Favorite White Bread -- New and Improved!

I was thinking about bread the other night (in the middle of the night, of course -- why is that?) and remembered when I was first married.  I didn't know how to boil water, as they say, but learned how and even started making my own bread.  This was before bread machines, so it was all by hand.  My husband loved the bread and told me that we'd be married forever as long as I kept making homemade bread.  And, so far, so good!  Actually, once you start eating homemade bread, it's hard to go back to store bought, although artisanal bread from small, local companies is great, albeit expensive.  Anyway, one of my favorite white bread recipes back then had cooked potatoes in it.  So I started wondering if some potato flakes added to the Favorite White Bread recipe would be good.  I tried it, and it is!!  They add more flavor and improve the moisture and texture of the bread.  Plus I made a couple of other small changes to make the recipe more bread machine friendly. 

And then, remember my friend Geri with the 10 kids who feeds her whole family gluten free and who gave me the Favorite White Bread recipe?  (See March 10 post)   I got an email from her the other day, and she has started a blog too!  In fact, we started them the same week -- what are the chances?  I checked out her blog, discovered she had posted her Favorite White Bread recipe on it, compared it to my March 10 post and guess what?  She's been tweakin' !  (It's OK, we all do it :)  Yep, that recipe is a little different than the one I got over a year ago!  So here is the new and improved Favorite White Bread recipe, with Geri's tweaks and my tweaks all rolled into one.  I hope you'll try it -- it really is new and improved.

Favorite White Bread - New and Improved 
1-1/2 Cups warm water
1/4 Cup oil
3 eggs
1 tsp vinegar
1-1/2 tsp salt

Beat together and put in bread machine pan.

3 Cups basic Gluten-Free Flour Mix (see Mar 6 post for mix recipe)
1/2 Cup cornstarch or tapioca flour
1/3 Cup potato flakes
1/4 Cup sugar
1 Tbsp xanthan gum

Mix together and put on top of liquid in pan.  Make well in flour mixture and put in well:

2-1/2 tsp yeast  (see picture in Mar 10 post if this doesn't make sense)

Choose crust color (I like medium) and loaf size (2 lb) and start machine.  During first kneading, add more GF flour mix gradually, if needed, until desired consistency is reached.  Use rubber spatula to scrape down sides of pan during first mixing.

Geri uses a Bosch bread mixer and then transfers the dough into her own pans and bakes it in her oven, rather than using a bread machine.  If you'd like to see her directions on how to do that, as well as a variation of the recipe using Agave sweetener rather than sugar, and her cute blog, please visit http://lovinlivinhealthy.blogspot.com/.  Go Geri!