The Iowa Housewife: Family Favorites...Sage Bread

This bread recipe won a blue ribbon at the huge Clay County Fair in Spencer, Iowa for Janice Nostrom of Humbolt. I can see why – it smells heavenly while baking and needs nothing more than butter to be delicious. It was great with a pasta salad, for sandwiches or simply toasted.

I made this recipe with my mixer and instant yeast. Check out our mixer bread information HERE. Remember, you can also make this recipe by hand too, the way I did for years.

Sage Bread

1 Cup Warm Water -- 120°-125°

3 1/3 Cups Flour, All-purpose -- 14 3/4 ounces

1/4 Cup Dry Milk

1 1/2 Teaspoons Instant Yeast

1 Tablespoon Sugar

1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar

1 Teaspoon Salt

2 Tablespoons Cornmeal

4 1/2 Teaspoons Dried Onion Flakes

1 1/2 Teaspoons Celery Seed

3/4 Teaspoon Poultry Seasoning

1/2 Teaspoon Sage

1/2 Teaspoon Black Pepper

2 1/2 Tablespoons Butter -- softened

In large mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients except 1 cup flour.

Add water slowly while mixing with paddle attachment at low speed; add remaining flour until dough leaves sides of bowl. Beat at medium-low speed for 2 minutes. Change to dough hook and knead for 6 minutes, or turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead for 7-8 minutes.

Cover and let rest in a warm place 10 minutes. Shape into a loaf and let rise in well-greased pan, in warm place, covered, until nearly doubled, about 25-30 minutes. (I used a 4 x 12" pan, a 4 1/2 x 8 1/2 or a 9 x 5" pan would also work.)

Or shape into 2 balls and let rise on a greased baking sheet.

Bake at 350° for 25 minutes for 2 round loaves, or 30 minutes for a single large loaf, or until bread reaches 190° - 200° with an instant-read thermometer. Cool on a wire rack; brush with softened butter if desired.

**If you don’t use instant or quick rise yeast, let the dough rise 45 minutes the first time.

"America's Hometown Recipe Book"

3 comments:

SueMay 19, 2017 at 9:06 PM
I can never resist a new bread recipe, and this one was worth the try. The aroma while it bakes is fantastic--it made me think of a rich soup, for some reason. It was deliciously dense and chewy warm from the oven and from the toaster. I think it would make amazing croutons! It doubled nicely on 2nd rise. I didn't get much oven spring using the bigger 9 x 5 pan, but the texture was very even, so I was satisfied I did a good job. My family pounced on it as usual, and delivered the opinion, mouths stuffed full of bread & butter, that it was very good but not as wonderful as your Honey Oatmeal bread, their #1 favorite.

I am still learning the ins and outs of instant yeast. I recently bought a 1-lb bag (plus a cute little 2-1/4 measuring spoon) to save money and to eliminate the "proofing" step. But the stuff never reacts the way I expect it to. For example, this loaf had NO expansion whatsoever during the 10 minute rest (it did make me wonder if something was wrong with the yeast). Yet when I make the Honey Oatmeal bread, it balloons during the 10-minute rest, and just keeps going. It's so vigorous it seems to grow while you watch it! So why the difference? I have NO idea! But that's the fun of baking bread--the results have always been yummy, if not picture perfect! :^) So much to learn!

Thanks for another great recipe! Sue
AnonymousMay 9, 2023 at 9:22 AM
This is my mom's recipe and it is really good for grilled turkey & swiss cheese sandwiches. We always made it around Thanksgiving time to eat with leftover turkey. Glad you are enjoying it. My mom would be very pleased that you have posted it!