I always spend Easter weekend with my family, and we always have hot cross buns and tea in the afternoons. I try to make these hot cross buns from scratch every spring because they are a favourite. As they bake, the scent of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves fills the house.

Hot cross buns are a sweet, spiced fruit bread made from an enriched yeast dough. That means the bread dough is enhanced with rich ingredients like eggs, milk, sugar, and butter. You will also find in this bread category, brioche, maple brioche buns, stollen bread, stollen buns, chocolate babka bread, chocolate babka buns, and even Turkish coffee cardamom buns).

Apparently hot cross buns are an old Anglican tradition. The buns have a cross piped onto them in reference to Good Friday. Hot cross buns are served to mark the end of Lent, specifically on Good Friday, though these days, they are enjoyed Easter weekend, and in some parts of the world, bakeries sell them at other holidays, like Christmas.

Ingredients

Traditional hot cross buns are made from an enriched dough, meaning higher in fat and sugar than a typical bread dough. Here's what you need to make these Easter buns:

• flour—regular bleached all-purpose flour works great in this recipe. Unbleached will also work but may absorb less water so adjust the liquid accordingly (add less to start with and slowly add more to achieve the consistency of dough in the photos below)
• sugar—I used regular white granulated sugar for the dough and cross
• salt—I bake with Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the buns may be too salty
• yeast—instant yeast (also called rapid rise yeast) works great in this recipe because you don't have to pre-dissolve it in liquids. Add the fine yeast along with the dry ingredients and mix it in before adding the liquids. So fast and easy! Rise times are also shorter with this type of yeast
• milk—I prefer to use whole milk (3.25 %) or 2 % milk, though low fat or skim will also work
• butter—this recipe works with salted or unsalted butter. I generally bake with unsalted
• eggs—use whole large eggs for these Easter buns. If you use smaller eggs, the dough may be dryer
• dried fruit like raisins and/or candied citrus peel. I prefer to combine sultana raisins, golden raisins, currants, candied orange peel, candied lemon peel, or citron peel. These add-ins are mixed into the dough before the first rise
• sweet spices, like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. Hot cross buns would taste great with cardamom too!
• neutral oil like canola oil, which is flavourless to create the cross paste
• maple syrup for glazing—I prefer medium or dark maple syrup which is more flavourful

Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.

Substitutions and Variations

The combination of candied citrus peel and raisins, alongside the mixture of spices, is what makes hot cross buns so special. I truly believe that these are better than any bun that you buy in a store. Trust me. Here are a few ways to modify this recipe:

• without raisins: if you want to make hot cross buns without raisins, replace the raisins with chocolate chips, cup for cup. I recommend dark chocolate chips in this recipe.
• cranberry or cherry: you can also replace the raisins with dried cranberries or dried cherries for a delicious variation of the classic.
• ginger: replace the candied peel with chopped crystallized ginger for a spicy change.
• active yeast: if you prefer to use active dry yeast in place of the instant/rapid-rise yeast, you can. You will have to modify the method, dissolving it in the warm milk before adding it to the mixer. Otherwise you may end up with lumps of dry yeast in the dough in patches.
• glaze: instead of glazing with maple syrup, you can try a few other things:
  • Donna Hay uses a gelatin glaze (a mixture of powdered gelatin hydrated in cold water) brushed onto the hot buns which melts the gelatin. This works extremely well, but it's bland and doesn't do anything for the buns except making them shine
  • Neutral glaze is what bakeries would use. It's a flavourless sweet commercial glaze that comes in a tub
  • Melted apricot jam or apple jelly will also work here, but again, the finish will be a little sticky
  • Simple syrup is another great glaze option for you to try and a traditional glaze for babka, actually!
• cross alternative: you can add the cross after baking by making a sweet white glaze from icing sugar and water and piping it on AFTER baking the hot cross buns, when they have cooled. Royal icing would also work. 

How To Make Homemade Hot Cross Buns

The secret to stress-free bread baking is to use the dough hook of your stand mixer. This is what I do for the easy brioche bread recipe too. This hot cross buns recipe is easy because I made the dough with a KitchenAid mixer (the big 6-quart pro model or the smaller Artisan mixer works too—I've tested this recipe in both!). Sure, you could knead hot cross buns dough by hand. Works like a charm! I guess I'm a little lazy, but I've had a lot of success kneading dough with a mixer, so I don't do that by hand anymore.

Step 1: Combine the dry ingredients in the stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (image 1) and mix them until evenly dispersed (image 2). Add the warm wet ingredients (warm milk, melted butter, and room temperature egg) (image 3) and stir them in to form a sticky dough (image 4).

Step 2: Add the raisins and candied peel (image 5) and stir them in (image 6) then switch to the dough hook to knead the dough until smooth (image 7).

Step 3: Transfer the dough to a greased container or clear bowl (image 8). Then cover it and let it rise in a warm place until doubled (image 9).

Step 4: Portion out the dough into 12 pieces using a scale (image 10). Roll them into balls (image 11). Make sure the buns are smooth and tight at this stage (image 12) before setting them on parchment paper-lined half-sheet pans.

Note: You can fit all twelve buns on one half sheet pan or divide them between two pans. It all depends on if you want to make smooth, neat round buns or pull-apart buns that bake together.

Step 5: Combine the ingredients for the paste in a small bowl (image 12). Whisk them until smooth (image 13).

Step 6: Transfer the paste to a piping bag fitted with a 6 mm round tip and pipe crosses on the proofed buns (image 14).

Step 7: Bake the buns until golden brown. The internal temperature should be at least 88 °C (190 °F). Then immediately brush the surface of the buns with maple syrup as soon as they come out of the oven (image 17) to glaze them and soften the crust.

Tip: a digital instant-read thermometer like a Thermapen to check the internal temperature of the buns to verify they are baked properly

How To Store Homemade Hot Cross Buns

This recipe makes 12 hot cross buns which can seem like a lot or even too much for some families. Personally, I live alone, so I use my freezer to store these when I make this recipe and if I don't have the opportunity to share them with others:

• slice open the buns once they have cooled
• freeze them in a single layer on a parchment-lined sheet pan
• transfer to a freezer bag to store long-term

If you follow these steps, you should be able to store your hot cross buns for several months. When you want to have a bun, take one out of the freezer and toast it in a toaster, a toaster oven, or in a preheated oven. Slathered with lots of salted butter, nobody will realize the buns were frozen!

Serving Suggestions

Serve hot cross buns split in half, with salted butter, orange marmalade, or even maple butter or dulce de leche.

Toast leftovers in a toaster oven or in a regular oven to warm them up.

Tips for Best Hot Cross Buns

Check the consistency of your dough halfway through kneading. If your dough seems too sticky, wet, or clinging to the bowl, it needs more flour.

Add 30 grams more flour and continue kneading the dough to see if the dough comes together in a ball that is smooth and tacky, clinging to the dough hook but not the sides of the bowl.

To pipe the cross, you can use a 6 mm round piping tip or even smaller to create a thinner, more discrete cross. You can also cut a very tiny opening in the tip of a piping bag (or the corner of a ziploc bag) and avoid piping tips altogether.

More Easter Baking Recipes

The Easter baking season is short but sweet. It's a great opportunity to explore baking with carrots and also leftover Easter chocolate, incorporating Mini Eggs into Easter brownies and blondies!

Hot Cross Bun Baking FAQs

If you tried this recipe for the best hot cross buns (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

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Easter Hot Cross Buns

This Easter recipe for homemade hot cross buns makes 12 big beautiful buns flavoured with a mixture of cinnamon, raisins, and candied peel. The buns are brushed with maple syrup just after baking which gives them a gorgeous shiny, sweet finish.

Course Breakfast

Cuisine British

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Rising time 2 hours hours

Total Time 2 hours hours 55 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Calories 375kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• 5-quart KitchenAid Artisan mixer
• Sheet pan
• Piping bags
• Thermapen

Ingredients

Bun dough

• 530 grams bleached all-purpose flour you may need 60 grams (½ cup) extra flour if the dough is too sticky so have it ready!
• 100 grams granulated sugar
• 13.75 mL ground cinnamon
• 8 grams instant yeast 1 small packet
• 2.5 mL ground nutmeg
• 2.5 mL ground ginger
• 2.5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 1.25 mL ground cloves
• 375 mL milk (2 %) warmed to ~95°F
• 58 grams unsalted butter melted
• 1 large egg(s) room temperature
• 240 grams sultana raisins or a mixture of golden raisins and sultanas (or whatever I have in the cupboard)
• 55 grams candied mixed peel (orange, lemon, citron)

Cross paste

• 65 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 80 mL water
• 5 mL canola oil
• 2.5 mL granulated sugar

Glaze

• 60 mL pure maple syrup

Metric - US

Instructions

• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the flour, yeast, sugar, spices, and salt. Stir on low to evenly disperse everything together.
• Add the milk, melted butter, and egg. Mix on low for a minute until the ingredients are well mixed. Then add the raisins and candied peel, and mix again to combine everything. Cover the bowl with a towel and let sit for 10 minutes.
• Switch to the dough hook attachment and knead the dough in the mixer on low speed (speed 2) for 5 minutes.
• Check the texture of the dough. The dough should not stick too much to the sides of the bowl and should have formed a ball in the bowl, wrapped around the hook. It should feel slightly tacky when you press it with your fingers. If it’s too wet and not forming a cohesive ball of dough at this point, you may add up to 60 grams (½ cup) of extra flour. Start by working in 30 grams, then add another 30 grams if necessary. Continue kneading for another 5 minutes (this is essential to get a good bun texture).
• Form the dough into a ball and place it in a greased, large bowl (rolling it in the bowl to grease the dough). Cover the bowl with saran wrap.
• Let rise until the dough has doubled in size, in a warm, draft-free location, like in the oven with just the light turned on. This takes about 45 minutes to an hour depending on how warm your kitchen is.
• Line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper. 
• Portion out the dough into 12 equal pieces (about 120 grams dough per bun). Roll each piece into a ball and place on the prepared pans, staggered. You can place all twelve buns on one sheet pan to create pull-apart buns or split them between two pans to create perfectly rounded buns.
• Cover the pans with saran wrap and let the buns rise until they have doubled (about 30 minutes to 1 hour at room temperature).
• Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C).
• Prepare the cross paste: mix the flour, water, oil, and sugar. Using a piping bag fitted with a round piping tip (6 mm tip), pipe thinly onto the top of each bun just before baking. The dough should be thin enough to pipe, but thick enough not to spread too much.
• Bake the buns on the middle racks for 25–30 minutes, or until the buns are deep golden colour. If you are unsure, use a thermometer to check the middle: for buns made with eggs, milk, and butter, meaning enriched breads, the internal temperature should be at least 190 °F (88 °C) when baked. I've gone as high as 212 ºF or 100 ºC without problems.
• Remove the buns from the oven and brush with maple syrup a couple of times as they cool (note that as the buns cool, the maple syrup will form a sweet sticky glaze on the buns). Serve the buns when they are slightly warm, with salted butter. You can reheat them in the oven the next day.

