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Prep: 30 mins
Cook: 40 mins
Proving : 105 mins
Total: 2 hrs 55 mins
Servings: 20 servings
56 ratings
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Bread and honey are a combination made in sweet and chewy heaven. The sweetness of honey gives the bread a fantastic taste, color on the inside, and a beautiful golden hue to the crust. Our recipe for honey bread needs just seven ingredients and will deliver to your table a wonderful loaf that's difficult to beat in texture, color, and flavor. Honey bread is great for sandwiches, French toast, or bread pudding. A slice of it with butter is a great snack or breakfast, and the ease of making it will make this bread your new family favorite.
Honey has been used in baking and bread baking for centuries as it adds moisture to the dough or batter. Because of its sugars, it can help the yeast grow when used adequately. Its antibacterial properties can retard mold growth, so its use in ancient recipes was key to extending the shelf life of baked goods before refrigeration was invented.
Our simple recipe is ideal for beginner bakers. Don't let the number of steps in the method fool you. In bread making, attention to detail is key, but it doesn't necessarily mean the end product is difficult to achieve. Proofing the bread is the longest part of the process, and the recipe is more hands off than it is hands on. For this recipe, you need two bread tins—9x5-inch ones are great—and close to three hours from beginning to end. Finally, we recommend using bottled water instead of tap water to make your bread. Water softeners and chlorinated public water can sometimes kill the yeast needed to make your bread dough rise.
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups water, warm
2 1/4 teaspoons dry active yeast
1 cup whole milk, room temperature; or skim, or non-fat
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons butter, softened
6 cups bread flour, divided
2 teaspoons vegetable oil, divided
Steps to Make It
Gather the ingredients.
In alarge bowl, mix the warm water and yeast. Ideally, the water temperature should be between 95 F and 110 F.
Add the milk, honey, salt, and butter. Stir well to roughly incorporate.
Add 4 cups of the flour and mix well. Add in enough of the remaining flour to make a dough that follows the spoon around the bowl.
Turn the dough out onto alightly floured surface. Knead the dough for 10 minutes, adding more flour as needed until the dough is firm and smooth to the touch. If using a standing mixer, mix on high for 3 to 5 minutes.
Grease amedium-sized bowl with 1 teaspoon of the vegetable oil. Place the dough inside and turn it over in thebowl a few times so that it's lightly greased all over.
Cover with a clean cloth and let rise in a warm, draft-free place for 1 hour.
Shape and Bake the Dough
Punch down the dough. Turn the dough out onto alightly floured board and knead for 5 minutes or until the bubbles are out of the bread. If using a standing mixer, mix for 2 minutes at medium speed.
Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Shape each dough half into a loaf-shaped oval ball.
Grease two 9x5-inch bread pans with the remaining teaspoon of vegetable oil.
Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place for 45 minutes, or until doubled in size. Around 15 minutes before the time is up, preheat the oven to 350 F.
Bake the loaves for 40 minutes or until the bread top is golden brown and the loaves sound hollow when tapped on top. Remove the breadfrom the pans and allow them to cool on arack.
Enjoy.
Choose Your Favorite Crust
Depending on what you do before or after baking the loaves, you'll end up with a different type of crust:
- Brush the loaves with melted butter immediately after baking to achieve a soft crust.
- Spray the loaves with water while they bake for a crispy crust.
- Brush the loaves with milk before baking to get a dark, shiny crust.
- Brush the loaves with egg whites before baking to get a shiny crust.
What is bread flour?
Bread flour has a higher amount of protein than all-purpose flour, from 11 to 13 percent. Having more protein helps the dough to also have higher amounts of gluten, which gives the dough stretch and elasticity. This means that bread made with bread flour will rise higher and have a chewier bite than bread made with all-purpose flour.
You can make your own bread flour by adding 1 1/2 teaspoons of wheat gluten to each cup of all-purpose flour you use in your bread recipe.
- Yeast Breads
- Breakfast Breads
- Lunch
- Dinner
- Bread Basics
Nutrition Facts (per serving) | |
---|---|
183 | Calories |
3g | Fat |
32g | Carbs |
6g | Protein |
Show Full Nutrition Label
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Nutrition Facts | |
---|---|
Servings: 20 | |
Amount per serving | |
Calories | 183 |
% Daily Value* | |
Total Fat 3g | 4% |
Saturated Fat 1g | 7% |
Cholesterol 6mg | 2% |
Sodium 232mg | 10% |
Total Carbohydrate 32g | 12% |
Dietary Fiber 1g | 4% |
Total Sugars 2g | |
Protein 6g | |
Vitamin C 0mg | 0% |
Calcium 21mg | 2% |
Iron 0mg | 2% |
Potassium 63mg | 1% |
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice. |
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)
Recipe Tags:
- Yeast bread
- american
- family dinner
- bread
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