Brown Butter Sandwich Bread
This simple sandwich bread is flavored with aromatic brown butter, honey, and milk, for a freshly baked homemade treat!
99% of the time I grab a loaf of bread off the shelf at the grocery store, I can never manage to get it into my cart.
You see, I often feel a bit lazy about baking bread, and am tempted to grab a loaf and be done with it. But I also can’t help but look at the list of ingredients on those super shelf stable breads and get a little freaked out. How come these breads stay soft as ever and never get moldy after 2+ weeks? Something about that just peeves me out.
The other 1% of the time I cave and buy the shelf bread because it’s easy, but most of the time I give myself a mental kick-in-the-butt and resolve to go home and make my own because I know that most breads aren’t difficult to make. It’s just a matter of being patient with the yeast and blocking off a little bit of time.
This is a classic white sandwich loaf that has brown butter and honey added to it, and both give the bread great flavor and aroma. You can see the browned milk solids from the butter that’s been combined with milk here:
To finish off the liquid ingredients for the bread, add some honey:
Mix the liquid and dry ingredients together and knead with a stand mixer. Let it rise, then spread your dough out into an 8×8 inch square on a floured surface.
Roll up the square like you would a cinnamon roll, pinching the seam at the end.
With the seam on the bottom, lift the bread roll and gently place it in a butter greased loaf pan.
(Yes, that’s my big pink robe. Whoops. Just a little Saturday morning baking).
With your fingers, lightly press the loaf into the sides of the greased pan, but don’t push too hard and deflate the dough too much.
Let the dough rise for about 30 minutes in the greased pan, and it’s ready to be baked!
Enjoy!
Brown Butter Sandwich Bread
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 cup milk
- 1/3 cup water
- 3 tbsp honey
- 2.25 tsp instant yeast
- 15 oz all purpose flour, by weight (3 cups, measured)
- 2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. With the cup of milk standing by and ready to go, brown the butter very carefully for 1-2 minutes, being sure to watch diligently and swirl the pan often. Once the butter has browned, immediately add the cold milk (otherwise the butter will go from brown to burned). Add the water, and honey as well. Bring this mixture up to 115 degrees F, then stir in the yeast. Let this mixture sit for 10 minutes until bubbly and foamy.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk to combine the flour and salt. Fit the machine with the dough hook, and pour in the liquid ingredients. Stir the ingredients with a spatula to roughly combine, then turn the dough hook onto medium low heat (level 2) and knead for 10 minutes. The dough will be sticky, and that’s okay (adding more flour would make the loaf denser). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let the dough double in size, which should take about 1 hour.
- Lightly flour your countertop and spread the dough into an 8×8 inch square. Roll the dough like a cinnamon roll, and pinch the seam closed. Grease a standard loaf pan* with butter, and place the bread roll seam side down into the pan, pressing the dough gently into the sides of the pan. Cover the loaf with plastic wrap and let it rise for 30 minutes. The dough will not rise visibly by much.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F, and place a sheet pan on the lowest shelf of the oven. Add enough boiling water to cover the bottom of the sheet pan, then bake the bread on the shelf above the water for 40-50 minutes until the inside registers 190 to 200 degrees on an instant read thermometer. Let the bread cool completely on a wire rack before slicing it. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
114 Comments on “Brown Butter Sandwich Bread”
First, yes, I am a man 🙂 Second, I do cook. Third, I do make bread. I always make 2 loaves at at a time and place 1 in the freezer for later. However, the recipe I use does not call for the use of a KitchenAid mixer. All the other recipes I have tried calls for kneading the dough. Does the mixer take care of that step? If so, should I knead my bread before the first rise?
P.S. I do use a hand mixer with bread attachments.
Hi James, yes we are kneading the dough via the dough hook on the stand mixer. Does that answer the question? Let me know. And PS great idea to make two loaves at once.
Can I let this rise over night or is that too long?
Hi April, I have done this before and in my opinion it produces an inferior loaf.
Hi I noticed the milk is different in the brown butter recipe as the bread recipe on you tube.
Is there a reason for the difference?
I tweaked it slightly. They both produce fine results, but less liquid makes for a slightly denser loaf.
I was wondering if this dough can be frozen for later baking and if so what is the process for proper thawing and then baking.