Notes

• salt: I bake with Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount to avoid the bread being too salty
• without raisins: if you want to make hot cross buns without raisins, replace the raisins with chocolate chips, cup for cup. I recommend dark chocolate chips in this recipe
• cranberry or cherry: you can also replace the raisins with dried cranberries or dried cherries for a delicious variation of the classic
• ginger: replace the candied peel with chopped crystallized ginger for a spicy change
• active yeast: if you prefer to use active dry yeast in place of the instant/rapid-rise yeast, you can. You will have to modify the method, dissolving it in the warm milk before adding it to the mixer. Otherwise you may end up with lumps of dry yeast in the dough in patches.
• glaze options: instead of glazing with maple syrup, you can try a few other things:
  • Donna Hay uses a gelatin glaze (a mixture of powdered gelatin hydrated in cold water) brushed onto the hot buns which melts the gelatin. This works extremely well, but it's bland and doesn't do anything for the buns except making them shine
  • Neutral glaze is what bakeries would use. It's a flavourless sweet commercial glaze that comes in a tub
  • Melted apricot jam or apple jelly will also work here, but again, the finish will be a little sticky
  • Simple syrup is another great glaze option for you to try and a traditional glaze for babka, actually!

Nutrition

Calories: 375kcal | Carbohydrates: 73g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 28mg | Sodium: 130mg | Potassium: 306mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 197IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 77mg | Iron: 3mg

The post Hot Cross Buns With Raisins appeared first on The Bake School.

Maple cinnamon buns are also called maple brioche buns in Quebec or "roulés à l'érable" in French. The trick to the best cinnamon buns is starting with a homemade brioche dough recipe, enriched with milk, eggs, sugar, and lots of butter. These maple buns get the most maple flavour from the pure maple butter topping.

What You Need

• flour—I used regular bleached all-purpose flour for the brioche dough
• butter—I developed this recipe with unsalted butter. If using salted butter, you may want to adjust the amount of salt you add to the dough
• milk—I used whole milk (3.25 % fat), but 2 % milk also works great here
• eggs—I bake with large eggs. Using eggs that are larger or smaller may affect the consistency of the dough and you may have to adjust the liquids/flour quantities
• yeast—I prefer to use instant yeast. If you are using active yeast, you will have to heat the milk to a higher temperature to proof the yeast and the rise times will be longer and slower
• sugar—for this recipe, I used maple sugar for both the brioche dough and cinnamon bun filling. See the substitutions section for other options
• maple butter, either use homemade maple butter or you can buy it. Remember maple butter is 100 % pure maple syrup and not a compound butter made from butter and maple syrup! These are not interchangeable!
• maple flakes are crunchy, maple-flavoured flaky sprinkles. They are made from pure maple syrup and available at markets and grocery stores all over Quebec. You can also buy them on Amazon.
• cinnamon—regular ground cinnamon is fine. No need for anything fancy
• salt—I bake with Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt. If you are using regular table salt, you should add half the amount to avoid the buns being too salty.

Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.

Substitutions and Variations

• sugar—the maple sugar in the dough can easily be replaced with regular granulated sugar, while the maple sugar in the filling can be replaced with light or dark brown sugar
• maple syrup—you can turn these into maple sticky buns by pouring up to ¾ cup (180 mL) of hot maple syrup over the hot buns as soon as they come out of the oven.

How to Make Maple Brioche Buns

Making this recipe from start to finish will take 3 to 4 hours. Plan accordingly! Here's how to make maple buns:

Step 1—In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Set aside. Then start the dough by combining the warm milk, maple sugar, yeast, and eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment (image 1). Once well mixed, add the whisked dry ingredients (image 2). Stir everything together until a shaggy dough forms (image 3), then switch to the hook attachment and knead the dough until smooth and elastic (image 4).

Step 2—Start adding the softened butter, a few pieces at a time (image 5). The smooth dough will become sticky as the fat of the butter interferes with the gluten (image 6). Once all the butter has been added, continue kneading the dough until it is soft, supple, smooth and elastic (image 7).

Step 3—Transfer the dough to a clear container (image 8) and mark the container to note where the top of the dough hits. Let the dough rise until doubled (image 9) in a warm, dry place.

Step 4—Combine the filling ingredients in a small bowl (image 10). The mixture will be crumbly (image 11). Once the dough has risen, roll it out on a floured surface to a 12x16-inch (30.5x40.6-cm) rectangle (image 12) and crumble/smear the filling over top from edge-to-edge (image 13).

Step 5—Roll the dough into a 12-inch (30.5 cm) log (image 14) and cut it into twelve equal pieces (image 15).

Tip: You can use unflavored dental floss to cut the buns and preserve their round shape, but I generally use a metal bench scraper. Just don't smush the dough too hard with your hands and be swift about it to avoid distorting the shape too much. You can always gently reshape the buns between your palms.

Step 6—Transfer the twelve buns to your 9x13-in pan (23x31-cm) (image 16). Cover and let the buns proof slowly while you preheat the oven. When the buns are proofed (image 17), bake them until golden brown and baked through (image 18).

Step 7—After cooling slightly, with the back of a spoon, smear a spoonful of room-temperature maple butter over each bun (image 19) and sprinkle with a few maple flakes (image 20).

Maple Cinnamon Bun Baking FAQs

Other Maple-Flavoured Baking Recipes

If you love maple as much as I do, here are a few more maple-flavoured baking recipes to try:

If you tried this recipe for the best maple cinnamon buns (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

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Maple Cinnamon Rolls

Learn how to make the best maple cinnamon rolls with this easy recipe. The brioche dough is kneaded in the stand mixer, simplifying the whole process!

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Prep Time 45 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Rise time 2 hours hours

Total Time 3 hours hours 15 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Calories 457kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• 6-quart KitchenAid Pro mixer
• Mini offset
• Thermapen
• 9x13 baking pan

Ingredients

Cinnamon bun dough

• 500 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 7.5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 250 mL whole milk (3.25 % fat) warmed to 50–55 °C (122–131 °F)
• 70 grams maple sugar or granulated sugar (see Notes)
• 2 large egg(s) room temperature
• 8 grams instant dry yeast 1 packet
• 150 grams unsalted butter softened and cut into small pieces

Filling for cinnamon rolls

• 80 grams unsalted butter softened
• 200 grams maple sugar or brown sugar (see Notes)
• 5 mL ground cinnamon

Topping

• 250 grams maple butter
• 20 grams maple flakes

Metric - US

Instructions

• Prepare a 9x13-inch (23x33-cm) baking pan by buttering and lining the inside with a large sheet of parchment paper. Set aside.
• Prepare a large bowl or a Cambro, spraying it lightly with cooking spray or brushing a thin layer of neutral oil (like canola) all over the inside. Set aside.

To make the dough

• Whisk together the flour and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside for later.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the warm milk, eggs, 70 grams (⅓ cup) sugar, and instant yeast. Stir them together for a few seconds on low just to get everything evenly mixed and to break up the eggs.
• Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl and stir everything together on low speed to form a shaggy, evenly mixed dough.
• Switch to the hook attachment and knead the dough for 5 minutes until it's smooth and elastic dough. The bowl will be clean.
• With the mixer kneading on low, add the butter, a little bit at a time. Note the dough will become rough and sticky with the fat of the butter interfering with the gluten temporarily.
• Knead the dough for 10 minutes in the mixer. You should end up with a smooth round ball of dough. The bowl will be clean again.
• Transfer the dough to the greased Cambro, cover with a towel, plastic wrap, or a shower cap, and let it rise until doubled in size (for about 45 minutes to an hour).

To make the filling

• In a bowl, cream together the softened butter, the sugars, and the cinnamon until you have a thick brown paste. Set aside.

Assemble the rolls

• When the dough has risen, remove the towel. Lightly flour your counter and transfer the dough to roll it out into a big rectangle of at least 12-x16-inches (30.5-x40.6-cm). Don't worry too much if it's a little bigger.
• Spread the filling over the entire surface of the dough, then roll neatly into a long 12-inch (30.5 cm) log.
• Cut the dough into 12 equal buns (you don't have to trim the ends much, if at all) and place them in the prepared baking pan. Cover with plastic wrap or a towel.
• Let the rolls rise until they have puffed and until proofed (if you lightly press your finger into the side of a roll, the indent should very slowly fill out and disappear).
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C).
• Bake the buns until golden brown. This takes about 30 minutes. The internal temperature should be at least 190 °F (88 °C)—use an instant-read thermometer for this.
• Let the buns cool in the pan for 45 minutes to an hour before garnishing.

Topping the buns

• Dollop a spoonful of maple butter on each bun and use an offset spatula (or the back of a spoon) to spread it on top. Sprinkle with maple flakes. These are best served the day they are baked.

