Grandma's Bread

Grandma was a fiddler

I've said it before--Grandma liked to fiddle with her recipes. Sometimes, she fiddled so much, they ceased being the recipe of the person who gave them to her and became hers alone. This bread must have been one of those. See the word "mine" at the top of the card? 

Since this recipe was "hers," you can probably imagine what Grandma added. If you guessed apples, you would be correct, but this time, the apples went in as applesauce. There was one other ingredient I'd never seen in a bread recipe before--vinegar. I wasn't sure if adding vinegar was Grandma's idea or someone else's and I had no idea why it would have been added to the bread. So, I asked Google and found this post, which said that, among other things, vinegar helps it stay soft and last longer. 

Who knew?  

I was interested to test it out. 

How to make Grandma's Bread

First, I scalded the milk, which meant heating it on the stove until small bubbles appeared at the edges and a sort of skim began to form on the surface. The temperature read 170 degrees.    

While the milk scalded, I added the yeast to 3/4 of a cup of water. Because I was using granulated yeast, I could have added it directly to the dough as it was mixing, but I decided to test out the original method with today's yeast and see if it worked. 

Another thing I did while the milk was heating was to add the shortening, sugar, salt, and honey to the bowl of my Bosch mixer. Speaking of shortening, I wasn't sure how to achieve "rounded" tablespoons, so I used 1/4 cup and called it good.    

I poured the hot milk over these ingredients and let them sit until the milk had cooled to lukewarm. 

Next, I added the three cups of whole wheat flour to the mixer along with a cup of the white flour. I mixed that together then added the softened yeast.  

The applesauce and vinegar went in next. After that, I slowly added the rest of the flour until the dough pulled away from the sides. I stopped the mixer and tested the dough to see if it had enough flour by pressing (a clean) finger to it. In principle, it should feel sticky but not stick to your finger. Mine came away gooey, so I knew it needed more.  

When I was sure the dough had enough flour, I put the lid on the mixer and let it knead for ten minutes. (This could also be done by hand if you don't have anything as cool as a Bosch). After that, I oiled my large Thatsa Bowl. (These aren't affiliate links. I just really like these things.) I plopped the dough into the bowl and formed it into a ball. It felt smooth and pliable, but it did smell of vinegar, which was concerning.   

The instructions were vague about rising time, but that wasn't my first time making old-fashioned bread. Normally, I use my mom's recipe, which she lets rise for one hour followed by another rise of thirty minutes. I figured those rising times would work for this recipe as well. Sure enough, after an hour, the dough had doubled in size. 

After the second rise, I weighed the dough and then portioned it out into four equal chunks.   

To form the loaves, I flattened each portion of dough into a rough rectangle, pushing out as many of the air bubbles as I could. 

I then rolled the dough into a loaf shape. 

I pinched the seams, evened up the loaves, then plopped them into greased 9 x 5-inch loaf pans. In the recipe, Grandma said to use four or five pans, but my loaves barely filled four. You can see them here after they rose in the pans for an hour.  

Grandma might have used 8-inch pans for five loaves, so if you want smaller loaves and more of them, try that. I baked these at 400 degrees for 10 minutes then turned the oven to 325 and baked them for an additional 33 minutes. As you can see, they came out a lovely golden brown. 

We couldn't resist warm bread, so we cut into a loaf to eat with our meal that night. It sliced up well. 

The Verdict

I spread my slice with butter and jam. It looked pretty and tasted just as nice--fluffy, tender, and moist. I couldn't detect any vinegar, so that was good, or any applesauce for that matter. 

The next day we tried the bread as French Toast. 

It was yummy.  

It's important to note that this recipe isn't a fast one--there's the scalding time, the cooling time, and the rising time to take into account. So, if you're looking for a quick loaf of bread, this isn't it. Good things often take time, and this bread is one of those good things. Don't take my word for it--ask my picky grandson who finished off a whole loaf in the form of cheese bread. He said it makes the "best cheese bread ever." 

Try it, I think you'll agree.