Pain de Mie

Prep: 15 mins

Cook: 35 mins

Ferment: 14 hrs 30 mins

Total: 15 hrs 20 mins

Servings: 8

Yield: 1 loaf

Pain de mie is French for «bread of crumb,» referring to this loaf’s tight crumb structure. It is made from a lightly enriched dough. The loaves get their distinctive shape from being baked in a covered pullman pan. The result is a perfectly square, soft and tender loaf with hardly any crust. It’s a bit like brioche, but not nearly as rich. A very versatile bread, pain de mie is great for sandwiches, breakfast toasts, french toast, croutons, bread pudding, and more.

This recipe calls for making a pre-ferment, which is a little like a starter. It gives the final bread more flavor and a longer shelf life, but it's not strictly necessary. If you're short on time, you can start on step three, simply mixing all the ingredients in the entire recipe together at once.

Ingredients

For the pre-fermented dough

• 85 grams bread flour

• 60 grams water

• 1/2 gram instant yeast (about 1/8 teaspoon)

• 2 grams salt (about 1/2 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt)

For the final dough

• 290 grams bread flour

• 180 grams water

• 6 grams salt

• 3 grams instant yeast

• 14 grams sugar

• 28 grams butter, softened

• 14 grams milk powder

Steps to Make It

1. Gather the ingredients.

2. Add the pre-fermented dough ingredients to a one-pint container. Mix well. Cover and allow to ferment at room temperature for 12 hours.

3. Add the pre-fermented dough and all final dough ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix on low speed for about two minutes, then on medium speed for about four minutes.

   You may want to pause halfway through to remove the dough from the hook and then resume mixing. The dough should be soft, smooth and elastic, and the butter should be thoroughly incorporated.

4. Remove the dough, shape it into a ball and place it into a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and ferment at room temperature for about an hour.

5. Lightly oil a 9x4x4 inch pullman-style bread pan with a sliding lid. Shape the dough into a batard, and place it seam-side down into the oiled pan. If the dough is not as long as the pan, don’t worry; the dough will fill the pan as it rises.

   Close the lid and proof the loaf at room temperature for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Check the dough periodically. Try to bake the bread when the dough is about 1 inch away from the top of the pan.

6. Preheat the oven to 385 F.

7. Bake the bread in the closed loaf pan for 35 minutes. Remove from oven and de-pan to a cooling rack. Allow to cool before slicing. Store in a plastic bag or bread box for 3 or 4 days. Or freeze in a sealed bag for up to 3 months.

What Can You Use If You Don’t Have a Pullman Pan?

You can use a regular bread pan. For a makeshift lid, put a sheet pan on the top and weigh it down with something like a small cast iron pan. You can also wrap the pan tightly with a double layer of tin foil, or simply make a round top loaf.

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8
Amount per serving
Calories	209
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 4g	5%
Saturated Fat 2g	10%
Cholesterol 8mg	3%
Sodium 422mg	18%
Total Carbohydrate 37g	13%
Dietary Fiber 1g	4%
Total Sugars 3g
Protein 6g
Vitamin C 0mg	0%
Calcium 31mg	2%
Iron 0mg	2%
Potassium 82mg	2%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.