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#4 The Best and Easiest White Pan Bread

A delicious and easy to make white bread for sandwiches, toast, or to bring to the table.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 2 hours 15 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Course Bread
Cuisine English

Ingredients
  

  • 4 cups white bread flour
  • 2¼ teaspoons instant yeast
  • 1½ teaspoons salt
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened (or not)
  • 1⅓ cups warm water (110-120°F.)

Instructions
 

  • Combine the flour, yeast and salt in a mixing bowl.
  • Drop the butter into the flour and mix in with your fingers--like you would pie crust--until it's all blended in and your flour looks more like bread crumbs. It takes 3 minutes and gives you a chance to show your bread some love.
  • Slowly pour in the water. I use my KitchenAid mixer with a dough hook for this, but you can do it by hand. (It's a great upper body workout.) Mix the dough until the water is incorporated and you have a soft dough. Knead (or let your mixer do it) until the dough can be stretched between your fingers without breaking easily.
  • Put dough in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rest for an hour.
  • Pat the rested dough into something of a rectangle, then roll into a loaf and place into a oiled (I used butter) loaf pan. Let it rise for an hour.
  • Make slashes in the bread just before putting it in a 425°F. oven, middle rack, for about 35 minutes.