Sunday, June 12, 2011

Wonderbread White Bread Copycat



Fluffy, super-soft and slightly sweet. This Wonderbread clone is perfect for grilled cheese sandwiches or toasted with butter and jam.



It must be a nostalgia thing, but every now and I again I love a slice of white Wonderbread despite all the wonderful artisnal breads I have been exposed to and the fancy breads I have baked in my own kitchen.

Wonderbread White Bread Clone
Makes 1 loaf

2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
1 tablespoon white sugar
3 tbsp melted cooled butter
4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup instant potato flakes
1/4 cup powdered milk
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons butter for brushing the top

1. Whisk together the yeast, 1/4 cup warm water and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment. Allow to sit for 15 mins. Stir in melted butter.

2. In a separate bowl combine the flour, potato flakes, powdered milk, salt and 1/4 cup sugar. Add this mixture to the yeast mixture using dough hook. Add more flour if needed. Dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom. Try not to add too much flour.

3. Knead dough by hand a few times and place in greased bowl, covered, to rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size. After rising, gently deflate and turn out onto a floured surface to knead and shape into a loaf (roll it out into a rectangle and roll it up starting at the short end). Place the roll in a buttered 9x5 inch loaf pan. Cover loosely with a tea towel and let rise until approximately 1-2" above the rim of the pan, 30-40 mins. Brush top with melted butter.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 15 mins before rising is complete. Bake for 30-45 minutes or until thermometer reads 190.

4 comments:

Betty @ scrambled henfruit said...

The first tomato sandwich of the season (and I mean the first one made with real home grown tomatoes) absolutely must be made on fluffy, soft white bread. This looks like it would fit the bill nicely! :)

cocoa and coconut said...

Nothing better than perfect white bread!!

Unknown said...

Yum...I usually try to make whole wheat bread, but for grilled cheese and toast, you just can't beat a nice, fluffy slice of white bread. I can't wait to try this recipe.

Funny, my grandfather grew up eating hearth-baked Italian bread, but the minute he tried Wonder Bread he was hooked! He loved the stuff.

Anonymous said...

So, I live at a high altitude in Colorado and I've been making bread for a little over a year now. It is not an easy task here, to put it mildly. I have been searching my cookbooks and the web and tried every soft bread recipe I could find.

I'm done searching. Let me tell you how amazing this bread is. It's soft, be careful when you grip it to slice. It's got fantastic flavor, be careful, you'll finish the loaf in a day.

Now, I've added a trick or two... A couple tablespoons of wheat gluten and I substituted 1 cup warm milk for 1 cup of the warm water. (I used the half cup of warm water to activate the yeast.)

Because I live in a high altitude, I let my doughs do a double rise, so that the yeast has time to incorporate more flavor. Just punch it down after the first rise and set it right back up to rise again-for about the same time too!

The last few things I did differently started while the dough was in its loaf pan rising just prior to baking: I poured a bit of milk on the loaf in the pan, just to moisten it. It pooled slightly in the pan. I immediately put in in the oven, and 30 minutes later it was ready.

I then removed the loaf from its pan and placed it on a cooling rack. I took a tablespoon of butter and rubbed it all over the loaf. I let it cool for as long as I could (10 min) and then devoured half the loaf.

That's it. And it's amazing. I love it. Thank you for posting this recipe, it really is delish!