Sandwich Bread

Adapted from Bread Toast Crumbs by Alexandra Stafford (Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed, 2017).

Makes one 1½-pound loaf

This book changed my kitchen life because I do not buy sandwich bread anymore. I bake the full recipe of Alexandra Stafford’s Peasant Bread in a 1½-pound loaf pan, two or three loaves at a time, and am never without it. It makes the most delicious toast and sandwiches, and from her blog, Alexandra Cooks, I have branched out to hamburger buns.

I will explain the method I use to put it all together. After you have done it once, it will make sense. But I recommend you get the book and go to her blog to get the information directly from the source.

512g all-purpose flour (I use King Arthur Organic)
10g salt (I use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt)
8g sugar
¼ teaspoon yeast (I use SAF instant)
454g warm water (340g cold water mixed with 114g boiling water)

Mix the dry ingredients together with a flat whisk in a large bowl. The bowl has to be large enough for the dough to rise. I use a Mason Cash Number 24 Cane Bowl.

Next, get the water ready. Bring water to a boil in a kettle and add some to a Pyrex measuring cup. Add cold tap water to another Pyrex measuring cup. In a third Pyrex measuring cup, mix 114g hot water and 340g cold water together.

Add the mixed water to the dry ingredients and stir it in with a Swedish whisk. After it is incorporated, take a regular dinner knife and stir it around with the blade until the whole mass feels elastic.

Once the dough is mixed together well, cover it with StretchTite and let it sit on the counter. It takes about an hour to rise to the top of the bowl.

Preheat the oven to 400°F, not convection.

While the dough is rising, butter a 1½-pound loaf pan. I use a Chicago Metallic pan. Alexandra Stafford likes USA Pans.

As soon as the dough has risen to the top of the bowl, remove the wrap before the dough touches it so it does not stick when you pull it off.

With a dough scraper, scrape the dough into the loaf pan and let it rise again. This will take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, depending on how warm the kitchen is. When the dough rises a little over the top of the pan, cut a line straight down the middle the long way using sharp kitchen shears.

Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven. I place it on a rack and then tip the loaf out. Then I put the naked loaf upside down back in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes.

Remove the loaf from the oven, put it on a rack, and let it sit overnight on the counter. In the morning, slice it with a bread knife — either a Victorinox or a Mercer — and put it in a plastic loaf bag. I get mine from King Arthur Flour.

The first day, I use it untoasted to make sandwiches — tuna salad in the winter, and tomato and mayonnaise in the summer. After that, I freeze it and toast the slices straight from the freezer.