Sandwich Bread

Fast and easy basic sandwich bread. We use it for eggs in a nest and bomb PB&Js

#bread
Avatar of Alexander Bell-Towne

Alexander Bell-Towne

July 22nd, 2020

This recipe is adapted from Andrew Rea's recipe for eggs in a nest

Ingredients

  1. 400 ml water, divided

    separated:
    100 ml
    300 ml

  2. Packet of instant yeast

    7 grams

  3. 650g all purpose flour, divided

    325g x 2

  4. 50g sugar

  5. 5g salt

  6. 45g unsalted butter

    I use salted butter because I like it better

Directions

  1. In a bowl, combine 100 ml of warm (110°F) water with one packet of instant yeast and 325g of the all purpose flour along with 50g of sugar, 5g of salt, and 45g of butter at room temperature.

    If you are weighing your yeast (7g) and salt, use a small drug scale, as the larger kitchen scales will not accurately measure qualities this small.

  2. Stir to combine before adding 300 ml of water and stirring to create a pancake batter like paste, and then add the remaining 325g of flour and stir until a shaggy dough forms.

  3. Turn out onto a counter top and knead for 7-9 minutes until a smooth supple dough forms.

    Some times I will add about 20 more grams of butter after most of this stage and continue to kneed, this creates a more brioche style bread.

  4. Generously oil a large bowl and place the dough inside. Roll the dough around a little to make sure it’s evenly coated in oil.

  5. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 45 minutes to an hour until the dough has doubled in size.

  6. Turn out onto a lightly floured countertop and punch down until it’s back to its original size and then start forming into a loaf. Make sure to tuck it under itself to make sure it gets that nice loaf top.

    My loaf pan is too short for this large loaf and it tends to become very tall, creating very large slices. I like to split it in half and create two smaller loafs.

  7. Place in a loaf pan that is coated with butter and parchment paper and loosely cover with plastic wrap. Let sit at room temperature for one hour until it has doubled in size.

  8. Brush the loaf down with butter and place in a 400° oven for 25-35 minutes.

  9. Remove from the oven and brush it down again with some more butter and let sit overnight.

    I usually eat it after about 30 minutes once it has cooled to close to room temperature.