Homemade Amish Bread

We have decided to eat as much from home as possible. I don't just mean not eating out, but making even the simplest food staples at home. Bread for instance, pasta maybe, or almond milk or pizza could all be purchased pre-made, or made at home with the ingredients that we decided upon. So lately I've been working on baking bread, a bread that not only tastes good but looks good. It took me two tries to get this recipe particular recipe right. Yeast had always been tricky for me, and the first time the bread did not rise nearly as much as it should have, I may have killed it a bit by using too hot of water. The second time, one loaf turned out fantastic, the one in these pictures, and the second one flattened down. I have only one bread pan and this recipe makes two loaves. So I thought that I could wait for one loaf to bake while the other half of the dough waits. This might have worked if I thought to put the waiting dough into the fridge, but I didn't and the dough ended up deflating and not rising when I needed it to. However, it tasted just as well, just looked somewhat awful.


This recipe is called Amish Bread. Whether or not it is truly Amish I don't know, but it definitely caught my attention by making it seem like this particular bread was wholesome enough for the Amish to eat. If it's good enough for the Amish it must be good enough for me.The bread tastes really great, it definitely competes with store bought bread. It has the right springy texture for sandwiches or toasting. To make the dough rise in the second time I sprayed saran wrap with olive oil and covered the bread. I put this into the oven that was set to the lowest setting. To help it along, I poured boiling water into a pan and place that on the rack underneath the bread. The steam/heat helps it rise better. We all really liked this bread, and I do not think I will ever buy bread again. Try it out and let me know how it worked out for you. xo,Yana.

Recipe from Bakerette.

Amish White Bread

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Prep time

1 hour 40 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

2 hours 10 mins

Author: Bakerette.com

Serves: Two 9 x 5-inch loaves

Ingredients

• 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
• 1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
• 5 1/2 to 6 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 egg yolk + 1 tablespoon water to form an egg wash (optional)
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted

Instructions

1. In a large mixing bowl, mix together sugar, yeast, milk and water. Cover and allow the yeast to activate and foam for about 5 minutes.
2. Mix in salt and oil into the yeast.
3. Using an electric mixer with a dough hook, slowly add flour one cup at a time mixing well after each addition. Tip: Spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level off. Don’t scoop or pack it in.
4. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for five minutes until dough is smooth and elastic.
5. Place in a well-greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a lightly warmed place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
6. Punch down the dough and divide into two equal pieces. Shape into loaves and place in 2 greased 9 x 5-inch loaf pans. Cover and allow to rise in a warm place for 30 mins or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.
7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. With a pastry brush, lightly brush the tops of the loaves with egg wash before baking. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from pans and with a pastry brush, lightly brush melted butter immediately after so the crust stays nice and soft.