Sausage wrap rolls were a staple at the breakfast table of my childhood. My mom would buy them from our local grocery store, starting them in the oven early on weekend mornings, leaving their pleasant aroma to fume up the kitchen. These rolls are always a crowd pleaser. They are fluffy and tender, sweet with a savory bite of a cocktail sausage – a match made in heaven.

What Are Sausage Wrap Rolls?

Sausage wrap rolls are a cross between pigs in a blanket and a classic dinner roll. They consist of a mini sausage wrapped in a thin layer of enriched bread dough. These were made popular in the U.S. by Sister Schubert, who no longer sells the product. They were a classic holiday staple, potluck dish, or breakfast entree for many.

Considerations For Enriched Doughs

Enriched doughs, like sausage wrap rolls, contain ingredients that can make it difficult for gluten to come together. Fats (usually butter) and sugars in medium to large amounts mean it is necessary to develop the dough to a windowpane up front, in order to have the best fermentation experience. Without gluten, the dough simply cannot hold in air the same way. A dough that is not developed properly may taste flaky, like a biscuit, instead of tender or airy (as is the goal).

On a scale of 1-10, one being unenriched (like country bread) and 10 being heavily enriched (like panettone), this bread is about a “6” – it contains a medium-high amount of sugar and butter, but not an overly obnoxious amount. With any enriched dough, though, I always resort to my stand mixer for the best experience. You’ll find this dough needs 15-20 minutes of kneading to achieve a windowpane. Especially because of the addition of butter, I always find this process simpler and more efficient using my stand mixer.

Some home mixers are not built for kneading bread efficiently. Check the manual for your mixer, and be sure it is safe to endure mixing times of up to thirty minutes, just to be on the safe side. The most complicated bread in the bread-making world is panettone, which requires mixing times of up to sixty minutes. It is so very important not to overwork the dough or the motor on your mixer. I love my Ankarsrum stand mixer, which is more than capable of living up to the task of kneading even the toughest of doughs. If you do not own a mixer, it is possible to knead by hand, as long as you are willing to endure the task of kneading to a windowpane up front. You can use any preferred method, or find ideas in my video on methods of gluten development, here.

The “Why” Behind The Starter Build

Why Build A Starter (Levain) For This Recipe?

A “sour” flavor is not generally preferred for sweet breads. By building a levain, we can use a formula that helps to reduce overall sourness in the starter and in the bread. To do this, it is important to understand the starter, which consists of yeast and bacteria, and how the formula works to reduce sourness.

Sourness comes when bacteria are overpopulating in your sourdough starter, meaning they are out of balance with the yeast. This happens naturally, as bacteria reproduce faster than yeast do, especially in ideal climates. To limit sourness, it is important to favor the yeast in starter care. In this levain formula, I do just this in order to limit acidity and reduce overall sour flavor.

Stiff Starter

By giving the yeast more food (this means they can continue to eat, multiply, and produce CO2) and reducing the amount of water (bacteria favor wet climates), we can effectively reduce the amount of acidity in our starter at the same percentage of rise as a starter made with equal amounts of flour and water.

Sugar

This is one of the most important components of this levain – do not skip it! Sugar is a powerful tool. Added in low amounts, it feeds the yeast and speeds up fermentation. Added in high amounts, it dehydrates yeast cells and potentially stops fermentation altogether. Added in just the right amount, the yeast still thrive, but the bacteria suffer. 10-15% sugar in a recipe or levain creates something called “osmotic stress.” This stress to the bacteria limits their ability to reproduce, which limits acid buildup, thereby limiting overall sourness coming from the starter.

Temperature

In order to favor the yeast, I aim to keep this levain between 70-75 F (21-24 C) and use it when it has approximately doubled in size. Yeast produce most abundantly in these temperatures, while the bacteria in your starter (there are two types – lactic and acetic) favor temperatures both higher and lower than this. This specific temperature helps provide balance to the starter, which translates to how efficiently the starter ferments the bread and how mild the overall sour flavor is.

Optional Kneading

Have you ever heard of developing gluten in your starter? While it is not essential, kneading this starter for just a few minutes will help trap air, introducing oxygen and stimulating yeast growth. It also provides structure (by creating a slightly more elastic gluten network), which helps the levain rise and maintain peak more efficiently. 

The “Why” Behind The Dough and Process

Milk Mixture

This is a technique that stems from the beginning of my bread journey, when I first started making bread doughs using commercial yeast. I have kept this technique for a long time. Recently, though, I have started to change this technique, moving away from heating my milk, butter, and sugar on the stovetop. This is because a well-kneaded enriched dough gains extra heat through friction during mixing; therefore, heating the ingredients is not necessary (and could even bring too much warmth to the dough, depending on your mixer). Despite this, let me tell you my previous reasoning as to why I created a “milk mixture” in this recipe:

By heating the liquid in the recipe with the sugar and the butter, we are able to simultaneously: a) create warmth that gets the yeast moving quicker, b) fully dissolve the sugar, and c) warm the butter without having to remember to soften a stick beforehand. There is not enough butter in this recipe to create greasy dough, as is the case with brioche, so melting (or, partially melting) it is definitely okay.

Let’s talk about the specific ingredients more in-depth:

Milk + Water

Milk is a tightening agent in bread, meaning it makes the gluten network stiffer and stronger, often increasing the time the dough ferments. This is because it takes twice the air to blow up a stiff balloon (our gluten network). However, it also adds a really good flavor and texture to dinner rolls. It makes the bread denser, softer, and creamier. It also helps the bread darken in the oven. For these reasons, I love to use milk in my sandwich bread recipes, but I also find it is best to balance the milk with water.

Water is the opposite of milk. It creates an extensible gluten network (loose, stretchy). It balances out the stiffness from the milk. It makes the dough lighter and airier. However, water does not really have a flavor and it doesn’t darken in the oven (unless you bake the bread at a really high temperature).

For these reasons, I like to balance these two ingredients accordingly, depending on the outcome I am trying to achieve. For a bread like this, milk is the winner for its tight, even crumb, flavor, and darkening capabilities. I use two parts milk to one part water to make this dough.

Sugar

This recipe contains a medium amount of sugar, roughly 24%. I definitely had to increase the percentage of starter in this recipe in order to accommodate these sweet rolls. This amount of sugar works to sweeten; however, it also has other effects -creating osmotic stress, which helps to reduce sourness, and pulling necessary moisture from the dough (which I have also accounted for in this recipe).

Butter

Butter is a tenderizer; it makes the dough fragile and soft. The amount of butter here is about 15% of the total weight of the flour, small enough to not interfere with the gluten network (too much), but large enough to help keep the bread soft during baking.

Bread Flour

Bread flour increases the strength (elasticity) of the gluten network, which is helpful for enriched doughs containing butter and sugar (ingredients that can interfere with gluten). Bread flour also helps the dough come together more efficiently when kneading, reducing the total amount of necessary mixing time. While I used to make this recipe with a blend of all-purpose flour and bread flour, I now use bread flour only, just for the incredible way it holds the dough together. I use King Arthur Bread Flour, protein content about 12.7%, in any recipe that calls for bread flour (unless otherwise noted).

Salt

Salt helps bring out flavor (without salt, bread would taste almost like nothing), but also has notable effects on the dough. Salt is a tightening agent, meaning it, in addition to milk, helps create a more elastic (strong) dough. It does slow fermentation, as well as gluten development, but these are things we must account for in the recipe because we cannot have a recipe without salt. It is important to use just the right amount, enough to bring out the flavor, but not so much that the loaf cannot ferment or come together. I use the standard – 2% salt – in all my recipes, unless otherwise noted.

Eggs

Eggs add moisture and fat to the dough, contributing to a tender texture. They help prevent the buns from becoming too dry, which is particularly important given the enriched nature of the dough. They also act as a binding agent, holding the dough together and providing structure. The proteins in eggs coagulate during baking, helping the buns hold their shape while maintaining a soft crumb.

Furthermore, eggs incorporate air during mixing, which contributes a better fermentation, creating a lighter and fluffier texture. Last, eggs enrich the dough, adding a subtle richness that complements the sweetness of these rolls.

Mixing

Because butter and sugar can interfere with gluten’s natural ability to come together over time, it is preferable to knead this dough to complete development up front. That’s why I choose to use a stand mixer – because the process for this can be kind of enduring by hand (though it is possible). Using a stand mixer ensures a perfectly and effectively built dough with minimum effort on the baker’s part. Watch this video for all the ways to develop gluten in your bread.

I want to be more specific in this updated post about how to develop the dough properly in the stand mixer than I was when I originally published this recipe. This way, you can be successful mixing this dough using any stand mixer, or even by hand.

The ultimate goal: to knead this dough to a windowpane. When you pull up on a section of dough, it should not tear. You should be able to stretch the dough to a point where you can see through it before it breaks. The dough will show other signs of being ready, too, such as clinging to itself or forming a ball around the dough hook. If you have a KitchenAid or similar mixer, the stand mixer may start to “jump” when the dough builds sufficient strength.

The first step to achieving this is to mix the dough on a low to medium-low speed until the ingredients are fully combined and the mixture forms one cohesive mass of dough. This step simply brings our dough together and hydrates the proteins in the flour before the speed is increased and the focus shifts from combining ingredients to forming gluten. Too fast a speed during this initial mix can start to organize gluten that is barely created, negatively impacting the development of the dough.

Next, we increase the speed and knead the dough until it forms a windowpane. The speed you choose is up to you and what your mixer (and dough) can handle. The basic guidelines are this:

• A lower speed will take longer, while a higher speed will knead the dough much faster.
• A lower speed will keep the dough elastic (strong, not stretchy), while a higher speed will create extensibility (stretchiness).
• The dough temperature should not exceed 78 F (26 C).
• Use the guidelines from your mixer to determine what it is able to handle.

Bulk Fermentation

Letting the dough rise as much as possible, but not too much, contributes to the airiest of loaves. In an attempt to favor the yeast and reduce sourness, I recommend keeping the dough temperature between 70-75 F (21-24 C). Watch the dough and ferment until it triples in size (about twelve hours – trust me on this one). If you developed the dough well in the stand mixer, it should be able to hold this heavy fermentation. Though I favor an overnight method for this dough, use your knowledge of your environment to bulk ferment this dough appropriately.

The Filling

I bake my sausages before wrapping them in order to dispense any excess grease/moisture that might prohibit the rolls from baking properly in the oven. I prefer the flavor of all-beef sausages, but you can use what you like.

Shaping

This dough is sticky; therefore, it can be helpful to use water, oil, or flour to help with shaping. You may also choose to chill this dough in the refrigerator for a couple hours before shaping as well. I usually choose to use a small bowl of water to dip my fingertips as necessary, though it is important not to oversaturate the dough as you are working with it. Other times, I lean toward a light dusting of flour.

These rolls might seem tricky to shape; however, with the right technique they are so easy. Shaping begins by dividing and forming each section into a round, like an ordinary dinner roll, that is then elongated and wrapped around the sausage. Sometimes the gluten is a little tight after forming the round. In this case, it can be helpful to let the piece of dough you are working with rest while you shape a few more pieces of dough. Then, you can just go right back to it. The dough will stretch and wrap around the sausage much more easily.

The Wash

For this recipe, I chose a honey-butter wash over other options. Butter keeps the rolls soft, while honey adds sweetness and a light brown color. If you ferment these rolls long enough, they will brown beautifully in the oven (see below) without a wash. If under-fermented, they may not brown properly at all. Alternatives to the honey-butter wash include: a simple butter wash (which leans toward softness only) or an egg wash (one whole egg whisked until smooth, which leans toward a darker color only). 

Baking

I bake my milk breads (like this one) at a lower temperature than my water-based breads, usually 350 F (175 C). However, I want these rolls to achieve a deeper brown color in the oven; therefore, I bake them at 375 F (190 C). This “low and slow” temperature is meant to prevent over-browning and over-baking. A final internal temperature of 185 F (85 C) cooks these rolls until they are just done, leaving you with the softest and fluffiest end result. 

Suggested Timelines

Overnight Timeline

Refrigeration Timeline

Quick Tip: Read the recipe in its entirety before you start cooking. This will help you understand the ingredients, steps, and timing involved, and allow you to prepare any necessary equipment or ingredients beforehand.

This is a simple loaf of bread packed full of inclusions that breaks so many sourdough “rules.”

I am very much a different baker than I was when I first started making this recipe. I question myself, now, as I update all the “why’s” for you. But, the truth is, it works. The method used here is simple, yet efficient. It’s the way I learned to make bread back in the very beginning, and it’s the way I made bread for quite a while. However, it’s very different from the way I make bread now.

Despite my change and growth as a baker, this is a recipe people ask for again and again. What is it about soft and tender bread, packed with the bacon-jalapeño-cheddar triage? There must be something, because it seems to be one recipe that disappears every single time I make it.

What I Love About This Recipe

Flavor, flavor, flavor. This loaf has an absolutely divine flavor. Why stop at jalapeño-cheddar when adding bacon makes it that much better? Look, I know what you’re thinking, but as a Texas gal, bacon is prized. It’s a common delicacy. We put it in everything. So, of course we have to have it in our bread, too. This loaf has been a winner with everyone that has had the pleasure of tasting it; I hope you love it as much as we Texas folks do.

All The “Why’s”

Bread Flour

Bread flour absorbs more moisture, so you’ll find that if you substitute this ingredient with all-purpose flour, the dough will be wetter and you may need to add more flour. I prefer bread flour in my stiff doughs because of its higher protein content, which helps the gluten bind. This is especially important in stiff doughs because the lack of water makes it more difficult for gluten to come together. Without gluten, the dough will not be able to trap air, and it will not rise properly. I use King Arthur Bread Flour, protein content about 12.7%, in any recipe that calls for bread flour (unless otherwise noted).

Salt

Salt helps bring out flavor (without salt, bread would taste almost like nothing), but also has notable effects on the dough. Salt is a tightening agent, meaning it helps create a more elastic (strong) dough. It does slow fermentation, as well as gluten development, but these are things we must account for in the recipe because we cannot have a recipe without salt. It is important to use just the right amount, enough to bring out the flavor, but not so much that the loaf cannot ferment or come together. I use the standard – 2% salt – in all my recipes, unless otherwise noted.

Water

Water is the main source of hydration in this recipe, bringing the dough together as well as activating enzymes that provide food for yeast. This is a stiff dough, so we need just enough of it to bring the dough together, but not so much that the dough is a sticky mess. It may be a good idea to hold a little of the water back if this is your first time making this recipe. A stiff dough is necessary to hold the defined shape of the braid.

Milk

Milk adds softness, density, and a subtle creamy flavor. I find a touch of it in this recipe to pair well with the richness of the bacon and the bite of the jalapeño.

Sourdough Starter

You need more active starter than usual in this recipe. That’s because jalapeño and yeast don’t mix. As of this moment, I am not sure of the exact reason why, but it’s likely the same reason why you don’t want to rub your eyes after dicing the jalapeño. It burns! By adding more starter, we can keep this dough moving as it needs to.

At one point, I did try to ferment this dough in a warm environment in order to speed things up and I do NOT recommend this! In warm temperatures (80’s) homofermentative lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are favored, a kind of bacteria that breaks down flour and creates extensibility. Though the acid they release is neutral tasting (that is, until there’s an abundance of it), this extensibility will make the braid hard to shape, as you’ll find the braid wants to seep into itself and lose its form. These homofermentative LAB also break down the gluten structure and reproduce faster than yeast in their ideal climate, leading for a bread that’s more likely to overproof before it’s fully proofed.

Inclusions

I use a LOT of inclusions in this recipe. Flavor is absolutely my goal here. Bacon, diced jalapeños, and cheddar cheese create the epitome of Southern taste.