Notes

• Substitutions and variations:
  • sugar—the maple sugar in the dough can easily be replaced with regular granulated sugar, while the maple sugar in the filling can be replaced with light or dark brown sugar
  • maple syrup—you can turn these into maple sticky buns by pouring up to ¾ cup (180 mL) of hot maple syrup over the hot buns as soon as they come out of the oven.
  • yeast—I prefer to use instant yeast. If you are using active yeast, you will have to heat the milk to a higher temperature to proof the yeast and the rise times will be longer and slower.
  • maple butter—you can use homemade or store-bought maple butter. Remember maple butter is pure maple syrup, not to be confused with a maple-flavoured butter made by mixing softened butter with maple sugar or maple syrup.
  • You can find maple flakes, maple sugar, and maple butter on Amazon, though I prefer to get them at my local grocery stores and farmer's market.
  • This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
  •  

Nutrition

Calories: 457kcal | Carbohydrates: 69g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 71mg | Sodium: 325mg | Potassium: 213mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 34g | Vitamin A: 555IU | Vitamin C: 0.02mg | Calcium: 90mg | Iron: 3mg

Make the dough and then let it rise, slowly on the counter for 3 hours. Punch it down and put it in the fridge before bed. Then in the morning, you just have to shape the dough into simple brioche buns, or for a different look, you can roll out the dough with a rolling pin, and cut out circles to form these brioche flowers (see step-by-step photos). Make sure you use pure maple sugar (like this one on Amazon and Amazon Canada).

For these mini maple brioche buns, I used maple sugar, the secret ingredient used in this maple apple pie. Maple sugar is crystallized maple syrup so baking with maple sugar allows you to add tons of maple flavour without the water in maple syrup. You can buy maple sugar on Amazon and use it in many other maple recipes or spread it thinly inside rolled crêpes.

The post Maple Cinnamon Buns appeared first on The Bake School.

I love raisin bread and these cinnamon rolls with raisins are my ode to that bread. You will start with an enriched dough to make these, just like the fruit bread and stollen.

Ingredients

If you have a well-stocked pantry (use the pantry checklist as your guide), you likely have all ingredients to make these cinnamon raisin buns! Here's what you need:

• butter, preferably unsalted butter because you will add salt to the dough, but if you have salted, it will work. Just adjust the salt in the recipe accordingly, otherwise your bread may be too salty
• milk, either 2 % or whole milk works fine in this recipe. I've even tested skim milk! Combined with the butter, sugar, milk, and eggs, these ingredients contribute to a softer crust and crumb
• large eggs, don't use smaller eggs because your bread dough may be too dry and will require more liquid. Don't use extra large eggs either because you may need to add more flour to compensate
• all-purpose flour is needed to bind all the ingredients together and give the dough structure through gluten. Don't use cake flour here, which has more starch and less protein
• granulated sugar sweetens the dough just slightly, but also helps tenderize it along with the fat in the recipe, leading to a softer texture
• brown sugar is used in the filling for cinnamon rolls, and light or dark brown sugar will work fine
• yeast is a leavening agent that helps your bread rise so that the crumb is open and light. I've tested this recipe with instant yeast (also called rapid rise) and with active dry yeast (which is slower to act), and it works well with both
• ground cinnamon is added to the sweet butter filling
• salt is really important to balance and bring out the flavour. Don't skip it. I like to use Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt, but table salt will work, though the bread will be a little saltier and you may want to halve the salt in that case
• raisins are kneaded into the dough, but you could also hold them back and instead add them to the filling in these buns

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

There are four major steps to making cinnamon rolls:

1. Make the enriched dough and let it rise
2. Make the filling to then form the buns
3. Bake them
4. Frost them (optional but highly recommended!)

To make the enriched dough

All the dry ingredients are combined in the stand mixer, using the paddle attachment. I like to use the paddle first before kneading with the dough hook because I find the paddle does a better job of evenly mixing the ingredients, which is important before proceeding with developing the gluten. Even though I use a stand mixer to knead the dough, I always give the dough a quick knead by hand on a clean surface, in this case, to make sure that the raisins are evenly dispersed in the dough.

Remember that yeast (whether instant, active dry, or fresh) is a living organism. When you buy a packet of yeast at the grocery store, it is dormant. Dissolving it and combining it with sugar and flour (feeding it) brings it back to life.

You need to monitor temperatures, especially if you add warm milk and melted butter. You don't want these ingredients to be too hot because they will kill the yeast. Conversely, if the temperatures of your ingredients are too cold, the yeast will not die, but they will take longer to thrive and to do their job as a leavening agent.

Hint: use a digital thermometer like a Thermapen One to verify the temperature of all your ingredients before combining them with the yeast!

Shaping cinnamon rolls

The beauty of working with enriched doughs is that they are easy to roll out without too much struggle. The dough is smooth and a little elastic, but not so much that it bounces back when you try to roll it out.

Once you've rolled out the dough into a large rectangle, you smear the cinnamon sugar filling from edge to edge. If you can't be bothered to cream together the filling ingredients, here's another option: melt the butter and brush it onto the rolled dough, then sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. All roads lead to cinnamon buns!

Like all cinnamon rolls and rolled doughs (including dark chocolate babka), you roll the rectangle of dough plus filling into a fairly tight, even log. You can cut the log and shape it any way you like, but for this recipe, we divide it into 12 equal-sized buns.

Baking the buns

Although with some types of dry yeast, you don't have to proof the dough before baking, I still tend to do it, especially if the kitchen is on the cooler side. The yeast will continue to grow and the dough will aerate and grow even more, leading to fluffy buns in the end.

Bake the buns until golden brown. You can use an instant read, digital thermometer to check the internal temperature of the middle buns to make sure they are baked. It should be at least 88 °C or 190 °F.

Frosting the buns is optional, but what's a cinnamon roll without icing? If you want to skip the icing, may I suggest generously brushing the hot, freshly baked buns with real maple syrup. This will lead to a shiny, sticky finish that will also soften the edges of the buns. Or if you want, you can brush them with maple syrup AND frost them. That would be even better!

Substitutions

There are a few substitutions you can make fairly safely without too many repercussions:

• Yeast - use dry yeast, either instant or active dry. I've written the recipe in such a way that both will work, but note that active dry yeast is generally slower to grow, so your rise times will be longer, especially if your kitchen is on the cool side
• Milk - use whole milk, low fat, or even fat-free milk. You could also try lactose-free milk or a non-dairy milk substitute. I haven't tried non-dairy options, but I'd imagine these would work just fine.
• Raisins - use any dried fruit you like, like chopped pitted dates, dried figs, dried apricots, or whatever you prefer. Dried currants would also work well. You could also try chocolate chips. I bet that would be amazing!

Remember that making baking substitutions is a combination of science and baker's intuition. Any changes may require some additional recipe testing and tweaking.

Variations

I usually bake cinnamon rolls in the oven, but I have developed a slow cooker version of cinnamon rolls baked in a Crock-Pot! It works great and for that recipe, you will notice that the rising times are skipped almost entirely and you still get big, fluffy buns!

Equipment

Bread baking can seem a little daunting at first. Here are the tools I use to make the task a lot easier:

• stand mixer: either a 5 quart Artisan or a bigger 6 quart Pro mixer can accommodate this recipe
• bowl scraper
• a 2 L Cambro is the perfect vessel for rising doughs because it's made of a clear plastic. You can monitor what is happening as the dough rests and grows
• bench scraper (also called a pastry cutter) to cut out the buns
• measuring tape: yes, the kind from the hardware store is what I use—I keep one in the kitchen to be used exclusively for food and nothing else
• 9x13 metal baking pan, though a glass pan will also work
• Thermapen to check the temperature of the ingredients and also to check if the buns are baked through in the centre
• mini offset spatula for smearing cream cheese icing

Tip: I highly recommend investing in a clear Cambro container with graduated markings on the side so that you can follow the dough as it rises and see the progress!

Storage

Store the cooled cinnamon buns in the pan, wrapped tightly. They last up to 4 days. The edges may dry out a little but the middles will still be soft.

You could also make and shape the rolls and refrigerate overnight before baking them. In that case, I would bring the buns back up to room temperature to proof before baking.

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Cinnamon Rolls With Raisins

Learn how to make cinnamon rolls with raisins with this easy recipe. The dough is kneaded in the stand mixer, simplifying the whole process!

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Rise time 2 hours hours

Total Time 3 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Calories 446kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• 6-quart KitchenAid Pro mixer
• Mini offset
• Thermapen
• 9x13 baking pan

Ingredients

Cinnamon bun dough

• 500 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 70 grams granulated sugar
• 5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 30 mL warm water make sure the temperature is around 38–40 ºC (100 ºF)
• 0.625 mL granulated sugar
• 8 grams instant dry yeast 1 packet
• 170 mL whole milk (3.25 % fat) warmed to 38 °C
• 80 grams unsalted butter melted and cooled so it's not too hot
• 2 large egg(s)
• 160 grams sultana raisins

Filling for cinnamon rolls

• 80 grams unsalted butter softened
• 200 grams light brown sugar
• 15 mL ground cinnamon

Cream cheese frosting

• 125 grams Philadelphia cream cheese (full fat, regular)
• 35 grams icing sugar more or less to achieve the desired taste and texture
• 15 mL whole milk (3.25 % fat) more or less to thin out the frosting

Metric - US

Instructions

• Prepare a 9x13-inch (23x33-cm) baking pan by lining the inside with a large sheet of parchment paper. Set aside.
• Prepare a large bowl or a Cambro, spraying it lightly with cooking spray or brushing a thin layer of oil. Set aside.

To make the dough

• Place the flour, 70 grams (⅓ cup) sugar, and fine kosher salt in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Stir them together for a few seconds on low just to get everything evenly mixed.
• In a small bowl, place the warm water (the temperature of the water should be around 38–40 ºC or 100 ºF). Stir in the ⅛ teaspoon of sugar and sprinkle the yeast over top. Stir everything together and let rest for 10 minutes. The mixture should develop a thick foam on top.
• When all the components are ready, add the milk and butter mixture to the dry ingredients, along with the foamy yeast mixture and the two eggs. Stir them together on low speed to form a shaggy, evenly mixed dough.
• Add the raisins and mix them in, then turn off the mixer, cover the bowl with the towel and let the dough rest for 10 minutes.
• Switch to the hook attachment to begin kneading on low speed. If the dough seems too wet, add up to 30 grams (¼ cup) of all purpose flour. The dough should not be so sticky and it shouldn't stick to the bowl. It should feel tacky.
• Knead the dough for 10 minutes in the mixer, then dump it out on the counter and knead it by hand for a minute or so to form a smooth round ball of dough.
• Transfer the dough to the greased bowl, cover with a towel or plastic wrap, and let it rise until doubled in size (for about 45 minutes to an hour).

