Step 1

Whisk together the flour and milk.

Step 2

Once there are no lumps remaining, cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture has evenly thickened and is nice and smooth.

Step 3

Remove from the heat and...

Step 4

pour the 6 oz of milk into the Tangzhong, whisking until smooth. This will lower the temperature so you don't have to wait before continuing.

Step 5

To your mixing bowl, add all the tangzhong/milk mixture and all the rest of the ingredients except for the butter.

Step 6

With the dough hook, mix on low speed for one minute, or until the dough just comes together. There might be some loose flour in the bowl, but don't worry about it. It will get incorporated in the next step when you add the butter.

Step 7

Cover the mixer bowl with a lint-free towel (you can leave the bowl on the mixer) and let rest for 30 minutes. This rest (autolyse) allows some gluten to form before you even start kneading.

Step 8

After the rest, turn the mixer on medium-low speed and add the butter in several additions over the course of about three minutes. The dough will be a wreck--sticky, buttery, messy. Worry not.

Step 9

Turn the mixer on medium speed and knead for 7 minutes.

Step 10

Cover the bowl again and let rest for 20 minutes.

Step 11

Remove the towel and knead on medium speed for 7 more minutes.

Step 12

Test the dough. It should be somewhat tacky, very extensible (you can stretch it out really easily) and smooth. Check the dough with the windowpane test. If you can stretch out a wee piece of the dough until it is taught and translucent like bubble gum, you're good to go.

Step 13

Put a mug of water in the microwave and heat to boiling, about 2 1/2 minutes.

Step 14

Scrape the dough out of the mixer bowl, round it so it's nice and smooth on the top (you may have to lightly oil your hands so the dough doesn't stick to you) and put it back in the bowl. Spray with pan spray and cover with a lint-free towel.

Step 15

Put the covered dough in the warm and moist microwave--leave the mug of water in there--and let double in size, 45 minutes-an hour.

Step 16

Once the dough has doubled, turn it out onto a clean work surface--no flour. Lightly press the dough into a rough 9" square.

Step 17

Fold the dough into thirds like a letter. Then, fold it in half--it will seem an impossible task, but just start at one side and sort of push the dough down in the center of your letter fold and pinch the top and bottom edges together. Keep doing this all the way down the length of your dough. Now you will have a fat cylinder of dough about a foot long.

Step 18

Roll the dough over (smooth side up) and hold it like a bowed up slinky.

Step 19

Fit the dough into a pan-sprayed 9"x5" loaf pan so the slinky's ends are down in the bottom of the pan. Then press the dough down a bit to even it out and allow it to sit snugly in the pan.

Step 20

Heat the mug of water for another minute or so, and spray the top of the loaf with pan spray.

Step 21

Cover with plastic wrap and place back in the cozy microwave with its little mug friend.

Step 22

Go ahead and set a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350F.

Step 23

Let the rise until it has not quite doubled in size--it will probably rise about an inch or so above the lip of the loaf pan. This will take about 30-45 minutes.

Step 24

Once the dough has risen nicely, place in the preheated oven and bake until the loaf is a deep golden brown. It doesn't need any egg wash or anything. The loaf should sound hollow when tapped and the internal temperature will be between 205F and 210F.

Step 25

Tip the bread out of the pan and onto a wire rack to cool. Let cool at least an hour if you can. If you can't, I'll understand. Your bread will have a better texture if you let it cool first, though. Hot bread sort of turns to mush in your mouth since the starches need to cool down to about 140F to solidify. Cutting too soon can result in smooshed and smooshy bread.

Step 26

Store at room temperature in an airtight container for 3-4 days. For longer storage, pre-slice, wrap well and freeze. Pull out slices as needed and leave the rest frozen.