I got hooked onto this crispy cheesy crust after remaking my old cold proofed cheesy breakfast roll recipe. It’s just so crunchy and delicious that I had to make another recipe with it. The best part is that all it takes to achieve it is to sprinkle some cheese on the bread before baking. It may be the best effort/outcome ratio when it comes to uniquely crusty breads.

Although the crust is my favourite part, I wanted to make the bread equally as good. I chose to use my scalded burger bun recipe for it. It produces extremely soft bread with a nice and even open crumb. The crunchiness of the crust perfectly contrasts the softness of the crumb.

This recipe makes three large subs. You can divide the dough into four to make smaller ones.

Watch the video down below for detailed instructions.

Ingredients

For the scald –

60g (2.1oz) white bread flour

20g (0.7oz) butter

15g (0.5oz) barley malt syrup or any other sweet syrup or even sugar

6g (0.21oz) salt

190g (6.7oz) boiling water

For the main dough –

3g (0.1oz) instant dry yeast or 3.6g (0.13oz) active dry yeast or 9g (0.32oz) fresh yeast

1 egg yolk

240g (8.5oz) white bread flour

For topping –

1 egg white

Grated Emmental or Gouda cheese

To learn more about no-knead bread dough temperature control click here.

The flour I use has a protein content of 13%. If your flour is weaker, then you may need to lower the hydration. 

If you are using active dry yeast, then you may need to let it sit in the water for 10 minutes before adding the other ingredients or else it could take a lot longer to raise the dough.

If you are curious about why the dough contains butter, egg, and sugar, click the links to learn more about the effects those ingredients have on bread dough.

Method

1. Make the scald. Combine the flour, butter, syrup, salt, and boiling water. Mix well. Cover and cool down. This can be done at room temperature or in the fridge or even in the freezer.
2. Make the dough. Add the yeast and the egg yolk to the cooled down scald. Mix them in. Add the flour and mix to a dough.
3. Cover and ferment for 45 minutes.
4. Fold.
5. Ferment for 45 minutes.
6. Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces. Shape into balls. Cover and rest for 20 minutes.
7. Shape the subs and place them on a non-stick paper lined baking tray. Leave them round or flatten them to increase the surface area of the crust.
8. Cover and proof for 1.5 hours.
9. Gently glaze with the egg white and top with the grated cheese.
10. Bake at 170C (340F) fan on or 190C (375F) fan off for 25 minutes.

Leave to cool down and then make yourself a massive sandwich!

Keep in mind that the conditions in each kitchen are different, so fermentation times may vary for you. It is up to the baker to control the bread and react accordingly.

Your oven may be different too, so your baking time may vary.

Sharp and zesty lemon curd, creamy smooth soft cheese all wrapped up in a super soft and puffy dough. This bake has it all when it comes to flavour and texture. It’s a beautiful all-in-one dessert. It may look complicated, but it’s extremely easy to make.

The three elements are made with simple recipes. The cream cheese part of the filling only needs to be mixed together. The lemon curd is cooked in a pan to a certain temperature and then cooled down. And the dough is made without kneading or folding. To simplify it even further you could replace the lemon curd with some type of jam.

Watch the video down below for detailed instructions.

Ingredients

For the cream cheese filling –

20g (0.7oz) flour

10g (0.35oz) lemon juice

30g (1oz) sugar

180g (6.4oz) full fat cream cheese

For the lemon curd –

50g (1.75oz) lemon juice

1 medium egg (50g; 1.75oz)

50g (1.75oz) sugar

Zest off all the lemons

25g (0.9oz) butter

For the dough –

90g (3.2oz) milk

30g (1oz) yogurt

4g (0.14oz) instant dry yeast or 4.8g (0.17oz) active dry yeast or 12g (0.42oz) fresh yeast

6g (0.21oz) salt

1 egg (50g; 1.75oz)

20g (0.7oz) butter

20g (0.7oz) sugar

6g (0.21oz) vanilla paste

300g (10.6oz) white bread flour

To top –

1 egg for glazing

Pearl sugar for decoration

To learn more about no-knead bread dough temperature control click here.

The flour I use has a protein content of 13%. If your flour is weaker, then you may need to lower the hydration. 

