Sweet Country Fair Egg Bread

This bread recipe is so simple.  It uses basic ingredients and it is practically fool-proof.  It is a rich bread dough that is more like sweet bread than a dinner sandwich bread.  

You'll enjoy eating it on its own, or with butter and jelly or jam spread over the top of the slices. Or sprinkle some cinnamon sugar over the top for a delicious treat!

Ingredients

1 /2 c butter
2 tsp salt
1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 scalded milk
2 pkg. yeast
1/2 c. hot tap water 110 to 115°
2 eggs
9 c. flour
softened butter

Directions

Set oven to 400°.  Grease three 8-inch loaf pans

Combine butter, salt, and sugar in a large mixing bowl.

Stir in scalded milk.  Let stand until the mixture is cooled to lukewarm.  

Meanwhile, combine hot tap water, yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar together. Let stand for about 10 minutes to activate the yeast and make sure it is active. Pour this into the lukewarm milk mixture.

Beat in eggs.

Add 3-cups of flour.  Beat the mixture with a wooden spoon until it is a smooth, and has a sponge-like consistency.

Continue to mix in more flour until it gets too hard to stir. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface.   Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, adding the rest of the flour. This takes about 7 to 10 minutes. The dough may require more flour or less flour, depending on the day and humidity levels. The dough should be slightly tacky, but not so much that it sticks to your hands or the kneading surface.

Place the dough into a greased bowl, turning once to cover all dough surfaces with a bit of grease. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap or a tea towel.  Set the bowl in a warm location and let rise for 90 minutes, or until doubled in bulk.

Punch the dough down. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 3 equal sized portions.  Shape each dough portion into a loaf and place into prepared pans.

Lightly spray the tops with cooking spray or rub some olive oil or softened butter over the tops to keep the dough from drying out. 

Place the bread pans in a warm location and allow the dough to rise again until doubled in bulk.

Bake at 400° for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350° and continue to bake the bread for another 40 minutes, or until done.

Remove the bread from the pans and cool on a wire rack.