To make the filling

• In a bowl, cream together the softened butter, the sugars, and the cinnamon until you have a thick brown paste. Set aside.

Assemble the rolls

• When the dough has risen, remove the towel. Lightly flour your counter and transfer the dough to roll it out into a big rectangle of at least 12x16 inches (don't worry too much if it's bigger or smaller).
• Spread the filling over the entire surface of the dough, then roll tightly into a long 12 inch log.
• Cut the dough into 12 equal buns (you don't have to trim the ends) and place them in the prepared baking pan. Cover with plastic wrap or a towel.

Let the rolls rise

• Let the rolls rise until they have puffed and until proofed (if you lightly press your finger into the side of a roll, the indent should very slowly fill out and disappear).
• Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C).
• Bake the buns until golden brown and internal temperature is at least 190 °F (88 °C) measured with an instant-read thermometer. This takes about 25 to 30 minutes.

Make the frosting

• Cream together the cream cheese, icing sugar, and milk. Use a spatula to make sure to mash any lumps of cream cheese.
• Dollop a little spoonful of icing on each bun and use an offset spatula (or the back of a spoon), spread the frosting on the top. Serve warm.

Notes

• Feel free to double the cream cheese icing if you want more frosting! 
• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!

Nutrition

Calories: 446kcal | Carbohydrates: 70g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 68mg | Sodium: 222mg | Potassium: 239mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 26g | Vitamin A: 541IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 73mg | Iron: 3mg

The post Cinnamon rolls with raisins appeared first on The Bake School.

I love raisin bread. Who doesn't? I love them raisins in cinnamon rolls but also plain bread. This is an even easier recipe than this no-knead cinnamon raisin bread because it's faster and doesn't require a long rest period. The process of making this bread is much like making a giant scone or biscuit.

What is Irish soda bread?

Irish soda bread is a traditional quick bread made from just a few ingredients: flour, baking soda (a chemical leavener), salt, and buttermilk. Some will add whole wheat flour (to make a "brown" soda bread) and oats (for a heartier bread). You can flavour the bread with caraway seeds or add raisins for a quick raisin bread. This is a no-knead bread that can be mixed in one bowl and baked right away.

What you need to make this

The beauty of soda bread recipes is that you likely have all the ingredients you need on hand in your fridge and pantry! Here's a rundown of the components

• oats—I tested this recipe with large flake oats, also called rolled oats
• flour—both all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour (I have tested the recipe with whole wheat all-purpose flour (generic grocery store brand) and also white whole wheat flour and hard red spring wheat flour)
• sugar—I used granulated sugar
• salt—I used Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt, which is milder in flavour, though table salt will work!
• baking soda—remember baking soda is pure sodium bicarbonate, and not to be confused with baking powder
• unsalted butter, though salted will work too
• raisins—I used sultana raisins and I also love to bake with golden raisins, though you can use any type of raisin or even dried currants
• eggs—use large eggs
• buttermilk (1 % fat)

Please see the recipe card for quantities.

Substitutions

Baking powder instead of baking soda in Irish soda bread

When considering whether to use baking soda or baking powder, remember these two leaveners are not directly interchangeable. Baking soda is pure sodium bicarbonate, while baking powder is sodium bicarbonate, acid(s), and cornstarch.

You can't replace 2 teaspoons of baking soda with 2 teaspoons of baking powder in this recipe because of the quantity of buttermilk. These two leavening agents aren't interchangeable. Because there is so much acid present in the buttermilk, the baking powder would react quickly, leaving behind the slower-acting acids from the baking powder (like monocalcium phosphate). There's a risk these leftover acids from baking powder may impart an off-flavour to the bread.

Stick to baking soda when making this Irish soda bread recipe or otherwise, you will have to make other changes to the recipe (like replacing the buttermilk with straight milk, for example...).

How to make this without buttermilk

Traditionally, Irish soda is made with buttermilk, an acidic cultured milk product, but if you don't have any buttermilk in the fridge, yes, you can still make Irish soda bread.

To replace buttermilk in Irish soda bread, you will use the same volume of acidified milk, made by mixing milk with a little vinegar or lemon juice. As a rule, add 1 tablespoon (15 mL) of vinegar for every cup of milk (any milk works, whether whole milk, low fat, or skim milk). Adding an acid is key in order for the bread to rise so if you want to replace the buttermilk, you must replace it with another acidic ingredient.

Another option is to dilute some sour cream or yogurt with milk. Again as long as your milk mixture is acidic and you are replacing the buttermilk with the same volume of liquid, the substitution should work.

Quick cooking oats versus rolled oats

This Irish soda raisin bread was developed using large flake oats, also called rolled oats or old-fashioned oats. If you want to try a baking substitution for them, you might think of using quick-cooking oats or minute oats. Unfortunately, the recipe as written won't work as well with quick-cooking oats and you will have to make adjustments because rolled oats are able to absorb more liquid than minute oats, which have a finer texture. You have two options:

1. increase the amount of flour in the recipe to help absorb some of that moisture
2. decrease the amount of buttermilk in the recipe so that the dough is less wet

I haven't tested the substitution of quick oats versus rolled oats in this recipe, so I can't tell you how much less buttermilk or more flour you will need to add. You'll have to do some testing or go through some trial and error to get the texture just right.

Irish soda bread baking dish and special equipment

I have tested baking this recipe in a 3-quart Dutch oven as well as a larger 5-quart double Dutch oven (from Lodge). Baking this bread in a smaller diameter pot yields a taller loaf, while a larger pot gives the bread more room to expand outward leading to a wider, less tall bread. Both pans work. You could also bake it in a cake pan, as long as you use parchment paper to avoid the bread sticking.

To make oat flour, you can grind the large flake oats (rolled oats) in a large food processor with the other dry ingredients or grind them on their own in a mini food processor. I prefer to do the final mixing steps by hand with a Danish dough whisk, and some of the kneading with a bowl scraper. A bench scraper is also useful for manipulating the shaped dough and transferring it to the parchment paper before baking.

Steps for making no-knead bread without yeast

Use a food processor to grind the oats with the other dry ingredients.

You can even incorporate the butter into the dry ingredients in the food processor.

Whisk the raisins into the dry ingredients in a bowl.

Whisk the buttermilk with the egg in a spouted bowl or a large liquid measuring cup.

The wet ingredients are poured over the dry, and the two components are mixed with a Danish dough whisk.

You can use a pastry scraper to help gather the dry bits from the bottom of the bowl to make sure they are incorporated.

Use a bench scraper to lift dough to transfer it to parchment paper.

Brush the surface of the bread boule with a little extra buttermilk (or milk or even an egg wash) to help oats adhere to the surface of the bread.

Score the bread boule deeply with a pairing knife

Transfer the bread with parchment to a baking vessel (like the base of this Lodge double-Dutch oven)

Bake the bread until it's a deep brown colour and the internal temperature is between 180 and 190 °F to ensure it's baked through.

If you don't score deep enough, the finished look won't be as clean, even if the bread is still tasty!

This bread was scored deeply and the scoring held its shape nicely as the bread baked.

Storage

Just like any homemade bread, soda bread can go stale and dry out very quickly. Be sure to wrap it very tightly once it's completely cooled. I like to wrap it in foil, if not a layer of plastic wrap followed by a layer of foil. Some will freeze the sliced bread for convenience. This means you can toast it straight from the freezer, whenever you like.

Serving suggestions and what to put on Irish soda bread

Serve slices of freshly baked Irish soda bread slathered with unsalted or salted butter. It's great with homemade jams, marmalades (especially orange marmalade), or even lemon curd.

This bread is great toasted for breakfast, topped with butter and cinnamon sugar. It's a great accompaniment for eggs and bacon, just like any raisin bread. You can even use it to make sandwiches, just like regular yeasted bread.

Other examples of no-knead bread

There's a whole world of no-knead bread to explore. Besides, soda bread, you could also try my recipe for no-knead cinnamon raisin bread, which uses yeast as a leavening agent.

With typical yeast no-knead bread, the rest time is much longer, while Irish soda bread has no rest time so it's much faster! For another quick bread, try this homemade Boston brown bread, baked in a coffee can.

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Irish Soda Bread with Raisins (no yeast)

Irish soda bread is the easiest bread you can make. Make it plain or add in some raisins. This is a simple bread that just requires a mixing bowl and a spoon to make, and still it's a great bread. It's a no-knead bread recipe you can make in minutes.

Course Bread

Cuisine British

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 10

Calories 347kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• Double Dutch oven
• OXO balloon whisk
• GIR spatula

Ingredients

• 90 grams rolled oats (or large flake oats)
• 250 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 250 grams whole wheat all-purpose flour
• 26 grams granulated sugar
• 7.5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 10 mL baking soda
• 58 grams unsalted butter cold cut into cubes
• 160 grams sultana raisins
• 1 large egg(s)
• 500 mL buttermilk (1 % fat)

Metric - US

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 425°F.
• In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together the oats, flours, sugar, salt, and baking soda to grind the oats down and evenly mix all the dry ingredients.
• Pulse in the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles a coarse crumble.
• Transfer to a large bowl and then stir in raisins.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg and the buttermilk.
• Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture. Pour the beaten egg and buttermilk into the well and mix in with a wooden spoon until dough is too stiff to stir. Dust hands with a little flour, then gently knead dough in the bowl just long enough to form a rough ball.
• Transfer the dough onto a large piece of parchment and then shape it into a round loaf. Pick up the parchment corners to gather it together and plop everything (paper and all) into a Dutch oven.
• Using a serrated knife, score top of dough about 1⁄2'' deep in an "X" shape. Sprinkle with a few more oats if you have some.
• Transfer the pot to the oven and bake until bread is a deep brown all over, about 50 to 60 minutes.
• Transfer bread to a rack to let cool about one hour before slicing. Serve bread warm, at room temperature, or sliced and toasted.