Low Hydration

The term “low hydration” simply means this is not a wet and sticky dough; it does not include as much moisture as other recipes. The approximate hydration is 65%. At this hydration, you’ll find the dough is soft, smooth, and firm (but still pliable). It may be slightly sticky but should not stick to your hands or the counter when kneading.

This consistency allows the dough to hold its shape without help, necessary for a braided loaf. It also contributes to a finer crumb and a softer, more tender texture, while holding all the inclusions in place (no leaking out the bottom of the bread).

The low hydration of the dough also has one other bonus – reduced sourness. Stiff doughs (and starters, for that matter) do not encourage the reproduction of bacteria that release acids resulting in a sour flavor. In other words, the dough’s consistency helps give the bread a neutral flavor.

Mixing

For this recipe, we just need the dough to form a gluten network. This can be a difficult task in stiff doughs due to the lack of water (which makes it harder for gluten to form). Without enough gluten-binding proteins, the dough may struggle to form a gluten window, which allows opportunity for air to escape. This decreases the dough’s ability to rise to its fullest potential, resulting in a denser crumb and texture. Gluten must be developed through kneading and time; the more help it can get, the better. Using a flour with a high protein content can be helpful.

I generally develop this dough by hand, spending about twenty-five minutes kneading it. Alternatively, you can use a stand mixer on a low speed to mix and knead this dough. Follow your stand mixer’s directions for a stiff dough, generally a low speed is all you need, and you will be on your way! Due to the stiff nature of the dough, it cannot be stretched (maybe one time an hour or two into bulk fermentation), meaning that kneading like this is a must. This recipe does not require any folds.

Bulk Fermentation

Letting the dough rise as much as possible, but not too much, contributes to the airiest of loaves. In an attempt to favor the yeast and reduce sourness, I recommend keeping the dough temperature between 70-75 F (21-24 C). Watch the dough and ferment until it doubles in size (at least; eight to twelve hours). Then, you can shape it and let it double again. Though I favor an overnight method for this dough, use your knowledge of your environment to bulk ferment this dough appropriately.

Shaping

Shaping is done all in one fell-swoop. I divide the dough, roll it out, and braid it. If the dough was fermented appropriately (not too hot) it should be stiff enough that it will not mesh into itself. If the gluten begins to tighten, a twenty minute rest will relax it enough that you should be able to finish the job.

Egg Wash

This helps give the loaf its beautiful golden brown color. Without the egg wash, the loaf would be lacking in color and shine.

Baking Method

The temperature of 425 F (220 C) allows for a beautiful oven spring and exterior browning, while also perfectly cooking the interior, melting the cheese, and softening the jalapeños.

Suggested Timeline

Daytime Timeline

Overnight Timeline

Quick Tip: Read the recipe in its entirety before you start cooking. This will help you understand the ingredients, steps, and timing involved, and allow you to prepare any necessary equipment or ingredients beforehand.

Talk about focaccia with a twist! This recipe is inspired by King’s Hawaiian Ham and Swiss Sliders, except – make it focaccia.

The focaccia gives this recipe an even more savory flavor compared to Hawaiian rolls. Hawaiian rolls are enriched with butter, eggs, milk, and sugar, which creates a sweet, rich, creamy, tender roll. Focaccia is simple: flour, water, salt, sourdough starter. Focaccia is just bread – not sweet, rich, tender bread. Because I haven’t used enriched bread, there isn’t actually any hint of sweet in this dish. The butter sauce soaks into the dough as it bakes and packs everything with flavor. Meanwhile, the ham and Swiss create the meal by adding protein, which make this focaccia more filling.

What Is Focaccia?

Focaccia is a type of Italian bread known for its dimpled surface, which helps infuse olive oil and seasonings throughout the bread. It is similar to pizza dough, but typically thicker and softer. Focaccia can be enjoyed plain or with various toppings such as olives, tomatoes, onions, or cheese (or, in this case, ham and Swiss). It’s a versatile bread that can be served as an appetizer, snack, or alongside a meal.

What I Love About This Recipe

When you pack carbs with protein, it’s nearly a meal-in-one. This low-fuss dinner creates balance between making a meal from scratch and time spent in the kitchen. With focaccia, it is nearly impossible to go wrong. This focaccia recipe is second only to my bacon focaccia.

All The “Why’s”

Flour Choice

Here’s the thing about artisan bread: most of the gluten is developed through time during the slow fermentation process. You see, as dough rests, gluten comes together naturally and fermentation provides strength. A strong flour contains more gluten binding proteins, which naturally create a stronger network that traps air and helps the loaf ferment more efficiently.

Recently, I’ve been working with Hayden Flour Mills Artisan Bread Flour over my usual King Arthur Bread Flour. It is fresh and contains more of the bran and germ from the wheat kernel than other flours, which adds incredible flavor to my bread. I’ve been eager to experiment with and dive into a world of better-for-you and better-tasting sourdough baked goods, and this has been a wonderful start.

After several wins and fails, I’ve finally discovered how to make this flour fit my typical sourdough bread-making routine. Because it is much fresher than what you can buy on grocery store shelves, it has (what is called) increased enzymatic activity. Enzymes, namely amylase, transform complex sugars into simple sugars that feed yeast. This happens in grocery-store white bread, but at a much slower rate than with fresh flour. Because Hayden Flour Mills Artisan Bread Flour contains more enzymatic activity, yeast are consuming sugars and multiplying at a much faster rate, increasing the speed of fermentation. To compensate for the faster fermentation, I reduce the amount of stater I use in my recipe by 5% (of the total weight of the flour). In addition, due to the increased percentage of bran and germ, the flour itself can absorb more water, which means I can increase the amount of water I use by 5% as well.

Salt

Salt helps bring out flavor (without salt, bread would taste almost like nothing), but also has notable effects on the dough. Salt is a tightening agent, meaning it helps create a more elastic (strong) dough. It does slow fermentation, as well as gluten development, but these are things we must account for in the recipe because we cannot have a recipe without salt. It is important to use just the right amount, enough to bring out the flavor, but not so much that the loaf cannot ferment or come together. I use the standard – 2% salt – in all my recipes, unless otherwise noted.

Hydration

This recipe has an approximate hydration of 86%, if you’re using Hayden Flour Mills Artisan Bread Flour. This is a high hydration recipe, meaning we are working with a fairly wet dough. While loose doughs can sometimes be harder to manage, this is not so with focaccia (at least in my opinion) because we do not have to worry about handling the dough for anything difficult, only to provide some structure through folds. The high hydration adds to the extensibility of the dough, opening the crumb if handled appropriately, and helps create a soft, light texture in the baked bread.

Dough and Gluten Development

Because this dough is unenriched (no fat, sugar, etc.) and because our sourdough starter works slowly, gluten develops naturally over time. This means we can let fermentation do most of the strengthening of our bread, aerating it and building structure, while we take time to fold the dough, which helps fermentation do its best work.

Folding the dough has many benefits, and time you fold it in relation to its stage in fermentation can also change the outcome of your bread completely. More folds up front (sometimes, I also pair this with increased mixing time) creates a more elastic bread, which just means the end result will be taller, sometimes with a more closed crumb. Less folds, or folds that are more spaced out, can mean a flatter bread, but with a more “wild” and open crumb.

For this recipe, I aim for four folds, spaced a minimum of thirty minutes apart. The key is to make sure the dough relaxes completely between each set. This way, the folds are more efficient at structuring the dough.

Bulk Fermentation

It is important to note that fermentation varies significantly depending on temperature and climate. My home generally rests around 68-72 F (20-22 C), so my fermentation times are very extended from someone whose home rests around 75 F (24 C), or even warmer. Always watch the dough and read your baked loaf as best as possible to be able to determine necessary adjustments for your next attempt. The goal is to ferment the dough as long as possible, but not to overproof. The longer the dough ferments, the lighter and airier your bread will be.

If you choose to cold proof your dough, as I do in this recipe, the temperature of your bulk fermentation is very important. A warm dough will continue to rise significantly in the fridge, while a cooler dough will not. I keep this dough around 70 F, and bulk ferment it until it reaches a 50% size increase after folds are complete. If you live in a climate like mine, or even cooler, this method will work fine. But, if your environment is warmer, be sure to watch the dough and consider decreasing the percentage rise as needed for your environment.

Generally, loaves that ferment around 70 F (21 C; this is the temperature I ferment my dough) take about 6 hours to bulk ferment. Colder climates, say 65 F (18 C) take much longer, a minimum of 8 hours. Increase the temperature to 73-75 F (23-24 C), and the bulk fermentation time is reduced to around 4-5 hours. Last, very warm temperatures, 78-80 F (25-27 C) generally take only 2 hours to complete fermentation. All in all, your dough is in your hands, and in your climate.

Note the decreased fermentation period for bulk fermentation. I only ferment this dough to 50% size increase so that I can have a longer final proof. I like to let the dough rest in the pan, untouched, for a good amount of time before baking.

Shaping

Focaccia is beautiful in that it requires no shaping efforts. Simply dump the dough into the desired baking dish, lightly stretching if necessary. 

Cold Proof

I stick this dough in the refrigerator, overnight, after shaping. Though placing the dough in the fridge isn’t necessary, I find it creates a deeper flavor (your starter’s bacteria at work!) and adds flexibility to the baking timeline.

Room Temperature Dough

It is better not to bake the dough from cold. Instead, let it continue to rest and puff up on the counter before dimpling and baking. A room temperature dough is essential to obtaining the proper oven spring. The combination of room temperature dough + a very hot oven will create an exploding effect that will help the bread expand and create a beautiful open and even crumb.

Because of the shortened bulk fermentation, we can watch the dough in the baking dish to tell when it is ready. I generally proof this dough on the counter for 6-8 hours (at 70 F, 21 C) after removing it from the refrigerator before dimpling and baking.

Butter Sauce

In place of olive oil, I’ve used the classic butter sauce from the original King’s Hawaiian Ham and Swiss Slider recipe. This sauce is made of melted butter, dijon mustard, onion powder, poppy seeds, and Worcestershire sauce. The butter, for its nonstick properties is most important; everything else is for flavor. I spread this flavorful sauce all over the bottom of the pan (not the sides!) and all over the focaccia dough before I leave it for the final rise. (Spreading it on the sides may result in burning in the oven). Do not be shy! The sauce absorbs right into the focaccia dough as it bakes. Lots of sauce = lots of flavor. Use it all!

Toppings

This recipe is meant to be like a ham and Swiss slider; therefore, I’ve chosen ham and Swiss as the topping. Simple, yet all you need.

Ham

The key is to enough ham to make a meal out of the dish (or don’t, it’s completely up to you), but not so much ham that it is overpowering or that it weighs down the focaccia in the oven. I use one boneless ham steak, which weighs between .75 to .9 pounds. 

Swiss

While (in my opinion) Swiss cheese is the perfect compliment to the flavors in this dish, you can use any cheese you like. After the focaccia has baked for thirty minutes (it should be cooked through and nicely browned), the cheese can be added and the focaccia baked again until the cheese is melted to your preference. Adding the cheese in the beginning will result in a very dark, maybe even burnt, cheese and crunchy texture.

Baking Method: Temperature

The best oven spring and crumb comes from baking the dough hot and fast. Though I would prefer to bake my focaccia at 500 F (260 C), I find it burns those delicate air bubbles before the rest of the loaf is baked. Therefore, I chose a temperature of 450 F (230 C) to give the dough the best “pop” in the oven, while also reducing burnt air bubbles, yet still producing a lightly crisp end result.

Suggested Timelines

Suggested Timeline

All-In-One-Day Timeline

Other Variations To Try

Quick Tip: Read the recipe in its entirety before you start cooking. This will help you understand the ingredients, steps, and timing involved, and allow you to prepare any necessary equipment or ingredients beforehand.

To be honest, this whole combination was a complete accident. One afternoon, I was planning to make a spinach and artichoke focaccia, except I did not have the ingredients. Thinking I was going to be able to go to the store before my focaccia dough was ready, I started a dough and then, well, did not make it to the store. Now I had dough, but what to do with it?

Having just finished building a recipe for loaded bialy, I was still obsessing about the flavor combination. But a focaccia isn’t a bialy, so how do I make it work? 

The 35 lb tub of bacon grease my husband brought home from work the other day rolled its eyes at this question and barked, “Use me!” from across the room. “Of course!” I thought. Let’s replace the olive oil with bacon grease. And that is where this recipe began.

Since then, I made this recipe several more times to make sure everything was on point. My father-in-law sent me a text in reply to a sample my husband sent him, saying “If you decide to make the bacon focaccia bread again, let me know. I will buy the whole loaf.” This bread has never lasted more than thirty minutes after coming out of the oven.

What Is Focaccia?

Focaccia is a type of Italian bread known for its dimpled surface, which helps infuse olive oil (or, in this case: bacon grease) and seasonings throughout the bread. It is similar to pizza dough, but typically thicker and softer. Focaccia can be enjoyed plain or with various toppings such as olives, tomatoes, onions, or cheese (or, for this recipe: bacon, ranch seasoning, and cheddar cheese). It’s a versatile bread that can be served as an appetizer, snack, or alongside a meal.

What I Love About This Recipe

This recipe is packed with protein and animal fat, as well as so much flavor. This low-fuss dinner creates balance between making a meal from scratch and time spent in the kitchen. With focaccia, it is nearly impossible to go wrong. This is absolutely my favorite focaccia recipe yet.

All The “Why’s”

Flour Choice

Here’s the thing about artisan bread: most of the gluten is developed through time during the slow fermentation process. You see, as dough rests, gluten comes together naturally and fermentation provides strength. A strong flour contains more gluten binding proteins, which naturally create a stronger network that traps air and helps the loaf ferment more efficiently.

Recently, I’ve been working with Hayden Flour Mills Artisan Bread Flour over my usual King Arthur Bread Flour. It is fresh and contains more of the bran and germ from the wheat kernel than other flours, which adds incredible flavor to my bread. I’ve been eager to experiment with and dive into a world of better-for-you and better-tasting sourdough baked goods, and this has been a wonderful start.

After several wins and fails, I’ve finally discovered how to make this flour fit my typical sourdough bread-making routine. Because it is much fresher than what you can buy on grocery store shelves, it has (what is called) increased enzymatic activity. Enzymes, namely amylase, transform complex sugars into simple sugars that feed yeast. This happens in grocery-store white bread, but at a much slower rate than with fresh flour. Because Hayden Flour Mills Artisan Bread Flour contains more enzymatic activity, yeast are consuming sugars and multiplying at a much faster rate, increasing the speed of fermentation. To compensate for the faster fermentation, I reduce the amount of stater I use in my recipe by 5% (of the total weight of the flour). In addition, due to the increased percentage of bran and germ, the flour itself can absorb more water, which means I can increase the amount of water I use by 5% as well.

Salt

Salt helps bring out flavor (without salt, bread would taste almost like nothing), but also has notable effects on the dough. Salt is a tightening agent, meaning it helps create a more elastic (strong) dough. It does slow fermentation, as well as gluten development, but these are things we must account for in the recipe because we cannot have a recipe without salt. It is important to use just the right amount, enough to bring out the flavor, but not so much that the loaf cannot ferment or come together. I use the standard – 2% salt – in all my recipes, unless otherwise noted.

Hydration

This recipe has an approximate hydration of 86%, if you’re using Hayden Flour Mills Artisan Bread Flour. This is a high hydration recipe, meaning we are working with a fairly wet dough. While loose doughs can sometimes be harder to manage, this is not so with focaccia (at least in my opinion) because we do not have to worry about handling the dough for anything difficult, only to provide some structure through folds. The high hydration adds to the extensibility of the dough, opening the crumb if handled appropriately, and helps create a soft, light texture in the baked bread.

