Brown Butter Sandwich Bread

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 cup milk
• 1/3 cup water
• 3 tbsp honey
• 2.25 tsp instant yeast
• 15 oz all purpose flour, by weight ((3 cups, measured))
• 2 tsp salt

Instructions

1. 1

   Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. With the cup of milk standing by and ready to go, brown the butter very carefully for 1-2 minutes, being sure to watch diligently and swirl the pan often. Once the butter has browned, immediately add the cold milk (otherwise the butter will go from brown to burned). Add the water, and honey as well. Bring this mixture up to 115 degrees F, then stir in the yeast. Let this mixture sit for 10 minutes until bubbly and foamy.

2. 2

   In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk to combine the flour and salt. Fit the machine with the dough hook, and pour in the liquid ingredients. Stir the ingredients with a spatula to roughly combine, then turn the dough hook onto medium low heat (level 2) and knead for 10 minutes. The dough will be sticky, and that’s okay (adding more flour would make the loaf denser). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let the dough double in size, which should take about 1 hour.

3. 3

   Lightly flour your countertop and spread the dough into an 8×8 inch square. Roll the dough like a cinnamon roll, and pinch the seam closed. Grease a standard loaf pan* with butter, and place the bread roll seam side down into the pan, pressing the dough gently into the sides of the pan. Cover the loaf with plastic wrap and let it rise for 30 minutes. The dough will not rise visibly by much.

4. 4

   Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F, and place a sheet pan on the lowest shelf of the oven. Add enough boiling water to cover the bottom of the sheet pan, then bake the bread on the shelf above the water for 40-50 minutes until the inside registers 190 to 200 degrees on an instant read thermometer. Let the bread cool completely on a wire rack before slicing it. Enjoy!