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!

Nutrition

Calories: 347kcal | Carbohydrates: 61g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 34mg | Sodium: 494mg | Potassium: 358mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 255IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 84mg | Iron: 3mg

Adapted from Saveur.

The post Irish Soda Bread with Raisins appeared first on The Bake School.

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Fruit Bread

Fruit bread is an enriched bread flavoured with candied peel and raisins, similar to stollen but without the marzipan. Fruit bread tastes great toasted and served with salted butter. 

Course Breakfast

Cuisine German

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Total Time 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Servings 12 slices

Calories 232kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• 6-quart KitchenAid Pro mixer
• 1-lb loaf pan
• Pastry brush
• ChefAlarm thermometer

Ingredients

Dried fruit

• 160 grams sultana raisins or a mix of golden raisins and Sultanas
• 120 grams candied mixed peel (orange, lemon, citron) chopped
• 15 mL water

Enriched dough

• 30 mL warm water around 38 °C–42 °C (100–110 °F)
• 0.625 mL granulated sugar basically a big pinch
• 8 grams instant yeast also called rapid rise yeast
• 125 mL whole milk (3.25 % fat) or 2 % milk
• 70 grams unsalted butter
• 375 grams bleached all-purpose flour you may need up to 60 grams extra to achieve a smooth dough
• 50 grams granulated sugar
• 2.5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 2.5 mL ground cinnamon
• 2 large egg(s)
• 5 mL pure vanilla extract

Egg wash

• 1 large egg(s)
• 1 pinch Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt

Metric - US

Instructions

Prepare the dried fruit

• Mix the raisins and the chopped candied peel with the 15 mL (1 tbsp) water. Warm in the microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute to help soften the fruit. The fruit should absorb most of the liquid. Set aside to soak at room temperature while you prepare the rest.

Make the enriched dough

• Pour the 30 mL (2 tbsp) warm water into a small bowl. Add a pinch of sugar and sprinkle with yeast. Stir and let stand 5 minutes. The yeast will get foamy (that’s how you know it’s good!).
• In a microwave safe bowl, combine the milk and butter and microwave to heat/melt the butter. Let stand until lukewarm, about 5 minutes.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer with paddle attachment, stir together the flour, sugar, salt, and cinnamon.
• Then add the yeast/water mixture, eggs, vanilla, and the lukewarm milk/butter mixture. Mix for about 2 minutes. The dough should be a soft, but not sticky ball.
• When the dough comes together, cover the bowl with either plastic wrap or a tea towel and let rest for 10 minutes.
• Uncover the bowl and add the soaked fruit. Mix on low speed to incorporate. If the dough seems wet, add in a little extra flour until it comes together again.
• Switch from the paddle to the dough hook, and knead the dough for approximately 6 minutes. The dough should be soft and satiny, tacky but not sticky. The full six minutes of kneading is needed to distribute the dried fruit and other ingredients and to make the dough have a smooth consistency.
• Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling around to coat it with the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm, dry place for one to two hours or until doubled.

Shape the bread

• If you are baking a loaf, shape the risen dough into a loaf, and fit it in a greased 9×5-inch loaf pan that has been fitted with a rectangle of parchment at the bottom. Let it rest while the oven is preheating. If you are baking a braided boule, divide the dough into four equal pieces, then roll them out into 14 inch ropes. Weave the ropes together to make a braided round boule. Transfer it to a parchment-lined sheet pan.
• Cover the bread with a tea towel and let it proof at room temperature for 30 to 45 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 325°F (165 °C) with the oven rack on the middle shelf. Remove the top shelf if you are baking in a loaf pan because the bread is quite tall.

Egg wash

• In a small bowl, whisk the extra egg with a pinch of sugar to make an egg wash. When the oven is preheated and you are ready to bake the bread, brush it evenly with the egg wash. You won't use it all.
• Bake the fruit bread for 50–60 minutes. The bread will bake to a deep golden brown colour, and you will know it is done when the internal temperature measures 190°F (88°C) in the centre of the loaf.
• Remove the fruit bread from the oven and let it cool completely out of the pan, on a wire rack, then wrap in foil to store or slice and freeze in a freezer bag.

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!

Nutrition

Calories: 232kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 41mg | Sodium: 101mg | Potassium: 177mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 203IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 28mg | Iron: 2mg

The post Fruit bread appeared first on The Bake School.

If you want to bake flavourful sourdough bread, you will need an active sourdough starter. You can get a sample of starter from a friend or your local bakery and that will make the process infinitely easier and faster. Or you can make your own.

It's a good idea to learn how to make a new starter in case your starter dies. You don't know how many times I've heard of somebody accidentally microwaving or baking their starter, killing it. Bookmark or save this post for later, just in case!

The Science Of Building A Sourdough Starter

Sourdough starter is nothing but flour and water, mixed together and left to sit at room temperature to ferment. It might seem a little scary to let the mixture ferment like that. It probably feels counterintuitive and a breeding ground for microorganisms. It is!

In the beginning, all kinds of microorganisms (yeast and bacteria) will feed on the mixture you have created and they will grow, digesting the food you have provided. Over time, you will notice the scent of your starter evolves, becoming more sour: the starter is becoming more acidic. The pH of your starter will drop below 5 as it matures.

Lactic acid bacteria slowly overtake the culture and bring your starter into a food-safe zone. That is why a sour smell develops. It's the same principle as when you make yogurt at home! You start with pasteurized milk that has a pH above 6. You warm the milk and inoculate it with microorganisms (lactobacillus) that will start to break down the lactose and sugars in the milk. As the sugars break down, the pH of the milk lowers to around 4.

The lactic acid bacteria create such an acidic environment that the "bad" microorganisms that we shouldn't consume will die off. They don't survive in acidic conditions. They aren't built for it. The lactic acid bacteria create an environment that is perfect for making yogurt or sourdough bread that is safe to consume.

The acidic environment of the starter is also perfect for growing certain types of yeast, like Saccharomyces cerevisiae. These yeast cells consume sugar, digesting it down to carbon dioxide gas, which helps your bread rise.

The acidity is what makes sourdough starter safe, creating the perfect environment for yeast to thrive so that you can use it as a leavening agent. That's why it's important to keep those lactic acid bacteria happy, feeding water and flour regularly!

Ingredients

The number of ingredients you need to make a sourdough starter from scratch is even less than what you need to make sourdough bread! You really only need two ingredients. Three if you'd like to use a combination of two flours.

• Flour—I use a mixture of bleached all-purpose flour and rye flour to build and maintain my sourdough starter, but you can stick to just all-purpose if you prefer (more on that later).
• Water—regular tap water is fine and that's what I use.

Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.

Your starter is alive. As you continue to feed it daily (or weekly), you are basically training it. Consistently feeding it at the same time of day with the same ingredients is key for it to thrive. If you change a variable, you may throw it off balance.

Temperature Is An Important Part Of The Equation

Temperature is as important as the flour and the water that goes into building a new starter. Starter cultures thrive in a warm, but not too warm environment. Warm living conditions are key to starter activity:

• An environment that is cool will slow down your starter and they will be more sluggish, growing at a slower rate
• An environment that is too hot will lead to overfermentation and you will likely kill the microorganisms if the temperature gets out of hand.

You might be wondering what is too hot and what is too cold, and what temperature is just right for creating and maintaining an active sourdough culture:

• Too hot: Don't let your starter get much warmer than 28 °C (83 °F) because the culture will be too active initially and die off more quickly if you don't feed it enough and often
• Too cold: Below 4 °C (when water begins to freeze), your starter will slow down completely and stop growing. This is why you can store a sourdough culture in the freezer for longer-term storage.

Substitutions And Variations

With only two ingredients, there's not much wiggle room. Still here are some options

• Flour - use any flour to feed your starter, even bleached all-purpose. I use a combination of bleached all-purpose and rye flours. The microorganisms like the whole grain flours and your starter will likely grow faster if you incorporate a little whole grain flour into each feed.
• Water - tap water generally is fine
• Sugar - there's no sugar in this recipe, per say, but there is flour. Flour is made up of carbohydrates, specifically long chains of sugars. You don't need to add sucrose (granulated sugar) to feed your starter because the microorganisms will digest the carbohydrates in flour to feed themselves. However, some bakers may add a tiny amount of honey or sugar in colder months and/or wintertime, when the starter may be slower and more sluggish. The sugar is a simpler form of feed for the microorganisms to digest and so gives them a quick boost of energy!

If you bake gluten-free, you can make a starter from gluten-free flour instead!

Equipment

You don't need much to build a starter. Some people will literally mix the ingredients in a bowl and may even use a plate as a cover. I like to use jar with a lid, personally. A glass jar comes with a risk: it's breakable! If you break your jar with your starter inside, you will have to throw everything out and start over.

For this reason, some favour clear plastic containers with lids to hold their starter. Since you will be discarding and feeding daily, there's no risk of breaking the container if it's plastic.

Check out my sourdough baking list on Amazon US and Amazon Canada for more equipment suggestions.

First steps

Building up and maintaining a sourdough culture is very repetitive. You will be doing most of these steps daily at the beginning, and then twice daily even, storing it at room temperature. Once the starter is healthy and established, you will likely switch to feeding it once a week, storing it in the fridge to slow down growth.

Before you begin, you will need an empty jar, preferably one that has a wide opening. You should record the weight of the empty jar (without the lid) on a kitchen scale on the bottom of the jar so that you can easily subtract the jar weight and know exactly how much starter is in your jar at any time.

Building a new sourdough starter is easy. All you have to do is mix together flour and water in your jar!

Combine the water and flour in a jar that is at least 375 mL (1-½ cups). Mix it well and scrape down the sides to keep the walls as clean as possible.

Close the lid and mark the height of the starter with an elastic band or a permanent marker. Store it in a warm, dry place for up to 2 days.

Discard two-thirds of the starter.

Feed the remainder: replace the lost weight with equal parts of water and flour, by weight.

You will repeat the process of discarding and feeding over and over again until you notice your starter rises and falls on a regular schedule. It will usually take about 6 to 12 hours for it to double (more or less depending on type of flour used, maturity of the starter, and temperature).

