Homemade country-style milk bread
If you haven't ever had homemade country milk bread, you're going to be in for a real treat. Milk bread is one of my favorite breads to make and to eat. It's light, fluffy, and easy to pull apart in rich airy layers. Plus, it's absolutely yummy! It's great to serve with breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, and even to eat at snack time.
With this recipe, there are a lot of steps to take. The dough will need to rest and rise a total of three times altogether. I will walk you through each step the best that I can and place the ingredients within each step as they are needed as we go through each step together. (Hopefully, it will be more helpful for you to follow.)
Step one:
To start creating your milk bread, you'll need these ingredients:
4 cups of bread flour
3 tablespoons of granulated white Splenda, or regular granulated white sugar
1-½ teaspoons of salt (I prefer using seasoning salt to add extra flavor.)
3 tablespoons of cold butter
Instructions:
Combine and mix the above list of ingredients in a large bowl. Mix the butter into the flour well, until it's incorporated. Mound the flour mixture up towards the center of your bowl, then use your fingers to make a small well in the center of the flour mixture.
Step two:
Ingredients:
½ cup of water
1 cup of regular whole milk
Instructions:
Combine the water and milk together; stir. Then warm the milk mixture until it reaches about 115 degrees F. (This can be done inside the microwave, or on the stovetop.)
Add a small amount of the milk mixture inside the well that you've made in the center of the flour mixture. Hold, don't pour all the milk in (for now) and just set it aside.
Step three:
Ingredients:
2-¼ teaspoons of rapid rise (instant) yeast
Instructions:
Add the yeast in the center well, and slowly stir the yeast to mix it only in the well (the center) with the milk mixture. Once the yeast is incorporated with the warm milk mixture, allow it to bloom for one minute. (Wait for one minute before doing anything else.)
Now, using a fork, start mixing the flour slowly into the well. Slowly add the rest of the milk into the flour mixture. Always work in the center by pulling the flour in towards the well area. Once all the flour has been brought into the center of the bowl, begin working the dough by hand. Knead the dough for about four minutes. At this point, add more liquid if it still seems too dry. (This dough should feel wet and tacky in your hands. Not dry but not drenched either.)
Next, on a clean work surface, start kneading the dough furiously for eight to ten minutes.
Bring the dough into a ball shape and place it back into the bowl. Cover and let the dough rise for about two and a half hours.
Now, poke a hole in the center of the dough (with your finger). If the dough is ready, the hole will not close back up. Should the hole close up, allow the dough to rest longer. (Then do the poke test again. My dough had risen and stuck to my plastic wrap. At this point, you can really see the dough's appearance changing. The dough will be stuck to the sides of the bowl, it still will be somewhat sticky. This is how you know that the dough has proofed.)
It's now time to work the air out of the dough and to do this, you'll need to punch the dough down for a few minutes, then finish kneading the dough on your work surface. (Don't add flour to the surface, but if needed, you can sprinkle a small amount of flour on top of the dough.)
Cut the dough into three segments. Now, begin tucking and rolling the dough segments into three round-shaped balls. (I just place my three dough balls side-by-side in the same bowl that I started the dough out in.) Cover the dough once again and allow the dough to rise (again). Each ball of dough should double in size. (Usually this rest will take thirty minutes to possibly one hour.)
Step four:
This is the stage where the milk dough gets really interesting and fun to work with. It's also a very important step (just like each step has been up to this point).
Ingredients:
Softened butter, enough to grease the bread pans with
Instructions:
Grease an 11x6 bread pan with butter.
Next, it's time to deflate the dough balls. Using your hands, press the dough out flat, then roll the dough out flat (almost like how you make pizza dough). Don't flour your work surface. You can dust the top of the dough and your rolling pin with a little flour if it's absolutely needed. Use a scraper to lift the dough off the surface. (I did not use any flour to roll or shape my dough. So, it's doable. At this point, the dough is springy and does look similar to pizza dough.)
Now, take the length side of the dough and fold it towards (just to) the center point of the dough. Do the same on the other side. Then begin rolling the dough (at the short (width) side). Roll into a small log shape and pinch the end of the dough together where it ends. Do the other two dough balls in the same manner. Then place each into the buttered bread pan side by side with the seam sides down.
Cover the bread pan and allow the dough to rise again. It should double in size again. (This dough rest generally takes close to an hour.)
About twenty minutes before your bread is done proofing, turn your oven on to 350 degrees F.
Step five:
There's two methods that work well for this part: an egg wash, or a milk wash.
Ingredients:
1 egg, whisked with 1 teaspoon of water, or use warm milk instead (both of these methods will help the bread brown during baking, your bread will come out shinier using the egg)
Instructions:
Time to make an egg wash! Place the egg and one teaspoon of water in a bowl and whisk it, then, using a pastry brush, brush the top of your dough with the egg wash. You can add a tablespoon of water, or milk when making the egg wash. Doing so will make the end results of your bread crust shiny, crispy, and a darker brown.
Note:
Today, I decided to use the warm milk method, instead of brushing my dough with an egg wash.
To use the warm milk method, place two tablespoons of milk in a microwave-safe dish; heat the milk for a few seconds until it's warm. Then, using a pastry brush, brush the milk over the dough. Proceed with the following instructions.
Use whichever browning method that you prefer, but make sure that you do at least one, otherwise your milk bread will not brown as well as it's supposed to.
Now, place the bread pan in a 350 degree F oven. Bake for about thirty minutes to forty minutes (depending on how brown you want your bread). During the last five minutes of cooking, I brush melted butter over the top of the bread. This isn't necessary, but it makes the crust crunchier and buttery.
Thump the top of the loaf. It will sound hollow when it's baked through.
As soon as your bread is baked, take it out of the bread pan and allow it to cool.