Sheepherder's Bread

A cold winter or autumn day is never quite complete without some homemade bread waiting for you at the end of the day. I had several days in grade school when I would come home and my mother would have made several loaves of homemade bread just waiting to be consumed! There are certain types of bread that just really make great snacks, and this recipe is just one of those recipes! Learn how to make sheepherder's bread and you will never disappoint family and friends on that chilly November afternoon.

Here are the ingredients that you will need:

• 3 cups of very hot water
• 1/2 cup of butter (1 stick of butter)
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 2-1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 2 packages of yeast
• Around 9-1/2 cups of flour

In a Bosch mixer or a KitchenAid mixer, combine the water, the butter, the sugar, and the salt. Mix it until the butter melts. You don't need to proof the yeast in this recipe: add the yeast to the mixture in the Bosch, set the Bosch in a warm place, and let it sit for about fifteen minutes. The mixture should be bubbly—this is the yeast reacting and starting to rise. Add about five cups of flour to the mixture and beat it to form stiff batter. Add enough of the remaining flour to form a stiff dough. You don't want to add too much flour, or else the dough will be too dry, and you don't want to add not enough flour, or else the dough will be too sticky.

Once the dough is finished, knead with dough hooks for about five minutes. If you are making the bread with whole wheat flour, then knead the dough for a longer amount of time. Place the dough in a greased Tupperware bowl to let is rise. You can grease the bowl by spraying Pam in it. Let the dough rise for fifty minutes (that is for a high altitude).

Punch the dough down and let it rise for another twenty minutes. After it is done rising this second time, punch the dough down again and form it into balls. Place the dough in a greased round, lidded casserole dish (about three medium to small dishes) or in a large Dutch oven for one really large loaf.

Let the dough rise in the casserole dishes for another twenty minutes or so. Bake the dough in an oven preheated to 375 degrees for twelve minutes with the lids on. After the initial twenty minutes, take the lids off and bake them for another twenty to thirty minutes.

Now that your bread loaves are finished, you are ready to enjoy them! Have a great time enjoying the warmth of the bread and the coziness of your house—this is the best bread for a chilly day!