I've seen this recipe from the Restless Chipotle many, many times in the past and every time it pops up in my news feed on Facebook I say "I want to bake that" ... and then it promptly slips my mind again, until it pops into my news feed again.
I recently saw my friend, Diane's, from Canning and Cooking at Home, post where she made it, and it looked so good, I knew I just had to make it myself.
This time when it popped back into my newsfeed I didn't just say "I want to bake that," I posted it on my page and tagged my husband in the post. He's always good for saying "yummm, when?" and when is finally now!
Ingredients
1 envelope yeast or 1 tbls. yeast
1 tsp sugar
¼ cup lukewarm water
Pinch of powdered ginger
2 cups lukewarm buttermilk
⅓ cup honey
¼ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled so that it is warm to the touch but not hot
1 tsp salt
¾ tsp baking soda
6 cups white bread flour
Method
In a medium sized bowl mix the ginger, sugar, yeast, and warm water. Set aside for 5 minutes or until foamy.
Whisk the buttermilk, honey, salt, and baking soda together and add it to the yeast mixture. Add three cups of flour and mix until smooth, about 3 to 5 minutes on low of a stand mixer. Pour in the butter until it is totally mixed into the batter.
Add the rest of the flour, one cup at a time, keeping mixer on low speed. When dough pulls from the sides of the bowl remove it from the mixer to a lightly floured surface. Knead until elastic and smooth. You can also knead in your mixer according to manufacturer's directions.
Place in greased bowl, turn to grease the top, and cover with a clean tea towel. Allow the dough to rise for 1½ hours, or until double.
Punch down and form into two loaves. Place in greased loaf pans and grease tops. Cover, and allow to rise for 45 minutes, or until it is just about to the tops of the bread pans.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake loaves for about 30 minutes, covering the loaves with foil part way through the baking time to prevent them from browning too much. Remove loaves from oven and brush with melted butter. Allow to cool in pans for 10 minutes.
Gently run a knife around the edge between the bread and the pan to loosen it. Turn out and cool completely on a rack. Cover the loaves if you want soft crusts.
Enjoy,
Mary
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