Hint: do not forget to feed your starter! If you are keeping your starter at room temperature, you have to feed it daily, if not twice daily, to maintain the microorganisms responsible for keeping the starter at a safe pH below 5. Store your starter in the fridge during busy periods to slow it down. This way, you only have to feed it once every week.

Feeding And Maintaining

Smell And Visually Inspect At Every Step

First to third feeding

Fourth feeding

This is where I notice a change in the smell of the starter. The cheese smell is still there when you stir it, but the initial scent when you open the jar will be a little sour or vinegary. That's the lactic acid bacteria working their magic!

Fifth feeding

Your starter will likely smell quite vinegary/acidic. You should start feeding it multiple times a day at this point to make sure the microorganisms aren't too hungry. If they get too hungry, the lactic acid bacteria will release a lot of acetic acid, as opposed to lactic acid. Your starter activity will dwindle as more acid is released.

Sixth feeding and beyond

Feeding Schedule

Storage

Longer term storage

Kahm Yeast

Tips For Success

Remember that your starter is a culture of microorganisms. It's alive! You will have to nurture it to keep it happy and alive. Treat it like a member of your family by feeding it flour and water regularly.

Work clean! Whenever you open the jar to discard and/or feed your starter, always use clean tools. You don't want to introduce any contaminants beyond what is coming from the flour and the water.

If you don't have time for regular feedings, consider storing your established starter in the fridge, and even explore other options like drying or freezing portions of the starter to ensure you always have a backup stash.

If you tried this recipe for building a new sourdough starter from scratch (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

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Sourdough Starter

Learn how to make a sourdough starter from scratch with this easy recipe. You can make a sourdough culture from any flour, though I prefer a mix of all-purpose and rye flour.

Course pantry staple

Cuisine American, French

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Rise time 1 day day

Total Time 1 day day 10 minutes minutes

Servings 100 grams

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• Mason jars
• OXO kitchen scale

Ingredients

• 50 grams water
• 50 grams bleached all-purpose flour or a mix of half all-purpose and half rye flour

Metric - US

Instructions

• Weigh your empty, clean jar (without the lid). Write the weight on the bottom of the jar.

Mix your starter

• Place the flour and water in the empty jar. Stir them together with a chopstick or a small spatula until the mixture forms a smooth paste. Smooth and level the paste so it's flat in the jar.
• Place the lid on the jar (don't tighten it too much).
• Stretch an elastic and slide it around the jar to mark the level of the starter.
• Set the jar in a warm, dry place, away from the light for 1–2 days. Keep an eye on it. It will likely more than double and fill up the jar almost to the top.

First feeding

• Open your risen jar of starter and smell it. It will likely smell like funky cheese.
• Place the jar on your scale and zero it.
• Stir the starter with a spoon, then remove 80 grams and throw it out.
• Add 40 grams of water, stirring it in with a chopstick or a small spatula, then add 40 grams of flour. Stir to form a thick paste.
• Close the jar. Verify that the level of the starter is still at the level of the elastic band.
• Set the jar in a warm, dry place, away from the light for 1 day. Keep an eye on it. It will likely more than double and fill up the jar almost to the top.

Second feeding

• Open your risen jar of starter and smell it. It will likely still smell cheesy.
• Place the jar on your scale and zero it.
• Stir the starter with a spoon, then remove 80 grams and throw it out.
• Add 40 grams of water, stirring it in with a chopstick or a small spatula, then add 40 grams of flour. Stir to form a thick paste.
• Close the jar. Verify that the level of the starter is still at the level of the elastic band.
• Set the jar in a warm, dry place, away from the light for 1 day. Keep an eye on it. It will likely more than double and fill up the jar almost to the top.

Third feeding

• Open your risen jar of starter and smell it. It will likely still smell cheesy.
• Place the jar on your scale and zero it.
• Stir the starter with a spoon, then remove 80 grams and throw it out.
• Add 40 grams of water, stirring it in with a chopstick or a small spatula, then add 40 grams of flour. Stir to form a thick paste.
• Close the jar. Verify that the level of the starter is still at the level of the elastic band.
• Set the jar in a warm, dry place, away from the light for 1 day. Keep an eye on it. It will likely more than double and fill up the jar almost to the top.

Fourth feeding

• Open your risen jar of starter and smell it. It will likely smell cheesy with a hint of vinegar.
• Place the jar on your scale and zero it.
• Stir the starter with a spoon, then remove 80 grams and throw it out.
• Add 40 grams of water, stirring it in with a chopstick or a small spatula, then add 40 grams of flour. Stir to form a thick paste.
• Close the jar. Verify that the level of the starter is still at the level of the elastic band.
• Set the jar in a warm, dry place, away from the light for 1 day. Keep an eye on it. It will likely more than double and fill up the jar almost to the top.

Fifth feeding

• Open your risen jar of starter and smell it. It will likely smell quite vinegary now.
• Place the jar on your scale and zero it.
• Stir the starter with a spoon, then remove 80 grams and throw it out.
• Add 40 grams of water, stirring it in with a chopstick or a small spatula, then add 40 grams of flour. Stir to form a thick paste.
• Close the jar. Verify that the level of the starter is still at the level of the elastic band.
• Set the jar in a warm, dry place, away from the light for 1 day. Keep an eye on it. It will likely more than double and fill up the jar almost to the top.

Sixth feeding

• Open your risen jar of starter and smell it. It will likely smell very vinegary and be very bubbly, with signs that it has risen and fallen slightly.
• Place the jar on your scale and zero it.
• Stir the starter with a spoon, then remove 80 grams and throw it out.
• Add 40 grams of water, stirring it in with a chopstick or a small spatula, then add 40 grams of flour. Stir to form a thick paste.
• Close the jar. Verify that the level of the starter is still at the level of the elastic band.
• Set the jar in a warm, dry place, away from the light for 1 day. Keep an eye on it. It will likely more than double and fill up the jar almost to the top.

Notes

Feed your starter whenever you discard, or whenever you remove a portion to make bread. This way, you never run out!

Starter FAQs

Using Up Discard

📚 Recommended Books About Sourdough Bread

The post Sourdough Starter appeared first on The Bake School.

If you've been reading the blog for a little while, you probably know that I have a weakness for breads, especially focaccias. I am, after all, the girl who polished off a Concord grape and rosemary focaccia all by herself in one of those "sorrynotsorry" life moments where I kept going back for more until there was none left. I'm really good at eating entire foods that should be shared. One of the skills that I've developed living alone, I suppose. I've also mastered the ability to justify the eating of entire foods that should be shared. Like with focaccias, they are really best when you eat them the day they are baked, and preferably when they are still a little warm. Really, what choice do I have? None, I tell you.

I made this carrot focaccia with vibrant multi-coloured carrots that are grown across Canada and can be found at most grocery stores these days. My fave of the bunch is the purple carrots with their orange-streaked core. The colour comes from antioxidants. Purple carrots get their colour from anthocyanins (yes, the same family of compounds that are responsible for the colour of blueberries), while yellow carrots get their colour from xanthophylls. The orange carrots are loaded with beta-carotene, though actually purple carrots have even more beta-carotene than the orange ones, go figure. I like to use a simple vegetable peeler to make ribbons of carrots that really showcase their colour. The ribbons can be used to garnish all kinds of dishes. They'd be great on salads, for example. Obviously, we aren't here to talk salad though...

The nice thing about focaccia is that you can absolutely go out and buy some pizza dough from your local bakery to make it. Okay, Italians will probably throw stones at me for making this statement, but hey, I'm not Italian. And for those of us who are short on time (or in my case, seeking instant gratification), this is the answer to that focaccia craving. This time I made this carrot focaccia savoury, topping it with fresh rosemary, feta cheese, and sliced almonds, drizzled generously with olive oil. Next time I make this, I think I might also add a trickle of honey before serving. Think about it: carrot focaccia with feta cheese, almonds, and honey. Doesn't that sound even better? To find the recipe for this carrot focaccia, visit the carrot focaccia recipe page on the Produce Made Simple website. Let me know if you try a slice drizzled with honey. I bet it'll be magical that way.

Want more carrot ideas?

• Here's a carrot recipe roundup including recipes from some of my favourite bloggers!
• If you just want cake, that's okay too. Try this glazed carrot snacking cake.

This post is sponsored by Produce Made Simple. I was compensated monetarily. Thanks for supporting the companies that allow me to create content for Kitchen Heals Soul. As always, please know that I wouldn’t work with a sponsor nor recommend a product if it wasn’t worth it.

The post Carrot focaccia appeared first on The Bake School.

What kind of bread is a babka?

Some consider babka a cake, but I tend to categorize it as bread. It starts with an enriched yeast dough, meaning that babka dough is "enriched" with eggs, milk, and butter and uses yeast as a leavener to make it rise. I'd say that babka dough tends to be less rich than brioche dough, but still on that spectrum. I'd consider hot cross buns and Christmas stollen bread to fall under this category as well, which can be made into stollen buns or a stollen loaf.

Babka dough is rolled out and smeared with a buttery dark chocolate filling or a cinnamon sugar mixture before forming a swirled loaf. We could debate ad nauseum about which is the superior babka, but today is dedicated to the dark chocolate babka. You can mix cinnamon into the chocolate filling, which to me is the best of both worlds. Some babkas are topped with a generous amount of streusel topping, some aren't.

The babka issues I had this week weren't so much a recipe problem, really. The dough recipe worked beautifully and rolled out so easily after chilling in the fridge overnight. It was a real pleasure to make these babka loaves, but the first time 'round, my problem was that I had too much dough for a standard bread loaf pan (which is 9x5"). Overfilling the bread pan meant the babka took much longer to bake, which meant that the chocolate started to burn. It took over an hour to bake what I referred to as the "mega babka." Too long.

The bread was gorgeous and it sliced beautifully, revealing a lovely tight swirl of chocolate. But not quite blog-worthy at that stage. Nobody wants to eat burned chocolate. I had to scale down the recipe to fit the pan better. I needed to determine the right quantity of babka dough needed to properly fill a standard loaf pan, without overfilling it, before I could share this recipe with you. So many people told me I should post the recipe the way it was on Monday because it did make a gorgeous loaf, but I wanted the recipe to be perfect, or at least better and more user-friendly for you. Call me crazy!