Dough and Gluten Development

Because this dough is unenriched (no fat, sugar, etc.) and because our sourdough starter works slowly, gluten develops naturally over time. This means we can let fermentation do most of the strengthening of our bread, aerating it and building structure, while we take time to fold the dough, which helps fermentation do its best work.

Folding the dough has many benefits, and time you fold it in relation to its stage in fermentation can also change the outcome of your bread completely. More folds up front (sometimes, I also pair this with increased mixing time) creates a more elastic bread, which just means the end result will be taller, sometimes with a more closed crumb. Less folds, or folds that are more spaced out, can mean a flatter bread, but with a more “wild” and open crumb.

For this recipe, I aim for four folds, spaced a minimum of thirty minutes apart. The key is to make sure the dough relaxes completely between each set. This way, the folds are more efficient at structuring the dough.

Bulk Fermentation

It is important to note that fermentation varies significantly depending on temperature and climate. My home generally rests around 68-72 F (20-22 C), so my fermentation times are very extended from someone whose home rests around 75 F (24 C), or even warmer. Always watch the dough and read your baked loaf as best as possible to be able to determine necessary adjustments for your next attempt. The goal is to ferment the dough as long as possible, but not to overproof. The longer the dough ferments, the lighter and airier your bread will be.

If you choose to cold proof your dough, as I do in this recipe, the temperature of your bulk fermentation is very important. A warm dough will continue to rise significantly in the fridge, while a cooler dough will not. I keep this dough around 70 F, and bulk ferment it until it reaches a 50% size increase after folds are complete. If you live in a climate like mine, or even cooler, this method will work fine. But, if your environment is warmer, be sure to watch the dough and consider decreasing the percentage rise as needed for your environment.

Generally, loaves that ferment around 70 F (21 C; this is the temperature I ferment my dough) take about 6 hours to bulk ferment. Colder climates, say 65 F (18 C) take much longer, a minimum of 8 hours. Increase the temperature to 73-75 F (23-24 C), and the bulk fermentation time is reduced to around 4-5 hours. Last, very warm temperatures, 78-80 F (25-27 C) generally take only 2 hours to complete fermentation. All in all, your dough is in your hands, and in your climate.

Note the decreased fermentation period for bulk fermentation. I only ferment this dough to 50% size increase so that I can have a longer final proof. I like to let the dough rest in the pan, untouched, for a good amount of time before baking.

Shaping

Focaccia is beautiful in that it requires no shaping efforts. Simply dump the dough into the desired baking dish, lightly stretching if necessary. 

Cold Proof

I stick this dough in the refrigerator, overnight, after shaping. Though placing the dough in the fridge isn’t necessary, I find it creates a deeper flavor (your starter’s bacteria at work!) and adds flexibility to the baking timeline.

Room Temperature Dough

It is better not to bake the dough from cold. Instead, let it continue to rest and puff up on the counter before dimpling and baking. A room temperature dough is essential to obtaining the proper oven spring. The combination of room temperature dough + a very hot oven will create an exploding effect that will help the bread expand and create a beautiful open and even crumb.

Because of the shortened bulk fermentation, we can watch the dough in the baking dish to tell when it is ready. I generally proof this dough on the counter for 6-8 hours (at 70 F, 21 C) after removing it from the refrigerator before dimpling and baking.

Bacon Grease

Bacon is a Southern obsession, and many cooks in my part of the world save their bacon grease for cooking purposes. Using bacon grease in this recipe not only enhances the flavor by 10,000%, it also paves the way for another use for bacon grease: baking.

In this recipe, I replace olive oil with a whole bunch of bacon grease. Bacon grease both coats the pan and gets dimpled into the focaccia. During the baking and cooling process, the focaccia absorbs all of that grease, creating a stunningly enhanced bacon flavor.

Toppings

This recipe is inspired by loaded bialy, which was inspired by bacon-ranch loaded fries. Bacon, ranch, and cheddar are what make up this to-die-for flavor profile.

Bacon

I love to pack the top of my focaccia with bacon. It’s okay if the bacon is fresh and a little greasy. The grease will absorb into the dough, enhancing the flavor. You want enough bacon to get a bit in every bite, but not so much that it completely weighs down the focaccia (howbeit, I find that hard to do). Though I like to cook my bacon crispy, make it however you like. Just make sure the pieces are small enough to be dimpled into the dough.

Ranch

This is included for flavor! You can use pre-bought powdered ranch seasoning or your own homemade ranch seasoning. It just needs to be in dried, powdered form. I’ve found you don’t need to be shy on the ranch seasoning with this recipe (as is the case with some other recipes), as the focaccia is so thick that a small sprinkle of seasoning will go unnoticed.

Sour Cream

Now this is the interesting one, but it really does make the whole bread. For this recipe, I pipe sour cream into the bread. You read that right. I poke holes all over the bread and fill them up with sour cream. Doing this creates a contrast in texture and balances the richness from the bacon. I think this is the final touch for me, the thing that keeps me scarfing down this focaccia. Do this at the end of baking, right before you top it with cheddar cheese.

Cheddar Cheese

I find that cheddar cheese pairs well with the flavors here; however, you can use any cheese you like. The key is to add the cheese at the end of baking, making sure it gets nice and melty, but not overdone.

Baking Method: Temperature

The best oven spring and crumb comes from baking the dough hot and fast. Though I would prefer to bake my focaccia at 500 F (260 C), I find it burns those delicate air bubbles before the rest of the loaf is baked. Therefore, I chose a temperature of 450 F (230 C) to give the dough the best “pop” in the oven, while also reducing burnt air bubbles, yet still producing a lightly crisp end result.

Suggested Timelines

Suggested Timeline

All-In-One-Day Timeline

Other Variations To Try

Quick Tip: Read the recipe in its entirety before you start cooking. This will help you understand the ingredients, steps, and timing involved, and allow you to prepare any necessary equipment or ingredients beforehand.

What Are Hot Cross Buns?

Hot cross buns are a type of sweet, spiced bun commonly made with currants or raisins and marked with a cross on the top. They are a cross between a basic white dinner roll and a sweet cinnamon roll, and are typically associated with Good Friday, the Friday before Easter Sunday, in many countries. The cross on top of the bun represents the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, while the spices used in the bun symbolize the spices used to embalm him. Hot cross buns are traditionally eaten toasted with butter, and they are a popular Easter treat.

What I Love About This Recipe

This recipe does not skip on the steps that make these buns moist, flavorful, and shelf-stable. As a recipe that you are probably only going to make once a year, why not put everything into it? I use orange to compliment the fruit and spices inside the buns, a unique enhancing feature which can be eliminated if you choose. Though this dish is traditionally served toasted with butter, these rolls are a delicacy straight from the pan. 

Considerations For Enriched Doughs

Enriched doughs, like hot cross buns, contain ingredients that can make it difficult for gluten to come together. Fats (usually butter) and sugars in medium to large amounts mean it is necessary to develop the dough to a windowpane up front, in order to have the best fermentation experience. Without gluten, the dough simply cannot hold in air the same way. A dough that is not developed properly may taste flaky, like a biscuit, instead of tender or airy (as is the goal).

On a scale of 1-10, one being unenriched (like country bread) and 10 being heavily enriched (like panettone), this bread is about a “5” – it contains a medium amount of sugar and butter, but not an obnoxious amount. With any enriched dough, though, I always resort to my stand mixer for the best experience. You’ll find this dough needs 15-20 minutes of kneading to achieve a windowpane. Especially because of the addition of butter, I always find this process simpler and more efficient using my stand mixer.

Some home mixers are not built for kneading bread efficiently. Check the manual for your mixer, and be sure it is safe to endure mixing times of up to thirty minutes, just to be on the safe side. The most complicated bread in the bread-making world is panettone, which requires mixing times of up to sixty minutes. It is so very important not to overwork the dough or the motor on your mixer. I love my Ankarsrum stand mixer, which is more than capable of living up to the task of kneading even the toughest of doughs. If you do not own a mixer, it is possible to knead by hand, as long as you are willing to endure the task of kneading to a windowpane up front. You can use any preferred method, or find ideas in my video on methods of gluten development, here.

The “Why” Behind The Starter Build

Why Build A Starter (Levain) For This Recipe?

A “sour” flavor is not generally preferred for sweet breads. By building a levain, we can use a formula that helps to reduce overall sourness in the starter and in the bread. To do this, it is important to understand the starter, which consists of yeast and bacteria, and how the formula works to reduce sourness.

Sourness comes when bacteria are overpopulating in your sourdough starter, meaning they are out of balance with the yeast. This happens naturally, as bacteria reproduce faster than yeast do, especially in ideal climates. To limit sourness, it is important to favor the yeast in starter care. In this levain formula, I do just this in order to limit acidity and reduce overall sour flavor.

Stiff Starter

By giving the yeast more food (this means they can continue to eat, multiply, and produce CO2) and reducing the amount of water (bacteria favor wet climates), we can effectively reduce the amount of acidity in our starter at the same percentage of rise as a starter made with equal amounts of flour and water.

Sugar

This is one of the most important components of this levain – do not skip it! Sugar is a powerful tool. Added in low amounts, it feeds the yeast and speeds up fermentation. Added in high amounts, it dehydrates yeast cells and potentially stops fermentation altogether. Added in just the right amount, the yeast still thrive, but the bacteria suffer. 10-15% sugar in a recipe or levain creates something called “osmotic stress.” This stress to the bacteria limits their ability to reproduce, which limits acid buildup, thereby limiting overall sourness coming from the starter.

Temperature

In order to favor the yeast, I aim to keep this levain between 70-75 F (21-24 C) and use it when it has approximately doubled in size. Yeast produce most abundantly in these temperatures, while the bacteria in your starter (there are two types – lactic and acetic) favor temperatures both higher and lower than this. This specific temperature helps provide balance to the starter, which translates to how efficiently the starter ferments the bread and how mild the overall sour flavor is.

Optional Kneading

Have you ever heard of developing gluten in your starter? While it is not essential, kneading this starter for just a few minutes will help trap air, introducing oxygen and stimulating yeast growth. It also provides structure (by creating a slightly more elastic gluten network), which helps the levain rise and maintain peak more efficiently. 

The “Why” Behind The Dough and Process

Tangzhong

The thing about hot cross buns is that they are best enjoyed fresh from the oven, typically stale by the next day (if not a few hours later). For this reason, I knew I had to include a tangzhong!

Tangzhong is an Asian technique: the trick to making, and keeping, the interior of bread moist, soft, and plush. Without it, the bread would only taste its best right out of the oven, and would be dry after just twenty-four hours. Tangzhong aids in moisture retention, which is where all the benefits come in. 

Because we have taken the time to add the tangzhong, you can make these rolls in advance without worry. I promise you won’t regret taking the extra time for this! Read more about tangzhong here.

Milk Mixture

This is a technique that stems from the beginning of my bread journey, when I first started making bread doughs using commercial yeast. I have kept this technique for a long time. Recently, though, I have started to change this technique, moving away from heating my milk, butter, and sugar on the stovetop. This is because a well-kneaded enriched dough gains extra heat through friction during mixing; therefore, heating the ingredients is not necessary (and could even bring too much warmth to the dough, depending on your mixer). Despite this, let me tell you my previous reasoning as to why I created a “milk mixture” in this recipe:

By heating the liquid in the recipe with the sugar and the butter, we are able to simultaneously: a) create warmth that gets the yeast moving quicker, b) fully dissolve the sugar, and c) warm the butter without having to remember to soften a stick beforehand. There is not enough butter in this recipe to create greasy dough, as is the case with brioche, so melting (or, partially melting) it is definitely okay.

Let’s talk about the specific ingredients more in-depth:

Milk

Milk is a tightening agent in bread, meaning it makes the gluten network stiffer and stronger, often increasing the time the dough ferments. This is because it takes twice the air to blow up a stiff balloon (our gluten network). However, it also adds a really good flavor and texture to sweet breads. It makes the bread denser, softer, and creamier. It also helps the bread darken in the oven. For these reasons, I love to use milk in my sweet recipes.

Brown Sugar

This recipe contains a medium amount of sugar, roughly 24%. I definitely had to increase the percentage of starter in this recipe in order to accommodate this sweet bun. This amount of sugar works to sweeten; however, it also has other effects -creating osmotic stress, which helps to reduce sourness, and pulling necessary moisture from the dough (which I have also accounted for in this recipe).

Butter

Butter is a tenderizer; it makes the dough fragile and soft. The amount of butter here is about 17% of the total weight of the flour, small enough to not interfere with the gluten network (too much), but large enough to help keep the bread soft during baking.

Bread Flour

Bread flour increases the strength (elasticity) of the gluten network, which is helpful for enriched doughs containing butter and sugar (ingredients that can interfere with gluten). Bread flour also helps the dough come together more efficiently when kneading, reducing the total amount of necessary mixing time. While I used to make this recipe with a blend of all-purpose flour and bread flour, I now use bread flour only, just for the incredible way it holds the dough together. I use King Arthur Bread Flour, protein content about 12.7%, in any recipe that calls for bread flour (unless otherwise noted).

Salt

Salt helps bring out flavor (without salt, bread would taste almost like nothing), but also has notable effects on the dough. Salt is a tightening agent, meaning it, in addition to milk, helps create a more elastic (strong) dough. It does slow fermentation, as well as gluten development, but these are things we must account for in the recipe because we cannot have a recipe without salt. It is important to use just the right amount, enough to bring out the flavor, but not so much that the loaf cannot ferment or come together. I use the standard – 2% salt – in all my recipes, unless otherwise noted.

Spices

The spices in this recipe are a personal blend of choice, and can be adjusted based on your personal preference, as well as what you currently have in your spice cabinet. The purpose of the spices is that of history and tradition: to represent the spices used to embalm Jesus. Cinnamon is the main spice here, but take care not to add more than I have directed in the recipe (a teaspoon). Cinnamon is a tightening agent, meaning it creates a more elastic dough, which slows fermentation. Too much cinnamon, and it is possible to nearly halt fermentation altogether. I talk a little bit more about this topic on my blog post about gluten, which you can find here.

Orange

I added orange (zest, extract [in the cross], and juice [in the glaze]) to compliment the fruit and spice blend. It’s a flavoring pair of choice; it does not have a significant effect on the dough. All of the orange can be eliminated if you choose; however, it is, most certainly, a fun compliment to this recipe.

Eggs

Eggs add moisture and fat to the dough, contributing to a tender texture. They help prevent the buns from becoming too dry, which is particularly important given the enriched nature of the dough. They also act as a binding agent, holding the dough together and providing structure. The proteins in eggs coagulate during baking, helping the buns hold their shape while maintaining a soft crumb.

Furthermore, eggs incorporate air during mixing, which contributes a better fermentation, creating a lighter and fluffier texture. Last, eggs enrich the dough, adding a subtle richness that complements the sweetness of the buns. This is particularly noticeable in the soft, slightly custard-like crumb typical of hot cross buns.

Fruit

While the spices in hot cross buns are meant to represent the spices used to embalm Jesus, the fruit is meant to symbolize the sweetness of resurrection and life. Raisins or currants, specifically, are the most common addition to hot cross buns. In this recipe, I leave the fruit open to choice, as any combination of dried fruit will come out wonderfully. Alternatively, you could replace the fruit with chocolate chips for a fun twist. 

Mixing

Because butter and sugar can interfere with gluten’s natural ability to come together over time, it is preferable to knead this dough to complete development up front. That’s why I choose to use a stand mixer – because the process for this can be kind of enduring by hand (though it is possible). Using a stand mixer ensures a perfectly and effectively built dough with minimum effort on the baker’s part. Watch this video for all the ways to develop gluten in your bread.

I want to be more specific in this updated post about how to develop the dough properly in the stand mixer than I was when I originally published this recipe. This way, you can be successful mixing this dough using any stand mixer, or even by hand.

