Katies Cottage - Homestyle Bread

This one directly from Katies Cottage.

Katie Abraham's little corner of the web.  She finally talked me into taking the time to make this stuff from scratch, no bread machines at all.  Needless to say I was impressed and ate an entire loaf!



As she says on her site -
"Throw away those bread machines and make it with a bit of love, it is doubly satisfying to know you haven't just lumped in pre-mix, added water and pressed a button."

This easy recipe makes approximately 2 incredible tasting fresh loaves.

Ingredients

• 6.5 cups plain or bakers flour
• 1 tbsp salt
• 3.5 tbsp soft/gently melted butter or lard
• 2.5 cups lukewarm water
• 2 sachet (14g) yeast
• 1 tablespoon caster sugar

Method

1. In a small mixing bowl dissolve sugar in water and add yeast, stirring gently. Allow to sit for 5 or 10 minutes until bubbles form.
2. Place the plain flour into a large mixing bowl and scoop out a small well to add the wet ingredients. Add the yeast mixture, salt and soft butter then mix together well until the dough has pulled together. Remove dough then thoroughly was/dry bowl to use later.
3. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for about 8 to 10 minutes or until dough has a soft, elastic feel.
4. Lightly grease the large bowl and place dough in it again. Cover with a damp cloth and leave in a warm, draught free place to rise for about 60 minutes or until dough has roughly doubled in size.
5. Punch dough down with your fist to deflate it, transfer again to lightly floured surface and divide into two equal pieces and roughly form into loaves in two lightly greased bread pans.
6. Cover the loaves with a damp cloth and let them rise for another 45 minutes so they fill out into the shape of the bread pans.
7. Preheat oven to 200°C and bake for about 30 minutes or until the loaves look golden brown. The easiest way to tell if your bread is cooked is to tap the base of it with your knuckle. It will sound hollow if it is cooked.
8. Transfer the loaves onto a wire rack to cool immediately, don't leave them in the pan as they will sweat moisture which will soften the crust.