Soft Sandwich Bread

This soft sandwich bread is perfect for back to school lunch box sandwiches. 

It's "back to school" time, which means it's also time to plan for packing lunches for your kids. How cool would it be to make those sandwiches with homemade bread!

We live very close to our grandsons, and have managed to sneakily insert ourselves into their lives by offering to help with making lunches, driving them to school, and taking care of the oldest one after school. The burden actually falls mostly on Mr. Kitchen, which is why it is so easy for me to volunteer.

At least I bake the bread!

This bread is enriched with milk, some butter, and a bit of sugar. I make the dough, and then immediately place it in the refrigerator overnight to develop flavor. You can actually make the dough up to four days ahead of baking the bread. How perfect is that for busy (grand) parents?

This bread is perfect for peanut butter and jelly or ham and cheese. My youngest grandson, who is kind of picky about his sandwiches, actually likes us to make grilled cheese, wrap it in foil, and stick it in his lunch box. this bread is perfect for that.

Pack a sandwich, some veggies, a dessert, and some fruit (and okay, for my oldest grandson, some chips).

Speaking of school lunches, I received a shipment of these Dole Mixations to test out, and they were a big hit. It's a new product from Dole that combines fruit sauce with chunks of fruit. They are kind of cool, because you can write notes to your kids on the lids sending all kinds of luuurve to school. They give you this little canvas where you can draw messages and pictures. Pretty neat, right? (Disclosure: I received the product, but was not compensated for the post. All opinions are mine.) P.S. My adult children actually were even bigger fans.

This is a very versatile dough, and can be used for making dinner rolls of any shape and size such as hamburger or hot dog buns, and knotted rolls. I have also used the dough for these Butterflake Rolls.

Soft Sandwich Bread

Ingredients

• 9 grams (1 tablespoon) instant yeast
• 425 grams (1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons) lukewarm milk (approximately 95 degrees F)
• 794 grams (6 1/4 cups) unbleached bread flour
• 14 grams (2 teaspoons) salt
• 78 grams (5 1/2 tablespoons) sugar
• 85 grams (6 tablespoons melted unsalted butter)
• 1 large egg

Instructions

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the yeast and milk, and let sit for a couple of minutes.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients, and mix with a dough whisk or large spoon to create a shaggy mass of dough.
3. Knead in the stand mixer with the dough hook on medium low for about 5 minutes. You can also knead by hand. The final dough should be tacky but not sticky.
4. Knead the final dough for one minute and form it into a ball.
5. Place the dough into an oiled container, cover, and refrigerate for 12 to 48 hours. If you want to bake the dough in batches, divide it before refrigerating.
6. On baking day, spray two 8 inch by 4 1/4 inch loaf pans with spray oil.
7. Shape the dough into loaves, place them in the pans, and cover with oiled plastic wrap. Let the dough rise for about 2 1/2 hours, until it has risen about 1 inch above the rim of the pan. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
8. Bake the loaves for 40 to 50 minutes, rotating halfway through. The internal temperature should reach about 185 degrees F.
9. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Yield: 2 loaves

Recipe adapted from Artisan Breads Every Day from Peter Reinhart. Published in 2009, this is one of my favorite bread books and will make every beginner feel like a pro.