My Husband, who is an extremely picky eater, (I'm not joking), loves Newfoundland style white bread. I've been trying to duplicate this bread we get at a gas station about 3 hours from here. We obviously rarely go by it, so it's tough to get this bread.
Anyway, I've been experimenting with different recipes and ingredients, baking times, rising times etc, trying to replicate this bread, but it's not happened. I have however, made the perfect bread for us. My Husband loves it, and so does anyone else who tries it. The crust is soft, (Once it cools back down), so there is no need to butter the top.
Here is what you will need
5 Cups of UNbleached white flour. Divided into 3 cups and 2 cups.
3 teaspoons of white sugar
3 tbs butter or margarine
2 teaspoons of salt, less if your margarine or butter was salted.
2 cups of warm milk.
1 3/4 teaspoons of INSTANT yeast. I use Fleischmann's.
Once you've measured out your milk into a big measuring cup, add the butter, salt, and sugar to it. Stir this, and then put it in the microwave for about 2 minutes 35 seconds. It needs to be a bit better than lukewarm, but NOT hot. If it gets hot, just let it cool for a few minutes.
While the milk is heating in the microwave, add the 3 cups flour to the bowl of your mixer. Put the mixing rods in, not the dough hooks, those are for a bit later. Add the yeast now. Then add the lukewarm milk mixture, and turn the mixer on to 2 or 3 speed, you can go faster if you want, it doesn't hurt. I use a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl as the mixer is doing it's thing, because it never gets all the dry flour unless I do. I have a Sunbeam one I think. It's not KitchenAid, I wish! Be careful you don't get the spoon caught up in your mixing rods, you can hurt yourself, and your mixer this way. Once all of this seems thoroughly mixed, about 5 minutes, stop the mixer, and remove the rods, and add the dough hooks. Once you add the dough hooks, and turn the mixer back on, slowly add your remaining flour. (2 Cups). You will still need the wooden spoon to help the mixer do it's thing.
Once all of this looks like dough, you can stop the mixer, and finish a little with your own hand kneading. You may need to add a little more flour for this. If the dough looks too wet, add a little more flour, if it looks too dry, then just wait, the gluten that forms will likely help this.
I now cover the bowl with two or three clean tea/dish towels and put it in a safe warm place. My counter, but you can put it in an oven that's off if you wish, or somewhere that's not too hot, not too cold.
Wait 1 hour, then knead the bread with your hands for about 2 minutes. Sprinkle some flour over the dough if it sticks to your hands too much. Cover the dough now, and wait about 15 minutes, then come back and cut it into 6 equal sized portions. Grease your GLASS baking pans, then roll your dough portions into balls, putting 3 in each pan. Then, cover with a plastic bag. I put the dough pans right into a plastic shopping back, the slick kind, not the hard rough walmart kind. lol. Anyway, then once covered, I put the tea towels over it, and wait 2 hours. When you check it, the dough will have expanded to about double or a little more. This is great. The plastic bag helps to seal in heat and moisture, and the tea towels keep things warmer. I find this method helps a LOT.
Then turn your oven to 320 or so. I know, most say 375, but if you do that, your crust will be hard, and your bread not cooked the same inside. If you want crispy crust, do 375 for 30-40 minutes. If you want soft pillowy bread, do 320 for 30 minutes, then 300 for 15 minutes.
Allow your bread to cool if you can, and then enjoy! :D
Here is a picture of the bread I made using this "technique" and recipe last night. Yes, one pan is larger, that always happens to me...lol.
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| My Homemade Newfoundland White Bread |
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