ISO Soft Chewy White Bread

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Jeni78

Senior Cook
Joined
Mar 31, 2008
Messages
322
Location
Minnesota
Hi all - does anyone have a recipe for soft, chewy white bread?

So far, I'm finding recipes that turn out more like Wonder bread. Which is fine, now I can make Wonder bread, but I'm looking for that really soft, chewy, careful not to smush when you cut type bread.

Thank you!
 
Hi Jeni! Here's a tried and true recipe that you might like. It's my husband's favorite.

Potato Bread
3/4 c. mashed potatoes (instant can be used)
1/2 c. milk
3 Tblsp. water
1/4 c. butter
1 Tblsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 3/4 c. all-purpose or high gluten flour
4 tsp. vital wheat gluten, op.
1 pkg. active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp.)​

For bread machine:
Combine potatoes, milk, and water. Heat to 85 to 95 degrees (or follow bread machine recommendations). Add butter, sugar and salt; stir until butter is melted. Pour into bread machine pan. Add flour and vital wheat gluten, if desired. Add yeast. Set to dough cycle. After dough cycle is done, shape into loaf and place in greased 9 1/4" X5 1/4" bread pan. Cover and let rise in warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes to an hour. Prehat oven to 400 degrees. Bake 10 minutes; reduce heat to 350 degrees. Bake 20 -30 minutes more, until done. Brush top with butter, remove from pan and cool on rack.​

For hand mixing:
Add butter to hot potatoes and stir unitl butter is melted. Add sugar, salt, and scalded milk. use very warm water (105- 115 degrees). Sprinkle yeast into water and stir to dissolve. Add to milk mixture. Add 2 c. oflour nad wheat gluten, if desired. Beat unitl smooth. Gradually stir in remaining flour, or enough to make a firm dough. Knead 10 minutes. Put in greased bowl and let rise until double in bulk. Punch down and let rise again. Punch down and shape into loaf and palce in pan. Follow intructions above.​

*note: I often replace 1 c. of the gluten flour with 1 c. of home ground whole wheat flour*​
 
This is our favorite bread - we use it for sandwiches and as an accompaniment for pasta. My husband does not like crisp crusts, so I rub it all over with butter when it comes out of the oven and the crust stays chewy and soft. Very very good texture to the loaf - hope you like it as much as we do. I use my KA stand mixer and always make a double recipe.

Rustic Soft Italian Bread

Prep time: 10 minutes
(ready in 3 hours)

1 Cup water heated to 120 to 130 F
2 Tablespoons olive oil
3 Cups all purpose or bread flour
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pkg. active dry yeast
cornmeal
1 egg, beaten

Conventional oven directions:
Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. In
large bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt and yeast; mix
well. Add warm water and oil; mix well. Turn dough out
onto lightly-floured surface. Knead dough 10 minutes
or until smooth.* Place dough in lightly-greased bowl;
cover with plastic wrap and cloth towel. Let rise in
warm place *80 to 85 F) for 30 to 40 minutes.

Sprinkle ungreased cookie sheet with cornmeal. Punch
down dough. Cover dough with inverted bowl and allow
to rest on counter for 15 minutes. Shape dough into
baguette-shaped loaf about 12 inches long. Place dough
on cornmeal-coated cookie sheet. Cover; let rise in
warm place for 35 to 40 minutes or until doubled in
size.

Heat oven to 375 F. With sharp knife, make 1 deep
lengthwise slash in top of loaf. Brush loaf with egg.

Bake at 375 F for 25 to 35 minutes or until
loaf sounds hollow when lightly tapped. When bread is
removed from oven, rub generously with butter if you
want the crust to be soft.

1 (12-slice) loaf

* If using stand mixer, combine ingredients with dough hook and then knead on Speed 2 for 5 minutes.
 
Thank you so much for the recipes! I will try them both - I haven't made bread with potatoes before (very new to breadmaking).

Karen, your recipe calls for the water to be 120-130 degrees? I am very new to bread making but I thought 105-115 was the range to keep the yeast alive? Or not?

Thanks!
 
Gosh, I don't even measure the temp of the water, Jen...I just do it by how it feels. Warm, but not hot. So I don't think a +/- 5 degrees makes a huge difference. To be safe as you start out, I would stick with 115F, get accustomed to how that "feels" to the touch and go from there....
 
Thanks - I am very much at the stage where I need a thermometer to bake bread, LOL. And a scale. Have not done nearly enough of it to go by feel or eyeball.