The ultimate goal: to knead this dough to a complete windowpane. When you pull up on a section of dough, it should not tear. You should be able to stretch the dough to a point where you can see through it before it breaks. The dough will show other signs of being ready, too, such as clinging to itself or forming a ball around the dough hook. If you have a KitchenAid or similar mixer, the stand mixer may start to “jump” when the dough builds sufficient strength.

The first step to achieving this is to mix the dough on a low to medium-low speed until the ingredients are fully combined and the mixture forms one cohesive mass of dough. This step simply brings our dough together and hydrates the proteins in the flour before the speed is increased and the focus shifts from combining ingredients to forming gluten. Too fast a speed during this initial mix can start to organize gluten that is barely created, negatively impacting the development of the dough.

Next, we increase the speed and knead the dough forms a windowpane. The speed you choose is up to you and what your mixer (and dough) can handle. The basic guidelines are this:

• A lower speed will take longer, while a higher speed will knead the dough much faster.
• A lower speed will keep the dough elastic (strong, not stretchy), while a higher speed will create extensibility (stretchiness).
• The dough temperature should not exceed 78 F (26 C).
• Use the guidelines from your mixer to determine what it is able to handle.

It can be helpful to add certain ingredients later in the mixing process, after gluten has already started to come together. Adding ingredients in chunks can help reduce overall mixing time and keep the dough temperature below 78 F (26 C).

To do this, skip the milk mixture and just use cold milk, granulated sugar, and softened (room temperature) butter. Add the milk in the beginning with the rest of the ingredients, but hold the sugar and butter. Mix the dough until you can pull up on it without it tearing. Then, slowly drizzle in the sugar until dissolved. Last, incorporate the butter, one tablespoon at a time, then continue mixing until your dough has formed a windowpane.

Bulk Fermentation

Letting the dough rise as much as possible, but not too much, contributes to the airiest of loaves. In an attempt to favor the yeast and reduce sourness, I recommend keeping the dough temperature between 70-75 F (21-24 C). Watch the dough and ferment until it doubles in size (at least; about ten to twelve hours). If you developed the dough well in the stand mixer, you can let it triple in size before shaping. Though I favor an overnight method for this dough, use your knowledge of your environment to bulk ferment this dough appropriately.

Shaping

Rolls are one of the easiest to shape – just divide them and shape them into rounds by tucking all the ends underneath, then cupping your hand over the top and moving it in a circular motion really fast to smooth out the top.

The Cross

For this recipe, I went for a cross made of a flour and water that is piped onto the buns before baking. The reason? First, to keep tradition. Second, to be able to enjoy the buns warm! The other option would be a cross made from an icing glaze, which would require the buns to cool completely before application.

Baking

I use a combination of temperatures for this bread. 400 F (205 C) helps these rolls get their best oven spring, while 350 F (175 C) helps them finish cooking all the way through without over-browning. A final internal temperature of 185 F (85 C) cooks these rolls until they are just done, retaining some of the moisture and leaving you with the softest and fluffiest end result. 

The Glaze

The final touch and perfect garnish. The glaze gives the rolls a shiny top, hint of sweetness, and (if using) increased orange flavor to the rolls. Though you don’t have to have it, I wouldn’t skip it. Be sure to brush the glaze on while the rolls are very hot, otherwise the mixture will apply more like icing than a glaze. 

Suggested Timelines

Overnight Timeline

Refrigeration Timeline

Quick Tip: Read the recipe in its entirety before you start cooking. This will help you understand the ingredients, steps, and timing involved, and allow you to prepare any necessary equipment or ingredients beforehand.

What do you get when you cross buttery brioche with milk-based shokupan? An incredible cinnamon roll base, of course! These cinnamon rolls are soft, airy, and full of butter – golden swirls of perfection that melt in your mouth with every bite. The cream cheese frosting tops off the entire experience, adding extra creamy sweetness to this truly ooey-gooey (see what I did there?) delight.

What Are Cinnamon Rolls?

Cinnamon rolls are a type of sweet pastry that consists of a rolled sheet of yeast-leavened dough, spread with a mixture of butter, sugar, and cinnamon. The dough is rolled into a log shape, and then sliced into individual rolls before being baked. The rolls are soft, tender, and flavorful, with layers of cinnamon and sugar filling topped with a decadent cream cheese frosting.

Considerations For Enriched Doughs

Enriched doughs, like cinnamon rolls, contain ingredients that can make it difficult for gluten to come together. Fats (usually butter) and sugars in medium to large amounts mean it is necessary to develop the dough to a windowpane up front, in order to have the best fermentation experience. Without gluten, the dough simply cannot hold in air the same way. A dough that is not developed properly may taste flaky, like a biscuit, instead of tender or airy (as is the goal).

On a scale of 1-10, one being unenriched (like country bread) and 10 being heavily enriched (like panettone), this bread is about a “5” – it contains a medium amount of sugar and butter, but not an obnoxious amount. With any enriched dough, though, I always resort to my stand mixer for the best experience. You’ll find this dough needs 15-20 minutes of kneading to achieve a windowpane. Especially because of the addition of butter, I always find this process simpler and more efficient using my stand mixer.

Some home mixers are not built for kneading bread efficiently. Check the manual for your mixer, and be sure it is safe to endure mixing times of up to thirty minutes, just to be on the safe side. The most complicated bread in the bread-making world is panettone, which requires mixing times of up to sixty minutes. It is so very important not to overwork the dough or the motor on your mixer. I love my Ankarsrum stand mixer, which is more than capable of living up to the task of kneading even the toughest of doughs. If you do not own a mixer, it is possible to knead by hand, as long as you are willing to endure the task of kneading to a windowpane up front. You can use any preferred method, or find ideas in my video on methods of gluten development, here.

The “Why” Behind The Starter Build

Why Build A Starter (Levain) For This Recipe?

A “sour” flavor is not generally preferred for sweet breads. By building a levain, we can use a formula that helps to reduce overall sourness in the starter and in the bread. To do this, it is important to understand the starter, which consists of yeast and bacteria, and how the formula works to reduce sourness.

Sourness comes when bacteria are overpopulating in your sourdough starter, meaning they are out of balance with the yeast. This happens naturally, as bacteria reproduce faster than yeast do, especially in ideal climates. To limit sourness, it is important to favor the yeast in starter care. In this levain formula, I do just this in order to limit acidity and reduce overall sour flavor.

Stiff Starter

By giving the yeast more food (this means they can continue to eat, multiply, and produce CO2) and reducing the amount of water (bacteria favor wet climates), we can effectively reduce the amount of acidity in our starter at the same percentage of rise as a starter made with equal amounts of flour and water.

Sugar

This is one of the most important components of this levain – do not skip it! Sugar is a powerful tool. Added in low amounts, it feeds the yeast and speeds up fermentation. Added in high amounts, it dehydrates yeast cells and potentially stops fermentation altogether. Added in just the right amount, the yeast still thrive, but the bacteria suffer. 10-15% sugar in a recipe or levain creates something called “osmotic stress.” This stress to the bacteria limits their ability to reproduce, which limits acid buildup, thereby limiting overall sourness coming from the starter.

Temperature

In order to favor the yeast, I aim to keep this levain between 70-75 F (21-24 C) and use it when it has approximately doubled in size. Yeast produce most abundantly in these temperatures, while the bacteria in your starter (there are two types – lactic and acetic) favor temperatures both higher and lower than this. This specific temperature helps provide balance to the starter, which translates to how efficiently the starter ferments the bread and how mild the overall sour flavor is.

Optional Kneading

Have you ever heard of developing gluten in your starter? While it is not essential, kneading this starter for just a few minutes will help trap air, introducing oxygen and stimulating yeast growth. It also provides structure (by creating a slightly more elastic gluten network), which helps the levain rise and maintain peak more efficiently. 

The “Why” Behind The Dough and Process

Milk Mixture

This is a technique that stems from the beginning of my bread journey, when I first started making bread doughs using commercial yeast. I have kept this technique for a long time. Recently, though, I have started to change this technique, moving away from heating my milk, butter, and sugar on the stovetop. This is because a well-kneaded enriched dough gains extra heat through friction during mixing; therefore, heating the ingredients is not necessary (and could even bring too much warmth to the dough, depending on your mixer). Despite this, let me tell you my previous reasoning as to why I created a “milk mixture” in this recipe:

By heating the liquid in the recipe with the sugar and the butter, we are able to simultaneously: a) create warmth that gets the yeast moving quicker, b) fully dissolve the sugar, and c) warm the butter without having to remember to soften a stick beforehand. There is not enough butter in this recipe to create greasy dough, as is the case with brioche, so melting (or, partially melting) it is definitely okay.

Let’s talk about the specific ingredients more in-depth:

Milk

Milk is a tightening agent in bread, meaning it makes the gluten network stiffer and stronger, often increasing the time the dough ferments. This is because it takes twice the air to blow up a stiff balloon (our gluten network). However, it also adds a really good flavor and texture to sweet breads. It makes the bread denser, softer, and creamier. It also helps the bread darken in the oven. For these reasons, I love to use milk in my sweet recipes.

Sugar

This recipe contains approximately 17% sugar (speaking for the dough only). This is slightly more than just the 10-15% of sugar that is sometimes added to bread to create osmotic stress, meaning I did have to increase the percentage of starter to help this recipe ferment more efficiently. It also means the sugar does work to sweeten the dough (just a bit), while also reducing overall sourness.

Butter

Butter is a tenderizer; it makes the dough fragile and soft. The amount of butter here is about 16% of the total weight of the flour, small enough to not interfere with the gluten network (too much), but large enough to help keep the bread soft during baking.

Bread Flour

Bread flour increases the strength (elasticity) of the gluten network, which is helpful for enriched doughs containing butter and sugar (ingredients that can interfere with gluten). Bread flour also helps the dough come together more efficiently when kneading, reducing the total amount of necessary mixing time. While I used to make this recipe with a blend of all-purpose flour and bread flour, I now use bread flour only, just for the incredible way it holds the dough together. I use King Arthur Bread Flour, protein content about 12.7%, in any recipe that calls for bread flour (unless otherwise noted).

Salt

Salt helps bring out flavor (without salt, bread would taste almost like nothing), but also has notable effects on the dough. Salt is a tightening agent, meaning it, in addition to milk, helps create a more elastic (strong) dough. It does slow fermentation, as well as gluten development, but these are things we must account for in the recipe because we cannot have a recipe without salt. It is important to use just the right amount, enough to bring out the flavor, but not so much that the loaf cannot ferment or come together. I use the standard – 2% salt – in all my recipes, unless otherwise noted.

Mixing

Because butter and sugar can interfere with gluten’s natural ability to come together over time, it is preferable to knead this dough to complete development up front. That’s why I choose to use a stand mixer – because the process for this can be kind of enduring by hand (though it is possible). Using a stand mixer ensures a perfectly and effectively built dough with minimum effort on the baker’s part. Watch this video for all the ways to develop gluten in your bread.

I want to be more specific in this updated post about how to develop the dough properly in the stand mixer than I was when I originally published this recipe. This way, you can be successful mixing this dough using any stand mixer, or even by hand.

The ultimate goal: to knead this dough to a clear windowpane. When you pull up on a section of dough, it should not tear. You should be able to stretch the dough to a point where you can see through it before it breaks. The dough will show other signs of being ready, too, such as clinging to itself or forming a ball around the dough hook. If you have a KitchenAid or similar mixer, the stand mixer may start to “jump” when the dough builds sufficient strength.

The first step to achieving this is to mix the dough on a low to medium-low speed until the ingredients are fully combined and the mixture forms one cohesive mass of dough. This step simply brings our dough together and hydrates the proteins in the flour before the speed is increased and the focus shifts from combining ingredients to forming gluten. Too fast a speed during this initial mix can start to organize gluten that is barely created, negatively impacting the development of the dough.

Next, we increase the speed and knead the dough forms a windowpane. The speed you choose is up to you and what your mixer (and dough) can handle. The basic guidelines are this:

• A lower speed will take longer, while a higher speed will knead the dough much faster.
• A lower speed will keep the dough elastic (strong, not stretchy), while a higher speed will create extensibility (stretchiness).
• The dough temperature should not exceed 78 F (26 C).
• Use the guidelines from your mixer to determine what it is able to handle.

Bulk Fermentation

Letting the dough rise as much as possible, but not too much, contributes to the airiest of loaves. In an attempt to favor the yeast and reduce sourness, I recommend keeping the dough temperature between 70-75 F (21-24 C). Watch the dough and ferment until it doubles in size (at least; eight to twelve hours). If you developed the dough well in the stand mixer, you can let it triple in size before shaping. Though I favor an overnight method for this dough, use your knowledge of your environment to bulk ferment this dough appropriately.

The Filling

I chose to fill these rolls by smoothing the butter, sugar, and cinnamon separately over the rolled out dough, rather than making a paste beforehand. The reason for this may surprise you: combining the ingredients before spreading them over the dough allows the cinnamon rolls to be rolled tighter, which doesn’t work well if the cinnamon rolls are baked in a 9X13 baking dish. Cinnamon rolls that are rolled too tightly with no room to expand outward will actually end up bursting out the middle. Adding the ingredients separately helps keep the baker from rolling the rolls too tight, and it also takes away the extra step of combining the filling beforehand.

Softened Butter

By using softened butter, we can effectively spread the butter (unlike cold butter) all over the dough and shape the cinnamon rolls without fear of the butter pooling on the bottom of the pan (unlike melted butter) during the final proof.

Shaping

Easy – roll the dough out, add the filling, roll it up, then slice and add to the baking pan. I don’t use any fancy tricks to cut my cinnamon rolls, just a serrated knife. However, you can do as you wish.

Baking

These loaves are simple to bake, as they do not require the preparation of steam or a wash. Milk, sugar, and a good fermentation will cause perfect browning in the oven. I bake my milk breads (like this one) at a lower temperature than my water-based breads: 350 F (175 C). This “low and slow” temperature prevents over-browning and over-baking. A final internal temperature of 185 F (85 C) cooks these rolls until they are just done, leaving you with the softest and fluffiest end result. 

Cream Cheese Frosting

The final touch and perfect garnish. Though you don’t have to have it, I wouldn’t skip it.

Suggested Timelines

Overnight Timeline

Refrigeration Timeline

Quick Tip: Read the recipe in its entirety before you start cooking. This will help you understand the ingredients, steps, and timing involved, and allow you to prepare any necessary equipment or ingredients beforehand.

Bialy: The Most Versatile, Underrated Bread

I first discovered bialy in the sourdough cookbook “Wild Bread” by MaryJane Butters. Her book was my first introduction to sourdough, though I have long since diverted from her techniques. Still, I go back to her book for recipe inspiration and ‘bialy’ had been one on my list. 

After intense research on the bread, I was so excited when I recreated it in my own kitchen. It had to be in my top ten list of favorite breads… but why was it so unheard of?

Bialy has a limited shelf life, due to the nature of the bread in combination with its filling. Fresh from the oven, it’s chewy, yet soft, with a subtly crisp crust and flavor blast in the middle. It really is best the first day, even the first couple of hours.

The bread was brought to the United States by Jews fleeing from Poland, yet ended up being forgotten in Poland (replaced with a similar bread called “cebularz”) and never made it outside of New York in the USA, leaving the bread unknown by many. It is traditionally stuffed with onions and topped with poppy seeds, though this recipe gives the filling a creative spin.

This bread has so much potential and can be incredibly versatile. I hope to give it a second life through my blog.

What Is Bialy?

A bialy is a type of bread roll that originated in the Jewish communities of Białystok, Poland. It is round like a bagel, only with an indention (not a hole) in the center that is traditionally filled with onions and topped with poppy seeds. It is known as the “Jewish English Muffin” and, by some, considered a cross between a bagel and an English muffin. In the United States, it is well-known in New York, but not really elsewhere due to its limited shelf-life. 

