Simple and delicious snacks to enjoy during cozy afternoons at home, or perfect for a break outdoors with a checkered tablecloth and fruit juices. Milk buns are one of the simplest ways to delight everyone: these small bread bites are made by hand kneading flour, butter, and milk. They are very easy to prepare and perfect for holding jams, jellies, creams, but also for accompanying cured meats and cheeses, enhancing the bread basket. After making various types of bread such as baguettes, oil bread, special bread like pumpkin or beetroot, traditional bread like cafone, these classic soft and delightful buttons couldn’t be missing. If stored properly, milk buns can maintain their fragrance for a few days. But we are sure that one will lead to another and in no time you will find yourself kneading dough again.
Milk Buns
Ingredients for the dough (for 30 buns, 30g each):
– Manitoba flour 150g
– Type 00 flour 350g
– Fresh beer yeast 7g
– Whole milk at room temperature 300g
– Butter 50g
– Sugar 60g
– Fine salt 7g
Preparation:
To prepare the milk buns, melt the butter over very low heat, then let it cool. Pour the sifted flours into a bowl, add the sugar and yeast. Then add the milk at room temperature, and start mixing with a spoon to help incorporate the ingredients, and continue mixing by hand as soon as you have a homogeneous mixture. Add the melted butter and salt, massage the dough again by hand, both in the bowl and on the lightly oiled work surface, and knead for about 15 minutes to make it smooth and elastic. Shape the dough into a spherical shape, place it in a lightly buttered bowl, and let it rest for about 2 hours in a turned-off oven with the light on, or in a draft-free area of your home covered with plastic wrap.
After the indicated time, the dough will have risen. Move it onto the work surface, and briefly knead to obtain two small loaves. Divide them in half lengthwise, then divide them into around 30 buns, 30g each. You can shape the buns in different ways, for example by rolling each bun into an oval shape, then lightly folding the edges towards the center and pinching them together. Place the buns on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, brush them with a mix of egg and milk, and let them rise for another 30 minutes. Bake in a preheated static oven at 200°C for about 12-13 minutes until golden brown, then transfer onto a rack to cool before serving with sweet filling such as jams, jellies, and creamy desserts or with cured meats and cheeses of your choice.
Storage:
Keep the milk buns at room temperature, closed in a plastic bag, for a maximum of 3-4 days. Milk buns can be frozen once baked and completely cooled at room temperature. Before serving, thaw them out in the refrigerator for a few hours or let them thaw at room temperature.
Tips:
The dough for milk buns should be very soft and elastic, but not sticky: it all depends on the type of flour you use, which may absorb more or less liquids. Therefore, evaluate the dough while kneading it on the work surface for 15 minutes. If it is too hard, add a little milk, if it is too sticky add a little flour.