If you are using active dry yeast, then you may need to let it sit in the water for 10 minutes before adding the other ingredients or else it could take a lot longer to raise the dough.

If you are curious about why the dough contains butter, egg, and sugar, click the links to learn more about the effects those ingredients have on bread dough.

Method

1. Make the cream cheese filling. In a bowl combine the sugar, lemon juice, flour, and cream cheese. Mix until smooth. Cover and leave in the fridge for later.
2. Make the lemon curd. In a small pan combine the lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar, and egg. Whisk together. Cook on medium – high heat whisking occasionally. Bring it up to a temperature of between 75C – 80C (167F – 176F). As soon as it hits that temperature take it off the heat. Whisk in the butter. Pour the curd in a bowl, cover and refrigerate it until completely cold.
3. Make the dough. In a large bowl combine the milk, yogurt, yeast, salt, egg, butter, sugar, and vanilla. Mix well. Add the flour and mix to a dough. *Desired dough temperature around 24C (75F). If your dough is warmer, then it will ferment more rapidly. If it is cooler, then it will take longer. Adjust fermentation time accordingly.
4. Cover and ferment for 1.5 hours.
5. Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces. Shape into balls. Cover and rest for 30 minutes.
6. Shape and fill the dough.
7. Place the shaped loaves on a non-stick paper lined baking tray.
8. Cover and proof for 1 hour.
9. Glaze with egg, leave to dry for 5 minutes and glaze again. Decorate.
10. Bake at 170C (340F) fan on or 190C (375F) fan off for 25 minutes.

Leave to cool down completely and then tuck in!

Keep in mind that the conditions in each kitchen are different, so fermentation times may vary for you. It is up to the baker to control the bread and react accordingly.

Your oven may be different too, so your baking time may vary.

Someone recently requested that I remake my old Turkish bagel recipe to fit my new baking style. They asked if I could make it cold fermented and no-knead. The not kneading part is a no-brainer, but I stuck with same day fermentation. Cold fermentation makes the bread slightly chewier and tougher and that is the opposite of what I want in this type of bread. It should be as soft as possible while being as simple as possible to make.

These beautiful twisty rings are light and slightly sweetened. There are no special ingredients or methods here, just a little bit of butter and sugar. You could of course make them with a scald for extra softness and longevity. But I prefer it the simple way because I’m not storing this type of bread. It will be eaten soon after it comes out the oven.

This recipe makes 4 bagels.

Watch the video down below for detailed instructions.

Ingredients

For the dough –

160g (5.65oz) full fat milk

3g (0.1oz) instant dry yeast or 3.6g (0.13oz) active dry yeast or 9g (0.32oz) fresh yeast

5g (0.17oz) salt

10g (0.35oz) sugar

20g (0.7oz) butter

250g (8.8oz) white bread flour

1 egg for glazing

Seeds to sprinkle on top

To learn more about no-knead bread dough temperature control click here.

The flour I use has a protein content of 13%. If your flour is weaker, then you may need to lower the hydration. 

If you are using active dry yeast, then you may need to let it sit in the water for 10 minutes before adding the other ingredients or else it could take a lot longer to raise the dough.

Method

1. Dissolve the yeast, salt, and sugar in the milk. Add the butter and the flour. Mix to a dough. *Desired dough temperature around 23C (73F). If your dough is warmer, then it will ferment more rapidly. If it is cooler, then it will take longer. Adjust fermentation time accordingly.
2. Cover and ferment for 45 minutes.
3. Fold.
4. Ferment for 45 minutes.
5. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and shape into balls.
6. Cover and rest for 20 minutes.
7. Roll the dough balls to long strands around 40cm (16in) long.
8. Twist two strands together and connect the ends to form a bagel.
9. Place on a non-stick paper lined baking tray and cover.
10. Final proof 1.5 hours.
11. Glaze with egg, let dry for 5 minutes, and the glaze again. Sprinkle with seeds.
12. Bake at 170C (340F) fan on or 190C (375F) fan off for 20 – 25 minutes.

Leave to cool down slightly and enjoy!

Keep in mind that the conditions in each kitchen are different, so fermentation times may vary for you. It is up to the baker to control the bread and react accordingly.

Your oven may be different too, so your baking time may vary.

