Grandma Decker's White Bread

Recipe from Juliana Wallace

1 qt water
4 Tbsp shortening
5 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp yeast
1/2 C powdered milk
1 tsp ginger
1 1/2 tsp salt
10 to 12 C white flour
2 Tbsp dough enhancer
(I use instant potato flakes)

Heat water about 5 minutes in the microwave. Add sugar, salt, ginger and shortening to water and cool.

Mix six cups of flour, the yeast, powdered milk, and dough enhancer in mixer or with a wooden spoon, by hand. Add water mixture to the flour. Continue adding flour until dough pulls away clean from the sides of the bowl.

(My aunt, who passed the recipe to me, doesn’t knead her bread or even give it a first rising. I knead for 5 to 8 minutes, and sometimes I let it rise in the bowl for an hour before punching down and shaping into loaves.)

Form the dough into loaves according to the size of the pan. Place the dough into greased loaf pans and let rise until the dough is an inch or so above the edge of the pan.

Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 325 degrees and continue baking for another 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and butter the tops of the bread (if desired). Remove from the pans and cool on a wire rack. (Recipe passed down to me through several generations.)