Pain au lait (milk bread)

It has been a while now since I baked breads. I feel like I'm missing something in my life without baking. Yes, I do love baking, especially baking good breads for my boys. They both have been under the weather lately and not wanting to eat much. Any parents out there would know that getting your kids to eat while they are sick is a big challenge. I found this very promising soft bread recipe while browsing the web a couple nights ago and decided to give it a try. I'm glad that I did, my boys loved it and so did my husband. I'm so delighted to see the breads came out light and soft with the right amount of sweetness. My house was smelling amazing with the aroma of fresh breads. The boys love to have it with a dab of butter while my husband devoured it with my homemade strawberry jam.  I'm so glad that I have brought their appetites back!

Recipe adapted from Daily delicious (Thank you for a great recipe)

Ingredients: (I converted the measurement from gram to cup for the sake of convenience)
(Make 10 breads)

230g of all purpose flour (about 1 2/3 cups)
60g of bread flour (about 3/4 cup)
125g of whole milk (about 2/3 cup)
4g of instant yeast (or dry active yeast)
50g of egg (about 1 egg)
38g of sugar (about 1/6 cup)
5g of salt
63g unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
Pearl sugar for topping
    

Warm milk to about 100-110F in the microwave and add yeast (plus 1 tsp sugar), mix well with a plastic spoon and set aside.

Combine flours, sugar, salt in a the stand mixer bowl. Subsequently add in the yeast/milk mixture and egg. Turn the speed up to #4 and let the dough kneaded for about 5 minutes until the dough comes together and not sticking to the side of the bowl.

Add soften butter, little at a time until all incorporated into the dough. Continue to let the dough kneaded for another 10-15 minutes until soft, smooth and satiny looking.

Transfer the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let it proof for about 1.5 hours or until double in size (the recipe said for about 30 minutes but I found mine needed more time to double in size).

Transfer the dough onto the silicone mat and press down the dough lightly. Divide the dough into 10 equal balls. Let the dough rest for about 15 minutes before working on it.

Roll out the dough with the rolling pin into a round circle about 4 inches in diameter. 

Then roll it upward like a Swiss roll, seal the dough by gently press the seam together and set the seamed side down on the baking mat. 

 Cover the shaped doughs and let it rise until almost double in size (about 1 hour). 

 Preheat the oven at 400F, brush the dough with egg wash (1 egg plus 1 tbsp of milk).

Use a pair of scissor to cut the top of the dough in a zigzag line. Sprinkle pearl sugar on top.

Bake the breads for about 10-12 minutes until golden brown. Let them rest for about 5 minutes before devouring them.

Serve with jam or butter or just plain by itself with a hot cup of Joe and you are good to go. Enjoy!