Danish Country Crust Bread

Last week, I said I would post the recipe for Country Crust Bread. So, Here it is. Sorry about the delay.

Before I start, this is how I now make the bread using my KitchenAid. There will be notes on hand mixing. Hand mixed bread is much denser, .

Ingredients:
2 cups warm/hot water
1/2 cup sugar (I sometimes replace the sugar with honey)
1-2 Tbsp honey
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup oil
2 eggs
2 Tbsp or 2 packages of dry yeast
6 1/2 to 7 1/2 cups flour (I usually use unbleached but a half and half blend of Hungarian Whole wheat and Unbleached flours works well).

The recipe makes two loaves of bread.

Mix water, sugar, honey, salt, oil, and eggs on speed 6 or so until eggs are well beaten (1). Add yeast and mix. And 3 cups of flour and mix at speed 2 with the dough hook until smooth. Slowly add the rest of the flour and continue to mix on speed 2 until dough pulls away from the bowl. Cover and let the dough rise (about 45 minutes, when the dough has doubled in size).

Knead the dough for 2 minutes at speed 2 with the dough hook (2). Divide the dough in half, and roll the ends of each half under. Then place each loaf in a greased bread pan. Bake at 375F for 35 minutes.

The Country Crust Bread is great for French Toast, ham and cheese sandwiches, or eating with butter and apricot preserves. The heels are the most delicious to with preserves or eat plain.

Hand Making Notes:
(1) Beat the eggs prior to mixing with the rest of the ingredients.
(2) Hand mixing and kneading requires a lot of effort and time. Expect to knead the dough by hand for at least 5 minutes and as noted earlier, the bread will be dense, not light and fluffy.