Hi Paul, I recommend freezing the baked bread, rather than freezing dough. Bread freezes beautifully.
Thanks Joanne for the suggestion, I will freeze the bread itself. I have a vacuum machine so taking the air out will allow it to last longer in the freezer. I really like adding the butter with the water and yeast. It really made the bread taste so much better. Thanks again.
There is a discrepancy on ingredients from your YouTube video to your recipe online. Which is correct? YouTube video says 4 tablespoon of butter, recipe online says 3 tablespoon, 1 1/4 cup on milk on video and 1 cup online recipe, no water on video and 1/3 cup recipe, 3 tablespoon honey on video and 2 tablespoon recipe and 17.5oz flour and 15 oz on recipe online. I’m trying to make it now and don’t want to do it wrong and waste my efforts. Please clarify.
Hi Sally, I have multiple versions of this bread, so all of those recipe amounts and ingredients are correct. They are very minor tweaks and yield slightly different loaves (ie the video version is not made with brown butter like the post is). Choose either the video version or the post version. Enjoy!
Hi Joanne,
If I want to use whole-wheat flour for this recipe, what would be the quantity? Would I need any other ingredient with whole-wheat flour?
Thanks!
Hi Sundus, you can substitute the same amount of whole wheat flour, but keep in mind it will produce a very different loaf of bread (denser, less rise, possibly more kneading time required). Whole wheat flour has less gluten development capabilities as regular. Happy baking!
Hi Joanne,
I made the brown butter bread and it did not rise at all. I waited until my liquid ingredients reached 115F before adding the yeast and noticed it didn’t get foamy or bubbly. Am I suppose to keep it on the stove and make sure it does not go below/above 115F? I have made bread before and I did not have problems with my dough rising. What could I have done wrong?
Thanks
Hi Nita, it’s very strange that it didn’t rise at all, and it wasn’t foamy or bubbly. Based on this information, it seems maybe the yeast was dead. Was the yeast new? Do you think it might have gotten overcooked or overheated some other time? It’s fine if it’s below 115, and maybe a little bit above, but not too far above.
Hi Joanne,
I purchased a small jar of yeast that I keep refrigerated. I have only had it for 2 months (the container indicates to use within 6 months). Maybe I overheated the liquid nonetheless I will try again this weekend. Thx
Hi Nita, do you have an accurate thermometer to measure the water temperature? Maybe it was too hot. Your yeast sounds like it is still good, but if it is, you can check (it will start foaming and getting bubbly when activated with some warm water). Hope it goes well this time. I hate when baking doesn’t turn out well! This is one of my favorite breads.
Hello, I have just found your site through pinterest and I am loving it! I am attempting to make your bread recipe now and the only problem I have faced is the my dough did not double in size while siting and hour. I have gone ahead and started to cook it to see. I really agree with the shelf life on bread in the stores, it shouldn’t be that long at all! If it doesn’t turn out the only thing I can think is that I didn’t have a thermometer to check. If you have any suggestions? A video to help visualize would be wonderful. Thank you!
Hi Kerrin, sometimes doubling time can vary depending on how warm your kitchen is. An 80 degree kitchen vs a 65 degree kitchen, for example, will yield different results. How did the bread turn out? A little dense?
A lot dense. It didn’t rise at all when I put it in the oven with the water pan underneath. I will have to double time and pay closer attention for my next attempt.
Hi Kerrin, that is a shame and I’m sorry to hear that. I wonder if the yeast wasn’t alive when it went into the oven or when proofing. I know you mentioned not having a thermometer, and you can get a good one for around $20. This is the one I use! http://amzn.to/152BH6Q
Hi,
Is it necessary to have a pan of water? I have an electric stove and that makes me a bit nervous.
Thank you
Hi Antoinette, professional bread baking ovens inject steam into the oven during the baking process. The high water content in the air lets the bread rise higher before it sets and hardens, so if you don’t put the pan of water in, the bread will be much more dense.
Yummy bread! Turned out great! Thank you!
Hi Ann, that’s so wonderful! I’m glad the bread turned out well. Enjoy!
