A loaf of home made eggless white bread can warm so many mornings and so many hearts! One such loaf was waiting for us, when we came back from an overseas vacation, thanks to a wonderful neighbor of mine, along with some fresh flowers and magazines to read! What a warm welcome from our neighbors for us when we arrived home! I have experimented with bread in the past, have had some success, but of late had become lazy in making bread. But an opportunity arose for me, to give the same warm feeling to the neighbors of mine, as they took a vacation. So there came that unloved bread machine from the way back of a cupboard, as I set out to make bread after almost a year and a half!
I decided to use the recipe that my neighbor used, from the Oster Bread Maker book, which is slightly different than what I have in Cuisinart Convection Bread Maker. This recipe for eggless white bread is more closer to the breads from India, as it has milk, and butter and sugar and we have been spoilt by the many warm fragrant loaves that we have had, courtesy the friendly neighbor!!.\
If I were to compare both the breads, the crust of my bread was more well cooked than the other one, and this was the lightest crust mode in my machine. So I guess the difference is due to the temperature setting in each machine. But as fas the spongy taste and texture, it was the best! The whole house was fragrant with the aroma of warm bread baking, and it was a pure delight to see the rising of the bread touch to the top of the oven!
A few tips to getting good bread, is using lukewarm water, and not letting yeast connect with water! And using fresh ingredients helps in keeping the loaf light and spongy! Making bread is more scientific than most other items, so ensure that you use proper liquid measuring cup to get the measurements perfect. Once you get disciplined about this, you will explore all different types of topping and mix-ins, such as cilantro and green chillies, sesame and red pepper, and go creative exploring just one more way to enjoy a warm loaf of bread. You will be thankful that you invested in the bread maker, even though it uses, that much needed cupboard space!
So break bread, as they say, with the people you care and have loads of interesting conversations over with jellies, spreads and oils of your choice. Eating small bits and pieces of warm eggless white bread with olive oil, flavored with basil and red pepper, is just equivalent to having a five star restaurant experience right in your own kitchen! And what is more, use the thick slices to make Panini too!
Eggless White Bread
Recipe makes 2 lb loaf
Cooking time 3:03 minutes
Ingredients
- 4 cups unbleached bread flour
- 1 3/8 cup lukewarm water- 1 1/4 cup water plus 2 tbsp water
- 2 tbsp butter at room temperature
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 packet Fleischmann’s active dry yeast
- 2 tbsp whole milk
Method
- In a bread maker, pour in water, salt, sugar, butter and whole milk in that order.
- Add flour on top.
- Make a small dent in the middle, without the hole touching the water.
- Pour the yeast in the hole, ensuring it does not touch water.
- Select the crust type and loaf size and start to bake in the bread maker.
- About 25 minutes pre-heat and mix in cycle.
- About 45 minutes is the knead cycle
- About 60 minutes is the rise cycle
- After the rise cycle, remove the kneading blade.
- About 90 minutes for bake cycle
- Remove from the bread maker to cool
- Cut slices and pieces per choice
- Enjoy with your condiments, jellies, or olive oil and plain warm bread and butter.
Tips
Use fresh ingredients, watch how you handle yeast and be sure of your measurements!
Instinct Factor
How about trying all recipes in the bread book! But the next step is to see how to substitute yeast with a great alternative! So experiment with baking soda, and I am going to post one with alternative to yeast soon!
Feel Factor
Happy to be baking bread again at home, and plan to continue the momentum! Warm Eggless White Bread is just a pleasure to eat, the texture is soft and crust is light but brown in color and its great to see the bread holes in a bread you made at home! A home made organic bread is way tastier and cheaper than a bread from outside, and the brownie point is the warm fragrant smell in the morning as you come down for your morning tea! With delayed start option, one can always set the time to bake in the night and it is just ready for you, making your morning a very sunny morning every day, specially for people like my father!!
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