Milk and Honey Bread

Sometimes you just need a soft, fluffy white bread.  But as much as that's what I was craving, I couldn't bring myself to indulge, so I added white whole wheat flour.  Here's what I used:

2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast (1 packet)
1¼ cups warm milk
1/4 cup honey
3 tablespoons butter, melted + 1 tablespoon
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
3½ cups all-purpose flour (half white whole wheat)

In the bowl, mix yeast, warm milk and honey and allow to bloom.  Add 3 tablespoons of butter and 2 cups of flour, mixing on low using a dough hook until smooth.  Add the salt and enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.  Allow to knead for about 5 minutes -- you should have a ball of tacky (not sticky) dough.  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 a loaf; place in greased, 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. 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 top 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 pan and brush top and sides with remaining melted butter.  Allow bread to cool before slicing.

Conclusion:  This was good, but not as decadent as the picture indicates.  It was that whole wheat flour -- I didn't end up with the soft, white loaf I'd anticipated.  (White whole wheat is still whole wheat, after all.)  Otherwise, a perfectly fine loaf.

Recipe:  Milk and Honey White Bread via The Slow Roasted Italian