White Loaf Bread

I think every baker not only should have a good banana bread recipe, they should very well have a good white bread loaf recipe as well. Bread is such a quintessential part of our daily meals. Whether it is for a quick morning bite, or an afternoon sandwich, it can also be that toasty bread that wipe clean that stew you have for dinner. Some may think of grabbing those less then 2 bucks loaf off the store shelves. You're right, it is easier, I'm guilty of that sometimes...but frankly speaking, the number of times I buy those in a year, I can use my fingers to count. So think again guys, those bread has additives that we can't even pronounce it properly. :P Home baked are always better for sure...well that is if you have the time to do so. Well, at least the recipe I am posting today is a simple straight dough method with ingredients that you can definitely find in your pantry. Life is too complicated to  have too complicated bakes!

Oops pardon my poor shaping skill to allow that small hole on top. :P But these are the kind of things that happened in the rising process that one is not able to control sometimes. ;P #excuses 

But overall the loaf turned out beautifully. And I'm stoked that it is a straight  dough method! Less waiting! This recipe calls for egg white, which coincidentally I always have some in my fridge. :P Especially after Chinese new year or some tart baking. The egg white helps enrich the dough. It also retains water content to counteract the drying effect when the bread left out at room temperature.

Enough chit chat, let's take a look at the ingredients!

Ingredients for White Bread Loaf

350 g bread flour

90 g egg white

40 g caster sugar

1/2 tsp salt

4 g instant active yeast

155-160 ml fresh milk

30 g unsalted butter, room temperature

• In a stand mixer bowl, add in all the ingredients except the butter.
• Knead it well using the hook attachment, the dough will slowly come together. Continue to knead and eventually it will pulls away from the side of the bowl. That will take about 10-12 minutes. You can stop the kneading for 2 to 3 minutes to have a break in between. 
• Add in the butter and continue to knead till it is very elastic and reaches the window panel.
• Leave dough in a greased bowl, covered and let proof till it doubles in size or for 1hr.

• When it is well proofed, poke in the center. If it doesn't rise back up, the dough is ready to be shaped.
• Punch out the air and weigh out 4 portions of 150 g of dough. Roll round and cover to rest for 5 minutes before shaping. The remaining dough can be used for other small buns, up to your own creation. ;)

• Take a portion of the dough and roll it out flat into a rectangle. Roughly the length of 20 cm by 15 cm. Then fold in the longer sides in as shown below.

• Then roll in from one end like a swiss roll, then seal the edges.

• Repeat with the rest of the 3 dough portions and then place them into a greased loaf tin.

• Cover and let rise till it fills 90 percent of the tin. Remember to preheat the oven to 170C. 
• Then bake in the oven for 28 minutes or till golden brown. Nope, I didn't brush any egg wash.

• Remove from the loaf tin immediately and let cool completely on the rack before slicing.

The result? Nice golden brown skin but still thin. Interior is cotton-candy like texture. Very fine composition, soft and fluffy! I couldn't be more happy!

I couldn't show you enough of the lovely texture. :D And it is home baked! (by you!)

I always like my old school way of enjoying fresh baked breads....kaya and butter! Yummeh :9 

Hope you all will give this simple recipe a try. If this is your first time baking a bread, try this out. ;)

Happy Baking!