Sheepherder Bread

This is a recipe my uncle copied out of Sunset Magazine. It's really, really good. He makes it in a Dutch oven, but I asked my mom and she said you can do it in a regular dish, too. These are the amounts given for a 10" Dutch oven, which is a pretty standard size. So if you're gonna use a regular baking dish, just find something comparable. Or just mess around with the dough until you find something that fits.

3 cups water
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons yeast
9 1/2 cups flour (really!)

Combine water, melted butter (or use warm water to melt butter), sugar, and salt.

Cool water to slightly warm. Add yeast. Mix and let stand 15 minutes. Add 6 cups of flour and mix into a batter. Add the rest of the flour and knead for 10 minutes.

(My uncle says that with a good mixer, he just adds all the flour at once and kneads for 5 minutes.)

Let raise until double, usually about 1 1/2 hours. Punch down, knead to smooth ball.

Grease Dutch oven. Put aluminum foil circle in the bottom of the Dutch oven and grease it, too. Put dough in the oven, put the lid on. Let raise until it just barely lifts the lid (less than 1/2 inch).

Bake at 365 for 12 minutes. Remove the lid. Bake another 30-35 minutes until golden brown and it sounds hollow when tapped (or until 200 degrees measured with an instant read thermometer).

My uncle says that golden brown means dark brown, or else it's a bit doughy in the middle.

For rolls instead of one big loaf, add one egg. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes for biscuit-sized rolls.