July 25, 2012

Fluffy, Soft and Ever So Slightly Sweet

I made 'milk' bread the other day and holey moley was it ever good! It was my first time making it from scratch, with it turning out really well. Yay! The best part is, it's really frigg'n easy - especially with a Kitchen Aid mixer. All that matters is patience and I had all day. :)

Buns, perfect for a single serving.

All the ingredients combined, I let it proof until the dough had doubled in size.
Punching down the dough to get all the air bubbles out

I divided it into 9 (pretty much) equal balls. One could use a kitchen scale, but I am without.

All rolled out, ready for it's second rise!

After it has double in size again, I brushed the tops with a beaten egg

Topped with malt powder, as I added some malt in the dough mixture.

Oven, 375F until fragrant and golden.

Voila! The house smelled amazing.

I wish you could smell this!
This was my first batch. I decided to make another one, but in loaf form and instead of malt powder, I added coconut powder and braided it. See!

After it's second rise
Brushed with egg wash


Sprinkled with super coarse sugar crystals

...and baked.

There's no photo of it's innards or of the final result. I forgot to take them before it was devoured! Next time I'll remember.. and there will definitely be a next time because there's no way I'll ever buy milk bread or brioche or challah ever again! You're just going to have to believe me when I tell you it was super fluffy and light and fragrant and tummy growling-ly delicious. Especially toasted with a slathering of salted butter.

P.S. This bread does really well frozen! Just defrost, warm and serve!

Milk Bread (adapted from here)
makes 9 buns or 1 loaf
Ingredients
4 cups all purpose flour*
1/2 tsp  salt 
1/4 cup lukewarm milk
2 tsp active dry yeast
4 tbsp sugar
1 1/4 cup lukewarm milk
1 large egg, beaten
2 tbsp melted butter
egg wash (egg lightly beaten with 1 tbsp water) for brushing
seeds (optional) for sprinkling on top of the bread
oil/melted butter for greasing the bowl and the baking pan(s)
Directions (using a Kitchen Aid mixer)
  1. Sift your all purpose flour and set aside. 
  2. In you Kitchen Aid bowl, combine warm milk, sugar and yeast together and let it do it's thing (foam up) for about 10 minutes.
  3. Add the beaten egg, stir and then slowly add the flour/salt. Mix (speed 2) with a dough hook until a ball of dough forms and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Still too sticky? Add another tablespoon of flour, mix and repeat if needed. The dough should pull away from the sides, be soft and supple yet just the slightest bit tacky to the touch.
  4. With the machine still working, pour in the melted butter and continue to kneed until it's all incorperated. 
  5. Remove the bowl, add about a teaspoon of oil to it, swirl it around and leave it covered with a damp towel in a warm place for about an hour or until it has doubled in size. I put mine in the sun room.
  6. After it has done it's first rise, take the towel off and give the dough a good punch or two to release the air bubbles. 
  7. Divide the dough into 9 (pretty equal) balls or one braided loaf and put it into their greased (butter works) pans. 
  8. Cover with a damp towel to let it rise a second time until it's double in volume. It should take another hour. 
  9. Preheat oven to 375F. Brush the tops of the bread with egg wash and add whatever toppings you desire! Poppy seeds, sesame seeds, malt powder, sugar etc. Stuff that won't burn, like shredded coconut.
  10. Bake for about 30 minutes if your making buns or 40-45 minutes for a loaf. You'll know when it's done, when the bread is golden all around and your house smells amazing. 
  11. Allow the bread to cool for at least 30 minutes before removing it from the pan and allow it to cool completely before slicing into it! If you made buns, feel free to eat it warm. :)
*For variation, I added 1/4c pure malt powder to one and 1/3c of pure coconut powder to the other! Green tea, cocoa and carob would be great additions too. Cinnamon and raisin? Endless possibilities! Add the powders in with the flour. Raisin/nuts etc. should be added in after the dough has formed a ball and pulled away from the sides of the bowl, but before adding in the melted butter.

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Hi, I'm Janetta from Toronto. I cook, bake and often veganize recipes. I photograph nearly everything and those photos will most likely end up being posted here. I've got a little black cat named Tank, who's really cute and a little bit nosy. You'll see a lot of photos of her too!

Contact me at: jubesandtank@gmail.com

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