This forgiving recipe can easily be made without using an electric mixer!
Ingredients
4 cups bread flour
2½ teaspoons instant yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
½ cup sour cream
1 cup water, divided
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened and cubed
vegetable oil for kneading
Instructions
Mix the flour, yeast, sugar and salt in the large bowl of your electric mixer fitted with the dough hook (I use a KitchenAid).
Put the sour sour cream into a measuring cup, add ⅔ cup of cold water. Add the cubed butter to the sour cream/water mixture. Then add 7 Tablespoons of boiling water. Stir to be sure the butter is softened and will incorporate into the dough.
Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredient and stir slowly until all the flour is hydrated and a soft, sticky dough forms. This should take less than a minute.
Without removing the bowl from the mixer stand, cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave to rest for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, turn the mixer on again and knead the dough for about 10 seconds. At this point, the dough should begin to form into a ball. Cover it again, and leave for 10 more minutes. Repeat this process twice.
After the third 10-second knead, remove the dough from the bowl and shape into a ball. Oiling your hands and the surface on which you will work the dough will make this process less sticky! Form the dough into a ball again, put it back in the bowl, cover, and leave to rest and rise for an hour until doubled in size.
Select the loaf pan you will use for the bread. You can use a standard 8 1/2″ x 4″ loaf pan or a small Pullman pan which is 9″ x 5″. I have also used a standard Pullman pan which is 13″x4″ x 4″ which will produce a longer but less tall loaf.
Which ever pan you use, line the bottom of your loaf pan with parchment paper and very lightly grease or spray the bottom and sides and set aside.
Once the dough has risen, punch it down and move it to the counter top which you have oiled. Gently pat the dough into a rectangle about 3/4 of an inch thick and as wide as the pan in which you will bake it. The long side of the rectangle should be the same length as the pan you are using for baking. Starting with this edge, and using both hands, tightly roll the dough into a scroll (like rolling a Swiss roll), and gently place it seam side down in your prepared loaf pan, tucking the ends if necessary.
Leave to rise in a warm, draft-free place for 1–1½ hours.
When the dough has risen fully, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake for about 35 minutes and using a stick thermometer check for doneness which is around 205 degrees. If the top of the loaf is browning too quickly, cover with a foil tent.
Remove the loaf from the pan onto a baker’s rack once you remove it from the oven. Let loaf cool for at least 2 hours or over night before slicing.