Basic Bread:
2 C bread flour
2 Tsp table salt
2 Tsp white sugar
1 Tsp cold butter or margarine
2 1/4 Tsp (or one 8g packet) active yeast
1 – 1 1/3C (depending upon the humidity and time of year) 120 degree warm water

Bake bread for 35-40 minutes at 425F degrees (200C). Preheat the oven for at least 20 minutes. Bread dough bakes best in really hot ovens, not cold ones.

Measure out and dump the first 3 ingredients into a large bowl. Add the butter or margarine to the bowl and start pinching it into the dry ingredients tll a small crumble forms and everything is mixed well.

Add the active yeast and mix well. Add the water starting with 1 cup first, the rest only if you need it. Using a large wooden spoon or heavy plastic spatula, start mixing and stirring the flour mixture with the water, smearing it along the sides of the bowl to incorporate all of the dry ingredients until a ball of dough forms.

Throw more bread flour onto a counter top and dump out the ball onto it. Add a bit more flour to the top of the ball and start your kneaded. This won’t take longer than 5 minutes. You will see how quickly the ball becomes springy to the touch. When that happens, and the ball is no longer wet or sticky to the touch, you’re done kneading.

Spray the same large bowl with cooking spray, going up the sides to the top rim. Drop the dough into the bowl and flip over a couple of times to coat both sides. Cut off a sheet of plastic wrap big enough to cover the bowl, but before you place it over the bowl, spray the underside with more cooking spray. This will allow you to peel it off the wet, tacky dough as it rises easily.

Set the bowl, covered, aside for 30 minutes. When 30 minutes have passed, life the plastic film and push the dough down in the centre so the dough deflates as it releases the air trapped in it. Cover the bowl with the same sheet of film and let it rest another 30-45 minutes before you do this same punching down once more.

After you punch down the dough 3 times, throw some bread dough onto the counter once more and turn the dough out of the bowl again. Lightly top the dough with more flour and start kneading it. This time you will only need to knead 2 minutes till the tackiness or stickiness of the dough disappears. Drop this dough into a baking dish or bread pan that’s been sprayed with cooking oil and lightly floured.

Cut two or three slits into the top of the dough on the diagonal or down the length to help release trapped air in the bread as it bakes. Right before placing the pan in the oven, top the dough with sprinkles of milk for moisture.

If your oven is like mine, old and cranky at high temperatures, you can create a tin foil tent to place over the bread pan while the dough bakes. Take a sheet and fold it gently in the middle down the length and place it over the pan so that it loosely sits above the dough, resting on the rim of the pan on either side.

Let the bread rest in the pan after it’s baked and taken out of the oven. Once the pan is cool enough to handle, turn the bread out onto a wire rack to cool completely before even thinking about slicing it up. This should take about a half hour. Wrap the loaf in plastic film and store at room temperature or freeze for the future. This bread is so amazing, it doesn’t last long enough in our two person household to go bad, but should it go stale, fear not for this bread will make wonderful bread crumbs for other cooking purposes.

Variations: Add some dried, crushed herbs to the dry ingredients before as you add the water. This will make lovely savoury bread that would be ideal for holiday stuffing or leftover meat sandwiches. 🙂