I Love. I Cook. I Bake.

Nice buttery fragrant soft fluffy, easy to handle dough too :)



Recipe: HERE

What you need:

60ml lukewarm water
2.5tsp instant yeast
2tbsp sugar
***Mix all three ingredients in a glass cup, stir and leave it for about 15mins til foamy (means the yeast is active)

350g bread flour
50g sugar
1tbsp milk powder
1 egg
70ml cold fresh milk
50g butter, room temperature
1tsp salt

Brush mixture:
1tbsp honey
1tbsp butter
1tbsp fresh milk
***Mix all three ingredients well

Method:

1. In a breadmaker pan, add in egg, milk, salt, followed by flour, sugar and milk powder
2. Lastly add in yeast mixture
3. Start dough function and let the machine does its job of kneading
4. After kneading done, let it proof for 15mins and remove from the pan
5. On a lightly floured surface, place the dough and divide into balls of 35g
6. Leave it for 10mins, covered with clean damp cloth
7. Prepare a 22x12x5cm loaf pan, grease and line with baking paper (I used 2pcs of 20x10x7cm loaf pan cos that's what I have LOL)
8. Take one ball, flatten using a roller, start from middle upwards, and middle downwards, until it reaches the thickness preferred, about 3/4cm
9. Fold into half circle and seal the ends together. Place in the pan, sealed part down
10. Do the same to the remaining balls, place them side by side in the pan, not too tight together
11. Cover with a clean damp cloth and leave to proof for about 45mins til doubled in size 
12. 20mins into the end of the proofing time, start preheat the oven at 180degC
13. Brush the top of the dough with fresh milk, and bake for 25mins until golden brown
14. While it's still hot and still in the pan, brush the top with the brush mixture
15. Leave it for about 10mins and transfer into a cooling rack

A little overbaked 🤦‍♀️ luckily it's still soft and enjoyed by my family 😅




Recipe: HERE
Easy dough to handle, nice soft and yummy

What you need:

500g bread flour
85g sugar
85g butter
30g milk powder
2 eggs
1tsp salt
12g instant yeast
19-ml fresh milk
beaten egg, to brush before baking
butter to brush the buns after done baking

Method:

1. In a breadmaker pan, add in eggs and fresh milk, followed by salt, sugar, milk powder, flour and yeast. Start the machine on dough function. After 5mins kneading, add in butter. Let it continue doing the job of kneading plus the first proofing
2. Remove dough from the pan and transfer to a lightly floured surface
3. Knead for a few times to release air bubbles. Make into 50g balls
4. Flatten each ball with a rolling pin and put filling at the centre. Shape as you like
5. Proof again until doubled in size about 30 to 45mins depending on the surrounding temperature, covered with damp kitchen towel
6. Preheat oven at 180degC for 20mins (do it during the last 20mins of the second proofing), brush buns with beaten egg and bake for 25 to 30mins until the tops are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped
7. Remove from oven, transfer into a cooling rack and brush the tops with butter

Can be made as plain buns and/or with filling of choice
This time I made mainly with pineapple jam and custard filling

Recipe for pineapple jam: HERE, and for custard HERE

Japanese fruity sandwich. We're obsessed by it after having them a couple of times from Family Mart




Recipe source: Honeybeesweets

For the whipping cream filling:
200ml whipping cream
30g icing sugar, sifted
125g mascarpone cheese
1tsp vanilla extract (my addition)

some slices of bread
fruits of your choice, I used strawberries
cling wrap

Method:

1. Whip cream and sugar until soft peak, about 5mins on medium speed
2. Add in mascarpone cheese and vanilla, and whip on low speed for 30 secs until well mixed
3. Refrigerate for about 1hour 
4. On a slice of bread, spread cream. Top with fruits, and cover with more cream
5. Cover with another slice of bread. Tighten the sides and wrap with cling wrap
6. Cut diagonally before serving

Recipe source: HERE

What you need:

300g bread flour
60g sugar
10g milk powder
2 egg yolks + 40g whipping cream + fresh milk = 220g (cold)
5g yeast
30g butter
2g salt