Cocktail buns are a common bakery item in Hong Kong. They’re little elongated breads filled with a coconut filling and decorated with a distinct design of lines at either end. There are two theories for the origin of their name. One being that a baker just threw together some old dough and some random ingredients like in a cocktail to create these buns. The second theory says that the design of the bun resembles a chicken’s butt and that is why it’s called a cock tail bun. Either way, they’re super soft and delicious and that is all that matters.

The softness is achieved by using tangzhong, butter, eggs, sugar, and coconut milk. You can find more in-depth info about tangzhong in the Principles of Baking playlist.

This recipe makes 8 buns.

Watch the video down below for detailed instructions.

Ingredients

For the tangzhong –

150g (5.3oz) coconut milk

30g (1oz) white bread flour

For the main dough –

20g (0.7oz) butter

10g (0.35oz) sugar

5g (0.17oz) salt

1 egg (60g; 2.1oz)

3g (0.1oz) instant dry yeast or 3.6g (0.13oz) active dry yeast or 9g (0.32oz) fresh yeast

220g (7.75oz) white bread flour

For the filling –

110g (3.5oz) desiccated coconut

1 egg (60g; 2.1oz)

50g (1.75oz) sugar

30g (1oz) butter

3g (0.1oz) vanilla paste

For the topping –

25g (0.8oz) butter

20g (0.7oz) flour

10g (0.35oz) icing sugar

For the sugar syrup –

20g (0.7oz) water

20g (0.7oz) sugar

1 egg for glazing

Sesame seeds to sprinkle on top

To learn more about no-knead bread dough temperature control click here.

The flour I use has a protein content of 13%. If your flour is weaker, then you may need to lower the hydration. 

If you are using active dry yeast, then you may need to let it sit in the water for 10 minutes before adding the other ingredients or else it could take a lot longer to raise the dough.

If you are curious about why the dough contains butter, egg, and sugar, click the links to learn more about the effects those ingredients have on bread dough.

Method

1. Make the roux. Combine the coconut milk and flour in a small pan and set it in medium-high heat. Cook for 3 – 4 minutes whilst whisking continuously until the mix becomes thick and gluey. Take it off the heat and pour it into a bowl.
2. Top up the tangzhong with coconut milk to make up for the amount which evaporated during cooking. Add the salt, sugar, and butter to the bowl and whisk everything until smooth. Cover and leave to cool down to room temperature.
3. Make the filling. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix until uniform. Leave in the fridge to set for 30 minutes. Once the filling has hardened take it out the fridge, divide it into 8 pieces and shape into little cylinders.
4. Make the topping. Combine all ingredients and mix until smooth. Place in a piping bag and leave on the side for later.
5. Make the dough. Add the egg and yeast to the cooled down tangzhong. Mix well. Add the flour and mix to a dough. *Desired dough temperature around 23C (73F). If your dough is warmer, then it will ferment more rapidly. If it is cooler, then it will take longer. Adjust fermentation time accordingly.
6. Cover and ferment for 45 minutes.
7. Fold.
8. Ferment for 45 minutes.
9. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and shape into balls. Leave to rest for 30 minutes.
10. Flatten a dough ball and roll it into an oval shape. Place the filling in the middle and wrap the dough around it. Pinch the dough together to seal in the filling.
11. Place the shaped bun on a non-stick paper lined baking tray. Cover and proof for 1.5 – 2 hours.
12. Brush the buns with egg, leave the surface to dry for 5 minutes and then brush again. Pipe the topping and sprinkle the sesame seeds.
13. Bake at 160C (320F) fan on or 180C (355F) fan off for 25 minutes.
14. Make the syrup just before the buns come out the oven by combining the water and sugar and bringing it up to a boil.
15. Brush the buns with the syrup as soon as they come out the oven.

Leave to cool down and enjoy!

Keep in mind that the conditions in each kitchen are different, so fermentation times may vary for you. It is up to the baker to control the bread and react accordingly.

Your oven may be different too, so your baking time may vary.

I love a soft and fluffy white bread. It’s one of those simple treats that takes me to my childhood. Huge freshly baked white bread loaves were sold in our local shop. As a kid I used to love tearing a piece off of that big loaf and eating the white crumb before devouring the crispy crust.

