Homemade White Bread

When I think of Newfoundland baking, the first thing that comes to mind is homemade bread rising high above large breadpans in 2 or 3 bun loaves. As a child of the 60's and 70's in Newfoundland, it was still the rule rather than the exception to find homemade bread in many homes. The women in my extended family all still made homemade bread during my childhood but with freezers in most homes by that point, daily bread baking was no longer necessary but many still baked once or twice a week. Debates within the family were common on the topic of who made the best bread and a good deal of pride was taken in the ability to turn out a good batch. (psst...I always liked my moms twin sister, Aunt Moo's (Muriel), the best. ;) )

Some senior ladies with large families of 10 or more children have told me numerous stories over the years of baking large batches of 8, 10, 12 or more loaves every day and twice on Saturdays so as to avoid baking on a Sunday. It was hard work back then keeping all of those kids fed. I don't think most would be up to the task these days.

The loaves seemed much larger in those days and not just because I was much smaller; I've seen some pretty big breadpans used in my time. I remember it was necessary to trim the side off a slice of Nan Morgan's bread just to get it in her drop down side toaster; the kind that only toasted on one side and you had to turn the slice over to toast the other side. Coming from a large family myself, the second side was almost never toasted because it would have taken too long to make toast for all of our tribe. I must have been about 10 before I had bread toasted on both sides. LOL!

My wife tells me that her grandmother would attach clothespins to the ends of her breadpans to help her bread rise as high as possible without collapsing before baking. She remembers homemade bread with the marks of the clothespins still in the heels of the loaves when baked. Such memories, I know, are part of our mutual collective cultural experience as Newfoundlanders.

It is now much more of a rarity to find families who bake bread on a regular basis. I have tried to keep that tradition as part of my own family life and have been baking bread with my own children since they have been able to stand on chairs at the table and knead their own little balls of dough. They still love making it and my son in particular cannot go more than a few days without his fix of homemade bread and although we try to encourage more whole grain varieties these days, he'd still take plain homemade white bread over any other kind.

These days we make much smaller batches in much smaller breadpans, usually no more than a couple of loaves at a time. I now prefer to use disposable aluminium loaf pans that make more toaster friendly sized slices. I find it much less likely to over bake your bread in aluminum pans as they do not carry the heat as much as heavier pans.

I received an email request for a good basic homemade bread recipe from a young Newfoundlander living in Alberta who wanted a recipe for "real Newfoundland Homemade bread." I don't know that such a thing definitively exists but I can give you the recipe that I have been using myself with slight evolutions for over 30 years. So go make bread and share it. You're bound to make someone happy.

White Bread
(Makes 2 medium sized loaves)

5 cups flour
1 pkg (5 grams) instant yeast
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp melted butter
2 cups warm milk

Combine 3 cups of the flour along with the sugar, instant yeast and salt in a large bowl or in the bowl of a large electric mixer that uses a dough hook. Add the melted butter and warm milk. Using a wooden spoon or the regular paddle of your electric mixer beat for 4-5 minutes until the mixture is smooth with no lumps. If using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook at this point and begin to slowly incorporate the remaining 2 cups of flour. If not using an electric mixer keep mixing in the flour gradually until a soft dough forms that leaves the sides of the bowl. Turn the dough out onto the countertop or bread board to knead. You may need to use a little less or a little more flour, this is not uncommon. Knead the dough for an additional 10 minutes either in the electric mixer or on a bread board or countertop.
Cover dough and leave to rest and rise for one hour. Punch the dough down and knead it for a few minutes by hand before letting it rest for another 10 minutes.
Grease 2 medium loaf pans. Divide the dough into 4 equal portions, forming each division into a ball. Place 2 balls of dough in each loaf pan. Cover with a clean tea towel and allow the dough to rise until it is about 2 inches above the rim of the pan, about 2 hours depending on room temperature. Bake at 375 degrees F for 30-40 minutes depending on the size of the pans that you are using.
When baked, turn loaves out onto a wire rack to cool. Brush the tops with melted butter if desired to soften the top crust.