Brioche
(makes about 1 loaf, or 14 dinner rolls)
Ingredients:
- 2 tsp active dry yeast
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 500g baking flour
- 2 eggs
- 150 mL milk
- 100g butter
- 50g sugar
- 8g salt
- 1 egg, whisked, for the egg wash
Directions:
- Proof the active dry yeast in the warm water by dissolving it and letting it bubble.
- Mix the ingredients in, in order, using a stand mixer with a dough hook. Continue kneading at low speed until a sticky dough forms, about 3 minutes total.
- Cover the mixing bowl and proof for a bit over 2 hours in a warm place. I use the oven with the light on, which works pretty well and is out of the way.
- Remove the dough, which should have doubled in size, and preheat the oven to 400 °F.
- For a loaf, flour the countertop and separate the dough into 3 equal logs, about 40 cm long and 5 cm in diameter, braid together, and put in a loaf pan. For dinner rolls, work dough into golf ball sized balls, pinching the dough to ensure one side is smooth. Put that side on top, and fill a muffin tin.
- Cover, proof for an additional 20 minutes, and brush with the egg wash. Bake loaf for about 25 minutes and rolls for about 12 minutes.
This recipe I got from Alex French Guy on youtube, and was inspired to try it after watching my roommate bake sourdough bread on a weekly basis. It was surprisingly difficult to form the dinner roll shape, since the dough was very sticky. I find that the loaf produces about 10 solid slices of bread, and I tend to enjoy them best when toasted lightly. The dinner rolls are best fresh - I overcooked them a bit when keeping them warm, which made them a bit drier and a bit harder, instead of soft and fluffy as they were fresh out of the oven. They don’t really need additional butter.