Tiger bread or giraffe bread ticks all the boxes for that nostalgic taste and texture. It has a crispy crust and a super soft and slightly sweet interior. My version here is enriched with egg, butter, and sugar to make it even softer, and to make it stay softer for longer.

This recipe makes a huge loaf that will fit in a large 2lb (900g) loaf tin. To make it smaller multiply all the ingredients by 0.75x or make two smaller loaves. You can divide the dough into 8 buns too. In that case I would suggest at least doubling the amount of ingredients for the topping to account for the increased surface area.

Watch the video down below for detailed instructions.

Ingredients

For the dough –

500g (1.1lb) white bread flour

1 egg (50g; 1.75oz)

10g (0.35oz) salt

5g (0.17oz) instant dry yeast or 6g (0.21oz) active dry yeast or 15g (0.53oz) fresh yeast

20g (0.7oz) sugar

50g (1.75oz) butter

240g (8.46oz) water

For the topping –

1g (0.035oz) salt

1g (0.035oz) yeast

2g (0.07oz) sugar

10g (0.35oz) oil

35g (1.23oz) rice flour

35g (1.23oz) water

To learn more about no-knead bread dough temperature control click here.

The flour I use has a protein content of 13%. If your flour is weaker, then you may need to lower the hydration. 

If you are using active dry yeast, then you may need to let it sit in the water for 10 minutes before adding the other ingredients or else it could take a lot longer to raise the dough.

If you are curious about why the dough contains butter, egg, and sugar, click the links to learn more about the effects those ingredients have on bread dough.

Method

1. Make the topping. Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and mix until smooth.
2. Make the dough. In a large bowl combine the water, yeast, salt, sugar, egg, and butter. Give everything a good mix. Add the bread flour and mix to a dough. *Desired dough temperature around 24C (75F).
3. Cover and ferment for 1 hour.
4. Fold.
5. Cover ferment for 1 hour.
6. Pre-shape and rest for 20 minutes.
7. Final shaping. Place the dough in a greased baking tin and brush it with the topping.
8. Final proof 5 – 2 hours.
9. Bake for 45 – 50 minutes at 180C (355F) fan on or 200C (390F) fan off.

Leave to cool down and tuck in!

Keep in mind that the conditions in each kitchen are different, so fermentation times may vary for you. It is up to the baker to control the bread and react accordingly.

Your oven may be different too, so your baking time may vary.

The unique design of a babka is achieved by filling the dough, rolling it up, cutting in half, and finally twisting back together. The roll is made the same way that you’d make cinnamon rolls, but instead of cutting it into slices it is cut lengthways. Once sliced in half it reveals beautiful layers of dough and filling which make for a fantastic looking loaf in the end.

There are a couple of babka videos on the channel already from way back in the day when I still used to knead bread dough. I thought it’s time for an update. And while I was at it, I wanted to test how the dough would react if I added peanut butter to the mix instead of using it as a filling.

Peanut butter is pretty much 50% fat, so I based my fat percentage calculations on that number. Some extra butter was added for flavour and to increase the fat content a bit more. There is an egg yolk in the mix too which also contains fat. Even though there are a bunch of fatty ingredients in this dough, the final baker’s percentage of fat was around 20%.

The jam was quite sweet, so I opted for not adding a lot of sugar to the dough. As a result, this bread is not super rich. The peanut butter flavour comes through nicely and works well with the jam. It has a good balance of flavour.

This loaf will fit in a 2lb (900g) baking tin.

Watch the video down below for detailed instructions.

Ingredients

For the dough –

220g (7.75oz) water

6g (0.21oz) instant dry yeast or 7.2g (0.25oz) active dry yeast or 18g (0.63oz) fresh yeast

6g (0.21oz) salt

20g (0.7oz) sugar

20g (0.7o) butter

100g (3.5oz) smooth peanut butter

1 egg yolk

400g (14.1oz) white bread flour

For filling –

200g (7oz) raspberry jam or any jam that you like

To glaze –

1 egg white, which I forgot to use. Alternatively, add a whole egg to the dough and reduce the amount of water by 30g (1oz).

To learn more about no-knead bread dough temperature control click here.

The flour I use has a protein content of 13%. If your flour is weaker, then you may need to lower the hydration. 

If you are using active dry yeast, then you may need to let it sit in the water for 10 minutes before adding the other ingredients or else it could take a lot longer to raise the dough.

