Milk & Honey White Bread

By desacad

Ingredients

• 4 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast (2 packets)
• 2-1/2 cups warm milk (110° to 115°)
• 1/2 cup honey
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 7 cups all-purpose flour

Details

Servings 2
Adapted from theslowroasteditalian.com

Preparation

Step 1

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add yeast, warm milk and honey. Swirl with your fingers or a spoon to dissolve the yeast. Allow to sit until the yeast starts to bubble and becomes aromatic, about 5 minutes.
Add butter and 4 cups of flour, mix on low using dough hook, until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (mine takes the whole 3 additional cups) add salt. Allow to knead for about 5 minutes. You should have a ball of tacky (not sticky) dough at this point
Turn onto a floured board; knead about 10 turns. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
Punch dough down and shape into two loaves. Place in greased 9-in. x 5-in. loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45-60 minutes. Preheat oven to 350° for glass and dark pans (375° for light metal pans). Brush tops with melted butter.
Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.
Cover loosely with foil if top browns too quickly. Remove from pans and brush tops and sides with melted butter.
Allow breads to cool before slicing. Or at least TRY to wait.