What I Love About This Recipe

This has to be my favorite bialy variation so far. Every batch of bialy I made when developing this recipe was demolished within the very same hour it was baked. When fresh, the bialy is still lightly crisp and not obnoxiously chewy, and everything is still warm, making for a super satisfying snack or meal (we like to eat these for brunch).

This recipe was actually the suggestion of my babysitter, who adores loaded fries. The ingredients here are based off of Sonic’s Bacon Ranch Loaded Queso Fries: crispy fries topped with bacon, ranch, and lots of cheese. Here, I use cream cheese to bind everything together, and ranch seasoning for the ranch flavor. The filling is so flavorful; I could make a cheese ball out of it and win appetizer of the year. Pair it with bialy and you have a match made in heaven!

All The “Why’s”

Bread Flour

Here’s the thing about artisan bread: most of the gluten is developed through time during the slow fermentation process. You see, as dough rests, gluten comes together naturally and fermentation provides strength. Bread flour contains more gluten binding proteins, which naturally create a stronger network that traps air and helps the loaf ferment more efficiently. I use King Arthur Bread Flour in most recipes that calls for “bread flour” because of its higher protein content (12.7%) and excellent ability to form gluten.

Salt

Salt helps bring out flavor (without salt, bread would taste almost like nothing), but also has notable effects on the dough. Salt is a tightening agent, meaning it helps create a more elastic (strong) dough. It does slow fermentation, as well as gluten development, but these are things we must account for in the recipe because we cannot have a recipe without salt. It is important to use just the right amount, enough to bring out the flavor, but not so much that the loaf cannot ferment or come together. I use the standard – 2% salt – in all my recipes, unless otherwise noted.

Hydration

Hydration simply refers to the amount of water in a recipe. The hydration of my bialy recipe is average (moderate hydration), resting at about 70%. This means the process for developing this dough looks very much like your standard country loaf of sourdough, and is also identical to that of an English muffin. The hydration of this bread, in combination with the baking method, is responsible for the chewy outcome. Unlike a bagel, which is made from a stiff dough to create a dense and soft texture, this moderate hydration dough creates a lighter, airier texture and is also responsible for the bialy’s more open crumb and distinct chew.

Dough and Gluten Development

Because this dough is unenriched (no fat, sugar, etc.) and because our sourdough starter works slowly, gluten develops naturally over time. This means we can let fermentation do most of the strengthening of our bread, aerating it and building structure, while we take time to fold the dough, which helps fermentation do its best work.

I chose to develop this dough by hand through a hybrid of kneading and stretch-and-folds. Kneading this dough twice contributes to a more elastic dough, which just means it holds together better and rises tall in the oven. I’ve recently come to see the benefits of kneading bread dough in order to develop more of the gluten up front (which helps the loaf ferment better). In all actuality, if you know what you are looking for in regards to proper development of both extensibility and elasticity, you can develop this dough using any of your favorite methods.

Bulk Fermentation

It is important to note that fermentation varies significantly depending on temperature and climate. My home generally rests around 68-72 F (20-22 C), so my fermentation times are very extended from someone whose home rests around 75 F (24 C), or even warmer. Always watch the dough and read your baked loaf as best as possible to be able to determine necessary adjustments for your next attempt. The goal is to ferment the dough as long as possible, but not to overproof. The longer the dough ferments, the lighter and airier your bread will be.

Generally, loaves that ferment around 70 F (21 C; this is the temperature I ferment my dough) take about 12 hours to bulk ferment. Colder climates, say 65 F (18 C), take a very long time, a minimum of 16 hours, and sometimes longer. Increase the temperature to 73-75 F (23-24 C), and the bulk fermentation time is reduced to around 9 hours. Last, very warm temperatures, 78-80 F (25-27 C) generally take only 4 hours to complete fermentation. All in all, your dough is in your hands, and in your climate.

Shaping

The shaping method for a bialy is a bit different from other kinds of bread. The dough is divided and shaped into rounds, then coated in cornmeal (just like an English muffin) and left for the final proof. Just before baking, the dough is shaped again. The center of the round is indented and expanded in order to hold the classic onion filling. It is very important to make the center as thin as possible (without tearing) and press out most of the air in order to prevent it from popping up like pita bread in the oven.

The Filling

This recipe was inspired by Sonic’s Bacon Ranch Loaded Queso Fries. This filling is loaded with bacon, cheddar, and the perfect amount of ranch seasoning. Cream cheese holds everything together, and chives are added for color and garnish. I could honestly just eat the filling on it’s own, though it gets a major upgrade when baked with homemade bread, which is perfectly crisp, soft, and chewy right out of the oven.

Cheddar Cheese

Adding extra cheddar cheese at the end of baking simply takes this recipe to the next level. It enhances both flavor and appearance; the perfect final touch.

Baking Method: Temperature

The best oven spring and crumb comes from baking the dough hot and fast. I chose a temperature of 500 F to give the dough the best “pop” in the oven, which lends a beautiful crumb and a perfect, matte crust.

Baking Method: Steam

Use steam for the first ten minutes of baking to help the dough expand properly. For this recipe, I leave the steam method open because I believe everyone has a preferred method for steaming their oven for bread that is right for their oven. You could bake these in a Challenger Bread Pan, or you could simply use boiling water or ice on the bottom of the oven to create the right amount of steam. The main goal: make sure the bialy has the ability to expand to its maximum potential before the crust begins to harden.

Suggested Timelines

Daytime Baking Timeline

Overnight Baking Timeline

Cold-Ferment Timeline

Other Bialy Variations

Quick Tip: Read the recipe in its entirety before you start cooking. This will help you understand the ingredients, steps, and timing involved, and allow you to prepare any necessary equipment or ingredients beforehand.

Bialy: The Most Versatile, Underrated Bread

I first discovered bialy in the sourdough cookbook “Wild Bread” by MaryJane Butters. Her book was my first introduction to sourdough, though I have long since diverted from her techniques. Still, I go back to her book for recipe inspiration and ‘bialy’ had been one on my list. 

After intense research on the bread, I was so excited when I recreated it in my own kitchen. It had to be in my top ten list of favorite breads… but why was it so unheard of?

Bialy has a limited shelf life, due to the nature of the bread in combination with its filling. Fresh from the oven, it’s chewy, yet soft, with a subtly crisp crust and flavor blast in the middle. It really is best the first day, even the first couple of hours.

The bread was brought to the United States by Jews fleeing from Poland, yet ended up being forgotten in Poland (replaced with a similar bread called “cebularz”) and never made it outside of New York in the USA, leaving the bread unknown by many. It is traditionally stuffed with onions and topped with poppy seeds, though this recipe gives the filling a creative spin.

This bread has so much potential and can be incredibly versatile. I hope to give it a second life through my blog.

What Is Bialy?

A bialy is a type of bread roll that originated in the Jewish communities of Białystok, Poland. It is round like a bagel, only with an indention (not a hole) in the center that is traditionally filled with onions and topped with poppy seeds. It is known as the “Jewish English Muffin” and, by some, considered a cross between a bagel and an English muffin. In the United States, it is well-known in New York, but not really elsewhere due to its limited shelf-life. 

It’s Time For Something Sweet

Some prefer savory, while others prefer sweet, so I’ve made it a priority to accommodate both in this bialy series. In this recipe, blueberries mesh with lemon and sweet cream cheese to create this heavenly take on bialy. Because bialy is unenriched, crispy, and chewy, this recipe is unlike other sweet bread recipes, which tend to be tender, rich, and fluffy (due to the addition of butter and eggs). Here, you’ll find an artisan-style bread with a pop of sweet blueberry filling, enhanced with a lemon glaze.

All The “Why’s”

Bread Flour

Here’s the thing about artisan bread: most of the gluten is developed through time during the slow fermentation process. You see, as dough rests, gluten comes together naturally and fermentation provides strength. Bread flour contains more gluten binding proteins, which naturally create a stronger network that traps air and helps the loaf ferment more efficiently. I use King Arthur Bread Flour in most recipes that calls for “bread flour” because of its higher protein content (12.7%) and excellent ability to form gluten.

Salt

Salt helps bring out flavor (without salt, bread would taste almost like nothing), but also has notable effects on the dough. Salt is a tightening agent, meaning it helps create a more elastic (strong) dough. It does slow fermentation, as well as gluten development, but these are things we must account for in the recipe because we cannot have a recipe without salt. It is important to use just the right amount, enough to bring out the flavor, but not so much that the loaf cannot ferment or come together. I use the standard – 2% salt – in all my recipes, unless otherwise noted.

Hydration

Hydration simply refers to the amount of water in a recipe. The hydration of my bialy recipe is average (moderate hydration), resting at about 70%. This means the process for developing this dough looks very much like your standard country loaf of sourdough, and is also identical to that of an English muffin. The hydration of this bread, in combination with the baking method, is responsible for the chewy outcome. Unlike a bagel, which is made from a stiff dough to create a dense and soft texture, this moderate hydration dough creates a lighter, airier texture and is also responsible for the bialy’s more open crumb and distinct chew.

Dough and Gluten Development

Because this dough is unenriched (no fat, sugar, etc.) and because our sourdough starter works slowly, gluten develops naturally over time. This means we can let fermentation do most of the strengthening of our bread, aerating it and building structure, while we take time to fold the dough, which helps fermentation do its best work.

I chose to develop this dough by hand through a hybrid of kneading and stretch-and-folds. Kneading this dough twice contributes to a more elastic dough, which just means it holds together better and rises tall in the oven. I’ve recently come to see the benefits of kneading bread dough in order to develop more of the gluten up front (which helps the loaf ferment better). In all actuality, if you know what you are looking for in regards to proper development of both extensibility and elasticity, you can develop this dough using any of your favorite methods.

Bulk Fermentation

It is important to note that fermentation varies significantly depending on temperature and climate. My home generally rests around 68-72 F (20-22 C), so my fermentation times are very extended from someone whose home rests around 75 F (24 C), or even warmer. Always watch the dough and read your baked loaf as best as possible to be able to determine necessary adjustments for your next attempt. The goal is to ferment the dough as long as possible, but not to overproof. The longer the dough ferments, the lighter and airier your bread will be.

Generally, loaves that ferment around 70 F (21 C; this is the temperature I ferment my dough) take about 12 hours to bulk ferment. Colder climates, say 65 F (18 C), take a very long time, a minimum of 16 hours, and sometimes longer. Increase the temperature to 73-75 F (23-24 C), and the bulk fermentation time is reduced to around 9 hours. Last, very warm temperatures, 78-80 F (25-27 C) generally take only 4 hours to complete fermentation. All in all, your dough is in your hands, and in your climate.

Shaping

The shaping method for a bialy is a bit different from other kinds of bread. The dough is divided and shaped into rounds, then coated in rice flour (instead of cornmeal, like bialy normally is) and left for the final proof. Just before baking, the dough is shaped again. The center of the round is indented and expanded in order to hold the classic onion filling. It is very important to make the center as thin as possible (without tearing) and press out most of the air in order to prevent it from popping up like pita bread in the oven.

Rice Flour Over Cornmeal

The purpose of cornmeal during bialy’s initial shape is to make handling easier during the final steps of the process. I chose to replace cornmeal with rice flour simply because I did not feel gritty cornmeal was the right pair for a sweet bialy. Rice flour is finer, very neutral in flavor, and gluten-free: making it the perfect alternative coating to cornmeal. Coating in rice flour has the same effects: the flour does not absorb into the bread, which eases bread handling and prevents sticky bialy during the final shape. A little bit of rice flour goes a long way; you do not need a heavy dusting to thoroughly coat the bialy.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Filling

Sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla enhance the cream cheese in this sweet bialy recipe. Originally, I hoped to include an egg yolk in the mixture as well, but (because bialy is baked at such a high oven temperature) the custard just did not cook right.

Rather than mixing blueberries into the cream cheese, I choose to add a few to the top of each bialy. While either method works, bialy does not need a ton of filling, and since I’m not dicing the blueberries into chunks, doing it this way helps ensure I get just the amount of blueberries I want.

Lemon Glaze

Because of the way bialy is made, the pop of flavor is solely in the middle. Since this is a sweet take on bialy, I wanted there to be a sweet flavor profile throughout – hence, a lemon glaze. This glaze is meant to add a final touch to the appearance and overall flavor profile of the bialy. Lemon perfectly compliments the filling, while the glaze itself adds sweetness to an otherwise plain artisan bread.

Baking Method: Temperature

The best oven spring and crumb comes from baking the dough hot and fast. I chose a temperature of 500 F to give the dough the best “pop” in the oven, which lends a beautiful crumb and a perfect, matte crust.

Baking Method: Steam

Use steam for the first ten minutes of baking to help the dough expand properly. For this recipe, I leave the steam method open because I believe everyone has a preferred method for steaming their oven for bread that is right for their oven. You could bake these in a Challenger Bread Pan, or you could simply use boiling water or ice on the bottom of the oven to create the right amount of steam. The main goal: make sure the bialy has the ability to expand to its maximum potential before the crust begins to harden.

Suggested Timelines

Daytime Baking Timeline

Overnight Baking Timeline

Cold-Ferment Timeline

Other Bialy Variations

Quick Tip: Read the recipe in its entirety before you start cooking. This will help you understand the ingredients, steps, and timing involved, and allow you to prepare any necessary equipment or ingredients beforehand.

Bialy: The Most Versatile, Underrated Bread

I first discovered bialy in the sourdough cookbook “Wild Bread” by MaryJane Butters. Her book was my first introduction to sourdough, though I have long since diverted from her techniques. Still, I go back to her book for recipe inspiration and ‘bialy’ had been one on my list. 

After intense research on the bread, I was so excited when I recreated it in my own kitchen. It had to be in my top ten list of favorite breads… but why was it so unheard of?

Bialy has a limited shelf life, due to the nature of the bread in combination with its filling. Fresh from the oven, it’s chewy, yet soft, with a subtly crisp crust and flavor blast in the middle. It really is best the first day, even the first couple of hours.

The bread was brought to the United States by Jews fleeing from Poland, yet ended up being forgotten in Poland (replaced with a similar bread called “cebularz”) and never made it outside of New York in the USA, leaving the bread unknown by many. It is traditionally stuffed with onions and topped with poppy seeds, though this recipe gives the filling a creative spin.

This bread has so much potential and can be incredibly versatile. I hope to give it a second life through my blog.

What Is Bialy?

A bialy is a type of bread roll that originated in the Jewish communities of Białystok, Poland. It is round like a bagel, only with an indention (not a hole) in the center that is traditionally filled with onions and topped with poppy seeds. It is known as the “Jewish English Muffin” and, by some, considered a cross between a bagel and an English muffin. In the United States, it is well-known in New York, but not really elsewhere due to its limited shelf-life. 

What Makes A Jalapeño Popper?

Jalapeño poppers are very popular where I am from. I did not even realize there were so many interpretations of a jalapeño popper until… the internet. As I know it, a “jalapeño popper” is simply a jalapeño with which the insides have been removed and replaced with cream cheese. Everything is wrapped in bacon and grilled outdoors until the bacon is cooked dark and the jalapeño is soft. This recipe takes inspiration from this version of a jalapeño popper, utilizing jalapeño, cream cheese, and bacon to create a delectable bialy filling.

All The “Why’s”

Bread Flour

Here’s the thing about artisan bread: most of the gluten is developed through time during the slow fermentation process. You see, as dough rests, gluten comes together naturally and fermentation provides strength. Bread flour contains more gluten binding proteins, which naturally create a stronger network that traps air and helps the loaf ferment more efficiently. I use King Arthur Bread Flour in most recipes that calls for “bread flour” because of its higher protein content (12.7%) and excellent ability to form gluten.

