Sweet (Amish) White Bread

This recipe (slightly modified) comes from allrecipes.com (yah, my favourite site!). The bread is wonderful to eat alone. And the dough even doubles as a great one for making cinnamon buns (I'll have to post that recipe another time!). Enjoy!

Sweet (Amish) White Bread

• Preferment (mix together and set on counter covered, 2-16 hours ahead of time):
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/2 tsp active dry yeast yeast
• 1 tbsp white sugar
• 1 cup white flour
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 tsp active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 4-5 cups AP flour

1. In a large bowl, combine preferment and all other ingredients, except ONLY 3 1/2 cups of the flour, adding the flour 1 cup at a time. (Have the remaining flour ready to add if/when needed).
2. Mix together with wooden spoon or dough hook on KA mixer. Once combined, add enough extra flour to create a slightly tacky dough. Knead with hand or hook for 5 minutes.
3. Place dough in well oiled bowl and proof in microwave (see notes on this from step-by-step bread recipe).
4. After about an hour, dough will have doubled in size. Gently dump dough onto counter and divide into 2 equal portions. Lightly pat/stretch each portion to create a rectangle. Fold rectangle into thirds, as you would a letter.
5. Place folded dough into bread pans. Place back in microwave to proof, uncovered.
6. The second rise will take about 60-90 minutes for dough to rise above sides of pan. 30 minutes into 2nd proof, pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
7. Once dough is ready for the oven, bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes (or until golden brown and hollow sounding when tapped). If you'd like a softer crust, immediately brush bread with butter.
8. Allow bread to cool (even just slightly) on wire rack before slicing. ENJOY!