White Sandwich Bread
Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread
If you ever wanted to bake a simple white sandwich or part whole wheat sandwich bread for a gathering, then these two recipes would work well for you. They are both easy to prepare, taste terrific, and feed lots of people. Or as I am going to do with the leftover bread from yesterday’s JazzVox home concert, where I served 35 people Sloppy Joes (recipe on site) over toasted slices of both of these breads, use the leftovers for the dressing I am making this Thursday (Thanksgiving). So, kill two birds with one stone, or as in this case use the same breads for two meals, WHY THE HECK NOT? And hurray!
Not only did I save a great deal of money by making my own base for Sloppy Joes, but it is also now completely unnecessary for me to pay an exorbitant amount of money for dried bread cubes at the grocery store. And that brings up a good point.
Even if you don’t make your own bread, you can still buy a cheap loaf of white or whole wheat bread and simply cut the bread (crusts and all) into small cubes and dry them at a very low temperature in your oven. Why the people who package cut up days old bread charge such ridiculous prices (Brownberry Premium Unseasoned Cubed Stuffing 12 oz. for $12.25) and get away with it is beyond my comprehension! So, even if you don’t want to bake your own bread, just buy a loaf of Wonder Bread (a 20-oz. loaf of white sandwich bread from Walmart $2.92) and make the dried cubes yourself! OK, I’m done pontificating!
Anyway, both of these recipes make for very simple, but tasty and inexpensive sandwich bread. I hope you enjoy both the recipes.
And for all of you who are hosting Thanksgiving dinner, I’ve included my favorite recipe for Turkey Dressing at the bottom of this post. The dressing is savory and just a perfect base for Turkey Gravy with Cognac. (You can find that recipe on this site.)
So, to all of you who are hosting Thanksgiving dinner, bless you for all your hard work. And all of you attending Thanksgiving in someone else’s home, be sure and thank your host and hostess. They have put in a lot of work on behalf of you and all the others that participated in the dinner.
And for all of you who read my blog, thank you for being a part of my life. It remains a great joy for me to be able to share my love of cooking with each and every one of you. And for me to share with you my hopes for a better world for everyone, everywhere.
I leave you with the lyrics to What the World Needs Now by Hal David (lyricist) and music composed by Burt Bacharach.
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
No not just for some, but for everyone
Lord, we don’t need another mountain
There are mountains and hillsides enough to climb
There are oceans and rivers enough to cross
Enough to last ’til the end of time
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
No, not just for some, but for everyone
Lord, we don’t need another meadow
There are cornfields and wheatfields enough to grow
There are sunbeams and moonbeams enough to shine
Oh listen, Lord, if you want to know
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
No, not just for some, oh, but just for every, every, everyone
PEACE AND LOVE TO ALL AND HAPPY THANKSGIVING
WHITE SANDWICH BREAD
2½ c. slightly warm milk
1 T. active dry or instant yeast
1 T. granulated sugar
6 – 6½ c. unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tsp. kosher salt
¼ c. (½ stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
veggie oil
Pour the warm milk into the bowl of your stand mixer and stir in the yeast and sugar. Let sit for 5 minutes, or until foamy.
Add about half of the flour. Stir until well blended. Add another couple cups of the flour, salt, and butter and knead for about 8 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic. Add enough more flour as needed.
Pour a bit of veggie oil in the bowl, and using your hands and a stiff spatula, form the dough into a lightly greased ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 1 – 1½-hours or until doubled in size. Lightly grease a 13×5-inch loaf pan and a 9×5-inch loaf pan and set aside. Or 3 9×5-inch loaf pans.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Punch it down and roll it into a rectangle about 20-inches long. Fold the long side of the rectangle toward the center, press to seal the edge. Fold the bottom of the rectangle to the top to make a cylinder. Cut a third of the loaf off. Place the longer piece in the 13-5-inch pan and the shorter piece in the smaller pan. Or if you are using 3 9×5-inch pans, divided the long piece in thirds. Place the dough in the prepared pans seam side down, tucking the ends in and pressing the dough into a flat piece of dough in each pan.
Cover with plastic wrap and leave for an hour, or until the dough almost doubles. As the dough rises, pre-heat the oven to 375-degrees with the rack in the middle of the oven.
Bake for 30-32 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches at least 190-degrees. Remove from oven and turn the loaves out of the pan onto a rack to cool.
Store covered at room temperature.
WHOLE WHEAT SANDWICH BREAD
2 c. whole milk
¼ c. honey
4 tsp. active dry yeast
4 T. (½ stick) unsalted butter, room temp.
2 tsp. kosher salt
3 c. whole wheat flour
3 T. vital wheat gluten, opt. (but recommended)
1½ to 2 c. bread flour
extra virgin olive oil
Heat the milk slightly (about 105 degrees). Pour into the bowl of a stand mixer and add the honey and yeast. Let stand for about 5 minutes until the yeast bubbles.
Add the butter, salt, whole wheat flour, vital wheat gluten, and ½ of the bread flour. Mix until combined.
Cover and let stand for 15 minutes. Add in the remaining bread flour and with a mixer fitted with a dough hook, knead the dough on medium speed until the dough is smooth and springy. (about 6 minutes)
Pour a bit of olive oil in the bowl, and using your hands and a stiff spatula, form the dough into a lightly greased ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let double in volume (about 60 to 75 minutes).
Lightly grease a 13×5-inch loaf pan or 2 9×5-inch loaf pans. Set aside.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Punch it down and roll it into a 13-inch-long rectangle. Fold the top of the rectangle toward the center, press to seal the edge. Fold the bottom of the rectangle to the top to make a cylinder. Place the dough in the longer pan seam side down. (If you are making 2 loaves, cut the dough into 2 equal size pieces before placing in the pans.)
Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for about 60 minutes.
Bake in a pre-heated 400-degree oven for about 25-30 minutes or until golden and the internal temperature reaches at least 190-degrees.
Remove from oven and immediately turn the loaf or loaves out of the pan(s) onto a cooling rack and let cool thoroughly before slicing.
TURKEY DRESSING (with or without cooked breakfast sausage)
1 c. butter
1½ c. chopped celery (stalks and leaves)
2 med. onions, finely chopped
12 to 14 lg. button mushrooms, chopped
1 c. chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 T. minced fresh sage
1 T. dried thyme leaves
2 T. poultry seasoning, or more to taste
1 tsp. savory, either powdered or dried leaves
2 tsp. kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
16-20 c. dry bread cubes
1 lb. cooked breakfast or Italian sausage, opt.
3 eggs
5-7 c. turkey or chicken stock
In a large sauté pan, melt butter and add celery, onions, and mushrooms. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add the parsley, garlic, sage, thyme, poultry seasoning, savory, salt, and pepper. Remove from heat. Place dried bread cubes in a very large mixing bowl. Stir in the cooked sausage. Add the sautéed vegetables; mix thoroughly.
Beat eggs in a separate medium sized bowl. If you are using stock that is simmering happily on your stove, vigorously whisk 5 cups of the broth into the eggs. (The hot stock will scramble the eggs if you don’t stir vigorously.) Pour the hot liquid over the bread cubes and gently stir. Add more stock if the dressing is dry. (Remember, this is dressing, not stuffing and therefore is not going into the cavity of the turkey. So, any moisture needs to be added while it is being prepared.) Taste the dressing and add additional poultry seasoning and/or salt if needed.
Place dressing in a buttered casserole dish, cover and refrigerate until ready to bake in a pre-heated 350-degree oven for 45 minutes or until hot. (I put mine in the oven when the turkey comes out.)