Salt

Salt helps bring out flavor (without salt, bread would taste almost like nothing), but also has notable effects on the dough. Salt is a tightening agent, meaning it helps create a more elastic (strong) dough. It does slow fermentation, as well as gluten development, but these are things we must account for in the recipe because we cannot have a recipe without salt. It is important to use just the right amount, enough to bring out the flavor, but not so much that the loaf cannot ferment or come together. I use the standard – 2% salt – in all my recipes, unless otherwise noted.

Hydration

Hydration simply refers to the amount of water in a recipe. The hydration of my bialy recipe is average (moderate hydration), resting at about 70%. This means the process for developing this dough looks very much like your standard country loaf of sourdough, and is also identical to that of an English muffin. The hydration of this bread, in combination with the baking method, is responsible for the chewy outcome. Unlike a bagel, which is made from a stiff dough to create a dense and soft texture, this moderate hydration dough creates a lighter, airier texture and is also responsible for the bialy’s more open crumb and distinct chew.

Dough and Gluten Development

Because this dough is unenriched (no fat, sugar, etc.) and because our sourdough starter works slowly, gluten develops naturally over time. This means we can let fermentation do most of the strengthening of our bread, aerating it and building structure, while we take time to fold the dough, which helps fermentation do its best work.

I chose to develop this dough by hand through a hybrid of kneading and stretch-and-folds. Kneading this dough twice contributes to a more elastic dough, which just means it holds together better and rises tall in the oven. I’ve recently come to see the benefits of kneading bread dough in order to develop more of the gluten up front (which helps the loaf ferment better). In all actuality, if you know what you are looking for in regards to proper development of both extensibility and elasticity, you can develop this dough using any of your favorite methods.

Bulk Fermentation

It is important to note that fermentation varies significantly depending on temperature and climate. My home generally rests around 68-72 F (20-22 C), so my fermentation times are very extended from someone whose home rests around 75 F (24 C), or even warmer. Always watch the dough and read your baked loaf as best as possible to be able to determine necessary adjustments for your next attempt. The goal is to ferment the dough as long as possible, but not to overproof. The longer the dough ferments, the lighter and airier your bread will be.

Generally, loaves that ferment around 70 F (21 C; this is the temperature I ferment my dough) take about 12 hours to bulk ferment. Colder climates, say 65 F (18 C), take a very long time, a minimum of 16 hours, and sometimes longer. Increase the temperature to 73-75 F (23-24 C), and the bulk fermentation time is reduced to around 9 hours. Last, very warm temperatures, 78-80 F (25-27 C) generally take only 4 hours to complete fermentation. All in all, your dough is in your hands, and in your climate.

Shaping

The shaping method for a bialy is a bit different from other kinds of bread. The dough is divided and shaped into rounds, then coated in cornmeal (just like an English muffin) and left for the final proof. Just before baking, the dough is shaped again. The center of the round is indented and expanded in order to hold the classic onion filling. It is very important to make the center as thin as possible (without tearing) and press out most of the air in order to prevent it from popping up like pita bread in the oven.

The Filling

In place of the traditional onion filling, I use jalapeños, bacon, and cream cheese to mimic the flavors of a jalapeño popper. To make the filling, I fry diced bacon in a skillet until it starts to grease, then add diced jalapeños and cook until the bacon is crispy and the jalapeños are soft. I drain the grease from the mixture as much as possible, then mix with softened cream cheese until everything is smooth and well incorporated.

Feel free to play around with the cooking method to suit your taste and texture preferences. You do not have to cook the jalapeño if you do not want to. Or, you could roast the jalapeños in the oven with the bacon until everything is cooked to your liking before dicing and adding to the cream cheese.

If you are into appearances, this filling does still release some grease in the oven, which may affect the top of your bialy, depending on how much grease you were able to drain and how well you formed the center of the bialy (so it does not pop up in the oven and spill filling out of the center hole). Though this is a bit of a bummer, I tend to lean toward taste over appearance – and this jalapeño popper bialy is all about flavor.

Baking Method: Temperature

The best oven spring and crumb comes from baking the dough hot and fast. I chose a temperature of 500 F to give the dough the best “pop” in the oven, which lends a beautiful crumb and a perfect, matte crust.

Baking Method: Steam

Use steam for the first ten minutes of baking to help the dough expand properly. For this recipe, I leave the steam method open because I believe everyone has a preferred method for steaming their oven for bread that is right for their oven. You could bake these in a Challenger Bread Pan, or you could simply use boiling water or ice on the bottom of the oven to create the right amount of steam. The main goal: make sure the bialy has the ability to expand to its maximum potential before the crust begins to harden.

Suggested Timelines

Daytime Baking Timeline

Overnight Baking Timeline

Cold-Ferment Timeline

Other Bialy Variations

Quick Tip: Read the recipe in its entirety before you start cooking. This will help you understand the ingredients, steps, and timing involved, and allow you to prepare any necessary equipment or ingredients beforehand.

Sometimes, I have to move away from the chocolate and pull out the citrus. Pair delicate citrus flavors with warm, fluffy layers of pull-apart bread and the subtle crunch of poppy seeds – oh my! This enriched, sweet bread is a joyful twist on classic lemon poppyseed flavors, perfect for breakfast or brunch gatherings, or simply as a treat to brighten your day.

What Is Pull-Apart Bread?

Pull-apart bread is a type of bread divided into separate, small pieces, which are then assembled in a baking dish. During the final proof and bake, the pieces rise and fuse together, but remain distinct enough to easily be pulled apart by hand or with utensils. The pieces are usually coated in butter paired with a sweet or savory flavor combination, which aids in the pull-apart factor.

Considerations For Enriched Doughs

Enriched doughs, like this pull-apart bread, contain ingredients that can make it difficult for gluten to come together. Fats (usually butter) and sugars in medium to large amounts mean it is necessary to develop the dough to a windowpane up front, in order to have the best fermentation experience. Without gluten, the dough simply cannot hold in air the same way. A dough that is not developed properly may taste flaky, like a biscuit, instead of tender or airy (as is the goal).

On a scale of 1-10, one being unenriched (like country bread) and 10 being heavily enriched (like panettone), this bread is about a “5” – it contains a medium amount of sugar and butter, but not an obnoxious amount. With any enriched dough, though, I always resort to my stand mixer for the best experience. You’ll find this dough needs 15-20 minutes of kneading to achieve a windowpane. Especially because of the addition of butter, I always find this process simpler and more efficient using my stand mixer.

Some home mixers are not built for kneading bread efficiently. Check the manual for your mixer, and be sure it is safe to endure mixing times of up to thirty minutes, just to be on the safe side. The most complicated bread in the bread-making world is panettone, which requires mixing times of up to sixty minutes. It is so very important not to overwork the dough or the motor on your mixer. I love my Ankarsrum stand mixer, which is more than capable of living up to the task of kneading even the toughest of doughs. If you do not own a mixer, it is possible to knead by hand, as long as you are willing to endure the task of kneading to a windowpane up front. You can use any preferred method, or find ideas in my video on methods of gluten development, here.

The “Why” Behind The Starter Build

Why Build A Starter (Levain) For This Recipe?

A “sour” flavor is not generally preferred for sweet breads. By building a levain, we can use a formula that helps to reduce overall sourness in the starter and in the bread. To do this, it is important to understand the starter, which consists of yeast and bacteria, and how the formula works to reduce sourness.

Sourness comes when bacteria are overpopulating in your sourdough starter, meaning they are out of balance with the yeast. This happens naturally, as bacteria reproduce faster than yeast do, especially in ideal climates. To limit sourness, it is important to favor the yeast in starter care. In this levain formula, I do just this in order to limit acidity and reduce overall sour flavor.

Stiff Starter

By giving the yeast more food (this means they can continue to eat, multiply, and produce CO2) and reducing the amount of water (bacteria favor wet climates), we can effectively reduce the amount of acidity in our starter at the same percentage of rise as a starter made with equal amounts of flour and water.

Sugar

This is one of the most important components of this levain – do not skip it! Sugar is a powerful tool. Added in low amounts, it feeds the yeast and speeds up fermentation. Added in high amounts, it dehydrates yeast cells and potentially stops fermentation altogether. Added in just the right amount, the yeast still thrive, but the bacteria suffer. 10-15% sugar in a recipe or levain creates something called “osmotic stress.” This stress to the bacteria limits their ability to reproduce, which limits acid buildup, thereby limiting overall sourness coming from the starter.

Temperature

In order to favor the yeast, I aim to keep this levain between 70-75 F (21-24 C) and use it when it has approximately doubled in size. Yeast produce most abundantly in these temperatures, while the bacteria in your starter (there are two types – lactic and acetic) favor temperatures both higher and lower than this. This specific temperature helps provide balance to the starter, which translates to how efficiently the starter ferments the bread and how mild the overall sour flavor is.

Optional Kneading

Have you ever heard of developing gluten in your starter? While it is not essential, kneading this starter for just a few minutes will help trap air, introducing oxygen and stimulating yeast growth. It also provides structure (by creating a slightly more elastic gluten network), which helps the levain rise and maintain peak more efficiently. 

The “Why” Behind The Dough and Process

Tangzhong

Since I chose not to use a tangzhong in my cinnamon roll recipe, which this recipe is based off of, I figured excluding one here would be okay. Oh man, did I prove myself wrong. Tangzhong is magical, and provides impressive fluff and moisture retention to the dough, qualities that can only be achieved through similar techniques (such as yudane or brühstück). This pull-apart bread is not quite as butter-saturated as some of my other enriched doughs, namely brioche and cinnamon rolls, which seems to leave an opening for tangzhong to provide a needed final touch. Learn more about tangzhong here.

While tangzhong is magical, sometimes it is an extra step that we just do not have time for. Do not fear! If you desire to skip the tangzhong in this recipe, I provide the alternative milk and flour measurements at the end of the recipe card.

Buttermilk Mixture

This is a technique that stems from the beginning of my bread journey, when I first started making bread doughs using commercial yeast. I have kept this technique for a long time. Recently, though, I have started to change this technique, moving away from heating my milk, butter, and sugar on the stovetop. This is because a well-kneaded enriched dough gains extra heat through friction during mixing; therefore, heating the ingredients is not necessary (and could even bring too much warmth to the dough, depending on your mixer). Despite this, let me tell you my previous reasoning as to why I created a “buttermilk mixture” in this recipe:

First is a caution: buttermilk curdles easily. Be sure to stir consistently if you use this technique and keep your heat rising at a slow pace. You can also use milk in place of buttermilk.

By heating the liquid in the recipe with the sugar and the butter, we are able to simultaneously: a) create warmth that gets the yeast moving quicker, b) fully dissolve the sugar, and c) warm the butter without having to remember to soften a stick beforehand. There is not enough butter in this recipe to create greasy dough, as is the case with brioche, so melting (or, partially melting) it is definitely okay.

Let’s talk about the specific ingredients more in-depth:

Buttermilk

The truth is, I only discovered buttermilk by accident as I had extra leftover from my long-fermented corn muffin recipe. In all technicality, this ingredient is optional and can be replaced with milk instead. It’s acidic, but I do not find it produces a gross sour flavor. The acidity of the buttermilk, in my opinion, only enhances the acidic flavor being brought to this dish through the lemon. There is not any actual lemon in the dough, and if I had chosen to use a milk + lemon combination instead of buttermilk, it would have the same effect. Altogether, this addition brings complex and fun flavors, but is completely optional.

Sugar

This recipe contains approximately 16% sugar (speaking for the dough only). This is slightly more than just the 10-15% of sugar that is sometimes added to bread to create osmotic stress, meaning I did have to increase the percentage of starter to help this recipe ferment more efficiently. It also means the sugar does work to sweeten the dough (just a bit), while also reducing overall sourness.

Butter

Butter is a tenderizer; it makes the dough fragile and soft. The amount of butter here is about 14% of the total weight of the flour, small enough to not interfere with the gluten network (too much), but large enough to help keep the bread soft during baking.

Bread Flour

Bread flour increases the strength (elasticity) of the gluten network, which is helpful for enriched doughs containing butter and sugar (ingredients that can interfere with gluten). Bread flour also helps the dough come together more efficiently when kneading, reducing the total amount of necessary mixing time. While I used to make this recipe with a blend of all-purpose flour and bread flour, I now use bread flour only, just for the incredible way it holds the dough together. I use King Arthur Bread Flour, protein content about 12.7%, in any recipe that calls for bread flour (unless otherwise noted).

Salt

Salt helps bring out flavor (without salt, bread would taste almost like nothing), but also has notable effects on the dough. Salt is a tightening agent, meaning it, in addition to milk, helps create a more elastic (strong) dough. It does slow fermentation, as well as gluten development, but these are things we must account for in the recipe because we cannot have a recipe without salt. It is important to use just the right amount, enough to bring out the flavor, but not so much that the loaf cannot ferment or come together. I use the standard – 2% salt – in all my recipes, unless otherwise noted.

Mixing

Because butter and sugar can interfere with gluten’s natural ability to come together over time, it is preferable to knead this dough to complete development up front. That’s why I choose to use a stand mixer – because the process for this can be kind of enduring by hand (though it is possible). Using a stand mixer ensures a perfectly and effectively built dough with minimum effort on the baker’s part. Watch this video for all the ways to develop gluten in your bread.

I want to be more specific in this updated post about how to develop the dough properly in the stand mixer than I was when I originally published this recipe. This way, you can be successful mixing this dough using any stand mixer, or even by hand.

The ultimate goal: to knead this dough to a clear windowpane. When you pull up on a section of dough, it should not tear. You should be able to stretch the dough to a point where you can see through it before it breaks. The dough will show other signs of being ready, too, such as clinging to itself or forming a ball around the dough hook. If you have a KitchenAid or similar mixer, the stand mixer may start to “jump” when the dough builds sufficient strength.

The first step to achieving this is to mix the dough on a low to medium-low speed until the ingredients are fully combined and the mixture forms one cohesive mass of dough. This step simply brings our dough together and hydrates the proteins in the flour before the speed is increased and the focus shifts from combining ingredients to forming gluten. Too fast a speed during this initial mix can start to organize gluten that is barely created, negatively impacting the development of the dough.

Next, we increase the speed and knead the dough forms a windowpane. The speed you choose is up to you and what your mixer (and dough) can handle. The basic guidelines are this:

• A lower speed will take longer, while a higher speed will knead the dough much faster.
• A lower speed will keep the dough elastic (strong, not stretchy), while a higher speed will create extensibility (stretchiness).
• The dough temperature should not exceed 78 F (26 C).
• Use the guidelines from your mixer to determine what it is able to handle.

Bulk Fermentation

Letting the dough rise as much as possible, but not too much, contributes to the airiest of loaves. In an attempt to favor the yeast and reduce sourness, I recommend keeping the dough temperature between 70-75 F (21-24 C). Watch the dough and ferment until it doubles in size (at least; eight to twelve hours). If you developed the dough well in the stand mixer, you can let it triple in size before shaping. Though I favor an overnight method for this dough, use your knowledge of your environment to bulk ferment this dough appropriately.

The Filling

I tried many techniques for filling and shaping this pull-apart bread, and ultimately landed on creating a paste with softened butter. Melted butter does absolutely no good, as it all seeps to the bottom of the pan during the final proof. Adding the ingredients separately (as I do for my cinnamon rolls) leads to a lot of ingredients falling out during the slicing and stacking process. Making a paste is by far the superior technique and allows the filling to easily be spread from corner to corner of the rolled-out dough.

Sugar + Lemon

By rubbing lemon zest into the sugar, oils are released, contributing to a stronger lemon flavor.

Softened Butter

By using softened butter, we can effectively spread the butter (unlike cold butter) all over the dough and shape the mini loaves without fear of the butter pooling on the bottom of the pans (unlike melted butter) during the final proof.

