extend above the pans at least an inch (before baking). These might approach two inches (especially the loaf on the right). I find it's hard to divide the dough evenly so I usually end up with one loaf slightly larger than the other.