Yogurt Bread!

My first attempt in kneading the bread dough by hand!

I am really excited and nervous about it.

In the woods, I have to make do with minimum baking equipment. Kneading the dough by hand is the only option, and I am happy to find a very comprehensive photo-instructions at Happy Home Baking.

Finally, I was ready to start kneading!

All went well, from weighing the ingredients, to gathering the dough and starting to knead. It was only after 15 minutes of kneading that I realised my little bowl of butter was sitting at a corner of the table! No wonder the dough didn't feel right to the touch. It was dry, and although getting a little stretchier, it had a rough texture! I quickly added the butter into the dough and continue kneading for another 15 minutes. Finally, I get a smooth and elastic dough =)

I oiled a mixing bowl and put the dough in. The oven was preheated and left to cool. I put the mixing bowl with the dough into the slightly warmed oven. As this is the first time I was kneading the dough by hand, and first time baking bread in the woods with temperature outside at 2 degrees Celsius, I wasn't sure if the dough would rise, or if it did, how long it would take. One hour? More? I had to keep my fingers crossed and wait patiently.

I was very happy to see the dough doubled in size in an hour! Warming the oven and putting the dough in to proof was a good move! Following the instructions closely, I punched down the dough and let it rest for 15 minutes. Then I cut the dough into small portions and shape them into smooth balls. I didn't really bother to weigh each portions, and I ended up with buns of slightly different sizes. At this point, I could have put the round balls into the baking tray and continue with the second proof. Instead, I flattened each smooth balls, put a scoop of cream cheese/nutella in the centre, and wrapped the filling with the dough. Buns with fillings instead of plain buns!

The second proofing took about 45 minutes.

I was happy to send the trays into the oven ..... it took about 15 to 20 minutes for the buns to bake, at a temperature of 180C.

Recipe from Pure Enjoyment : Yogurt Bread.

250g Bread Flour

15g Sugar

3g Salt

3g Yeast (I used a sachet of Quick Rising Dry Active Yeast)

100g Yogurt (I used Vanilla Flavored Yogurt)

60g Fresh Milk

30g Butter

25g Egg (About 1/2 an egg : Lightly beat egg, slowly pour into bowl to measure)

Milk or egg to glaze the top of the buns.

I had a third of dough left after making the buns. The remaining dough was rolled into a rectangle. I cut the rectangular dough into half, lengthwise. Then I spread Nutella on each half of the dough. Rolled each half up swiss roll style. Braided the two rolled up halves. Joined the two ends to form a ring. How did the final product look like? The baked braided "bun" was about the size of my hand =)

The boys were excited and happy to have the buns as their after-school snack. They each ate three mini buns!

Want some exercise?

Want some yummy buns?

Start kneading and baking!