Baking Bread (Tight Crumb Bread For DH)

You always hear people say baking bread is therapeutic. Hmmmm, I don't know about that. All I know is I love it when my bread is in the oven. It makes me feel like I'm achieving something, like I'm a real homemaker (which, by the way, I'm not!). I love it when my man comes in when the bread is in the oven, and says 'you're baking bread, I hope you're baking my kind of bread?'. See, his kind of bread is slightly different. It's the same basic recipe which I use to bake bread, it's only that he prefers a tighter crumb, almost like a cake crumb inside. My solution? When I'm baking for him, I use the quantity I would use for 2 loaves, and make 4 loaves out of it. And I don't let the dough rise too much during the second rise. So, if you prefer a looser crumb, this recipe makes 2 loaves, and let the dough rise well after shaping.

This recipe is from Penniless Parenting

Ingredients
1 oz instant yeast/ 2 packages/ 1.5 tbsp
2 cups warm water. (Test the water- it should be only slightly above lukewarm. Not too cold or the yeast wont rise, not too hot or you'll kill the yeast)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp salt
3 cups flour 1 egg (beaten)
1/2 cup oil
3 1/2 cups flour

Instructions

Mix yeast and 2 cups of warm water
Add sugar, salt, and 3 cups of flour. Mix well.
Add egg and oil, and mix together.
Add the rest of the flour. Mix in and then knead well till the dough is smooth.
Let rise in a warm place for an hour.
Shape the dough. Let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.
Bake at 350 until golden brown, approximately 40 minutes.