Sweet Yeast Dough

Method

1. 01

   Step 1: Mix the dry

   Combine the flour, sugar, salt and yeast in a large bowl. Salt and yeast can go in together here — in dry flour they do each other no harm, unlike direct contact in liquid.

2. 02

   Step 2: Add the wet

   Pour in the warm milk, add the eggs and yolk and the vanilla. Work for 5 minutes, first with a spatula, then by hand or with a dough hook, until it comes together.

3. 03

   Step 3: Work in the butter

   Now add the soft butter a few cubes at a time, each lot fully absorbed before the next. The dough falls apart at first and looks ruined; that is normal, it comes back together.

4. 04

   Step 4: Knead until smooth

   Knead another 8–10 minutes, until smooth and elastic and a piece stretches thin enough to see light through without tearing. It stays soft and slightly tacky — do not add more flour.

5. 05

   Step 5: Let it rise

   Put it in a greased bowl, cover and leave somewhere warm for 60 minutes, until doubled. Test with a finger: the dent should fill back slowly and not completely.

6. 06

   Step 6: Shape and prove

   Knock back, divide into 12 and shape as the recipe needs. Give it 30 minutes of second proving, until visibly puffy. Bake as the recipe says, usually 180 °C for 20–25 minutes.