Basic white bread

This recipe is stolen from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book. My version is older than the one linked here, but I'm sure the recipe is the same in the new one. Best cookbook ever. Buy it.

Anyway, on to the recipe. It's a very basic white bread recipe, great for beginners.

Ingredients:
5 3/4 to 6 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 package active dry yeast
2 1/4 cups milk or buttermilk
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon butter, margarine, or shortening
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1. In a large mixing bowl combine 2 1/2 cups of the flour and the yeast; set aside. In a medium saucepan heat and stir milk, sugar, butter, and salt just until warm (120F to 130F) and butter almost melts. Add milk mixture to flour mixture. Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed for 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl constantly. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.

2. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (6 to 8 minutes total). Shape dough into a ball. Place in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease surface of dough. Cover; let rise in a warm place until double in size (45 to 60 minutes). *Note from the sidebar in the cookbook: You can tell if the dough has doubled and is ready to shape by pressing two fingers 1/2 inch into the dough. Remove your fingers; if indentations remain, it is ready to punch down.

3. Punch down dough (push your fist into its center, then use your fingers to pull the dough edges to the center). Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Cover; let rest 10 minutes. Meanwhile, lightly grease two 8x4x2-inch loaf pans.

4. Shape dough halves into loaves by patting or rolling. To shape by patting, gently pat and pinch, tucking edges underneath. To shape by rolling, on a lightly floured surface roll each dough half into a 12x8-inch rectangle. Roll up each rectangle, starting from a short side. Seal seams with your fingertips.

5. Place shaped dough halves in prepared pans. Cover and let rise in a warm place until nearly double in size (30 to 40 minutes).

6. Bake in a 375 oven about 40 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when lightly tapped (if necessary, cover loosely with foil the last 10 minutes of baking to prevent overbrowning). Immediately remove bread from pans. Cool on wire racks.

*Amy's note: the bread can get too heavy and kind of dry if you use too much flour. When you're kneading the dough, add only enough flour so that the dough is slightly sticky -- not enough to come off and stick to your hands, but more like the stickiness of a Post-It note. If you need to make this dairy-free, you can use plain soymilk and vegan margarine, and it will turn out just fine.