The Essential White Loaf

The other day I was just checking my Facebook when I read that a friend (Kelly M.) was making bread. I asked her which recipe she was using and decided to give it a try... oh my... this is an amazing and delicious one!

So, here we go:


THE ESSENTIAL WHITE LOAF
from Nigella Lawson's How to Be a Domestic Goddess


Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups white bread flour, plus more for kneading
1 package rapid-rise yeast (2 1/4 teaspoon)
1 tablespoon salt
approx 1 1/3 cups warm tap water
2 tablespoon of unsalted butter
1 baking sheet or 9X5 in loaf pan


Directions:

Preheat your oven to 200 F degrees and turn it off. Grease a loaf pan or cover a baking sheet with parchment paper (in case you are shaping the bread round)

In the bowl of your stand Mixer put the flour, yeast, and salt and pour in 3/3 cup of the water, mixing as you do so on low speed and using the dough hook. Be prepared to add more water, but bear in mind that you want to end up with a shaggy mess. Add half of the butter, and mix that in for 8 minutes. if the dough seems sticklily wet (it will attach to the sides of the bowl), it means you need to add more flour.

Form the dough into a ball and put into a large oiled or buttered bowl, turning once so the top of the dough is greased. Cover with plastic wrap and put into the warmed oven for 60 to 90 minutes. The dough should be doubled in size. Then punch the dough down and shape it as you want (loaf or round) and let it sit covered with loosely plastic wrap for 30 minutes. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Just before you put it in the oven, remove the plastic wrap, brush it with the rest of the melted butter and dust lightly with flour. Bake for 35 minutes or until cooked through. The internal temperature of the bread should be 200F degrees. Once is ready, remove to a rack and cool.