Description
Delicious homemade salt bread perfect for any occasion.
Ingredients
Scale
- 170 g bread flour (12 % protein)
- 55 g cake flour (10% protein)
- 3 g instant dry yeast
- 14 g sugar
- 4 g salt
- 16 g unsalted butter or refined coconut oil (room temperature)
- 14 g skim milk powder
- 158–166 ml water
- 138 g bread flour (12 % protein)
- 94 g cake flour (10% protein)
- 4 g salt
- 3 g instant dry yeast
- 16 g sugar
- 12 g skim milk powder
- 16 g unsalted butter or refined coconut oil (room temperature)
- 28 g whole beaten egg
- 145 ml water
- 6 butter blocks (10–14 grams each)
- guerande salt, pretzel salt, rock salt or fancy salt (for topping)
Instructions
- Add bread flour, cake flour, and water. Mix on low (speed 2-3) for 3 minutes until a rough dough forms. Cover and rest 15 minutes (autolyse).
- Add milk powder, sugar, salt, yeast, and egg (if making egg-based dough). Mix on low for 5 minutes.
- Add butter or coconut oil. Mix on low for 2 minutes, then medium (speed 3-4) for 2-3 minutes until smooth. Cover and rest 15-25 minutes.
- Mix again on medium (speed 4) for 2-3 minutes until dough no longer sticks to bowl sides. Shape into a ball and place in a bowl.
- Cup your hands around the dough and gently pull it toward you to create surface tension, rotating as you go, until the dough forms a smooth, tight ball. Place the dough into a bowl and cover.
- Let dough rise for 80-100 minutes at 28-30°C (82-86°F), or until doubled in size. Ideal dough temperature is approximately 25°C (77°F).
- Use 10-14 g butter per piece of dough. Cut butter into about 2 cm x 4 cm for round salt bread and 1 cm x 6 cm for long or crescent shaped salt bread. Keep in freezer after preparing.
- Lightly dust the surface of the dough. Use a flexible bench scraper to remove the dough. Punch dough down and transfer to work surface. Lightly dust the dough again.
- Like cutting a pizza, divide into 6 triangular pieces (approximately 70 g each). Cut off small bits to make them even and place the scraps in the middle of the triangle.
- For each piece, pinch opposite ends together to form a thin icicle shape. Roll gently to elongate slightly to about 15 cm if needed. Place seam side down. Cover and rest 15 minutes.
- Take the first piece rough side up. If the dough is sticky, very lightly dust with flour. Flatten it gently with the base of your hands. Roll the dough into a long icicle shape, rolling firmly to remove built up gas. Press out any air bubbles along the edges with the base of your palm.
- Start at about 1/3 of the way down, holding the base and rolling upwards. Then from the same spot, lift the tail and roll downwards until desired length. For round, thicker rolls: shorter base (4-5 cm), 40-50 cm length. For longer crescent shapes: longer base (10-12 cm), 25-35 cm length.
- Place a butter block at the base of the dough and fold the top edge over it, rolling down. The roll should be snug but not too tight or loose. Every so often, lift the roll slightly and pull back gently to create light tension.
- Press the very end tip into the dough gently. Place dough onto a dark coloured baking tray, tail side down. Keep covered and repeat with remaining dough.
- Let dough rise for 55-65 minutes at 30-33°C (86-91°F) or until doubled in size and looks airy and puffy. To test, poke gently. It should spring back slowly, leaving a faint indent. When moving the pan it should jiggle.
- Preheat the oven 20-30 minutes before you expect the proof to finish to the highest temperature (232°C/450°F).
- Remove the cover and lightly spray with water and sprinkle with salt from one edge to the other.
- Spray dough 10 times right before baking. Avoid over spraying as it can make the crust tough.
- Once salt bread is in the oven, quickly spray 15 times into the walls of the oven and close the door immediately. Bake for 3 minutes.
- For convection oven: Reduce heat to 190-200°C (374-392°F) and bake for 12 minutes or until deeply golden on both sides. For conventional oven: Reduce heat to 200-210°C (392-400°F) and bake for 12 minutes.
- Rotate the baking pan during the last 5-6 minutes of baking for even browning. Keep an eye on them, especially the last 5 minutes and adjust oven temperature as needed.
- Remove from oven and brush the leaked butter on tops of the salt bread. Serve fresh and enjoy!
Notes
- Use butter blocks about 10-14 grams each for optimal results.
- Ideal conditions for rising dough include warm temperatures around 28-30°C (82-86°F).
- Experiment with your choice of topping salts for different flavor profiles.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: French
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 roll
- Calories: 180
- Sugar: 1 g
- Sodium: 250 mg
- Fat: 8 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 24 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 15 mg