Difficulty
3.5/5
Prep Time
30 mins
Total Time
3.5-4.5 hrs
Makes
6-8 servings
IngredientS
- 1+1/2 Cup,Warm Milk
- 30g+2tsp, Sugar
- 7g, Active Dry Yeast
- 450g, Flour
- 1/2 tsp, Salt
- 45g, Butter
A great eggless recipe for milk buns, braided bread, stuffed rolls, pav for dishes like pav bhaji, vada pav etc.
- Activate the yeast: If you are using active dry yeast, you always need to activate it first. Warm up the milk till it’s luke warm (You should be able to dip your finger in it) in a small bowl. Add 2tsp sugar and sprinkle the yeast on top. Thoroughly mix till well incorporated and let it proof for 10mins. You should see a thick foam after the proofing stage. If not, your yeast has died and you should throw it out and start fresh. If you are using instant yeast, skip the procedure above and start with the next step.
- Mix the ingredients: In a big bowl, transfer the yeast mixture. Add the butter, remaining sugar and salt. Mix well with a fork/whisk, ignore if there are any lumps (It will go away once you knead the dough). Add the flour and whisk the help of a fork slowly incorporate the ingredients till you get a shaggy dough.
- Knead! Knead! Knead!: Transfer the shaggy dough onto a floured surface. It’s time to knead the hell out of this dough. Your dough will probably be sticky at this stage. So first, we will start with the stretch-and-fold technique. Form a sticky dough ball, with both your hands lift up the dough from the sides by scooping it, slap the bottom on to the counter, this will stick to it, stretch the dough towards you just until it stretches and doesn’t tear, and then fold it back over. Repeat the process with a 90 degree angle change every time. After 5-7 mins of doing so, you should see that the dough has become less sticky. Now, with the palm of your one hand knead the dough gently, and use the other one to keep turning the dough. Do this for another 5 mins. Ideally, your dough should be ready to stretch and fold by now. If you feel it is still sticky, slap and fold the dough for 2-3 mins and then do the stretch and fold. For the stretch and fold step, stretch out the dough with the palm of one hand as far out as possible, don’t tear it. Then, roll it back towards you forming the original dough ball shape and then turn it by 90 degrees. and repeat. Do this for another 7-8 mins. So, you are 20 mins into kneading the dough and now we can check if you are done. Pick up the dough ball and slowly try to stretch our the dough with your fingers forming a window frame. If you get a translucent window frame, your dough is ready. But, if while stretching it the window frame tears apart, you will need to stretch and fold again for 2 mins and then re-check.
- Rest the dough: Grease the bowl you used earlier with some oil/baking spray and place your dough in it. Cover with a damp towel and let it rest for 1-2 hours in a warm place or until doubled in volume. (You can keep it in your oven with the oven light on for a warm environment).
- Shape the loaf: This is the best part. You can shape the dough in any way you like, that’s the beauty of this recipe. Burger Buns, Braided, Babka, Hot Dog Buns, anything. But first, you need to deflate the dough. Punch it down gently until all the air gets out. Then divide into required portions, size and shape. Place them in a greased loaf pan or a baking sheet and cover with a damp towel and let it rest for 20 mins while the oven is pre-heated at 180°C.
- Bake the bread: Lightly brush the top of the bread with milk. Place it into the pre heated oven for 25-50 mins, depending on the shape and size of your bread. If you are making a big loaf, it will take 45-50 mins, if you are making individual rolls such as buns, dinner rolls etc, it will take 25-35 mins. Baking time depends a lot on your oven so check after the bread has started to turn golden brown.
Tip: To get that golden crust, I change the setting to top-only towards the end of the baking time, around 10 mins. - Cool! : Once baked, take it out of the oven and coat the loaf/buns with melted butter and cover it with a damp towel and let it cool. Don’t cut your bread while it’s still hot. Let it come to room temp, it will be worth it. Once it’s cooled, slice it up and enjoy with any of your favorite pairings: Butter, eggs, grilled chicken, chocolate paste etc.
