Basic Bread and French Toast Sticks

My local bakery thrift store closed on Wednesday. It saddens me for a few reasons and even makes me angry to see the employees I have known for many years lose their jobs a few weeks before Christmas and the day before Thanksgiving.

I'm digging out some bread recipes to try to keep my budget from being totally destroyed. Here's a couple basics that are tried and true in my house.


White Sandwich Bread

3 cups AP flour
2 Tsp active dry yeast
2 Tb sugar
pinch salt
2 Tb butter
1 1/4 hot water


Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the hot water and let sit while you get the rest together.
Put flour and salt into large mixing bowl. Add butter, which you have cut into little pieces. Dump in the yeast mixture. Stir until a dough forms.

Sprinkle some flour on a counter or table top. Knead the bread dough until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. On humid days I find the dough a little sticky, just knead in a bit more flour until its workable.

Shape into your preferred loaf shape and place in a pan( I make a traditional egg shape and put on a flat 1/4 sheet pan).You can use a standard loaf pan if you prefer.

Let rise until doubled.  Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes for a nice crusty outside.

Let cool on a cooling rack before slicing or you will have a mess. I use an electric knife for easy even slices.
Makes 1 standard sandwich loaf, about 1 1/2 lb

Note: for electric breadmakers put your ingredients in your maker in the order specified by the manufacturer. For my maker its the water mixture followed by the flour and salt topped with the butter.


French Toast

3 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
pinch cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
6 slices slightly stale bread
optional: maple syrup, jelly, whipped cream and berries

Whisk together all ingredients but the bread and optional ingredients.  I cut my bread pieces into thirds to make french toast sticks for the kids. Soak bread in the milk mixture for a few minutes while your griddle or frying pan heats up. I put the bread in a ziptop bag and pour the egg  mixture over it. Close the bag and let it sit on the counter. Turn it over after a minute or two.

I use a pat of butter or a dollop of canola oil to grease my pan which I have heated to medium high. Fry your bread slices until nice and golden on both sides.

I heat up a bit of strawberry jam on the stove until its melted then use that for syrup usually. Maple syrup is awesome also, though very pricey here. Be creative!