Petits Pains Au Lait
A slightly sweet French milk roll with a soft crust that's perfect for serving with dinner.
Ingredients: 4 Cups Unbleached White Bread Flour
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 Tbls. Caster Sugar (superfine)
1/4 Cup Butter (softened)
1/2 Oz. Fresh Yeast
1 Generous Cup Lukewarm Milk, plus 1extra Tbls. (for glazing)
In a large bowl, sift together the Flour and Salt
Stir in the Sugar
Then rub the softened Butter into the mix and set aside
Add the Yeast to the lukewarm Milk
Stir and let sit 10 minutes
Pour the Milk/Yeast mix into the Flour
Mix until moistened
Then turn out onto a lightly Floured surface
Knead until smooth and elastic
Place the Dough into a lightly Greased bowl and cover with lightly Greased plastic wrap and let rise 1 hour
Once risen, punch down and roll out on a lightly Floured surface
Cut into 12 even pieces
Roll each piece into a ball, then cut a X in the top and place on 2 lightly Greased pans
Cover with lightly Oiled plastic wrap and let rise another 20 minutes
Brush the rolls with the extra Tbls. of Milk, then place into a pre-heated oven at 400 F and bake 20-25 minutes or until Golden brown, then serve and enjoy.
I didn't have enough white bread Flour for the recipe, so I substituted half whole wheat bread flour instead which worked out fine. The rolls didn't turn out as nice as the pictures in the book, but still tasted great. They have a nice flavor to them and a soft middle that was great dipped in soup.
