Enriched bread dough is a game-changer when it comes to tender, flavorful bread. By adding fats, sugar, eggs, and milk, this dough produces rolls and buns that are soft and slightly sweet, making them ideal for a variety of baked goods. Whether you’re preparing the perfect soft sandwich loaf, dinner rolls, hamburger buns, or cinnamon rolls, this enriched dough ensures a delightful texture and taste every time.
What is Enriched Dough?
In baking, enriched dough means the bread dough contains more than flour, water, salt, and yeast. Typically, it includes added fats, eggs, and extra sugar or honey. The liquid of choice is often whole milk for additional richness. Enriched dough creates the softest breads – you know, all your favorites!
This enriched dough recipe offers versatility and consistently delicious results, perfect for any meal or occasion. It’s not too wet of a dough, making it perfect for beginners. Follow along in my video, playing and pausing as you go along until you get to the end. Note: I forgot to add my vitamin C in the video, so I added it off-camera and kneaded for a minute to incorporate it into the dough.
Why Make This Recipe?
Making bread at home with freshly milled flour is a rewarding experience that goes beyond just the delicious end result. Here’s why you should give this recipe a try:
- Freshness and Nutrition: Freshly milled flour retains more nutrients and has a richer flavor compared to store-bought flour.
- Control Over Ingredients: You know exactly what’s going into your bread—no preservatives or additives.
- Satisfaction of Homemade Bread: There’s nothing quite like the aroma of freshly baked bread filling your home. Plus, the sense of accomplishment is unbeatable!
Special Instructions and Tips
- Kneading: If you’re new to bread making, don’t worry about getting the kneading perfect. The dough should be smooth and elastic. Over time, as your kneading gets better, so will your bread.
- Rising: Allow the dough to rise in a warm, draft-free area. On top of a pre-heating oven works well, or on top of your fridge.
- Baking: For an extra soft crust, brush the tops of the rolls or buns with melted butter right after they come out of the oven.
Substitutions
- Milk: You can use non-dairy milk if you prefer, such as coconut milk.
- Sweeteners: Substitute honey with maple date syrup.
- Fats: Use coconut oil or olive oil in place of butter if needed.
- Vegan: Leave out the egg, and add 50 grams of water. Use olive oil instead of butter and vegan milk or water in place of the milk.
Soft White Sandwich Bread
For freshly milled, whole grain soft white sandwich bread, you’re going to want to use all hard white wheat berries or 460 grams of hard white wheat berries and 50 grams of durum or Kamut berries for greater structure. Red wheat gives off more of a “whole wheat” flavor that puts off some folks brand new to milling.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoy making and eating this super soft, easy sandwich bread as much as I do. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or need a bit of encouragement along the way. I’m here to help and would love to hear about your baking adventures. Share your creations with me and the community – nothing makes me happier than seeing others find joy in baking with freshly milled flour.
Sandwich Bread | Superbly Soft Enriched Loaf
Ingredients
- 510 g hard wheat berries 3 cups of whole grain
- 320 g whole milk 1 1/2 cup
- 12 g yeast 4 tsp
- 10 g sea salt 2 tsp
- 50 g honey 1/8 cup plus 1 tsp
- 50 g butter or extra virgin olive oil softened (1/4 cup)
- 50 g egg 1 whole
- ⅛ tsp vitamin C
- 40 g boiling water
Instructions
Active Dry Yeast:
- If using active dry yeast, place 100 g of the water into a cup, along with the yeast and 10 grams of the sweetener from your recipe.
- Let sit until "Add in Yeast and Salt" step.
Mixing
- Place a small cup on your scale, press the ZERO or TARE button. This is called "zeroing out the scale".
- Add 20 grams of flour to the cup, and zero out the scale as you did in the previous step.
- Pour 40 grams of boiling water into the cup, and quickly mix the two together to form a paste.
- Place your mixing bowl on your scale and zero out the scale.
- Add everything EXCEPT the yeast and sea salt to your mixing bowl, and knead for 5-7 minutes with a dough hook on the recommended speed for your mixer for the dough hook (usually speed 2 or 3), or whisk it until the mixture comes together (about 1 minute) with your whisk attachment (on highest speed).
- Let the dough rest for 15-20 minutes.
Add in Yeast and Salt
- Sprinkle the yeast (or the mixture from the active dry yeast steps, if using) and salt into the mixing bowl over the dough.
- Mix for several minutes, until your dough passes the windowpane test. This is done by turning off your mixer, and gently/slowly stretching the dough to see if light can be seen through it before breaking. If so, you've passed the test and can move on. If your dough looks tough or dry, you can slowly drizzle water in during the mixing until it is a consistency you like.
First Rise (AKA Fermentation)
- Let the dough rise, covered, until doubled. When you press a wet finger into the dough, it should remain pressed in, and not spring back quickly. If the dough ball loses air when you do this, you waited too long. Move on, it'll still be and alright loaf.
Punching Down the Dough
- Gently pull up on one side of the dough, and gently press it into the center of the dough ball. Turn the bowl by one quarter, and repeat until you've done this 4 times. This helps ensure a consistent dough temperature, and a more consistent crumb.
Shaping
- Spread your dough out into a rectangle shape. Fold the side into the middle, and gently roll the dough up. Throw it down on the counter a few times, then gently tuck in the bottom and sides, and place it SEAM SIDE DOWN into your greased or lined 9" x 5" bread pan.
- Preheat your oven to 420 F.
Second Rise (AKA Proofing)
- Let the dough rise until the dough does not spring back quickly when you poke into it with your finger (to the first knuckle). It should take about half the time it took for the first rise.
Baking
- Place your bread pan gently into the middle of the oven, and close the oven door.
- Adjust the oven temperature to 375 F, and set a timer for 35 minutes.
- Check the temperature of the absolute middle of the loaf by sticking it from the side with an instant read thermometer.
- Remove the bread from the oven when the dough has reached 200 F (although going up to 205 F would be alright with this enriched loaf). It can typically take anywhere from 40-55 minutes depending upon multiple factors.
Cooling and Storing
- Gently remove the bread from the pan, and let it cool fully on a rack with air flow all around the loaf. This generally takes 3 hours. If you slice into it early, it may get dense as the crumb is still solidifying while it cools.
- Slice your bread with a very sharp serrated bread knife.
- Store on the counter in a plastic bag or beeswax wrap for a few days, in the fridge if your climate is very hot and humid, or slice and freeze the loaf for bread on the fly. It defrosts quickly without any extra steps.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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