Sandwich Bread

I had yet another epic fail in the kitchen - a recipe from Cook's Illustrated called "EASY sandwich bread" - none the less.  I'm still not sure how I ended up screwing up this "EASY" recipe but I definitely did.

Serious bread fail.  (Or maybe I should say bread "fall.")

I followed the recipe exactly as it was written in my Cook's Illustrated magazine and the only thing that I can think of that I did wrong was to let it rise about 1/4 of an inch above the rim of the pan before I put it into the oven.  In my defense, the dough was rising super quick (way faster than the recipe indicated) because my kitchen was warm that day.  In any case, I ended up with a dough that flowed right out of the pan during the baking process.

It wasn't a total loss though.  I trimmed off the excess bread and ate the scraps - hot out of the oven.  (Super yummy)

After my bread cooled, I sliced it like I would a regular loaf of bread and it was really tasty.  SO despite the appearance of the crazy overflowing loaf that came out of the oven, the bread was still really yummy.

Easy Sandwich Bread
2 cups bread flour
6 Tablespoons whole wheat flour
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
1 1/4 cups + 2 Tablespoons warm water
3 Tablespoons butter, melted
1 Tablespoon honey
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly beaten with 1 teaspoon water








Whisk together bread flour, whole wheat flour and yeast.












Add 1 1/4 cups water, 2 Tablespoons melted butter and honey.  Mix on low speed with paddle attachment for 1 minute.













Increase speed to medium and mix 2 minutes.  Scrape down with rubber scraper and mix another 2 minutes.







Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, about 20 minutes.
 

Preheat oven to 375.  Spray an 81/2 by 4 1/2 inch loaf pan with pam.  Dissolve salt in 2 tablespoons warm water.







Once batter has doubled, attach bowl to mixer again and add salt and mix on low for 40 seconds.  Increase speed to high and mix 1 minute.
















Transfer batter to greased pan and smooth surface with greased spatula.











Cover with plastic wrap and leave in warm place to rise until batter reaches 1/2 inch below edge of the pan.  (mine took 10 minutes)

Uncover and let rise until center of batter is level with the edge of the pan.  (5 minutes)

Gently brush top of risen loaf with egg wash.











Bake 40-45 minutes.

 
Invert loaf onto a rack to cool.  Trim any overflow - if necessary. 

Slice.

I remeasured my pan to make sure that it was truly an 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 and indeed it was.  The only thing that I can think of is that I let it rise ever so slightly above the rim of the pan before I put it in the oven to bake.  I really did like the bread but as for the "easy" title - I couldn't disagree more.

Ciao!



Easy Sandwich Bread
2 cups bread flour
6 Tablespoons whole wheat flour
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
1 1/4 cups + 2 Tablespoons warm water
3 Tablespoons butter, melted
1 Tablespoon honey
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly beaten with 1 teaspoon water

Whisk together bread flour, whole wheat flour and yeast.  Add 1 1/4 cups water, 2 Tablespoons melted butter and honey.  Mix on low speed with paddle attachment for 1 minute.  Increase speed to medium and mix 2 minutes.  Scrape down with rubber scraper and mix another 2 minutes.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, about 20 minutes.  Preheat oven to 375.  Spray an 81/2 by 4 1/2 inch loaf pan with pam.  Dissolve salt in 2 tablespoons warm water.  What batter has doubled, attach bowl to mixer again and add salt and mix on low for 40 seconds.  Increase speed to high and mix 1 minute.  Transfer batter to greased pan and smooth surface with greased spatula.  Cover with plastic wrap and leave in warm place to rise until batter reaches 1/2 inch below edge of the pan.  (mine took 10 minutes)  Uncover and let rise until center of batter is level with the edge of the pan.  (5 minutes)  Gently brush top of risen loaf with egg wash.  Bake 40-45 minutes.  Invert loaf onto a rack to cool.