Source:

Karen "Sissy" Wommack

Serves/Makes:3 4 1/2 x 8 1/2 loaves

Ingredients

• Sourdough Starter:
• 1 cup (225 ml) warm water
• 1 envelope Active Dry Yeast
• 4 Tbsp (60 ml). potato flakes
• 3/4 cup (175 ml) sugar
• Sourdough Bread:
• 6 cups (1425 ml) bread flour
• 1/2 to 1 Tbsp (15 ml). salt
• 1/2 cup (125 ml) sugar
• 1 package Active Dry Yeast
• 1/2 cup (125 ml) vegetable oil
• 1 cup (225 ml) sourdough starter
• 1-1/2 cups (350 ml) warm water

Preparation

• Preparation of the Starter:
• Put all the ingredients into a glass quart jar, and stir it up with a wooden spoon.
• Cover loosely and leave at room temperature for 24 hours.
• Then put the lid on the jar and put in the refrigerator for at least 5 days.
• Feeding the Starter:
• After the 5 days, remove the starter from the refrigerator and add to it 1/2 cup (125 ml) sugar, 3 tbsp (45 ml) potato flakes and 1 cup (225 ml) warm water.
• Stir with wooden spoon slightly.
• Leave this out on the kitchen counter, loosely covered, for 24 hours.
• Then make the bread or give a cup of it away.
• After you have used or given away the cup of sourdough starter, put the remainder of the starter back into the refrigerator for at least 5 days and then feed it as above, leave out on counter for 24 hours then use a cup of it to make bread or give a cup of it away.
• Put the remainder back in the refrigerator and the cycle starts again.
• Making the Bread:
• In a large mixing bowl, mix the flour, salt, sugar, and yeast together.
• Add the oil, starter and water and mix well.
• If the mixture is too sticky then add a little more flour until it holds together.
• Then either use your mixer with the kneading hook attachment on it and knead this for about 4 minutes on medium speed, or put flour on a solid surface and hand knead it for 5 to 10 minutes.
• Oil a large mixing bowl and put the mixture in it.
• Turn the dough over to oil the other side.
• Cover the bowl loosely with a warm damp rag and either put in a very warm place or if you are fortunate enough to have an oven that has a BREAD PROOF Setting on it (the oven Bread Proof Setting is 100 degrees (40 C.). (My Friend Ginny, turns her oven on Preheat to the lowest setting her oven has for 1 minute then turns the oven off and then puts her dough in the turned off oven. Some people put a cup of water in the microwave to get it hot then put the dough in the oven with the hot water, shut the oven door and let the dough rise in the warm turned off oven.
• After the dough has doubled in size, which takes at least 2 hours depending on its warmth, take out and put on a lightly floured surface and knead for about 2 to 3 minutes.
• oil three 4 1/2 X 8 1/2 inch loaf pans and divide the dough into them equally.
• Cover the loaves loosely and put in a warm place, as before, and let them double again in size. It usually doesn't take as long this time as it did the first time.
• When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees (175 C.).
• Place the pans on the lower middle rack and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the bread is the color that you want it to be.
• Take the pans out of the oven and set them on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes.
• Take a knife and loosen the edges of each loaf and turn them out onto a cooling rack and turn them right side up to finish cooling.
• Put cooled loaves in air tight bags to store.
• To make Cinnamon Rolls:
• After the last kneading and rising, roll the entire ball of dough into a large rectangular shape about 1/2 inch thick.
• Sprinkle powdered sugar and cinnamon on top of the dough to within 1/2 to 1 inch of the sides of the dough.
• This is also the time if you want to add nuts or raisins to the cinnamon rolls if you want to do so.
• roll the dough up jelly roll fashion, starting at the narrowist end.
• Cut the roll into about 1/2 inch wide slices and lay them on an oiled cookie sheet.
• Cover loosely and put in a warm place to double in size. Bake at 350 degrees (175 C.) until lightly brown.
• Take out and cool on a rack.
• Frost with cream cheese icing or just regular powdered sugar frosting. (See index for recipes.)
• Notes:
• I use King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour or if making whole wheat bread, I use the King Arthur Premium Whole Wheat Flour, or you can use 1/2 and 1/2.
• When I make whole wheat bread I use brown sugar instead of white sugar.
• I find that using just 1/2 tbsp (7 ml) of salt helps the yeast to rise better. Salt is a yeast retardant so the more salt you use the less active the yeast will be.
• My friend has left her starter in the refrigerator unfed for more than a month at a time and it has always been good. Smell it to make sure it's o.k. and make sure it is not turning black. If it does not smell good or has started to turn black, pour it out and start over.
• Experiment with the dough, make it a spicy, add herbs, use olive oil instead of vegetable oil. Play with it.

Comments

My friend Ginny Reed loves to bake as I do. She called me one day and said she had me a loaf of homemade bread, and I went immediately and retrived it from her. I ate a hunk of it on the way home, just by pinching it off from the bag she had given it to me in. It was GOOOOOD! So of course I had to have the Recipe and of course I had to tweak it to suit me. Ginny if married to a retired judge, David, that loves to fish and barbecue, he is a member of the Famous "Buzzard Brothers" Barbecue Group. Barbecue is a big thing in our area. We are known for it. The best in the world is cooked right here in Western Kentucky. Ginny likes to cook and go to Florida to her condo. Life is tough, but somebody has to do it. ha.

Think of Ginny and me with you bake and eat this!

Enjoy!!