Filling: (optional and up to preference)
steamed raja banana
chocolate rice

Coconut filling can be viewed HERE

Method:

1. In a breadmaker pan, add in wet ingredients: egg yolks, whipping cream, milk
2. Followed by dry ingredients (in this order and make sure yeast and salt do not mix): salt, flour, sugar and yeast
3. Start kneading and after 5minutes, add in butter
4. Let the machine does the kneading and first proofing, total 1.5hour
5. Take out the dough and transfer to a kneading mat lightly floured
6. Knead a few times to further release air bubbles
7. Shape dough into 40g balls and add fillings accordingly
8. Shape the dough balls according to your liking and place on a lined baking pan
9. Leave to proof covered with damp cloth, let it rise about 20-30mins depending on how warm the temperature is. Meantime, preheat the oven to 180degC
10. Brush the top of each bun with fresh milk and bake on middle rack for 20mins or til the top is browned
11. Remove from oven and let cool on cooling rack
12. Store in an airtight container

Straight dough method, dough is very easy to handle
Soft buns and still stay soft the next day with a bit of warming up

Recipe is from Sonia from Nasi Lemak Lover


What you need:
(for 18 small buns)

375g bread flour
40g caster sugar
1/2 tsp fine salt
30g egg white
80g cold water
100g cold milk
1 tsp instant yeast
40g salted butter

Butter sugar filling:
100g butter, room temperature
80g coarse sugar

Method:

1. For the filling, mix in butter and sugar. Stir until well mixed. Keep in the refrigerator to harden it before use
2. In a breadmaker pan, pour in egg white, water, milk and followed by flour, sugar, salt and lastly in separate corner the yeast
3. Let the machine starts kneading. After 5minutes, add in butter
4. Continue kneading and also the first proofing
5. Remove dough from breadmaker and transfer into a lightly floured surface
6. Divide dough into 18 (@about 36g), shape into small balls. Rest for 10mins covered with damp cloth to prevent them from drying
7. Spoon about 1tsp of butter sugar filling and wrap inside the small dough ball
8. Place dough balls in a lined 9inches round cake pan (removable base) - I prefer not to grease the base as during baking it will melt and leak through dough, as a result the buns will have greasy bottom
9. After all completed, set aside to rest for 30mins
10. Bake at preheated oven at 190degC for 20-25mins, rotate tray if necessary for even browning
11. Once done, remove from oven and brush the top with butter 

First time hearing this name when I got this monthly bake along with friends from IG baking group called homemadelovers. This was my second bake together with them

Babka, a traditional Eastern European yeasted sweet bread with chocolate, nuts and cinnamon filling, usually twisted to shape and sprinkled with streusel
Never tried this bread before, but knowing the description, I have no doubt that my family and I will love it

So, here is my version. I omitted the nuts as my kids do not really fancy eating nuts

1. Using bread maker to knead the dough: Pour in the wet ingredients first into the pan: milk, egg, sweet potato and oil. Followed by the dry ingredients: sugar, salt, flour and lastly yeast (make sure salt and yeast are separated). Press 'dough' function and let the machine start the kneading. After 5mins, check whether the dough is too dry. If it is, add more milk up to 25g)
2. Let the machine does continue its work (about 1hour 30mins with the first proofing)
3. After its done, remove the dough from the pan and transfer to a lightly floured surface. Flatten it to release some trapped air bubble
4. Divide the dough into 2 equal portions. Roll up each dough and pull down the sides a few times to stretch it out and seal at the bottom
5. Place them in a covered container and let it rest for 10mins
6. Roll out each dough using rolling pin, flip it over so the smoother side will face outside after rolling up
7. You may place small bits of sweet potatoes if you have (optional, I skipped)
8. Roll up the dough from one of the shorter end, pinch to seal
9. Place the dough into pan of your choice (I used loaf pan), spray some water and cover with damp cloth, let it proof til doubled in size (about 1hour in a warm oven/microwave)
10. Preheat oven to 180degC 15mins before proofing time ends. Brush the top of the dough with beaten egg and bake for about 25 to 30mins (when you knock the top there's a hollow sound and it's nicely browned)
11. Remove from oven and brush the top with melted butter, transfer to a cooling rack and let cool before you cut it into slices
12. Keep in an airtight container

