A soft and delicious milk bread made with Herman Starter. This bread is great as breakfast toast, in sandwiches or even as bread pudding or French toast. It is learner than most milk breads, but no less flavorful.
Course Bread
Cuisine American
Keyword Herman, Milk Bread, starter, Yeast Bread
Prep Time 20 minutesminutes
Cook Time 40 minutesminutes
Poofing (Total) 1 hourhour30 minutesminutes
Total Time 2 hourshours30 minutesminutes
Servings 2Large Loaves
Author Syama
Ingredients
6 CAP Flour (+ 1/2 as needed)Notes
2CHerman StarterNotes
2TspFine Salt
4TspActive Dry Yeast
1 ½CMilk, Preferably Whole Milk
2TbspButter
Instructions
Make the dough by hand
Take 6 C of the flour in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour and add the starter, and yeast. Mix in gently. To this add ¾ of the milk, salt, and the melted butter. Mix in slowly adding more milk if needed. Once all the flour has become moist turn out to floured work surface. Start kneading. The dough might be sticky in the beginning. Add the remaining half cup flour little by little if needed. As you need the dough becomes less sticky and slowly begins to turn into a smooth lump. When it feels relaxed, smooth and supple it is time to stop kneading.
Make the dough in machine
In the bowl of the machine place 6 C flour, salt and yeast. Keep the salt and yeast from direct contact. Fit the dough hook and stir for 15 seconds to mix everything together. Remove the hook and make a well in the center of the flour. Add the starter, melted butter, and ¾ of the milk. Place the hook back on and knead at the recommended setting for 1 minute. If needed add the remaining milk slowly as needed. Knead for 2 minutes at the end of which add remaining flour in batches if the dough looks too wet. Knead until the dough turns into a smooth lump ( 4 to 5 minutes in total). Turn off and check the dough. It should feel relaxed, smooth and supple.
First Rise (Bulk Proof)
Form the dough into a smooth ball and transfer to an oiled bowl. Turn it so that all the sides of the dough is coated with oil. Cover and let it rise in a warm place until doubled in volume (about 1 hour).
Shape and Second rise
Punch down and transfer the dough on to a floured surface. Divide into equal halves. Take one half and flatten (or roll out ) half into a rectangle. Roll into a tight cylinder. Tuck in the edges. Place in an the oiled loaf pan with the seam side down. Repeat with the other half. Cover and let rise until almost doubled (20 to 30 minutes).
Bake
While the loaves are rising preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C ). Remove the cover from the risen loaves and place the loves in the hot oven. Bake for about 30 minutes. Tap the bottom of the loaf to check if it is done baking. It should sound hollow when fully cooked. tapped at the bottom. The internal temperature of this bread should be between 190F to 200F (closer to 200F) when it is cooked through.
Remove from the oven and let rest in the pan for 5 minutes. Transfer from the pan to a cooling rack and let cool completely before slicingSlice and store in freezer bags or cover and store at room temp for a day or two.
Notes
Stir the starter well before measuring.
4 Tsp yeast is a little less than 2 packets of yeast. 1 Pkt yeast is about 2 ¼ Tsp. You can use 2 packets of yeast in this recipe without any trouble.
For temperature conversion when using different types of oven try this link.