White Bread Rises To Raekwon and Bakes to Biggie

I have a theory on my bread. My bread likes hip hop. Its true. My saying is, my bread rises to Raekwon and Bakes to Biggie, so I usually make it when the kiddo is at school. No need for her to be exposed to Wu Gaminos unedited so early on in life.  ahhhem... moving right along

There are few things in life that are better than a great loaf of bread. Once you realize this your whole perspective on life changes. Suddenly you go from deciding whether or not to get that artisan loaf at the supermarket to strolling the four isle for huge bags of bread flour. For MANY years I made potato bread and it was great. It was homemade and clearly better than any store bought bullshit.

Then I stumbled upon an Amish bread recipe. Truth be told, I have been to Amish Country and the bread I had was nothing like this. This is a very sweet and moist bread. A bread you can eat straight up cold and be satisfied. I wanted a bread that I could make a sandwich with. That didnt have to be toasted. This bread in its original recipe is pretty sweet. You can stand to cut the sugar back by at least half. Me? Im a big sweet whore so go full throttle.

This recipe will make two standard loaves. Now, what I like to do is take one half and roll it out into a rectangle and spread some butter on the inside. Grab a bowl, and mix half cinnamon, half sugar and...now wait for it... some star anise! My original version used cardamom but when I moved to New Orleans and couldnt find it. You roll it up and lay it in your pan seam side down.

 So for those of you looking for a DELICIOUS white bread... here it is. After trying so many mediocre loaves of bread and being disappointed in the result of all that work, this one, my dears is a winner!

• 2 cups warm water
• 2/3 cup white sugar (this is going to make a VERY sweet bread! You can cut this in half if sweet isn't your thing!!)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast (I use two packets)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 6 cups bread flour

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam. About 15 minutes.
2. Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
3. Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes, and divide in half. Shape into loaves, and place into two well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes. 

 For Cinnamon Anise Bread (as shown)

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After you have punched down the dough in step 3, roll half of the dough into a rectangle.. spread 2 tbs of butter along the surface. In a bowl, mix 4tbs of cinnamon and 1/4 tbs of sugar and 1 tsp of star anise. Sprinkle mixture over the butter and roll up. Place in loaf pan seam side down and allow to rise again before returning to the oven.  Another great option is adding 1 tsp of cardamom in place of the star anise. YUM!
 

PS: The photo above is the loaf before it was cut. Once cut, its a beautiful neat and tidy swirl of cinnamon delicious. But who the fuck wants neat and tidy? I want butter and sugar and I want it NOW!