1. Flatten the dough using a rolling pin. Use donut cutter to shape
2. Prepare a wok with some cooking oil and preheat. Once oil is hot, reduce the fire to low. Wait for about a minute and start frying the donut, not too many at one time, til browned on both sides
3. Remove from heat and put them on a strainer
4. When it's slightly cooled, transfer to a cooling rack and let it cool completely
5. Decorate as you prefer. I used Nutella to 'glue' the chocolate sprinkles

This is my second time baking it and well, for my case, it takes longer than 40mins as I used my bread maker to do the kneading, but still this is a genius way to cut short bread baking process. Love it :)
First time, I just baked normal plain dinner rolls. This time, I added Nutella and cheese filling. As predicted, the Nutella filling were a hit with the kids, while I and DH enjoyed the cheese filling





Recipe is from Diana from The Domestic Goddess Wannabe

What you need:

280ml warm water (or milk)
1/3 cup or 83ml oil
2 tbsp instant yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
476g bread flour

Method:

1. Heat oven to 220degC
2. In a bowl, combine water, oil, yeast and sugar and leave it for 15mins. Using dough hook, mix in salt, egg and flour. Knead for a few mins til dough is soft and smooth and continue with hand kneading for awhile. Hand knead is possible too for about 5mins (I used bread maker and let it do the kneading job for 30mins)
3. If the dough is still too sticky add in a little more flour (not too much), knead a few times and oil your hands too while kneading (After kneading in bread maker I still got sticky dough so I kneaded a while more with oiled hands and a bit more additional bread flour)
4. Form dough into 12 balls and place in greased pan, rest for 10mins (For my buns with filling, I flattened the ball, spoon a heaped tsp of filling of choice - mine were Nutella and grated cheddar cheese)
5. Glaze with egg wash, add the top of each bun with sprinkle of your choice, and bake for 10-12mins til golden brown

Note:
Wrap each cooled bun in cling wrap and store in airtight container. If keeping them in the fridge, warm it up in microwave for about 15secs

Finally I am blogging about this bread. This recipe has been so so popular especially in Instagram
I have been baking this bread many times,  most of the time in loaf and pull apart buns shapes, but every time I had no chance to take pictures as it always finished out in an instant LOL

Yes, it's that good. This bread is really soft and fluffy with a milky taste, we love it a lot!
Besides the taste and texture, the winning point about this recipe is it only needs one time of proofing, which cut the preparation timing as compared to the traditional way of preparing bread by about an hour




Recipe is from Victoria Bakes

What you need:
(for 450g loaf)

260g bread flour
3g instant yeast
1 large egg + full cream milk = 180g
30g sugar
2g salt
30g butter

Method:

1. Pour milk and egg in the bread maker pan, followed by bread flour, salt in one corner and sugar in another corner
2. Make an indentation in the centre and pour in instant yeast
3. Set the machine to Dough and press start
4. After 5mins, add in butter and let the machine do the rest of the kneading, about 30mins depending on the type of bread maker
5. Take out the dough from the pan and place it on the lightly floured surface
6. Knead slightly for a few mins til dough is smooth and window pane is achieved
7. Divide the dough into three, flatten each using rolling pin to oblong shape and roll the dough away from you like when you're making swiss roll
8. Place the three shaped dough into a greased and line loaf pan, cover with damp kitchen towel and let it proof til it almost reaches the rim of the pan (mine was taller than that!)
9. Bake in the preheated oven of 170degC about 45mins til the top is browned evenly and sounds hollow when tapped
10. Remove from oven and transfer to a cooling rack. Brush the top with melted butter for extra shine
11. Cool completely before slicing it

 And the next morning after breakfast, I took more pictures with the remaining 1/3 of the loaf haha...

