Honey White bread

 
 
 
 

This honey white bread is exactly what you imagine the perfect white bread should be — slightly tangy from the buttermilk, lightly sweet from the honey, soft and springy on the inside with a fine crumb that toasts to perfection. Dakota and I discovered this recipe in college, and it was love at first bite. Ever since, we’ve hyped this recipe up to each other so much, that when we decided to make it for a Dak & Ju video we were afraid it wouldn’t live up to our incredibly high expectations. Luckily, it was everything we remembered and more —so much so that it brought a literal tear to Dak’s eye because it really is that good. — Ju

 

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)

  • 1 Tbsp active dry yeast

  • 1 tsp sugar

  • 1 1/2 cups buttermilk, warmed just to take off the chill

  • 2 Tbsps unsalted butter, melted

  • 3 Tbsps honey

  • 1 Tbsp salt

  • 6 to 6 1/4 cups unbleached All-Purpose flour

Poppyseed egg glaze (optional)

  • 1 egg

  • 1 Tbsp milk or cream

  • 2 Tbsp poppy seeds

 

Instructions

  1. Pour warm water into a small bowl. Sprinkle yeast and sugar over the surface of the water; gently stir to combine and let stand at room temperature until foamy, about 10 minutes.

  2. In a large bowl using a whisk or in a heavy-duty stand mixer with the paddle attachment, combine buttermilk, honey, and yeast mixture. Add salt and 2 cups of the flour. Beat hard to combine into a very wet dough. Continue to add the flour 1/2 cup at a time beating with a wooden spoon after each addition until a shaggy dough is formed. You may need to stop adding flour before you get to 6 or 6 1/4 cups, just look for when the dough has started to fully come together but still sticks to the sides of the bowl a little. It will not look like a smooth dough yet.

  3. Turn shaggy dough out onto a floured surface and knead for at least 5 minutes, dusting with about 1 Tbsp of flour as needed. After about 5 minutes, dough will start to look smooth, be soft to the touch and lightly spring back when you poke it with your finger.

  4. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, turning it once to completely coat with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until double in bulk, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

  5. Once dough has double in bulk, remove plastic wrap and light deflate. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Lightly oil two 9x5-inch loaf pans and divide dough into two equal portions. Form the two portions into approximate loaf shapes and place in greased pans. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let rise again until fully doubled in bulk, 30-45 minutes.

  6. Twenty minutes before baking, preheat oven to 375 degrees. If using the poppyseed egg wash, prepare it now by lightly whisking ingredients together and brush the tops of the loaves.

  7. Place loaves on the center rack of the oven and bake about 45 minutes, or until loaves are nicely brown, pull away from the sides of the pan and sound hollow when you tap the top with your finger. Remove loaves from their pans immediately and place on a cooling rack. Cool completely before slicing.

Makes two 9x5-inch loaves