This dark chocolate babka recipe yields a big, impressive version of these mini chocolate babkas. I modified the original recipe to scale it up to fit a 9x5" bread pan and of course, I made a few changes to make the recipe even better. This dark chocolate babka is loaded with chocolate and cinnamon. Babka's are definitely holiday bread, but they also make fantastic bread on brunch menus year-round. If you make one of these, your guests will love you forever. Trust me. Or better yet: make this chocolate babka recipe and see for yourself!

How to check if your babka is baked in the middle

You will know that the babka is baked when it is firm to touch, a deep golden brown on the outside, and also a thermometer inserted into a bready part of the swirl will read 90ºC (194ºF). To measure the internal temperature of the babka, use an instant-read thermometer, like the Thermoworks Thermapen or the Thermoworks ThermoPop. Both of these thermometers are fast-reading and can measure the temperature within 3 seconds, which means you'll quickly know if your bread needs more time in the oven.

This chocolate babka is all about the chocolate so you have to use the best dark chocolate for baking that has a deep, dark flavour and that isn’t overly sweet. To make this chocolate babka, I used Ocoa chocolate from Cacao Barry, which is a 70% cocoa dark chocolate with a rich chocolate flavour. You can find it at IGA grocery stores in Quebec in 1-kilo resealable bags. If you aren’t living in Quebec, you can order this chocolate online (and many other Cacao Barry products) via the Vanilla Food Company website. They ship across Canada and to the United States! Vanilla Food Company also carries the Cacao Barry cocoa powder I used for this recipe, which I highly recommend: the Plein Arôme cocoa powder that has a rich flavour.

📖 Recipe

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Dark Chocolate Babka

Learn how to make a dark chocolate babka with this recipe, including how to make the enriched dough from scratch, a dark chocolate filling, and rolling and shaping the babka to fit a loaf pan.

Course Breads

Cuisine Jewish, Polish

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Rising time 14 hours hours

Total Time 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Calories 228kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• 6-quart KitchenAid Pro mixer
• Rolling pin
• Mini offset
• 1-lb loaf pan
• Thermapen

Ingredients

Bakba bread dough

• 84 mL whole milk (3.25 % fat)
• 2.5 mL granulated sugar
• 6.25 mL active dry yeast
• 219 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 50 grams granulated sugar
• 2.5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 2.5 mL pure vanilla extract
• 1 large egg(s)
• 58 grams unsalted butter softened

Chocolate babka filling

• 75 grams dark chocolate (70 % cocoa content)
• 58 grams unsalted butter
• 5 mL icing sugar
• 2,5 mL ground cinnamon
• 10 mL Cacao Barry extra brute cocoa powder sifted
• 38 grams dark chocolate (70 % cocoa content) chopped

Metric - US

Instructions

• Warm milk to 38–40ºC (100ºF). Stir in ½ teaspoon granulated sugar and the yeast. Let stand 10 minutes. It should be foamy after resting.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, stir together the flour, sugar, and salt. Pour in the foamy milk, then add the egg and the vanilla. Beat to incorporate. When the dough is evenly mixed, switch to the dough hook.
• Knead the dough for 5 minutes, then add the butter a little piece at a time as the mixer runs on low. Be sure to wait that the first piece of butter gets worked in before adding the next.
• Knead the dough again for another 5 minutes. It will be tacky. Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and knead a few more seconds to form the dough into a smooth ball.
• Grease a large bowl and transfer the ball of dough to the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
• When you are ready to shape your babka, make the filling first. Melt the chocolate with the butter in the microwave on power level 5. 
• Stir in the icing sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa powder. Let cool slightly while you roll out the dough.
• Roll out the cold dough into a rectangle of 16x12". Spread the melted chocolate mixture covering the surface almost entirely from edge to edge. Sprinkle the surface with the chopped chocolate.
• Roll the babka into a 16" log, tightly. Slice the log lengthwise to reveal the layering.
• Cross the two layered pieces to form an X, then continue crossing over the ends to form a long twist.
• Carefully transfer the twist to the greased pan. Note you will have to gently squish the twist of dough to tightly fill the pan (see picture). Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise 1.5 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350ºF (175 °C). Remove the plastic wrap from the loaf and bake the babka in the center of the oven for about 40–45 minutes. You will know that the babka is baked when it is firm to touch, a deep golden brown on the outside, and also a thermometer inserted into a bready part of the swirl will read 90ºC (194ºF), see notes. 
• Remove the babka from the oven and let cool completely before slicing.

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• For the dark chocolate, I used Cacao Barry Ocoa 70 % dark chocolate.
• For the cocoa powder, I used Cacao Barry Plein Arôme.
• Both of these products are available online at Vanilla Food Company, while the Ocoa can also be purchased at IGA grocery stores in Quebec. You can find many of Cacao Barry's chocolates at restaurant supply stores as well.
• I used a standard light-coloured 9x5" loaf pan like this one on Amazon. If you use a darker pan, you may want to drop the oven temperature by 25ºF to make sure the outside doesn't overbake.
• To measure the internal temperature of the babka, use an instant-read thermometer, like the Thermoworks Thermapen or the ChefAlarm.

Nutrition

Calories: 228kcal

This post is sponsored by Cacao Barry. I was compensated monetarily and with product. Thanks for supporting the companies that allow me to create content for Kitchen Heals Soul. As always, please know that I wouldn’t work with a sponsor nor recommend a product if it wasn’t worth it.
Please note this post contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you buy a product I recommend, I will get a small commission, and the price you have to pay will not change in any way.

The post Dark chocolate babka for Easter appeared first on The Bake School.

This post was sponsored by Crock-Pot Canada.

Why bake in a Crock-Pot slow cooker

People don't realize that you can take your Crock-Pot way beyond the usual soups and stews. You can actually use it to bake in and make all kinds of baked goods, from pudding cakes, to regular cakes, cheesecakes and even yeasted breads and treats. When you start to play around with your slow cooker and explore using it for recipes other than dinner, you'll find it can actually be quite convenient for certain recipes.

If you're wondering why bake in a slow cooker, there are a few reasons. For example, a lot of people can't use their ovens in the warmer months because it's too hot and the oven makes the kitchen even hotter. Use your slow cooker and you'll be able to get dessert on the table without raising the temperature in your kitchen!

Another reason, if your oven is in use for something else, you can use your slow cooker in parallel, thus alleviating the stress of having to juggle multiple recipes in one single oven.

How to bake in a slow cooker: tips & tricks

One thing to remember with slow cookers is that they trap humidity quite well and they tend to heat more on one side than the other. If you want to explore baking in your Crock-Pot , there are a few tips and tricks to follow to make sure you are successful:

1. if your ceramic insert is your pan, treat the ceramic insert like you would a regular cake pan: butter it or brush it with oil, or line it with parchment paper. This will ensure that your cleanup is a breeze when you are done using it!
2. wrap the lid with one or two kitchen towels: slow-cookers are closed vessels and as your recipe bakes, it will release water in the form of steam. That steam will condense on the lid and drip back down on your cake (or whatever you are making). That's fine for soups and stews, but not if you are making a cake in the slow cooker. The solution is easy: tightly wrap the lid in a kitchen towel or two. The towel(s) will absorb the moisture released and keep the surface of your cakes/breads dry!
3. partially cover the slow cooker with the lid to release the steam, instead of using kitchen towels to absorb the water released. I've had mixed results with this because the lid can slide back on and fully cover the ceramic insert (like if your cat walks by), so I prefer the towel method above.
4. use the slow cooker like an oven and set your cake pan in the ceramic insert: this is especially useful if you want to gently heat a cheesecake to bake it slowly in the Crock-Pot. In this case, you could fill the ceramic insert with water (just an inch or two will do) and then set your pan in the water so that the cheesecake will gently bake. The water will ensure a more gentle, even heat. Again, make sure to wrap the lid in a towel to absorb the steam.
5. rotate the ceramic insert halfway through the cooking time if you find that your baking is uneven, just like you would when baking in the oven. This is especially important with older models of slow cookers which might have a less even heat source. It's also very important for these cinnamon buns: if you don't rotate the pan halfway through the baking time, one side will burn and the other side will stay raw.

The beauty of baking cinnamon buns in a slow cooker is that there's no rising time. There's a 10 minute rest period after you make the dough, to give the gluten a little time to relax so that rolling the dough is easier, but that's it! You knead the dough, wait 10 minutes, then roll it out, slather on the sweet cinnamon butter, shape the buns, set them in the slow cooker, and bake them right away. It's kind of funny that the slow cooker might actually speed up the process of making homemade cinnamon buns from start to finish!

Use a slow cooker with manual settings

I tested a few batches to get the baking time right in my Crock-Pot 6 quart slow cooker with MyTime technology. The great thing about this slow cooker is that you aren’t forced to use pre-programmed settings. MyTime technology allows you to deviate from the usual 4, 6, or 8 hours, and instead you can set the Crock-Pot to heat for as little as 1 hour. 

For these cinnamon rolls, at 2 hours the ends were dark, so definitely use an instant read thermometer to test the internal temperature of the middle bun. The buns take just under 2 hours to achieve the perfect golden brown bake, with caramelized edges without burning. Some models may heat up faster or slower, so be sure to check your buns after 1 hour 30 minutes, and use an instant-read thermometer to make sure you are on track. The thermometer takes the guessing out of your slow-cooker baking. Remember enriched doughs are baked when they reach 93 ºC (200 ºF).

The dough for these cinnamon buns is a modified version of the dough I use for my stollen bread recipe. If you don't have time to make the dough, just buy some pizza dough from a local bakery. I've used pizza dough to make cinnamon buns and also Monkey bread and it's a great substitution if you are short on time. You will need to buy roughly 900 grams (2 pounds) of dough to make 12 buns. Roll the dough out to a big rectangle and spread the filling over it, just as you would do if you've made the dough from scratch. Nobody needs to know!

