Hawaiian Honey Bread

 “May your crust be crisp and your bread always rise.” – Peter Reinhart

If you’ve never baked bread before or you’re in expert in the field, I recommend you finish reading this post quickly and head into your kitchen to bake! I stumbled upon this recipe in the Red Star Yeast site while looking for a bread recipe to baptize my brand new Kitchen Aid stand mixer I bought on Gilt. Her name is Stella, she’s Brushed Chrome in color, and is a 5 quart, bowl lift mixer. She’s gorgeous and I know we have many years to come together.

This Hawaiian Honey Bread is the first recipe I made in the mixer and it was a solemn moment. One were I of course blasted some Kelly Clarkson on the radio and pulled my hair up into a high bun. I was ready to bake and so was Stella!

Originally posted on the Red Star Yeast site under Hawaiian Honey Bread, this recipe seduced me because: 1) it had pineapple juice in it and we all know pineapple juice is the secret ingredient to all great things and 2) it was an enriched dough (one that includes eggs and fat), which tends to be my favorite kind of dough.

As you can see, it turned out gorgeous. It’s a supple and sweet dough that could easily lend itself to being shaped into whatever you heart desires. The recipe recommends forming one large loaf, which I did, but next time I make this, I’ll be making 2-4 smaller loaves. In a household of just the two of us, it’d be easier to freeze a few loaves and slowly eat them – not like what we did with this one and just scarfed it all down in a few days!

If you’re new to baking with yeast, be sure to check out the Red Star Yeast Baking Tips section on their site, or just head on over to their Pinterest boards for visual inspiration! Doesn’t everyone use Pinterest as a search engine?!

Hawaiian Honey Bread

"An easy way to make the bread that is so popular in supermarkets. It's an excellent bread to serve for breakfast or anytime. It makes great French toast." - Red Star Yeast

Print Recipe

Prep Time:30 minutes mins

Cook Time:40 minutes mins

Total Time:1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Ingredients

• 4 ¼ cups Bread Flour
• 4 +1/2 teaspoon Red Star Active Dry Yeast
• ⅓ cup Nonfat dry milk
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• ½ cup Pineapple juice
• ½ cup Water
• ⅓ cup Shortening*
• ¼ cup Honey
• 2 Eggs
• 1 drop Yellow food coloring if desired
• Topping
• 1 Egg slightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon Water

Instructions

• In large mixer bowl, combine 2+1/4 cups flour, yeast, dry milk and salt; mix well. In saucepan, heat pineapple juice, 1/2 cup water, shortening* and honey until warm (120° - 130°F; shortening does not have to melt).
• Add to flour mixture. Add 2 eggs and food coloring. Blend at low speed until moistened; beat 3 minutes at medium speed.
• By hand (using a dough whisk works well here!), gradually stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Knead on floured surface until smooth and elastic. Place in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover; let rise in warm place about 15 minutes. (Note: Let the dough rise for a total of 30 minutes the first time for a lighter loaf.)
• Punch down dough. On lightly floured surface, shape into a round loaf.
• Place in greased 9 or 10-inch round pie pan. Cover; let rise in warm place about 15 minutes. Combine egg and 1 tablespoon water; brush loaf.
• Bake at 375º for 35 to 40 minutes until golden brown. Remove from pan; cool.

Notes

*Butter may be substituted for shortening if desired.

You can substitute Instant (fast-rising) yeast for Active Dry Yeast. Traditional methods- replace 1:1. Expect your dough to rise faster; always let your dough rise until ‘ripe’. Bread Machines- use 1/2 tsp Instant yeast (or 3/4 tsp Active Dry yeast) per cup of flour in your recipe.

Servings: 1 large loaf

The results? A moist and tender crumb with a thin but sturdy crust. My secret to a shinier crust? Double egg wash! First, brush your egg wash over your shaped loaf and let air dry for ten minutes. Go over the dough again with egg wash and bake as usual. A double egg wash creates a super shiny crust everyone loves! Red Star Yeast recommends using this bread for French Toast and I say – why not make bread pudding with it!? It’d be so decadent and rich – maybe next time I make it, I’ll save some for pudding! Till next time, happy baking!

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Red Star Yeast. All opinions, as well as my passion for bread baking, are my own.