I made these buns and the whole family enjoyed them so much it didn't last long
I must say they are indeed delicious and texture is really good, the usual cliché words we use - soft and fluffy. Indeed cliché but it's the truth! :)




I saw theses lovely buns from Grace's Blog and I had no regret trying it out. In fact, this is in my favorite bread recipe list now :)




What you need:

250g bread flour
50g fine wholemeal flour
60g honey
10g milk powder
3g salt
160g fresh milk
30g whole egg
5g instant yeast
20g butter

Method:

1. Using breadmaker, put in honey, milk and egg into the pan followed by flours, milk powder, salt, and lastly yeast
2. Set into dough mode, and press start
3. After kneading for 5mins, add in butter and let the machine do the whole kneading process and the first proofing
4. Prepare 2 loaf pans, grease and line with baking paper
5. After done, take out the dough and on lightly floured surface, knead a few times to release air bubble
6. Divide into 50g dough each and shape into balls
7. Place into the loaf pans, sealed side down and let it rise til doubled in size about 45mins
8. Preheat oven to 180degC
9. Sieve some bread flour on top before baking and bake for 25mins
10. Remove from oven and unmould, let cool on the cooling rack

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs up organised by Doreen from my little favourite DIY and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids and hosted by Joyce from Joy 'N' Escapade at this post



Do give this a try, you will not regret it :)

I never bake this famous Italian Christmas bread before. This is my first try and instead of doing the traditional kind, I followed Joyce from Kitchen Flavours, baking this yummy mocha panettone
Yes, it's seriously yummy with the texture I always prefer in sweet bread of any kind - soft, fluffy and can last for a few days
This panettone is considered huge for my family to finish in a day, so I managed to see how it was until the third day. In room temperature, the bread stayed soft on the second day. It turned slightly harder on the third day but after microwaving for 15secs, it's back to the original texture.
Very pleased with this recipe. It's a keeper for my family
Like Joyce, I also added chocolate chips and dried cranberries into the bread
One problem when I kneaded the chocolate chips into the dough, it melted rather quickly. So in the end, not all chocolate chips could be mixed and those melted ones were blended into the dough, that's why my bread looked more brownish
No complain though, it still tasted delicious. I just wonder how is the perfect way to mix in the chocolate chips into the dough without making any chips to melt.. Any advice?

I baked this bread in the late afternoon, by the time it's ready it was in the evening already
These pics below were taken in that very evening once the bread was out from the oven







As usual, I never like taking pic of my bake in the evening, so I took more pics the next morning before I had it for my breakfast. See how different they are, so much more alive, nicer, clearer and appetizing :)

1. In a small bowl, mix coffee powder with hot water til dissolved. Pour into the bread maker pan and add in milk and eggs
2. Sift bread flour and cocoa powder, and sprinkle over the liquid until it's covered completely. Add in cinnamon, followed by salt, sugar and butter. Place them in different corner of the bread pan. Make a small indent at the center of the flour mixture (not until touching the liquid) and add in yeast
3. Set the bread machine to "Dough" function. Press start and let the machine do its job (kneading and first proofing about 1hr 30mins)
4. Grease 6inch round deep pan and line with baking paper, making sure the paper is about 3inch higher than the pan height
5. When the dough is done in the bread machine, remove it and put on a lightly floured surface. Punch lightly and knead in the chocolate chips and dried cranberries. Shape into a ball and leave for about 5mins covered with lightly oiled cling wrap
6. Shape again the dough into ball that can fit into the pan. Place it into the base of the pan and cover with lightly oiled cling wrap. Proof in slightly warm place for 45-60mins or until you can see the dough has risen and almost touch the top of the baking paper
7. Preheat oven to 200degC, brush the top with melted butter and cut a deep cross on top. Bake for 10mins
8. Reduce the temperature to 180degC and bake for another 30mins until the skewer comes out clean and the bread is evenly browned all over (mine was shielded with aluminum foil after 20mins of baking and I removed 5mins before the baking ended)
9. Remove from oven and leave it in the pan for about 5mins and transfer to cooling rack. Let cool before slicing (which I couldn't abide haha..)
10. Store in an airtight container