Daily Bread: Italian Sweet Bread

I tried a new bread recipe recently - we were having spaghetti and I...well actually I read this recipe and it sounded good and I thought spaghetti would go well with it! It did :) This little loaf is soft and the Italian seasonings on top really liven it up. The original recipe makes 2 round loaves, but I halved it and that was plenty for us.

Italian Sweet Bread
1/2 cup milk
1 egg (beaten and divided into 2 equal portions)
1 tbsp butter, softened
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
about 2 cups of flour
1 tsp yeast (instant if you've got it!)
1/2 tbsp water
Italian Seasoning

Combine 1 cup flour, sugar, salt and yeast and mix well. Stir in milk, 1/2 egg, and butter. Stir in enough flour to make a soft, workable ball. Knead about 5 minutes and let rise - 45 minutes should be enough. Press out air, make a ball and place in a greased cake round, let proof for 45 minutes. Add water to remaining egg, brush egg wash over the loaf and sprinkle with Italian seasoning. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until the internal temp is about 200 degrees. Be careful not to go over 212!

Note, if you are using regular old active dry yeast, you must use warm milk, that is the NICE NICE NICE thing about instant yeast - you can use cold milk or water and it still rises. This eliminates a problem I used to have because I had trouble getting the water or milk hot enough, but not too hot.