Walter Sands' Favorite Bread Machine Bread
This bread may be prepared and baked right in the machine (1 1/2-pound or larger models), or prepared in the machine, then removed, shaped, given a final rise and baked in a conventional oven. Either way, it's a good, down-to-earth white sandwich bread.
This is a variation on a recipe from Walter Sands, one-time president and owner of the King Arthur company. A member of just one of the many generations of the Sands family associated with the business, Walter made this bread faithfully once a week for years. Because of his arthritic hands, he used a bread bucket with a crank, which kneaded hundreds of loaves of this fragrant, soft sandwich bread with all its happy associations. We've modified Walter's recipe here for use in a bread machine.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 to 1 1/3 cups (283g to 301g) lukewarm water, depending on the time of year (more in the winter, less in the summer)
- 1 heaping tablespoon (21g) honey or 1 heaping tablespoon (15g) granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1/3 cup (37g) King Arthur Baker's Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk
- 2 tablespoons (28g) butter
- 2 teaspoons (12g) table salt
- 4 cups (482g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
Instructions
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Weigh your flour; or measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess. Place the flour and rest of the ingredients in your bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer, and program the machine for white or basic bread, or for the dough cycle. Press Start.
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If you're using the dough cycle, after the cycle is complete, allow the dough to continue to rise in the machine until it's doubled in bulk.
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Remove the dough, shape it into a loaf, and place it in a 9" x 5" loaf pan. Let it rise until almost doubled.
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Bake the bread in a preheated 350°F oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool, and offer to a friend.