Kindred’s Milk Bread from Food52

Seasonal Recipe of the Pandemic
Every once in a while I come across a recipe with an unusual list of ingredients or an odd procedure and I just have to try it. Such is the case with this bread recipe which has both! Due to the current viral situation, getting certain ingredients (like bread flour) can be difficult which is why I ordered my King Arthur bread flour online from the source. It took 4 weeks to get here, but this morning it arrived along with my dry milk powder so I gave this recipe a go. Honestly it's kind of great and pretty simple to make. I'm thinking killer French toast is in my future. Bernice just slathered it with butter and was in heaven. Makes 6 rolls, two 9 x 5-inch loaves, or 12 split-top buns.



Ingredients
5 1/3 cups King Arthur bread flour, divided, plus more for kneading
1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup mild honey
3 tablespoons nonfat dry milk powder
2 tablespoons active dry yeast
2 tablespoons kosher salt
3 large eggs, divided
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces, at room temperature
Nonstick vegetable oil spray

Procedure
Cook 1/3 cup flour and 1 cup water in a small saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly, until a thick paste forms, about 5 minutes. Add cream and honey and cook, whisking to blend, until honey dissolves. Transfer mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook and add milk powder, yeast, kosher salt, 2 eggs, and 5 remaining cups flour. Knead on medium speed until dough is smooth, about 5 minutes. Add butter, a piece at a time, fully incorporating into dough before adding the next piece, until dough is smooth, shiny, and elastic, about 4 minutes.
 Coat a large bowl with nonstick spray and transfer dough to bowl, turning to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

If you're making rolls, lightly coat a 6-cup jumbo muffin pan with nonstick spray. Turn out dough onto a floured surface and divide into 6 pieces. Divide each piece into 4 smaller pieces (you should have 24 total). They don’t need to be exact; just eyeball it. Place 4 pieces of dough side-by-side in each muffin cup.


If you're making loaves, lightly coat two 9 x 5-inch loaf pans with nonstick spray. Turn out dough onto a floured surface and divide into 12 pieces. Nestle pieces side-by-side to create 2 rows down length of each pan.


If you're making split-top buns, lightly coat two 9 x 13-inch baking dishes with nonstick spray. Divide dough into 12 pieces and shape each into a 4-inch long log. Place 6 logs in a row down length of each dish.

Let shaped dough rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size (dough should be just puffing over top of pan), about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375° F. Beat remaining egg with 1 teaspoon water in a small bowl to blend. Brush top of dough with egg wash and sprinkle with sea salt, caraway seeds or sesame seeds, this is optional. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until bread is deep golden brown, starting to pull away from the sides of the pan, and is baked through, 25 to 35 minutes for rolls, 50 to 60 minutes for loaf, or 30 to 40 minutes for buns. If making buns, slice each bun down the middle deep enough to create a split-top. Let milk bread cool slightly in pan on a wire rack before turning out, then let cool completely.