If you are curious about why the dough contains butter, egg, and sugar, click the links to learn more about the effects those ingredients have on bread dough.

Method

1. In a large bowl combine the water, yeast, salt, sugar, peanut butter, butter, and egg yolk. Mix well. Add the flour and mix to a dough. *Desired dough temperature 25C (77F). If your dough is warmer, then it will ferment more rapidly. If it is cooler, then it will take longer. Adjust fermentation time accordingly.
2. Cover and ferment for 30 minutes.
3. Fold.
4. Ferment for 30 minutes.
5. Roll the dough out to a large rectangle. Spread with jam leaving an edge at the top. Brush the edge with water. Roll the dough up and seal it. Slice the roll in half lengthways and place the two pieces side by side with the cut side facing up. Twist the two pieces together.
6. Place the twisted loaf in a buttered baking tin. Cover.
7. Final proof 1 – 1.5 hours.
8. Bake at 160C (320F) fan on or 180C (355F) fan off for 50 minutes. If it starts becoming too dark cover it with foil for the rest of the bake.
9. Leave to cool and then tuck in!

Keep in mind that the conditions in each kitchen are different, so fermentation times may vary for you. It is up to the baker to control the bread and react accordingly.

Your oven may be different too, so your baking time may vary.

We all know by now that a potato is one of the best dough improvers out there. I’ve made a full video on the use of potatoes in breadmaking. You can find it in the Principles of Baking playlist. A few potato recipe videos can also be found on the channel.

Usually, the amount of potato is relatively low. It does not take a lot to get a great effect. However, recently I posted a recipe in which I replaced all of the liquid with mashed sweet potatoes. It worked extremely well. But the thing with sweet potatoes is that they are less starchy, and they are a lot wetter when fully cooked.

In order to replace all the liquid in a recipe with mashed white potatoes we need to use quite a bit more. In fact, this recipe has more potatoes than flour. 133% if we’re talking about baker’s percentage. By the feel of it I can tell that it could easily take even more. I’ll leave those experiments up to you. I’m just wondering at which point we can still call it bread?!

When used moderately potatoes make bread extra light and puffy. When used excessively like in this recipe, the potatoes make the bread extra moist and squishy. These buns would be great for some sturdy burgers.

The recipe makes 6 buns. You can divide the dough into 5 pieces to make larger ones or not divide it at all to make a loaf.

Watch the video down below for detailed instructions.

Ingredients

For the scald –

400g (14.1oz) piping hot freshly boiled white potatoes

6g (0.21oz) salt

15g (0.53oz) butter

50g (1.75oz) white bread flour

For the main dough –

4g (0.14oz) instant dry yeast or 4.8g (0.17oz) active dry yeast or 12g (0.42oz) fresh yeast

1 egg yolk

250g (8.8oz) white bread flour

To glaze and top –

1 egg white

Sesame seeds

To learn more about no-knead bread dough temperature control click here.

The flour I use has a protein content of 13%. If your flour is weaker, then you may need to lower the hydration. 

If you are using active dry yeast, then you may need to let it sit in the water for 10 minutes before adding the other ingredients or else it could take a lot longer to raise the dough.

Method

1. Make the scald. Boil the potatoes for 25 minutes or until completely soft. Mash the potatoes together with the salt, butter, and flour. Cover and leave to cool down.
2. Make the dough. Add the yeast and the egg yolk to the scald. Mix well. Add the flour and mix to a dough. *Desired dough temperature 27C (80F). If your dough is warmer, then it will ferment more rapidly. If it is cooler, then it will take longer. My kitchen was warm, so my dough tuned out warmer than usual.
3. Cover and ferment for 30 minutes.
4. Fold.
5. Ferment for 30 minutes.
6. Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces. Pre-shape and rest for 15 minutes.
7. Shape and place in a non-stick lined baking tray.
8. Cover and final proof for 45 minutes. If your kitchen is cooler, it will take longer.
9. Brush the dough balls with whisked egg white and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
10. Bake at 170C (340F) fan on for 30 minutes.

Keep in mind that the conditions in each kitchen are different, so fermentation times may vary for you. It is up to the baker to control the bread and react accordingly.

Your oven may be different too, so your baking time may vary.