Although I think I'm getting kinda good at knowing when to quit kneading, how much flour to use. But I used a recipe last week that really threw me off, so...I bake, I learn, I bake, I learn. :)
 
Thanks - I am very much at the stage where I need a thermometer to bake bread, LOL. And a scale. Have not done nearly enough of it to go by feel or eyeball.

Although I think I'm getting kinda good at knowing when to quit kneading, how much flour to use. But I used a recipe last week that really threw me off, so...I bake, I learn, I bake, I learn. :)

Hi Jenny78,

You are smart to use a thermometer, and your scale will insure repeatability with your recipes. Weigh your liquids as well as your flour, because measuring cups are not as accurate as you might expect. I also suggest having your recipe in front of you every time you bake, just so you don't forget any of the ingredients.

The recipes posted are a good start, and I would also encourage you to try the Basic White Bread Recipe for the KitchenAide Mixer. Yep, that's the name of the recipe, and if you have a KitchenAide stand mixer, it's in the recipe book that comes with the mixer. It not only makes great white bread, but I also make sandwich, hamburger and hot rolls from the same recipe (instructions are in my recipe). Here's how they come out...

img_784102_0_9cf150a7569b4454b8654aa3c7b38b02.jpg


Here is the loaf bread behind some banana breads...

img_784102_1_830edc2c64b7797b542fd0d045fe4b85.jpg


My Italian Bread recipe is also a soft crumb with a chewy crust. It's a hit wherever I take it.

Good Luck and happy baking.

JoeV
 
Jen, you have now heard from the absolute DC bread expert - Joe, I can almost smell those wonderful breads in your pictures. I'm also a fan of the KA basic white bread recipe and have made it for years. We've recently grown so fond of the Italian bread that I am making it more often, though. I think the tropical, sea level air and humidity combine to produce absolutely wonderful bread here. I've never baked such good bread. Of course, the down side is that the oven heats up the house..but it is worth it.
 
I think I have finally achieved bread making perfection because now it turns out soft and chewy.:chef:

Here is how I make it.

Flour, salt, oil(optional), warm water with yeast and sugar in it.
Heat oven to around 50 C and put plenty of water in it to make steam. Make the bread good and wet. Then put it on a sheet of baking paper and into the oven for around an hour. Then take it out of the oven and heat the oven to 225 C degrees. Pour water on the hot surfaces of the oven to make more steam(be careful about what you use to do this, because steam can give your skin a bad burn). Then put the bread into the oven until it starts to get golden. When it starts to get golden, turn off the oven and leave the bread to finish baking in the afterheat.
 
I think I have finally achieved bread making perfection because now it turns out soft and chewy.:chef:

Here is how I make it.

Flour, salt, oil(optional), warm water with yeast and sugar in it.
Heat oven to around 50 C and put plenty of water in it to make steam. Make the bread good and wet. Then put it on a sheet of baking paper and into the oven for around an hour. Then take it out of the oven and heat the oven to 225 C degrees. Pour water on the hot surfaces of the oven to make more steam(be careful about what you use to do this, because steam can give your skin a bad burn). Then put the bread into the oven until it starts to get golden. When it starts to get golden, turn off the oven and leave the bread to finish baking in the afterheat.

I'm no bread snob, but don't you think some volume or measure of ingredients would help this new bread baker? "Good & wet" is not a good description of the dough. If you have achieved "perfection," then give us the % of hydration and we can back into a recipe from there.
 
jemi78 -- Would love to have your recipe for the wonder bread like. Husband loves wonderbread. thanks,

Going to try the potato bread also

JoeV breads are great
 
Of course, the down side is that the oven heats up the house..but it is worth it.

LOL Karen, I had to laugh at this. You are in Mexico so that would make sense...here in Minnesota, one of the BEST things about baking bread is that it heats up the house!

letscook - I've used a several:

http://http://breadbaking.about.com/od/yeastbreads/r/basicbread.htm

Cooks.com - Recipe - Streamlined White Bread

Bread Recipes: White Bread Recipe

These are the recipes I used when I first started so I can't say for sure which is the most wonder-ish.

JoeV - how do you get the glazed look on your bread? If you sprinkle with poppy seeds, do you do that before baking?

Thanks!
 
JoeV - how do you get the glazed look on your bread? If you sprinkle with poppy seeds, do you do that before baking?

Thanks!

The glaze is just egg white mixed with a fork with a little water. I brush it on the bread just before baking, and it also serves to hold the sesame or poppy seeds in place. Yes, the seeds go on before baking.

If using sesame seeds or poppy seeds, be sure to refrigerate them after opening the container to maintain their freshness. Whole seeds will go rancid if left to get warm for extended periods of time. I keep mine tightly sealed in the fridge.
 
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