Garlic & Parm Milk Bread Rolls

perhaps the best bread I've ever made

Bread has never been my forte. Even in culinary school, I always felt one step behind when it came to the elusive balls of dough. My best friend Anna was the complete opposite, having a knack and intuition for it that I simply couldn’t replicate. HOWEVER. I am never one to let something keep me down, and after harassing my teachers over and over for their best tips and tricks- I slowly started to improve when I started practicing and practicing using the tips they gave me.

I would literally write everything down and refer to it while baking the bread so I could have the best outcome. As anal as it seems, I so desperately wanted to get the hang of it as soon as possible. It does get better but it does take practice. Dough to me is a living and breathing organism- one that you need to treat delicately and accordingly. The same recipe isn’t going to work at the exact same time due to a myriad of factors. Sometimes the humidity is higher, sometimes the surrounding environment microbes are different, sometimes the flour needs more hydration or less hydration, etc.

I got this recipe from Anna because her milk bread rolls are literally legendary. I knew I wanted to make them instead of regular dinner rolls because they are just that good.

They use a technique called tangzhong which is a water-based roux with milk and flour. The consequent gel-like mixture helps make the bread softer and fresher for longer since it pre-gelatinizes the flour starches. It also introduces that soft texture, making excess butter and fat unnecessary in milk bread. This then makes the dough much easier to work with as there isn’t a lot of fat making your life more difficult.

I really hope you guys try this out and enjoy it! The recipe is from Anna @annalpcooks

Ingredients:

Tangzhong

20g flour

27g water

60ml whole milk

Yeast mix

10g instant or active dry yeast

20ml luke-warm water

1 tsp sugar (if using active dry)

Dough

Tangzhong mix

Yeast mix

300g bread (strong) flour

80g all-purpose flour

60g sugar

1 tsp salt

130ml whole milk

1 large egg

1 tbsp softened unsalted butter

garlic butter

4 tbsp butter

2 cloves of finely minced garlic

2 tbsp grated parmesan

1 tbsp chopped parsley

Method:

In a pan- combine the 20g of flour, 27ml of water, and 60ml of milk to make the tangzhong. Stir to combine until a thick paste has formed or the temperature of it is above 65c. Set aside to cool.

In a small bowl, mix the yeast and water together to create a yeast mixture. Set aside.

In a large bowl, add in your flours, salt, and sugar and give it a mix. Then, add in your yeast mixture, tangzhong, milk, whisked egg, and softened butter. You can also do this in a stand mixer with a dough hook. If doing it by machine, let the dough mix for 5-7 minutes until nice, uniform, and soft. The dough should spring back if poked.

If doing it by hand, mix the ingredients together with a spoon, and then when slightly cohesive, start kneading it with your hands. It might feel dry at first but will quickly get softer as the flour gets hydrated.

If it starts sticking too much, coat your hands with a bit of oil and spread some oil on the counter. This will help you knead without using excess flour and drying it out. Knead for about 10 minutes or until the dough is uniform and smooth, with it springing back when you poke it.

Put in a clean oiled bowl and cover with a clean towel or saran wrap. Let rise in a warm place for an hour-an hour and a half or till doubled in size.

Once risen, take the bread out of the bowl and punch it down. You want to knock it about so you can evenly disperse the air bubbles. Then, separate the dough into eight even-sized balls. Mine were about 90g each.

Shape each dough ball by pinching all the sides together to create a money bag. Then, flip the ball around and using your hands to do a cupping motion over the ball, start circling it around to create surface tension. (Check this video tutorial to see how I do it. Skip to 10:00 to see how I do it).

After all the balls have been shaped, put them in a baking pan that has been greased heavily with butter. They can be touching as they are supposed to pull apart regardless. Cover with a clean tea towel or saran wrap and let rise for another half an hour to 45 minutes or until doubled in size.

During this second rise, preheat the oven to 400 F or 204 C.

Once the rolls are risen and puffy, glaze them with an egg wash (just one egg whisked). Make sure to gently glaze all the sides and top to get it nice and golden brown.

Put in oven and bake for 20-22 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. If you’re worried they’re getting too brown, just cover them with a bit of foil. They should sound slightly hollow when knocked and be a deep golden brown. Another easy way to tell is if the internal temp is between 82-88C / 180-190 F, the bread is ready.

Melt some butter and 2 cloves of chopped garlic together. Then, add in about 2 tbsp of grated parmesan and some freshly chopped parsley. Brush this on top of the rolls while still warm. Sprinkle a bit of flaky salt on top and enjoy!