- 3 ½ C bread flour (or all-purpose flour)
- 2 tsp salt or 1 Tbsp kosher salt
- 3 Tbsp honey
- 1 C warm milk (110 F) or buttermilk (if using buttermilk don’t heat it, and increase first rise to 50 min)
- ½ C warm water (110 F)
- 2 Tbsp butter, melted
- 1 package rapid-rise yeast
Heat oven to 200 for 10 minutes and turn off. Place flour, salt and honey in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a dough hook. In a separate bowl, combine the milk, water, and butter and add yeast, stirring to dissolve. Turn mixer on low and slowly add the yeast mixture. When dough comes together, increase speed to medium and mix for 10 minutes. The dough will be sticky and adhere to the hook. Stop the machine two or three times and scrape the dough from the hook with a rubber spatula. If dough is too wet, add more flour 1 Tbsp at a time.
Turn dough onto lightly floured work surface. Knead by hand for 15 seconds.
Form dough into a round and place, top side down, in a very lightly oiled bowl. Rub dough top around bowl to lightly coat with oil. Turn dough right side up. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in warm oven until dough doubles in size, about 40 minutes. When dough has risen sufficiently, remove bowl from oven and heat oven to 350. Placing an empty loaf pan on the bottom rack. Grease a 9x5x3 in loaf pan.
Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and gently press into a rectangle 1 inch thick and no wider than the length of the loaf pan. Roll it firmly into a cylinder, pressing gently with your fingers with each turn to make sure the dough sticks to itself. Turn seam side up and pinch seam closed. Place dough in pan seam side down and press gently so that dough touches all four sides of pan.
Cover pan with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm spot for 20 minutes or until dough doubles in size. Bring 2 C water to boil.
When loaf has risen sufficiently, remove plastic wrap. Place pan in oven and immediately pour heated water into the preheated empty loaf pan. Close oven door and bake until a thermometer inserted halfway into the bottom of the loaf reads 195, about 30-40 minutes. Remove from pan and cook on a rack.
OATMEAL BREAD VARIATION: Cook ¾ C rolled oats in ¾ C boiling water for 90 seconds. Reduce flour to 2 ¾ C. Add ¾ C of the cooked oatmeal to flour and eliminate the water. Bake for 45 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 195.