About the Recipe
Pulling apart beautiful feathery strands of this loaf is so satisfying. I love slicing a freshly baked loaf and freezing it, pulling out a slice at a time and toasting until browned and crisp while the interior stays soft and fluffy. Great for French Toast, sandwiches, or just slathered with butter and jam.
Ingredients
1/3 cup whole milk, at room temp.
1 (1/4 oz.) pkg. active dry yeast
4 large eggs, divided
3 cups bread flour, spooned & leveled
2 Tbs. granulated sugar
2 tsp. Kosher salt
2/3 cup unsalted butter, slightly softened
Preparation
In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix to combine milk, yeast and 3 eggs. Add flour, sugar and salt, and knead on low speed until a dough forms, 1-2 min. Add 1 Tbs. butter and continue to knead on low speed for 10-12 min. until the dough is smooth. (Note: if your mixer needs a break along the way, transfer dough to a clean countertop and knead by hand until smooth. This may take additional time.)
Continue to knead on low speed, adding 1 Tbs. of butter at a time and kneading until combined between each addition. Continue until all butter has been added and the dough pulls away cleanly from the sides of the bowl. Scrape down with a rubber spatula occasionally if needed. Total mixing time for this stage should be about 12-15 min.
Remove bowl and cover with a kitchen towel. Set aside to rise for 1-1 1/2 hours depending on the warmth of the room, until the dough has increased in size by about 1.5 times and leaves an indent when poked with your finger.
Cover and refrigerate for an additional hour (or up to 24 hours if that works better for your schedule).
Transfer dough to a clean countertop and cut into 8 equal pieces. Pinch each piece into a rough round by folding the edges inward. Flip over, cup the dough in your hand, and using the grip of your countertop, rotate until smooth. (See video below!) If this technique is too tricky - flatten each piece of dough and pull edges toward the center. Pinch to create a smooth round on the opposite side.
Grease a 9x5" baking pan. Transfer rounds to the pan seam-side down, lining them up two by two. Cover and set aside for 1-1 1/2 hours until the rounds have puffed in size and the dough leaves an indent when poked with your fingertip. After 45 min. of proofing, preheat your oven to 375 °F.
Whisk remaining egg with a splash of water and brush over the loaf, making sure to brush within the crevices.
Bake for 30-35 min. on the center rack of your oven until the loaf is a deep golden brown. Remove loaf from pan and place onto a rack; cool completely before slicing.