Traditional White Bread

Yum! This is a great sandwich bread and was very simple to make since I used my Kitchen Aid mixer to mix and knead the dough.

Yield: 2 loaves
Ingredients:
2 (.25ounce) packages active dry yeast
3 tbs. white sugar
2 1/2 cups warm water
3 tbs. lard, softened (I used shortening)
1 tbs. salt
6 1/2 cups bread flour

Directions:
In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Stir in lard, salt, and two cups flour. Stir in remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Whent he dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and eleastic, about 8 mintues.

Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. (I set my oven to warm, turned it off and placed the dough in the oven).

Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces and form into loaves. Place the loaves into two lightly greased 9x5 inch loaf pans. Cover the loaves wiht a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Bake at 375 degrees F for about 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

Cool in pan.