American Sandwich Bread from America's Test Kitchen

I love, love, love America's Test Kitchen so I love trying their recipes one at a time (as I can find them).  I have a long list on my recipes to try that they have made but one that was first on my list was American Sandwich Bread.   But as you can see from their recipe, this is not made in the bread machine.  I have gotten really lazy (or dependant on my bread machine) so I adapted for the bread machine seen below the original.  Sorry that I forgot to take a picture of the very large loaf of bread that came out but it was huge!!  Here is the stack of sliced bread.  It is really soft and flavorful bread and I highly recommend trying it.  I will try to remember to take a picture next time.  I hope that you try to make a loaf of bread because it is the best side dish with a big bowl of soup in this cold weather :)  I posted a picture of the whole loaf here in case you want to see how the whole thing turns out.

American Sandwich Bread
(Source: Baking Illustrated , pages 74-75)
Makes one 9-inch loaf
This recipe uses a standing electric mixer. You can hand-knead the dough, but we found it’s easy to add too much flour during this stage, resulting in a somewhat tougher loaf. To promote a crisp crust,we found it best to place a loaf pan filled with boiling water in the oven as the bread bakes.
3¾ cups (18¾ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the work surface
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup warm whole milk (about 110 degrees)
1/3 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 tablespoons honey
1 envelope (about 2¼ teaspoons) instant yeast
1. Adjust an oven rack to the lowest position and heat the oven to 200 degrees. Once the oven temperature reaches 200 degrees, maintain the heat for 10 minutes, then turn off the oven.
2. Mix 3½ cups of the flour and the salt in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the dough hook. Mix the milk, water, butter, honey, and yeast in a 4-cup liquid measuring cup. Turn the machine to low and slowly add the liquid. When the dough comes together, increase the speed to medium and mix until the dough is smooth and satiny, stopping the machine two or three times to scrape dough from hook, if necessary, about 10 minutes. (After 5 minutes of kneading, if the dough is still sticking to the sides of the bowl, add flour, 1 tablespoon at a time and up to ¼ cup total, until the dough is no longer sticky.) Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface; knead to form as mooth, round ball, about 15 seconds.
3. Place the dough in a very lightly oiled large bowl, rubbing the dough around the bowl to coat lightly. Coverthe bowl with plastic wrap and place in the warmed oven until the dough doubles in size, 40 to 50 minutes.
4. Gently press the dough into a rectangle 1 inch thick and no longer than 9 inches. WIth a long side facing you, roll the dough firmly into a cylinder, pressing with your fingers to make sure the dough sticks to itself. Turn the dough seam-side up and pinch it closed. Place the dough seam-side down in a greased 9 by 5-inch loaf pan and press it gently so it touches all four sides of the pan. Cover with plastic wrap; set aside in a warm spot until the dough almost doubles in size, 20 to 30 minutes.
5. Keep one oven rack at the lowest position and place the other at the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Place an empty baking pan on the bottom rack. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a small saucepan. Pour the boiling water into the empty pan on the bottom rack at set the loaf onto the middle rack. Bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted at an angle from the short end just above the pan rim into the center of the loaf read 195 degrees, 40 to 50 minutes. Remove the bread from the pan, transfer to a wire rack, and cool to room temperature. Slice and serve.



American Sandwich Bread (adapted for the Bread machine)

3 1/2 cups bread flour
1 cup warm milk (about 110 degrees)
1/3 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter or margarine
3 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons salt
1 envelope (about 2¼ teaspoons) instant yeast

Put milk, water, and butter to microwave safe bowl and microwave for 1 minute to warm depending on microwave strength.  Pour into bread machine pan.  Add 3 tbsp honey to pan.  Add 3 1/2 cups bread flour.  Put bread machine yeast and salt on top.  Put on light setting and 2 lb. loaf and start the bread machine.