Whey Bread

I've been making yogurt using the simplest methods out there. We like it thick, so I usually drain off some of the whey. (There is only one better use for a chemex coffee pot!) I usually use milk in my bread recipe, but I thought this might be a good opportunity to make use of the whey. I actually like yeasty bread better than sour dough, but Barb likes sourdough better. This was also a good compromise - having both the tartness of the whey and the flavor of the yeast. The recipe makes two loaves. It's based on an earlier recipe but uses a stand mixer instead of the food processor.

• 1 1/3 cup whole milk
• 1 1/3 cup acid whey (filtered from yogurt)
  
• 4 tbs unsalted butter
• 6 tbs Really Raw Honey (that shit's good)
• 2 pkts active dry yeast
• 2 lb 5 oz unbleached all-purpose flour
• 4 tsp salt

Heat the liquids in a small saucepan until the temp is 110 or 115 using an instant read thermometer. You will need 2 2/3 cups of liquid in all. Feel free to vary the ratio of whey to milk to taste. Also, I like the tase of the honey and am usually a little heavy handed with it. With bread, since there's so few ingredients, the taste of the individual pieces really comes through. The raw honey has a great strong taste - try it! Once the butter's melted and it's all still 110 degrees, whisk in the yeast to dissolve. Most recipes call for you to "proof" the yeast, but just getting it dissolved is good enough.

Add the flour and salt to a mixer and mix to combine. On a low speed, add the yeast/liquid mixture only as fast as the flour will absorb it. The dough should form a ball and pull away from the sides. Continue to knead for 5 minutes. It should remain sticky.

Place the kneaded dough in an oiled bowl and allow to rise for one hour in a warm spot until it's doubled in size. If the dough is too sticky, oil your hands and the worksurface instead of using flour.

Remove the dough, divide it in two (i use a scale to try to get the two halves as close as possible) and puch it down into a size that will fit into a 5x9 bread pan. Place it into a buttered bread pan and allow to rise for another 30-45 minutes.

Put a sheet pan or pie pan with 2-3 cups of warm water in the bottom rack of a 350 degree oven. Brush the top of the bread with olive oil and place on the second rack. Cook until the internal temperature of the bread reaches 195 degrees using an instant read thermometer. Remove from the pan and place on a wire rack to cool. Don't forget to pull out the water pan before it boils dry. Wait for the bread to cool completely before slicing.