Grandma’s Country White Bread Recipe – One of my favorite breads of all time!
Oh, man. If you are looking for a sure-fire, crowd-pleasing, delicious white bread, look no further. This is it!
A friend who lives in the small town of Carey, Idaho, where I grew up, sent me a message a while ago asking about a good white bread recipe, so I wrote this post with her in mind. This recipe comes from my grandmother, and it is absolutely, hands-down our favorite white bread recipe ever. The ingredients are simple, and the flavor, texture, and consistency of this country-style bread are perfect. Country-style bread is made with unbleached, coarsely ground flour, which makes it a little more rustic (read: tasty). If you don’t own a grinder, or if you’ve just got regular all-purpose flour to work with, don’t fret. I’ve had great success using both types of flour. In fact, the bread used for the photos of this post was made with just plain jane all-purpose flour, which tends to rise better than whole wheat flour. Now, typically, I make whole wheat bread for my family using ground-up hard red wheat, but once in a while, I’ll get out my wheat grinder and grind up some hard white wheat and make a couple of loaves of this amazing bread. This recipe has a little more sugar and a little more salt than the Best Wheat Bread recipe. So, yes. This bread is not quite as healthy as what I typically feed my family…but it is definitely better than the store-bought white bread, and it is oh, so good. Plus, it is amazingly inexpensive to make! If you remember my post on Grandma Benson’s Dinner Rolls, you’ll find that this recipe uses essentially the same ingredients. And if you’ve tried those rolls, you KNOW how good this bread recipe will be!
Ingredients:
- Warm water
- Sugar
- Yeast
- Oil
- Salt
- Unbleached ground white wheat flour
- Vital wheat gluten (if using whole white wheat flour)
Instructions:
- In a mixing bowl, combine warm water, sugar, and yeast. Let it sit for about 5-10 minutes until it becomes frothy.
- Add oil, salt, and flour to the yeast mixture. If using whole white wheat flour, add vital wheat gluten as well.
- Mix the ingredients until they come together to form a dough.
- Knead the dough on a floured surface for about 5-7 minutes until it becomes smooth and elastic.
- Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover it with a clean kitchen towel, and let it rise in a warm place for about 1-1.5 hours or until it doubles in size.
- Punch down the dough to release the air and shape it into loaves or rolls.
- Place the shaped dough into greased loaf pans or on a baking sheet for rolls.
- Cover the dough again and let it rise for another 30-45 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Bake the bread in the preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes for rolls or 30-35 minutes for loaves, or until they are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.
- Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool slightly before slicing and serving.
Enjoy the irresistible aroma and taste of Grandma’s Country White Bread!