Can anyone please tell me why the two times I have done this, the bread has not risen to much. The yeast was purchased brand new. I followed this to the tee. Any assistance here would be fantastic. Amy I mixing to much? Seriously cannot figure this one out… Thanks in advance for anyone help on this.
Are you using dry active yeast or instant yeast? Joanne’s recipe called for instant yeast however I had dry active yeast on hand. As I understand the dry active may need more time to rise. I also made this recipe twice with dry active yeast and the dough did rise but not a lot. Both loaves did bake higher than the loaf pan and I was happy with the texture and taste of the bread. My experience in working with yeast has not called for heating the liquid so I was careful to use a candy thermometer to insure the liquid did not exceed the 115 degrees so as not to kill the yeast.
On the other hand both of my loaves did split horizontally on one side as it baked. I baked the loaves about a week apart so what ever I did I am consistent. Also the cook time for both is on the low end. Anyone think the split may be the oven temp?
Lorraine
Hi Lorraine, when you say the loaves split horizontally on the side, do you mean the crease that’s tucked in the bottom came up to the side? Regarding the yeast, several years ago I read in one of Alton Brown’s books that active dry yeast doesn’t rise as much as instant yeast because about 25% of the active dry yeast is dead. Maybe add 25% more of the active dry next time? Also the water is very important. Professional bread baking ovens spray steam inside at the beginning of baking in order to keep the top moist and allow it to rise more before it sets/hardens.
Hi Joanne,
I baked both loaves with a sheet pan of water in the bottom of the oven and was careful to put the seam side of the loaf at the bottom of the pan.
Thanks for the information about the difference in dry active and instant yeast.
Lorraine
Hi Michael, I’d be happy to try to help you in any way I can. My first thought is about the water in the oven. Professional bread baking ovens spray steam inside at the beginning of baking in order to keep the top moist and allow it to rise more before it sets/hardens. So maybe in addition to the sheet pan of water in the bottom of the oven, also try spraying the top. Additionally, if you want more rise/lighter bread, you can add in a little bit less flour, however that will make it more sticky and difficult to work with, but that could also be worth a try. Let me know how it goes, hope this helps.
I was intrigued by the use of brown butter and decided to try this recipe. Yesterday I made the loaf and Wow! Very tasty. I enjoy the subtle flavor of the honey but can’t identify the difference that browning the butter would make.
This a.m. I read the comments for this blog post and see many references to using browned butter. Is there more information about this on your blog?
I like the density of the bread this recipe turned out and see by your photo my loaf turned out similar. I used active dry yeast, as that is what I had in the pantry, in the amount that the recipe stated. The loaf baked up slightly higher than the pan and was pleased with the final product.
I also never put a pan of water in the bottom while baking bread and wonder what effect this practice had on the bread? Density?
Love your Blog!
Lorraine
Hi Lorraine, great to hear your experience and glad you enjoyed the bread! I felt there was a nice nutty flavor from the bread from the brown butter, but it might be more of an aroma (which is a part of taste) than the actual flavor (especially since the honey has a pronounced flavor).
You can use brown butter for all sorts of things! I think I have a few recipes on my site if you search for “brown butter” but you can certainly find tons of recipes online. I make brown butter chocolate chip cookies (search for cook’s illustrated chocolate chip cookies) and they are incredible.
Professional bread baking ovens have steam injected in order to give moisture to the loaf and prevent the top from setting too soon, so basically it lets the bread rise higher (and yes, it’s less dense this way). Hope that helps!
Like many others, I love the idea of browned butter for it! So interesting, and a way of making something you can’t get at a store.
I’m just like you. Almost never buy bread from the store and just the other day made a sandwich bread. Next time will have to try your version. That brown butter, mmm
What is “ground ginger”? I would like to try adding this to prolong the shelf life of my baked goods, but I’m not really a ginger fan. I have ginger in powdered form. Would that be the same?
Hi Debi, I believe that is what Natasha is talking about. It’s the powdered ginger you get in the spice section.
Btw to any bread/dessert recipie- add a pinch of ground ginger. It’s tasteless but kills off any mold spores so your baked goods will la,st 3 or more days longer than without the ginger. It’s now a habit of mine and people love how long my breads last!
Natasha, this is a REALLY cool tip. Have never heard of that. Thanks for sharing with all of us!