Big batch bread mix

I don't buy bread any more.  I know that sounds all hippie-pinko-commie (as my husband likes to say), and most people don't go quite this far in their preference for home-cooked food, but the primary purposes of this blog are actually a) my own entertainment and b) my personal reference source for stuff I've done that I write down somewhere but can't always remember where.  So this is more for my benefit than yours, but feel free to give it a whirl ;-)

I use this King Arthur Flour 13x4x4 pain de mie pan for sandwich bread, which is what "1 loaf" is for me (this recipe is also an adapted, scaled-up, prep-ahead version of the KAF recipe).  If you're using regular baking pans, I'd guess that a 9x5 pan will be a little small for the amount made by 1 portion of this recipe, so you could reduce the amount of mix and wet ingredients by around 75%.  I'd try baking it for about the same amount of time, though I've never done this so that's just an educated guess, not a final recommendation. 

If you want to do this in a bread machine, a 2 lb. loaf will take 4 cups of dry ingredients and a 1.5 lb. loaf will take 3 cups of dry ingredients.  Scale the wet ingredients back proportionately. 


Big Batch Sandwich Bread Mix
Makes enough for 4 loaves

5 lbs. flour (about 19 cups), bread or whole wheat, or a combination
1 3/4 cups dry milk powder
3/4 cup potato flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp salt
3 tbsp active dry yeast (4 packets)

Combine all dry ingredients thoroughly.  Store in a container with a tight lid in the pantry.

Pain de mie
Makes 1 13x4x4 loaf

5 1/2 cups sandwich bread mix
1 2/3 cup warm water
6 tbsp olive oil, canola oil or softened butter

Mix ingredients together in a mixer or bread machine.  If using a bread machine, set to "dough" setting.  If mixing by hand, knead for 10 minutes once ingredients are combined.  Let rise 1 hour. 

Punch down dough, and press into a greased loaf pan.  Allow to rise 1 hour, or until bread is just below rim of pain de mie pan.  Put lid on pain de mie pan.  Preheat oven to 350F.  Bake with lid on 25 minutes, remove lid carefully and continue baking an additional 20 minutes.  Turn out immediately.  Pin It