Bread, Milk (The Useful One) - ecnivo/Recipes GitHub Wiki

By Woks of Life, modifications by me. "Not-quite-brioche"

Makes one loaf, or 4 large buns.

Experimental notes

I feel like I need more dough volume to properly fill a loaf pan (8.5x4.5). Maybe try increasing all ingredients by 30%?

Ingredients (allow to come to room temperature!)

• 205g half and half (10% cream, but 18% is possible...)
• 6g yeast (about 1/2 tbsp)
• 1 egg, beaten, divided (half for bread, half for egg-wash)
• 20-25g granulated white sugar
• 285g AP flour
• 3g salt (about 3/4 tsp)
• Optional: sesame seeds for topping

Steps

1. Optionally, gently heat half-and-half in the microwave or stovetop to ~40C. Mix in yeast and allow to sit for 10 minutes to activate.
2. Mix remaining ingredients and machine-knead for 15 minutes, or by hand until a gorgeously taut ball is formed.
   • Stand mixer speed "2" for 5-8 minutes. Let stand 15-30 minutes if it's not coming together into a taut ball.
3. Proof for 60-80 minutes or 1.5x size, covered
4. Punch down, and shape into desired shape.
   • If making burger buns: split into 100g each, or place the loaf in parchment-lined loaf pan. Each loaf should be around 500-600g.
5. Preheat oven to 375F, convection preferred. For non-convection, preheat to 400.
6. Cover and proof 60-80 minutes more or until crowned (loaf) or expanded 1.5-2x size (buns)
7. Use the other half of beaten egg to egg-wash the loaf/buns. Don't forget to slash, and optionally top with sesame seeds.
8. Bake for 10 minutes at 375F (400F non convection).
9. Keeping the door closed, lower the temperature to 350F, and turn off convection.
10. Buns: bake for additional 10 minutes (25 minutes total). For loaf, bake for 35 minutes total. Be careful not to over-bake, as the inside can get dry. Internal temp target is 190F.
11. After removing from oven, remove immediately from the loaf pan and let cool on a wire rack.

Cost

Using early 2023 prices, Canadian dollars, bulk optimized pricing when available:

Item	Cost
205g half and half	$3/L = 62 cents
1 egg	$8/30 eggs = 26 cents
20-25g sugar	$2/kg = 5 cents
285g AP flour	$23/20kg = 32 cents
6g yeast	$7/kg = 4 cents
3g salt	basically free #IodineSubsidies
Total	$1.29

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