Liberally butter a large bowl and set aside, preferably in a cool place.
In a separate large bowl combine about 3 cups flour. To the flour add the sugar, the dry milk powder, and salt. Make a well in the center of the bowl and add milk, melted butter, beaten egg and yeast mixture. Stir this until a dough forms.
Turn dough onto a floured surface and begin kneading by hand (it’s therapeutic. You need this). At this point the dough will be very, very sticky. Continue kneading the dough adding about ¼ cup at a time of remaining 1 ¼ cup of flour. Knead dough for about 10 minutes or so until the dough is mostly smooth, elastic, and slightly sticky to the touch. I found the dough does remain sort of sticky and that’s fine. Shape dough into a ball and place it your prepped buttered bowl, turning a few times to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap or a moist, clean dish towel and let dough rise in a warm place 1 to 1½ hours until doubled. While the dough is rising prepare the coating.