In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a dough hook, combine active yeast, sugar and half of the lukewarm water. Let sit for 10 min. until foamy. Add remaining water, honey, salt, cubed butter and 4 cups of flour to bowl. Knead at low speed until dough comes together and is soft, but not sticky. Add a few more tablespoons of the flour, if necessary. Continue to knead for 6-9 min. until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and is soft and smooth.

Transfer dough to a lightly greased bowl and make sure it’s completely coated with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm, draft-free place for about 45 min., or until doubled in size. Turn out dough on lightly floured work surface. Use your fingers to gently pat dough into an 8×12-inch rectangle while pressing it all over to remove any air pockets. Starting at the short end, roll up rectangle into a tight roll and pinch the seams to seal. Tuck ends of the roll slightly under the roll to create some surface tension and place loaf into a greased 5×9 loaf pan, tucking the ends under with the seam side down. Cover with a greased piece of plastic wrap and let rise for about 45 min. in a warm draft-free place until doubled in size. Preheat oven to 390ºF and adjust oven rack to lower-middle position. Bake for 35-45 min. or until loaf registers from 208-210ºF. The loaf should be golden. If bread browns before it’s done, loosely cover with a tent of foil. Invert bread onto a cooling rack. Reinvert bread and cool completely.