Homemade Bread that is Delish!

I tried this recipe for homemade bread, and I think it is a winner. It has the perfect combination of a crunchy brown crust, and a soft chewy inside. Brady and I ate almost the whole loaf in one day. Try it and let me know what you think!! 

Recipe: Courtesy of America's Test Kitchen www.americastestkitchen.com

3 3/4 C. Flour

2 t. Salt

1 C. Warm Milk

1/3 Warm Water

2 T. Butter Melted

3T. Honey

1 T. Instant Yeast

1. Heat oven to 200 degrees. When it has been at 200 for 10 minutes shut the oven off. 

2. Mix 3 1/2 Cups of the flour, and salt in your mixer with the dough hook. Mix the milk, water, butter, honey, and yeast in a bowl. Turn machine on low and slowly add the liquid. Turn machine to medium speed. Knead for 10 minutes. If you can see it needs more flour add 1 T at a time until you get 1/4 Cup more. DO NOT ADD TOO MUCH FLOUR! Biggest mistake that people do... then your dough will be tough. When it is done kneading, place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover with wrap. 

  Then place the bowl in the oven that you preheated, but is now turned off. Shut the oven door:) Let rise for 40-50 minutes.

 After the dough has risen, take out of the bowl and shape into a greased 9 by 5 loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm spot for 20-30 minutes.

When the loaf has about doubled, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Here's the catch: to achieve a nice crunch around the bread, you need to fill a pan with 2 cups boiling water and put that on the lowest rack in your oven. Then place the bread on a middle rack when the oven has pre heated. Bake for 40-50 minutes. In my oven, it was about 46 minutes, so I would set it to 45 and then check it! 

When the bread is finished cooking, take it out of the oven and transfer the bread to a wire rack to cool. I put butter on the top to make it even more delish! ENJOY!