Fluffy Milk Cinnamon Raisin Rolls and Coconut Custard Bread Using Tangzhong Water Roux

This wasn't the bread I was planning on baking when I got up on Sunday morning. I spent the entire week formulating a recipe to replicate the Muesli Morning Rounds from Ozery Bakery.  You know that small piece of yummy flat bread Starbucks includes in their Protein Bistro Boxes? I picked up a bag of it from Sprouts and as I bit into one, I thought "this can't be too difficult to make." I read the ingredients and I started jotting down a recipe. 

I knew it was too late on Sunday evening to start baking bread. The forecast called for rain again over the weekend. I spent the week researching substitutes for a few ingredients I knew I would not be able to get. The ingredients were mainly natural dough enhancers and preservatives.  I wanted the fluffy texture of the Ozery bread but I couldn't find cultured wheat starch anywhere.  During my search I ran across a recipe for fluffy Asian bread using water roux called tangzhong.

I remember using the tangzhong water roux method  a few times but it's been a few years.  I dug up an old recipe for Hokkaido milk bread.  You can basically use tangzhong in almost any bread recipe by calculating a percentage of flour and water for the water roux. I started off baking hamburger buns on Saturday because we needed buns for our turkey burgers. It turned out really well, except I was impatient and didn't let the first batch rise enough before baking.  I was hoping for more oven spring.

I bookmarked three bread recipes.  Two were healthy and the third was decadent. On Sunday morning, I woke up undecided.  I asked hubby which of the three I should bake. Cook's Illustrated multigrain bread using 7 grain cereal, my untested Ozery muesli morning rounds recipe, or a cinnamon raisin milk bread using the split braid/twist method that Chris Kimball used for his cinnamon raisin bread. I guess cinnamon raisin sounds a lot better than multigrain and muesli.

I had healthy intentions all week. I even did the whole meal prep thing all week.  I have about 5 pounds that I want to lose and bread is one of my greatest weaknesses.  I did manage to give half of it to my dad and this morning I ate two hard boiled eggs and gave the bread I packed to one of my coworkers.

I forgot how much I love soft and fluffy Asian bread.  Make this milk bread.  Make it plain without any filling and without any complicated rolling or braiding.  It is amazing eaten warm out of the oven or toasted over the next few days. Or be a little adventurous and fill it with taro, azuki beans, coconut, ube, cinnamon raisins, or just raisins. Wrap pieces of the dough around a hot dog.

In my house, the cinnamon raisin has better label appeal.  The grandparents prefer it filled with taro paste. My favorite is coconut. The coconut filling is yummy.  The recipe below makes a smaller amount of coconut filling that adds a subtle coconut flavor. It can easily be doubled or tripled. It is basically equal amounts by weight of egg, coconut, sugar, and butter with a touch of salt and powdered milk.

The cinnamon raisin filling is from Cook's Illustrated. I'm not sure I like the powdered sugar.  I much prefer my cinnabon filling but I think the powdered sugar works best for this split twist method.

This recipe is measured in volume rather than weight.  I find that it's not as crucial to have exact measurements. Even when weighing flour, the amount of liquid needed varies a tad. I usually make dough by the feel of the dough, starting with a slightly more wet dough and adding a little flour to get the right texture.

Milk Bread with Coconut Custard or Cinnamon Raising Filling

Tangzhong Water Roux:
1/3 cup bread flour
1 cup water (or replace with milk for richer bread)

Milk Bread Dough:
1/2 cup milk
half of tangzhong made from above
1 large egg, whisked
1 tablespoon milk powder
2 1/2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons instant yeast
3 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

Coconut Filling:
1 ounce egg (use half an egg and reserve the other half for egg wash)
1 ounce flaked coconut (either sweetened or unsweetened; adjust sugar if using unsweetened)
1 ounce sugar
1 ounce butter
pinch salt
1 teaspoon powdered milk
few drops of half & half or milk to make filling slightly moist

Cinnamon Raisin Filling:
3/4 cup raisins, soaked in water and drained
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons Saigon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt

Egg Wash:
Whisk reserved egg with half & half or milk.

Directions for Tangzhong:

Mix flour with liquid. Cook mixture over medium heat while stirring until mixture thickens.  Do not overcook tangzhong.  The tangzhong should come to a trace but still be slightly fluid.  Allow tangzhong to cool to room temperature before using. Only half of the tangzhong mixture is used for one recipe of milk bread but is difficult to properly cook smaller amounts. Make a double recipe of bread, using different fillings, or store tangzhong in refrigerator for up to three days.

Directions for Dough Using Bread Machine:

1. Add all milk bread dough ingredients except butter to bread machine. Select dough cycle on bread machine.  Once machine forms smooth dough, add in butter and allow machine to finish dough cycle. If dough looks too dry as it is kneading, add a little more liquid. If it is too wet, add a little more flour. Resist the urge to add too much flour.  The dough should be slightly wet and will continue to absorb more water.

