Erma’s Homemade Bread
A New Recipe
There is nothing like the aroma of homemade bread, fresh out of the oven! I enjoy making bread, and I enjoy trying new recipes. This recipe makes a soft slice of bread – probably because it has milk as one of the ingredients.
The story behind the recipe
I begged this recipe off my niece who got it from her twin sister (also my niece, of course). Beth got the recipe from her mother-in-law Erma, who lives in South Carolina. Erma got the recipe from her husband’s grandmother Katie Raber. Katie lived in Ohio, and she was Amish. This recipe has been passed down over generations and has crossed state lines. It’s now being made by Katie’s great-granddaughter-in-law who also lives in South Carolina. Katie’s great, great grandchildren are now enjoying this recipe!
A softer dough
The main difference in this recipe from other bread recipes I’ve used is the one ingredient: milk.
You’ll need to let the dough rise and punch it down at least once or twice. Then put it into pans and let it rise in the pans. You can prick the loaves with a fork; it helps allow air to escape so there aren’t pockets that pop up.
The recipe calls for wheat and white flour. You can increase or decrease the amount of wheat flour. Or, you can use just white flour, which is what I did when I made these loaves.
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The Recipe
Bread
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 3 cups water
- 9 Tablespoons sugar
- 3 Tablespoons salt
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 5 Tablespoons yeast
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 4 cups wheat bread flour
- 10 cups white bread flour
Instructions
- Heat milk and water (3 cups) until bubbles appear around sides
- Add sugar, salt, and vegetable oil
- Mix warm water, sugar, and yeast together
- When milk is lukewarm, add yeast mixture
- Add 4 cup wheat flour
- Gradually add 10 cups white flour
- Mix and knead well
- Put dough into a greased bowl and cover, allowing it to rise
- Punch down at least once more and let it rise
- Divide dough into 5 or 6 loaves and put into greased bread pans
- Punch through loaves
- Let rise again
- Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until done