Shaping

To shape this pull-apart bread, I chose to position the loaf pan vertically and stack the slices. This makes them easier to stack without having the slices falling over during the process. The slices will not reach the top of the pan, and that is perfectly okay. It is necessary for the slices to have room to expand during the final proof and bake, so they need to be loose and sort of spread out after they are stacked. To do this, I take my finger and place it on the top slice while I reposition the loaf pan horizontally. This keeps the slices from tipping over. Then, I give the pan a little shake to loosen and evenly distribute the pieces before their final proof.

Baking

These loaves are simple to bake, as they do not require the preparation of steam or a wash. Milk, sugar, and a good fermentation will cause perfect browning in the oven. I bake my milk breads (like this one) at a lower temperature than my water-based breads: 350 F (175 C). This “low and slow” temperature prevents over-browning and over-baking. A final internal temperature of 185 F (85 C) cooks these loaves until they are just done, leaving you with the softest and fluffiest end result. 

Cream Cheese Frosting

The final touch and perfect garnish. Though you don’t have to have it, I wouldn’t skip it.

Suggested Timelines

Overnight Timeline

Refrigeration Timeline

Quick Tip: Read the recipe in its entirety before you start cooking. This will help you understand the ingredients, steps, and timing involved, and allow you to prepare any necessary equipment or ingredients beforehand.

After the success of my beginner batter bread recipe, I wanted to create something with a similar concept. Let’s keep the long-fermentation, but build a completely different recipe.

I did just that with these corn muffins. Except, because of the cornmeal, it is hard to call this a beginner recipe. Since corn is gluten-free, the dough does not trap air in the same way that wheat does. Therefore, these muffins do not double in size. With a little trial and error, though, I think you will find these muffins worth your time. I have some tips that will help you find the success you’re looking for in this recipe.

What Is Cornbread?

Cornbread is a type of bread popular in the United States, particularly in the South. It is made from ingredients like flour, eggs, milk or buttermilk, baking powder, and sometimes sugar or honey for sweetness. It can be baked in a skillet, a muffin pan, or a baking dish. It is typically served as a side dish with meals such as: chili, barbecue, or fried chicken. It has a slightly crumbly texture and a light and sweet nutty flavor from the cornmeal. Inclusions such as jalapeños, cheese, or bacon can be added for fun and unique flavors.

What Is Meant By “Southern-Style”?

“Southern-Style” cornbread is a specific type of cornbread made with little to no flour (cornmeal is the star of the show) and without added sugar. The texture is a bit more gritty and nutty and the bread is not sweet in the slightest. Southern cornbread usually features buttermilk and may use bacon fat as a component of the recipe. It is also typically cooked in a preheated cast-iron skillet for added crispness along the edges.

What Is Unique About This Recipe?

This recipe is a mash-up of Southern cornbread (a quick bread) and long-fermented sourdough. Active sourdough starter is the leaven, meaning these muffins require fermentation time since they do not use chemical leavening (baking powder or soda). This recipe can even be made completely gluten-free by simply using a gluten-free sourdough starter. I added inclusions, onion and cheddar cheese, for an even better flavor and chose muffins over a preheated skillet for the simple fact that this batter needs time to rest and rise before it can be baked.

All The “Why’s”

Buttermilk

I use buttermilk, in combination with eggs, to add moisture to the batter. While milk is a suitable alternative, buttermilk adds a great tang that, in my opinion, really enhances the “Southern” flavor profile of this recipe.

Active Sourdough Starter

This recipe requires active sourdough starter, rather than discard. Let’s take a quick dive into why.

First and foremost, because this recipe is long-fermented, there is no chemical leavening (i.e. baking powder or soda). Our starter is doing the work needed to incorporate necessary air. This means we must use starter with yeast that are active.

But, once I mix the discard into the batter, won’t that feed the yeast and cause them to start multiplying again? Yes, it will, but not like we need them to. Yes, it will feed the yeast, but the yeast will be slow getting started since they were living in an inactive state. Yeast are what release CO2, which aerates your batter. You need them to be active and healthy in order for them to be able to do this properly.

But, couldn’t I just wait longer for them to properly multiply and aerate the dough? I do not recommend this. Why? Your starter also contains bacteria, which are responsible for fermenting the grains in your recipe. Usually this is flour, but in this recipe, it is cornmeal. The bacteria are multiplying at a much quicker rate than your sluggish yeast. They will not only power through all their food (cornmeal) before the yeast are finished aerating your batter (causing the dough to “overproof”), they will also create a very sour flavor in your bread.

That is why this is not a discard recipe. Use active starter. If you want to use discard instead, treat it like a discard recipe. Replace the active sourdough starter with sourdough discard. Add one teaspoon of baking soda (we can use soda due to the buttermilk and sourdough in the recipe) to the batter, then bake right away (just like regular cornbread or muffins).

Eggs

Eggs, alongside buttermilk, provide necessary moisture to the batter, which aids fermentation and keeps the baked muffins from drying out. More importantly, though, eggs create a fluffier, cake-like texture that could not be achieved with just any old liquid (like milk or buttermilk). Though I would not describe these muffins as “cake-like”, the eggs do help the texture overall. Last, the eggs (in addition to proper fermentation, of course) help these muffins to rise taller in the oven compared to other alternatives.

Butter

Butter is an absolutely essential component that keeps the muffins moist. While buttermilk and eggs provide moisture, fat helps retain this moisture through baking. I chose butter to compliment the flavors present from other ingredients in the recipe, but it could be replaced 1:1 with a neutral oil, if desired. Or, if you really want to maximize the “Southern” flavors in this recipe, use bacon grease instead.

Cornmeal

Now, we couldn’t have corn muffins without cornmeal, could we? The grain is what binds everything together and feeds/activates your starter. I use cornmeal as the one and only grain in this recipe, meaning I add no flour (besides what is in your sourdough starter). This is a classic characteristic of Southern cornbread. (Other types of cornbread use a 50/50 ratio of flour/cornmeal.)

Salt

Salt helps bring out flavor (without salt, bread would taste almost like nothing). It is important to use just the right amount, enough to bring out the flavor, but not so much that the muffins cannot ferment properly (salt slows fermentation). I use the standard – 2% salt – in all my recipes, unless otherwise noted.

Inclusions

I chose to stuff these muffins with onions and cheese, which act as flavor-enhancers that, once again, contribute to the overall “Southern” flavor profile of the bread. While you can easily remove the inclusions from the recipe without harm, if you choose to replace them with something different, remember to think carefully about how the ingredients you want to add might affect fermentation. Bacon would be fine, but jalapeños would slow things down. Replacing the onion with extra cheese would work well, but adding tomatoes could throw off moisture. The choice is yours, just be careful.

Fermentation

Proper fermentation is essential to the perfect sourdough corn muffins; these muffins are simple and difficult to ferment all at once. The timing is similar to my beginner batter bread recipe (the baker’s percentages are the same), except may be extended slightly due to the eggs and onion in the batter, which can slow things down.

Cornmeal is a gluten-free grain, which means it cannot trap air in the same way that wheat can. Certain gluten-free grains do not rise much, if at all, and cornmeal is one of them. Because there is no added wheat flour in this recipe, there is hardly any rise that occurs before the final oven spring. Visual cues cannot be used to determine if these muffins are proofed properly; rather, a knowledge of the fermenting environment and timing is necessary. With these, I have never fermented them too long. The longer the better.

There is one visual cue you can use to help you know when these muffins might be ready to go into the oven: they will form a dome on top. When this happens, go ahead and bake them: they have fermented enough.

Baking Method

These bake at 425 F (220 C) for only fifteen minutes and can be enjoyed fresh from the oven. The high oven temperature helps provide the perfect oven spring and completes baking in no time.

Suggested Timeline

Quick Tip: Read the recipe in its entirety before you start cooking. This will help you understand the ingredients, steps, and timing involved, and allow you to prepare any necessary equipment or ingredients beforehand.

This is probably the most versatile bread on the planet. Over-proofed dough? Focaccia. Pizza? Focaccia. Sandwiches? Focaccia. Everyone is obsessed with focaccia, and rightly so.

To me, focaccia is best when it is made right. Perfectly fermented, doused in copious amounts of olive oil, with simple toppings: sea salt, fresh rosemary, tomatoes, and maybe olives if you like them. The bread soaks up the oil from the pan, making it soft and full of flavor. It’s incredibly tasty on its own, but so delightful as a sandwich bread as well.

What Is Focaccia?

Focaccia is a type of Italian bread known for its dimpled surface, which helps infuse olive oil and seasonings throughout the bread. It is similar to pizza dough, but typically thicker and softer. Focaccia can be enjoyed plain or with various toppings such as olives, tomatoes, onions, or cheese. It’s a versatile bread that can be served as an appetizer, snack, or alongside a meal.

What I Love About This Recipe

With focaccia comes ease and versatility. This bread is light, bubbly, and full of flavor (thank you olive oil and toppings!). It can be used as a base for pizza, or cut open and used to make the most flavorful sandwiches. With focaccia, it is nearly impossible to go wrong.

All The “Why’s”

Bread Flour

Here’s the thing about artisan bread: most of the gluten is developed through time during the slow fermentation process. You see, as dough rests, gluten comes together naturally and fermentation provides strength. Bread flour contains more gluten binding proteins, which naturally create a stronger network that traps air and helps the loaf ferment more efficiently. I use King Arthur Bread Flour in most recipes that calls for “bread flour” because of its higher protein content (12.7%) and excellent ability to form gluten.

Salt

Salt helps bring out flavor (without salt, bread would taste almost like nothing), but also has notable effects on the dough. Salt is a tightening agent, meaning it helps create a more elastic (strong) dough. It does slow fermentation, as well as gluten development, but these are things we must account for in the recipe because we cannot have a recipe without salt. It is important to use just the right amount, enough to bring out the flavor, but not so much that the loaf cannot ferment or come together. I use the standard – 2% salt – in all my recipes, unless otherwise noted.

Hydration

This recipe has an approximate hydration of 82%. This is a high hydration recipe, meaning we are working with a fairly wet dough. While loose doughs can sometimes be harder to manage, this is not so with focaccia (at least in my opinion) because we do not have to worry about handling the dough for anything difficult, only to provide some structure through folds. The high hydration adds to the extensibility of the dough, opening the crumb if handled appropriately, and helps create a soft, light texture in the baked bread.

Dough and Gluten Development

Because this dough is unenriched (no fat, sugar, etc.) and because our sourdough starter works slowly, gluten develops naturally over time. This means we can let fermentation do most of the strengthening of our bread, aerating it and building structure, while we take time to fold the dough, which helps fermentation do its best work.

Folding the dough has many benefits, and time you fold it in relation to its stage in fermentation can also change the outcome of your bread completely. More folds up front (sometimes, I also pair this with increased mixing time) creates a more elastic bread, which just means the end result will be taller, sometimes with a more closed crumb. Less folds, or folds that are more spaced out, can mean a flatter bread, but with a more “wild” and open crumb.

For this recipe, I aim for four folds, spaced a minimum of thirty minutes apart. The key is to make sure the dough relaxes completely between each set. This way, the folds are more efficient at structuring the dough.

Bulk Fermentation

It is important to note that fermentation varies significantly depending on temperature and climate. My home generally rests around 68-72 F (20-22 C), so my fermentation times are very extended from someone whose home rests around 75 F (24 C), or even warmer. Always watch the dough and read your baked loaf as best as possible to be able to determine necessary adjustments for your next attempt. The goal is to ferment the dough as long as possible, but not to overproof. The longer the dough ferments, the lighter and airier your bread will be.

If you choose to cold proof your dough, as I do in this recipe, the temperature of your bulk fermentation is very important. A warm dough will continue to rise significantly in the fridge, while a cooler dough will not. I keep this dough around 70 F, and bulk ferment it until it reaches a 50% size increase after folds are complete. If you live in a climate like mine, or even cooler, this method will work fine. But, if your environment is warmer, be sure to watch the dough and consider decreasing the percentage rise as needed for your environment.

Generally, loaves that ferment around 70 F (21 C; this is the temperature I ferment my dough) take about 6 hours to bulk ferment. Colder climates, say 65 F (18 C) take much longer, a minimum of 8 hours. Increase the temperature to 73-75 F (23-24 C), and the bulk fermentation time is reduced to around 4-5 hours. Last, very warm temperatures, 78-80 F (25-27 C) generally take only 2 hours to complete fermentation. All in all, your dough is in your hands, and in your climate.

Note the decreased fermentation period for bulk fermentation. I only ferment this dough to 50% size increase so that I can have a longer final proof. I like to let the dough rest in the pan, untouched, for a good amount of time before baking.

Shaping

Focaccia is beautiful in that it requires no shaping efforts. Simply dump the dough into the desired baking dish, lightly stretching if necessary. 

Cold Proof

I stick this dough in the refrigerator, overnight, after shaping. Though placing the dough in the fridge isn’t necessary, I find it creates a deeper flavor (your starter’s bacteria at work!) and adds flexibility to the baking timeline.

Room Temperature Dough

It is better not to bake the dough from cold. Instead, let it continue to rest and puff up on the counter before dimpling and baking. A room temperature dough is essential to obtaining the proper oven spring. The combination of room temperature dough + a very hot oven will create an exploding effect that will help the bread expand and create a beautiful open and even crumb.

Because of the shortened bulk fermentation, we can watch the dough in the baking dish to tell when it is ready. I generally proof this dough on the counter for 6-8 hours (at 70 F, 21 C) after removing it from the refrigerator before dimpling and baking.

Olive Oil

A high quality, flavorful olive oil all over the bottom and top of the focaccia makes a world of a difference. The focaccia bread absorbs all the oil after baking, boosting flavor and moisture, as well as creating a beautiful color on the top and bottom of the bread.

Toppings

Focaccia is incredibly versatile in that it can be topped to your heart’s desire. Get creative or keep it simple. Either way, you’ll come out with a delicious treat.

It is important to keep in mind some of the effects of what you are topping the dough with. For example, marinara sauce will soak into the dough and in large portions will keep your bread from baking correctly. Most cheeses will burn and should be added at the end of baking.

Coating fruits, vegetables, and fresh herbs in olive oil can help keep them from burning. I like to coat my tomatoes and fresh rosemary in olive oil for best results.

Baking Method: Temperature

The best oven spring and crumb comes from baking the dough hot and fast. Though I would prefer to bake my focaccia at 500 F (260 C), I find it burns those delicate air bubbles before the rest of the loaf is baked. Therefore, I chose a temperature of 450 F (230 C) to give the dough the best “pop” in the oven, while also reducing burnt air bubbles, yet still producing a lightly crisp end result.

Suggested Timelines

Suggested Timeline

All-In-One-Day Timeline

Quick Tip: Read the recipe in its entirety before you start cooking. This will help you understand the ingredients, steps, and timing involved, and allow you to prepare any necessary equipment or ingredients beforehand.

I am just a girl who cannot resist chocolate. And this delicacy? Absolutely no way. Chocolate bread with chocolate chips and tart, freeze-dried strawberries? Count me in.

Now, here’s the thing, if you’ve read my original post for country bread, maybe you noticed that I am still working on my technique for this style of bread. While I have a recipe that is well-fermented, soft and airy, with all the flavors my palate could ever dream of, I still do not feel like my skills are complete. And, that is the case with this recipe, too. I hope to update this post in the future, once my skills grow and I hone in on an even better technique. For now, though, I will share with you all the knowledge I do have, and a recipe with great texture and flavor.

What Is Country Bread?

Country bread is a French-inspired rustic loaf of sourdough bread. It can be shaped into a boule (round) or a batard (oval). This is the bread that most people simply call “sourdough” today. This bread was popularized in the early 2000’s by Chad Robertson, whose book, Tartine Bread, is the root for which all modern sourdough is based today.

