White Bread by Julia Child

By á-49077

If you're looking for a light, fluffy, flavorful loaf of bread, look no further! This white bread is perfect for sandwiches or alongside a nice soup, or just eat warm from the oven with some fresh butter.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 6 to 6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 cup butter, softened

Details

Servings 2
Preparation time 30mins
Cooking time 270mins
Adapted from dinnerwithjulie.com

Preparation

Step 1

Pour 1/2 cup of water into a bowl (preferably that of a stand mixer) and stir in the yeast and sugar. Let sit for 5 minutes, until foamy.

Add the rest of the water and about half of the flour. Stir until well blended. Add the rest of the flour, the salt and butter and stir with the dough hook (or by hand) until well combined.

Continue to knead (if using a dough hook, run it for about 8 minutes, poking dough down once in awhile) until it’s smooth and elastic. If you used the dough hook, turn the dough out onto the countertop and knead a few times by hand to make sure it’s evenly smooth.

Shape the dough into a ball and put it back into the bowl. Cover with a tea towel and let it sit for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until it's doubled in size.

Butter two 4-x8-inch loaf pans. Punch the dough down and pat each piece into a rectangle that's about 9-x12-inch - or a bit bigger than a standard piece of paper.

Starting at a short end, fold it in thirds, like a letter. Place seam side down in the loaf pans, tucking the ends in. Cover with the tea towel again and leave them for an hour, until they puff right up out of the pan.

Preheat the oven to 375°F and put the rack in the middle of the oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the loaves are honey brown. Immediately turn the loaves out of their pans and onto a rack to cool.