Simple Bread

I've been seeing all these yummy loaves of bread in blogland recently which reminded me that I needed to do it again.

It was kind of spur of the moment yesterday. The washing machine was running. And the drier. And the dishwasher. It was a very homemaky day. The smell of dough rising in my kitchen just completed the picture.

And gave me the energy to vacuum. And bake cookies. And bake a giant ham for dinner. Which was about the time the boys needed to be picked up from after-school clubs. Followed by a quick run to the post office. All in a day's work.

The recipe came from a church cookbook. I updated it with my stand mixer instead of kneading by hand.

Simple Bread:

2 1/2 c. warm water
1/2 c. instant milk
1 TBS salt
7 - 7 1/2 c. (bread) flour
2 pkgs. yeast
2 TBS sugar
1/3 c. oil

Stir sugar into water. Add yeast and stir. To mixing bowl add: 3 cups flour, instant milk, and salt. Mix together with dough-hook attachment. With mixer running, add yeast/water mixture and oil. Slowly add remaining flour. Continue mixing until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and clings to the dough hook. Turn out on floured board. Knead a few times. Cut dough in half. Knead and shape. Place in greased bread pan. Cover and allow to rise for 1 1/2 hours. Bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes. (I set the timer for 20 minutes to turn it and it looked great. I can't remember if I put it back in the oven or removed it at that point, so keep your eye on it.)