📖 Recipe

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Crock-Pot Cinnamon Rolls

Make Crock-Pot cinnamon rolls in a 6 quart slow cooker with this easy recipe (no rising and no oven required!).

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 1 hour hour 45 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Calories 390kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• 6-quart KitchenAid Pro mixer
• Mini offset
• 6-quart Crock-Pot
• Thermapen

Ingredients

Cinnamon bun dough

• 500 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 70 grams granulated sugar
• 5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 30 mL warm water make sure the temperature is around 38–40 ºC (100 ºF)
• 2.5 mL granulated sugar
• 8 grams active dry yeast 1 packet
• 180 mL whole milk (3.25 % fat)
• 80 grams unsalted butter
• 2 large egg(s)

Filling for cinnamon rolls

• 80 grams unsalted butter softened
• 100 grams granulated sugar
• 100 grams dark brown sugar
• 15 mL ground cinnamon

Cream cheese frosting

• 125 grams Philadelphia cream cheese (full fat, regular)
• 35 grams icing sugar
• 15 mL whole milk (3.25 % fat) more or less to thin out the frosting
• 2.5 mL vanilla bean paste

Metric - US

Instructions

• Prepare a 6 quart Crock-Pot slow cooker by lining the inside with a large sheet of parchment paper. Press it into the corners to fit it into the ceramic insert and to cover the entire interior surface and sides of the pot. Set aside.

To make the dough

• Place the flour, sugar, and fine kosher salt in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Stir them together for a few seconds on low just to get everything evenly mixed.
• In a small bowl, place the warm water (the temperature of the water should be around 38–40 ºC or 100 ºF). Stir in the ½ teaspoon of sugar and sprinkle the yeast over top. Stir everything together and let rest for 10 minutes. The mixture should develop a thick foam on top.
• Meanwhile combine the milk with the butter in a microwave-safe bowl and heat it in the microwave for a minute or so, just enough to melt the butter. Let stand at room temperature to cool slightly.
• When all the components are ready, add the milk and butter mixture to the mixer, along with the foamy yeast mixture and the two eggs. Stir them together on low speed to form a shaggy, evenly mixed dough.
• Switch to the hook attachment to begin kneading on low speed. If the dough seems too wet, add up to 30 grams (¼ cup) of all purpose flour. The dough should not be so sticky and it shouldn't stick to the bowl. It should feel tacky.
• Knead the dough for 8 minutes, then dump it out on the counter and knead it by hand for a minute or so to form a smooth round ball of dough.
• Place a towel over the dough and let it rest for 10 minutes while you prepare the filling.

To make the filling

• In a bowl, cream together the softened butter, the sugars, and the cinnamon until you have a thick brown paste. Set aside.

Assemble the rolls

• When the dough has rested, remove the towel and roll it out on a very lightly floured surface to a big rectangle of at least 9x15 (don't worry too much if it's bigger).
• Spread the filling over the entire surface of the dough, then roll tightly into a 15 inch log.
• Cut the dough into 12 equal buns (you don't have to trim the ends) and place them in the prepared ceramic insert.

Bake the rolls

• Place the ceramic insert in the Crock-Pot base.
• Wrap the lid in a kitchen linen or two to absorb any moisture that is released during the bake. Place the lid over the ceramic insert and make sure it's on tight.
• Plug in the Crock-Pot and set it to cook on high for 2 hours.
• After 1 hour of cooking, lift the ceramic up and rotate the pan, setting it back down in the base.
• After another 30 minutes, using a digital thermometer, check the temperature of the bready part of a middle bun to make sure it's reached 93 ºC or 200 ºF. Once the bread hits that temperature, the buns are done baking.
• Using oven mitts, lift the ceramic insert out of the base. Remove the lid and using the parchment, lift the buns out of the ceramic pot, setting the parchment-lined buns on a cooling rack while you prepare the icing. Let them cool 10 minutes before icing them so that the icing doesn't melt and run off the buns.

Make the frosting

• Cream together the cream cheese, icing sugar, milk, and vanilla bean paste.
• Using an offset spatula (or the back of a spoon), spread the frosting on the top of the buns. Serve warm

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!

Nutrition

Calories: 390kcal | Carbohydrates: 56g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 69mg | Sodium: 218mg | Potassium: 106mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 27g | Vitamin A: 537IU | Calcium: 61mg | Iron: 2mg

For more information about Crock-Pots, be sure to visit their website!

This post is sponsored by Crock-Pot Canada. I was compensated monetarily and with product. Thanks for supporting the companies that allow me to create content for Kitchen Heals Soul. As always, please know that I wouldn’t work with a sponsor nor recommend a product if it wasn’t worth it.

Please note this post contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you buy a product I recommend, I will get a small commission, and the price you have to pay will not change in any way.

The post Crock-Pot cinnamon rolls appeared first on The Bake School.

Kneading brioche dough by hand can be a real pain, if we are being honest. In pastry school, we learned to do it by hand, using the "slap and scoop" method. The dough is slapped down on the counter with the right hand, then scooped up with a bench scraper in the left hand, over and over, until the gluten has developed sufficiently.

These chocolate cranberry buns start with my easy brioche recipe kneaded in a stand mixer because most of us don't have the patience or the time to do it by hand. The mixer does a great job of developing the gluten and incorporating the butter, without warming the dough too much. So the butter doesn't melt too quickly, leading to a greasy mess, which is a likely outcome if you kneaded by hand.

For this dough, I used dark chocolate chips from Callebaut with 70 % cocoa solids. This is a great type of chocolate for baking because it's high quality, not too sweet but it does hold its shape.

Fresh versus frozen cranberries

I recommend using fresh cranberries for this recipe because they are added to the dough before the overnight cold rise. Frozen cranberries would defrost in the refrigerator and there's a risk they lose too many juices, making the dough too wet to manipulate after.

Finishing sugars for bread

The buns are sprinkled with pearl sugar before baking them. Pearl sugar is also called Swedish sugar or Belgian sugar. It's a popular sugar for garnishing breads before baking because it holds its shape in the oven without melting or burning. You can order pearl sugar from Amazon.

I brushed the buns with maple syrup after baking to give them a little sweet finish and also the syrup softens the crust of the bun. The nice thing about pearl sugar is that it doesn't dissolve.

Shaping the bread and special equipment

This chocolate cranberry bread can be baked as:

• a loaf in a standard 1-pound loaf pan (9x5 inches)
• as pull-apart buns in an 8-inch cake pan (as shown here)

The bread is made from a standard brioche recipe kneaded in the stand mixer with fresh cranberries and dark chocolate chips.

📖 Recipe

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Chocolate Cranberry Bread

This recipe for chocolate cranberry bread is made from a brioche bun recipe kneaded in the mixer to make it easier to do. They take a little time but it is well worth it!

Course Breakfast

Cuisine French

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 35 minutes minutes

Chill time 12 hours hours

Total Time 13 hours hours 35 minutes minutes

Servings 8 buns

Calories 400kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• 5-quart KitchenAid Artisan mixer
• 8-in cake pans
• Pastry brush
• Bench scraper

Ingredients

• 63 mL whole milk (3.25 % fat) warmed to 38 ºC or 100 ºF
• 1 pinch granulated sugar
• 8 grams active dry yeast 1 packet
• 250 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 24 grams granulated sugar
• 5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 2 large egg(s) whisked
• 115 grams unsalted butter room temperature, cut into cubes
• 50 grams fresh cranberries
• 90 grams dark chocolate chips

Garnish

• 1 large egg(s) whisked with a pinch of salt
• 15 mL pearl sugar for sprinkling on the bread
• 22.5 mL pure maple syrup

Metric - US

Instructions

• In a small bowl, whisk the warm milk with a pinch of sugar. Sprinkle the yeast overtop in an even layer, then you can whisk it to help the yeast melt and to avoid clumps. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes at room temperature. It should bubble and create a layer of foam.
• Meanwhile, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the flour, sugar, and salt. Stir on low to combine.
• When the yeast is ready, dump it in, along with the two eggs. Stir the mixture on low until a shaggy dough forms. Increase the speed a little to form a more cohesive ball of dough, then switch to the dough hook to knead the dough for 10 minutes. The dough will be stiff, but smooth.
• Switch back to the paddle attachment and add the butter, a little at a time, working it into the dough before adding a little more. The dough will seem to break down but eventually will start to come back together. Switch to the hook and knead it for another 10 to 15 minutes to form a smooth dough.
• Knead in the dark chocolate chips. The dough will be smooth and a little tacky.
• Transfer the dough to a greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, and let rise slowly at room temperature for 1 hour.
• Place the bowl in the refrigerator to chill the dough for 1 hour.
• Once the dough is cold, punch it down and roll it out on a lightly floured surface. Scatter the cranberries over the entire surface, then roll it up and pinch/roll it together to shape the bread dough into a "boule" (ball shape). Place back in the greased bowl, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
• Butter an 8-inch cake pan and line the bottom with a round of parchment paper. Set aside.
• Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Each piece will weigh almost 90 grams. Shape each piece into a ball and set them in the cake pan, evenly spaced, 7 on the perimeter and 1 in the middle. Shaping the buns isn't easy because of the cranberries so don't worry too much about it.
• Cover the pan with a damp towel and let rise in a warm place for 1.5 hours or until puffed and almost doubled.
• Preheat the oven to 375°F (190 °C).
• Whisk the 1 egg for the egg wash with a pinch of salt. Brush the tops of the buns with the egg wash, and sprinkle generously with pearl sugar.
• Place the pan in the oven. Bake until a thermometer inserted into a bun reads 88 ºC (190–195 ºF), which takes roughly 30 to 35 minutes. The buns will be a deep golden brown on top.
• Transfer the pans to a wire rack and let cool about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. You can brush the hot buns with maple syrup and sprinkle with additional coarse sugar before serving. The syrup will soften the crust and add a little sweetness to these buns.

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!

Nutrition

Calories: 400kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 104mg | Sodium: 347mg | Potassium: 175mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 590IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 69mg | Iron: 2mg

The post Chocolate cranberry bread appeared first on The Bake School.