Honey Bread

 

• 1 3/4 cups warm water (100- 110 F)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast (not instant)
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 ½ teaspoons salt
• 5 ¾-6 ¼ cups bread flour

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add warm water, and honey. Stir until honey is dissolved. Sprinkle in the yeast. Let stand for 10 minutes. The mixture will get foamy and bubbly as the yeast proofs.

2. Fit the mixer with the dough hook and add the melted butter, egg, and salt. Mix until smooth.

3. Add flour slowly, about 1 cup at a time. The dough should stick slightly to your finger when touched, but not be overly sticky.

4. Knead for 7 minutes.

 Put the dough in a greased bowl and turn dough over to coat all the dough and cover tightly with plastic wrap or place a kitchen towel over the top. Let rise in a warm place for about 45 minutes-1 hour, until doubled.

6. Punch down the dough gently and divide in half. (I use a kitchen scale to divide in half equally.) Sprinkle flour on the countertop and press each piece of dough into a long rectangle about 8-inches wide; roll it up, pressing on the seams, and pinching the final seam together. Repeat with remaining dough. Place the dough, seam side down, into two lightly greased bread pans. (8 ½ x 4 ½ bread pans)

7. Cover with lightly greased plastic wrap or a thin kitchen towel and let rise until doubled and the dough has risen about 1/2-inch above the top rim of the pan, about 30-40 minutes.

8. While the loaves are rising, preheat the oven to 350.

9. Bake 29-32 minutes, or the loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped. (It should be an internal temperature of 190-200 degrees F.) Remove to a cooling rack and spread butter on top. Optional, sprinkle with a little salt. Cool before slicing.