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Honey White Bread

This honey white bread is soft, slightly sweet, and made with simple ingredients, perfect for sandwiches, toast, or as a companion for soups.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 12 slices
Course: Bread, Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Calories: 150

Ingredients
  

Main Ingredients
  • 2 cups warm milk (about 110-115 degrees)
  • 1 Tbsp instant yeast
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 5.5 to 6.5 cups bread flour (can substitute AP flour or do half of each)
  • 1/4 cup melted butter (1/2 stick)
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1 egg slightly beaten
  • 1 Tbsp salt
Egg Wash & Additional Ingredients
  • 1 egg whisked with 1 Tbsp water for egg wash
  • as needed Additional melted butter to brush on when it comes out of the oven

Method
 

Preparation
  1. Put the warm milk in your mixer bowl and sprinkle the yeast and sugar over it. Mix together and let sit for 5 minutes to make sure the yeast activates and gets foamy.
  2. Add 5-1/2 cups of the flour, the melted butter, honey, egg and salt.
  3. Use the dough hook attachment to mix the dough together on low speed.
  4. Add small amounts of bread flour, (up to another cup total but you do NOT have to use the whole cup), just until the dough is the right consistency, (you want a soft dough that is easy to work with, and you want it to feel tacky, but not stick to your fingers).
  5. Let the mixer knead the bread on low speed for 5 minutes.
  6. Scrape the dough into a ball, place in a large oiled bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a clean towel, and set in a warm place to rise for 1 hour or until it has doubled in size.
  7. Lightly grease two loaf pans with non-stick spray.
  8. Once the dough has risen, punch it down with your fist, then turn out onto a lightly floured pastry mat or counter. Divide the dough into two equal portions and shape them into balls.
  9. Press or roll the dough out into a rectangle, fold down a third of the dough from the shorter end and press it down with the heel of your hand. Continue to fold and press until you have a roll, tucking in the ends, and place the bread with seams down in the prepared bread pan. Repeat with the other piece of dough.
  10. Cover the pans lightly with plastic wrap and let the loaves rise another 30 minutes in a warm place.
Baking
  1. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Remove plastic wrap, brush the loaves gently with egg wash, then bake the loaves at 350°F for about 30 minutes.
  3. Bread should register 190°F with an instant read thermometer to be fully baked, but not overbaked.
  4. Remove from the oven and let cool 5 minutes in the pans before popping the loaves out onto a cooling rack and brushing with melted butter.
  5. Cool the bread for at least 30 minutes before slicing!

Notes

Store cooled loaves wrapped in plastic wrap or in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 3 days. For longer storage, slice the bread and freeze in a freezer bag for up to 3 months. Toast frozen slices directly from the freezer or let them thaw at room temperature for 10–15 minutes.