This type of bread is made from a fairly wet dough, which easier to develop by hand. The long fermentation time allows gluten to come together, as well as provides the dough with most of its strength. It is baked at a high temperature with steam (for a fuller expansion) to achieve a sort of “explosion” in the oven, which gives the loaf a beautiful oven spring and interior.

What I Love About This Recipe

This recipe makes the perfect dessert bread. It does not need a single spread; all the flavors are just right there in each slice. Though, if you did want to spread it with something, I highly recommend Nutella. Definitely a win.

I tried some new techniques with this one and I learned a lot from them. In this recipe, I employ an autolyse technique, though not a true autolyse (since it contains more than just flour and water), in order to let the dough come completely together and develop extensibility (starchiness; flexibility) before adding the starter. This step allows me to strengthen my dough and incorporate my mix-ins via lamination in the beginning stages of fermentation. I also incorporate an egg into the mix, which adds protein and structure. Altogether, I find the process of making this bread just as enjoyable as eating it.

All The “Why’s”

Bread Flour

Here’s the thing about artisan bread: most of the gluten is developed through time during the slow fermentation process. You see, as dough rests, gluten comes together naturally and fermentation provides strength. Bread flour contains more gluten binding proteins, which naturally create a stronger network that traps air and helps the loaf ferment more efficiently. I use King Arthur Bread Flour in most recipes that call for “bread flour” because of its higher protein content (12.7%) and excellent ability to form gluten.

Tightening Agents: Salt + Cocoa Powder

Salt helps bring out flavor (without salt, bread would taste almost like nothing), but also has notable effects on the dough. Salt is a tightening agent, meaning it helps create a more elastic (strong) dough. But, cocoa is also a tightening agent, and with both of these things, we risk a dough that is too strong. Both of these ingredients slow fermentation, as well as gluten development, but are necessary to achieving the right flavors in this bread. Therefore, I reduce the amount of salt I use in this recipe from my usual 2% down to 1.5% to help loosen the dough. In addition, you will notice I do not use too much cocoa powder, only 3%, for the same reasons: to help keep a loose dough.

I had some comments about how there is simply not enough cocoa powder in this recipe. The truth is: it is all a matter of personal opinion. The more cocoa powder that is added, the tighter the dough becomes, which leads to a dough that is dense, hard to shape, and just does not bake up right. For this kind of bread, country bread, I think keeping the cocoa powder at a minimal is important due to the characteristics we are trying to achieve. For other kinds of bread, such as pan loaves and milk breads, my opinion is different, since the process and desired outcomes of the bread are different.

Brown Sugar

The purpose of the sugar here is to compliment the cocoa powder. Sugar affects fermentation, sometimes positively and sometimes negatively, but in this case positively. 5% sugar is enough to feed the yeast and give them a boost, since salt and cocoa powder restrain them. It is the perfect compliment to this bread, both for flavor and fermentation needs of the dough. While I use brown sugar, white, granulated sugar or honey should work just the same.

Hydration (And, Why The Egg?)

In this recipe, I use an egg as part of the hydration. The goal here is to add protein and structure to the dough, helping to produce a taller, more defined loaf of bread. Yes, it does add subtle richness, but I think that pairs well with everything else going on.

Eggs are about 75% moisture, so in this recipe I just count the whole egg as part of the hydration. It is an estimate, but altogether not a big deal, especially since the dough contains a bit more moisture, resting at approximately 80% hydration in total. Because of the naturally tight dough the ingredients of this recipe produce, I think it is important to add extra moisture in order to help counter this.

Water Over Milk

I cannot tell you how much I wanted to use milk instead of water in this dough. Just think of the magical combination of cocoa + sugar + milk! The end result can still be delicious, but milk simply does not pair well with artisan bread. It is yet again, another tightening agent, and causes the dough to stiffen and expand in a weird way, as well as leads to major cracking, a burnt crust, and a closed crumb. Milk-based breads are typically baked at much lower oven temperatures to prevent burning; everything about milk just does not go well with country bread. Therefore, water it is.

“Autolyse”

Autolyse, in quotes, because this is not a true autolyse. A true autolyse is simply the flour and water from the recipe, which is allowed to sit for a period of time before the sourdough starter and salt are added. For this recipe, I mix together all the ingredients except for the sourdough starter and salt. Why? The effect is essentially the same as a traditional autolyse: gluten development is initiated and the dough gains extensibility (flexibility) from this rest period. This means our dough is super stretchy and will pass a windowpane before fermentation even begins. This is especially important here, where there are so many tightening agents (cocoa, salt, even the egg).

Lamination

There are some things I have changed in this recipe since learning a lot more about bread and creating my original recipe video (which you can still find at the end of the recipe card). I originally included lamination as a means of incorporating inclusions near the beginning of bulk fermentation. I do not do this anymore. Here’s why: lamination is another means of building strength, or in other words: tightening the dough. We already have so much of that going on here! The dough becomes too tight, and the resulting loaf is too strong, with not enough extensibility. Instead, just skip the lamination and fold the dough instead. You can dump all the inclusions onto the top of the dough before its first fold (after the starter and salt are added), and simply layer them in with your folds.

Inclusions

I chose to use freeze-dried, rather than fresh, strawberries in this recipe. This is a personal choice due to the fact that I allow the strawberries to rest in the dough through folds and fermentation. Freeze-dried strawberries will moisten as they sit in the dough, and as they are baked in the bread. Fresh strawberries will provide extra moisture to the dough, which is not necessarily a problem, but may not hold up as well through fermentation and may affect baking.

I now prefer to chop my chocolate and strawberries very small (or use miniature chocolate chips). This helps better distribute the ingredients and keeps them from tearing the gluten strands that are developed through time. Once again, this is a personal choice; do as you wish.

Dough and Gluten Development

This dough is enriched, but minorly. The small amount of sugar, egg, and cocoa powder still allow gluten to come together and develop naturally over time. This means we can let fermentation do most of the work in our dough, aerating it and building strength. Since this dough includes so many tightening agents, we only need to perform two folds. The folds help to incorporate inclusions, build structure and layers, and help fermentation do its best work.

For this recipe, I aim for two to three folds, depending on how the dough is looking, and I space them out well. The key is to make sure the dough relaxes completely between each set. This way, the folds are more efficient at structuring the dough, but without taking away any more of our dough’s precious extensibility. You can do each set of folds a minimum of one hour apart, but up to two hours, though this fully depends on your fermenting environment. I ferment this dough in my warmer set to 75 F (23 C) for about nine to ten hours before shaping.

Bulk Fermentation

It is important to note that fermentation varies significantly depending on temperature and climate. This dough ferments more slowly than other doughs, so a warmer environment is better. It may take a very long time in temperatures below 75 F (23 C). Always watch the dough and read your baked loaf as best as possible to be able to determine necessary adjustments for your next attempt. The goal is to ferment the dough as long as possible, but not to overproof. The longer the dough ferments, the lighter and airier your bread will be.

If you choose to cold proof your dough, as I do in this recipe, the temperature of your bulk fermentation is very important. A warm dough will continue to rise significantly in the fridge after shaping, while a cooler dough will not. I keep this dough around 75 F, and bulk ferment it until it fills my 3.75 quart Glasslock bowl. This takes about nine hours, and I have never had this recipe overproof in the fridge at this temperature and time. But, if your environment is warmer, you will need to consider decreasing the percentage of rise you give the dough before you shape it.

Shaping

Since we are only making one loaf of bread, it is not necessary to pre-shape the dough. Simply turn it out, and shape it using your preferred method for a boule or batard before adding to your banneton.

It is important to be very gentle with the dough during this step, if you want to keep air bubbles intact, that is. If not, simply pat the dough all over after turning out, which will degass the dough and result in a more closed and even crumb.

Cold Proof

A cold proof is always an option to extend the baking timeline, which creates flexibility. I do usually cold ferment this dough due to the extended fermentation time, that way I can prepare it the day before and bake it whenever I want fresh bread the next day. If you make this recipe as an overnight dough, you may not want to cold proof (and, that works as well!). Simply let it rest for one to three more hours on the counter before baking, depending on the climate and how the dough is looking.

Scoring

I am super simple when it comes to scoring. You only need one score, 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep, to help this loaf expand without cracking all over. I am not about decorative scoring, but if you are, then go for it!

In my video, I teach you how to score your dough at the right angle for the most prominent ear, as well as how to do a five-minute score to improve expansion in the oven. In reality, if your dough is well-balanced, with enough extensibility, the loaf will expand just perfectly without scoring at the right angle or adding the extra score at five minutes.

Baking Method: Temperature

The best oven spring and crumb comes from baking the dough hot and fast. Since originally writing this recipe, I’ve increased the baking temperature even more. In my opinion, 500 F gives the dough the best “pop” in the oven, as well as a delicate thin and crispy crust.

Baking Method: Steam

Because I have a gas oven, it is hard to open bake. I open bake breads that are smaller in size, such as bialy or pan de cristal, but whole loaves do not do well. Therefore, I always use a Dutch oven for bakes like this (lid on for the first half of baking [steam], lid off second half [to firm up the crust]). Currently, that is my Challenger bread pan (which I absolutely love!).

In reality, you can open bake this bread, just make sure your oven has plenty of steam for the first twenty minutes of baking to help the dough expand properly. Open-baking works best with electric ovens that do not have vents. The main goal: make sure your bread has the ability to expand to its maximum potential before the crust begins to harden.

Suggested Timelines

Suggested Timeline

Work Day Timeline

Quick Tip: Read the recipe in its entirety before you start cooking. This will help you understand the ingredients, steps, and timing involved, and allow you to prepare any necessary equipment or ingredients beforehand.

Bialy: The Most Versatile, Underrated Bread

I first discovered bialy in the sourdough cookbook “Wild Bread” by MaryJane Butters. Her book was my first introduction to sourdough, though I have long since diverted from her techniques. Still, I go back to her book for recipe inspiration and ‘bialy’ had been one on my list. 

After intense research on the bread, I was so excited when I recreated it in my own kitchen. It had to be in my top ten list of favorite breads… but why is it so unheard of?

Bialy has a limited shelf life, due to the nature of the bread in combination with the traditional onion filling. It really is best the first day. The bread was brought to the United States by Jews fleeing from Poland, yet ended up being forgotten in Poland (replaced with a similar bread called “cebularz”) and never made it outside of New York in the USA, leaving the bread unknown by many.

This bread has so much potential and can be incredibly versatile. I hope to give it a second life through my blog.

What Is A Bialy?

A bialy is a type of bread roll that originated in the Jewish communities of Białystok, Poland. It is round like a bagel, only with an indention (not a hole) in the center that is traditionally filled with onions and topped with poppy seeds. It is known as the “Jewish English Muffin” and, by some, considered a cross between a bagel and an English muffin. In the United States, it is well-known in New York, but not really elsewhere due to its limited shelf-life. 

What I Love About This Recipe

There are many who consider bialys to be even better than bagels. Thanks to this recipe, I now fall into that category. I love how simple and familiar the process is, mimicking that of most staple Artisan breads. The bread itself can be incredibly versatile and stuffed with anything you like.  It’s perfect for sandwiches, with cream cheese, or even just served on its own.

All The “Why’s”

Bread Flour

Here’s the thing about artisan bread: most of the gluten is developed through time during the slow fermentation process. You see, as dough rests, gluten comes together naturally and fermentation provides strength. Bread flour contains more gluten binding proteins, which naturally create a stronger network that traps air and helps the loaf ferment more efficiently. I use King Arthur Bread Flour in most recipes that calls for “bread flour” because of its higher protein content (12.7%) and excellent ability to form gluten.

Salt

Salt helps bring out flavor (without salt, bread would taste almost like nothing), but also has notable effects on the dough. Salt is a tightening agent, meaning it helps create a more elastic (strong) dough. It does slow fermentation, as well as gluten development, but these are things we must account for in the recipe because we cannot have a recipe without salt. It is important to use just the right amount, enough to bring out the flavor, but not so much that the loaf cannot ferment or come together. I use the standard – 2% salt – in all my recipes, unless otherwise noted.

Hydration

Hydration simply refers to the amount of water in a recipe. The hydration of this recipe is average (moderate hydration), resting at about 70%. This means the process for developing this dough looks very much like your standard country loaf of sourdough, and is also identical to that of an English muffin. The hydration of this bread, in combination with the baking method, is responsible for the chewy outcome. Unlike a bagel, which is made from a stiff dough to create a dense and soft texture, this moderate hydration dough creates a lighter, airier texture and is also responsible for the bialy’s more open crumb and distinct chew.

Dough and Gluten Development

Because this dough is unenriched (no fat, sugar, etc.) and because our sourdough starter works slowly, gluten develops naturally over time. This means we can let fermentation do most of the strengthening of our bread, aerating it and building structure, while we take time to fold the dough, which helps fermentation do its best work.

I chose to develop this dough by hand through a hybrid of kneading and stretch-and-folds. Kneading this dough twice contributes to a more elastic dough, which just means it holds together better and rises tall in the oven. I’ve recently come to see the benefits of kneading bread dough in order to develop more of the gluten up front (which helps the loaf ferment better). In all actuality, if you know what you are looking for in regards to proper development of both extensibility and elasticity, you can develop this dough using any of your favorite methods.

Bulk Fermentation

It is important to note that fermentation varies significantly depending on temperature and climate. My home generally rests around 68-72 F (20-22 C), so my fermentation times are very extended from someone whose home rests around 75 F (24 C), or even warmer. Always watch the dough and read your baked loaf as best as possible to be able to determine necessary adjustments for your next attempt. The goal is to ferment the dough as long as possible, but not to overproof. The longer the dough ferments, the lighter and airier your bread will be.

Generally, loaves that ferment around 70 F (21 C; this is the temperature I ferment my dough) take about 12 hours to bulk ferment. Colder climates, say 65 F (18 C) take a very long time, a minimum of 16 hours, and sometimes longer. Increase the temperature to 73-75 F (23-24 C), and the bulk fermentation time is reduced to around 9 hours. Last, very warm temperatures, 78-80 F (25-27 C) generally take only 4 hours to complete fermentation. All in all, your dough is in your hands, and in your climate.

Shaping

The shaping method for a bialy is a bit different from other kinds of bread. The dough is divided and shaped into rounds, then coated in cornmeal (just like an English muffin) and left for the final proof. Just before baking, the dough is shaped again. The center of the round is indented and expanded in order to hold the classic onion filling. It is very important to make the center as thin as possible (without tearing) and press out most of the air in order to prevent it from popping up like pita bread in the oven.

The Filling

I chose to keep everything as close to traditional as I possibly could, and that includes the filling. These bialys are stuffed with onions (and breadcrumbs, to absorb moisture) and topped with poppy seeds, but feel free to play around with whatever you like. Some recent bialy variations I have come up with include: jalapeño popper, blueberry cream cheese, and loaded.

Baking Method: Temperature

The best oven spring and crumb comes from baking the dough hot and fast. I chose a temperature of 500 F to give the dough the best “pop” in the oven, which lends a beautiful crumb and a perfect, matte crust.

Baking Method: Steam

Use steam for the first ten minutes of baking to help the dough expand properly. For this recipe, I leave the steam method open because I believe everyone has a preferred method for steaming their oven for bread that is right for their oven. You could bake these in a Challenger Bread Pan, or you could simply use boiling water or ice on the bottom of the oven to create the right amount of steam. The main goal: make sure the bialy has the ability to expand to its maximum potential before the crust begins to harden.

Suggested Timelines

Daytime Baking Timeline

Overnight Baking Timeline

Cold-Ferment Timeline

Other Bialy Variations

Quick Tip: Read the recipe in its entirety before you start cooking. This will help you understand the ingredients, steps, and timing involved, and allow you to prepare any necessary equipment or ingredients beforehand.