Freshly baked white bread is the ultimate comfort food. There is just nothing like toast made from a loaf of homemade bread, slathered with butter, and served with a cup of fresh, hot coffee on a blustery and dreary March day. Or any day, for that matter. Right now, coronavirus fears are wiping the bread off the shelves at the grocery store, so it’s a perfect time to hunker down at home and bake bread.

If you’ve never baked bread before, you have nothing to fear! It’s really not hard, and I’m not just saying that, I really do mean it. The ingredients come together easily and you don’t need to be a master of bread-making technique to make this loaf. You can use a mixer with a dough hook to knead, or you can do it all by hand. I like to use both methods, varying with my mood and the amount of time I want to spend kneading. The smell of baking bread filling the house is worth the work alone, never mind the part where you get to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Farmhouse White Bread

Ingredients:

2 1/4 tsp. yeast
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 c. warm water
1/4 c. butter
2 tsp. honey
1 c. milk
2 3/4 to 3 1/4 c. bread flour (use all-purpose if you don’t have bread flour on hand)
1 1/2 tsp. salt (use only 1 tsp. if your butter is salted)
1 tsp. sugar

Process:

In a small bowl, combine the yeast, warm water, and a teaspoon of sugar and let sit for 5-10 minutes until the yeast is foamy. This is to proof the yeast, which is not strictly necessary since the yeast you’re using is most likely active. You can skip this step if you’re in a rush, but I find it helps to create a smoother dough.

While the yeast is proving, melt the butter and the honey together in a small bowl, then add the milk, which will lower the temperature so that it is ready to use without killing the yeast. In a large mixing bowl, add 2 1/4 cups of the flour, the sugar, and the salt. Give it a quick stir then add the yeast mixture and the milk and honey mixture. Stir the dough together and when it gets difficult to stir, use your hands to mix it or use a dough hook on a stand mixer. Add 1/4 cup of flour at a time to make sticky dough. It should not be batter, but avoid adding too much flour or you will end up with a dry loaf.

Lightly flour a work surface and turn the dough out to knead or knead using the dough hook on a stand mixer. It should seem too sticky knead at first, but it will absorb more flour as you work. If you’re using a mixer, add flour a Tbsp. at a time until you have a soft and tacky but still pliable dough. The consistency should resemble soft playdough. Knead for at least minutes and the more the better. Form the dough into a ball, tucking the rough edges underneath, and place in a lightly oiled bowl in a warm spot. Cover with plastic wrap or a tea towel and let rise for 1-2 hours, depending on how warm your kitchen is. When the dough has doubled in size, or when you can press a finger into the dough and it doesn’t spring back, gently deflate the dough.

When you’re ready to make the loaf, preheat the oven to 400 and get out a standard loaf pan. Let the dough rest a couple of minutes after deflating, then gently turn it out onto the counter. Pat the dough into a rectangle and fold the top third down and press the seam with the heal of your hand. Fold the bottom third up, like a business letter, and press the seam to seal it. Flip the dough so the seam is on the bottom and tuck the short edges underneath. Place in the pan and allow to rise for 1/2 to 1 hour. It should be rising over the edge of the pan before you bake.

Using a sharp knife, make 3 slashes in the top of the bread (so that it will have room to grow in the oven) and lightly sprinkle the top with flour. Place bread in the oven and bake for 17-21 minutes, until the bread is a deep caramel brown and it sounds hollow when you tap it. (To tap the bottom, make sure you protect your hands with oven mitts and gently tip the loaf out into your protected hand. Tap lightly with the other hand and if it sounds hollow, it’s done.)

Remove from the pan and allow to cool completely on a wire rack before cutting. The bread will cut more cleanly and not squish down if it’s cool, but our family usually can’t resist eating it warm so we just deal with squished bread and misshapen slices.

This bread makes excellent toast and sandwiches, and will keep at room temperature for up to 4 days if tightly sealed.