2. Once dough cycle is complete, transfer dough to lightly floured surface and deflate dough.

To make one braided coconut custard loaf:
3. If making one braided loaf, shape dough into a rounded ball. Cover with moist flour sack towel and allow to rest for 15 to 20 minutes. Once dough has rested, roll dough into a 7x18 inch rectangle. Spread with filling, leaving a 1/4 inch border.  Starting from longer length of dough, roll dough like a cinnamon roll, seal seams by pinching close. Dough will shrink slightly in length after rolling.  Massage and stretch dough to 14 inches in length.  Cut the roll of dough in half lengthwise, turn halves with exposed filling facing up. Braid (twist) the two halves and place in 9 inch glass or light colored  aluminum loaf pan lined with parchments paper.Cover with moist flour sack towel and proof until doubled in size in a warm, draft-free spot. Brush with egg wash. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for approximately 15 minutes and then tent the top of loaf with aluminum foil and continue to bake another 25-30 minutes. Remove from pan immediately and cool on wire rack.  Allow loaf to cool before slicing.

To make braided cinnamon raisin buns:
3.  If making braided buns, divide dough into 8 equal pieces.  This can be done by first weighing the dough and dividing the weight by 8 and shaping into balls. Cover with moist flour sack towel and allow to rest for 15 to 20 minutes. Once dough has rested, roll out each portion into a 4x8 inch rectangle. Sprinkle dough with raisins and gently press raisins into dough using rolling pin or back of spoon. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over raisins. Roll each piece of dough, sealing seams by pinch. Cut each piece almost in half lengthwise, leaving about an inch of the dough attached. Twist the cut pieces together, keeping exposed filling side facing up. Create a round bun by bringing the two ends together, gently pressing and tucking ends under.  Place each bun on a baking sheet lined with silpat or parchment. Cover buns with moist flour sack towel and proof buns until doubled in size in a warm, draft-free spot. Brush with egg wash. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for approximately 20-30 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Tangzhong Water Roux Starter 

Ingredients 

I can't figure out how to rotate pictures. I'm not going to worry about it right now.

Dough cycle is complete and ready to be shaped.

I made a double batch to use up all of the tangzhong. Divide dough in half.

I then divided the dough into 8 equal pieces by weight.

Cover with moist flour sack towel.

Roll out dough into rectangle.

Spread coconut mixture.

Roll dough and seal seams by pinching.

Cut in half.

Turn the halves with exposed filling facing up.

Twist two halve together.

Arrange the twist in parchment lined baking pan.

Cover and proof in warm spot until doubled in size.

Bake until done.

I baked in a glass loaf pan since the dough is very rich and I didn't want it to brown too much.

Roll dough into smaller rectangles for Cinnamon Raisin Twisted Buns.

I used a half regular and half golden raisins.

Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar mixture.

Roll

Split but leave about an inch attached.

Twist together and tuck ends underneath.

I baked 5 out of the 8 rolls separately.

3 of the buns were place in a parchment lined mini loaf pan.

Once doubled in size, brush with egg wash and bake.

They're not perfect.

The color is beautiful once baked.

Still can't figure out how to rotate these photos.

The mini cinnamon raisin loaf sliced up.

I tried using a bread slicing guide to help cut even slices.  It took too long so I tossed it aside.

I really tried doing the meal prepping thing but I have a problem with eating old food. I've come a long way with leftovers.  I can now eat leftovers the next day but I still cannot bring myself to cook on Sundays and prep meals for the entire week.

I cooked two small chicken breast in the toaster oven. It's enough for two meals. 

I cubed the chicken breast, tossed with melted coconut oil, and seasoned with a bbq rub I premixed in a container. It has both smoked Spanish and sweet Hungarian paprika.

I packed each container with steamed asparagus and a tricolor quinoa, kale, and butternut squash salad. I ate it cold because I don't like the smell of reheated chicken.

Most days, I boil two eggs in the morning and grab items from the fridge. I sometimes make yogurt on Sundays and divvy it up into glass containers. I add a spoonful of homemade jam, frozen fruit, or honey. If I'm feeling it, I'll top it with some Kashi Go Lean Crunch instead of granola. 

No fruit but I keep a container of dried plums in my drawer at work.

I prepped these in advance. Jalapeno havarti cheese, hardboiled eggs (I don't usually boil eggs the night before because I prefer them warm and freshly boiled), sliced pears, grapes, and Ozery Muesli Morning Rounds.

The dill havarti from Trader Joe's is delicious. I really like dill havarti and since they are hard to find, I pick up a package whenever I find them. There's currently 3 packages in the fridge. 

On this day it's butterfly shaped butter cracker. The day before were heart shaped lavosh crackers. The caramel dip was a bad idea.  It was too much sugar and I felt the crash before the end of the day.

I didn't eat all this. I burnt my crumpet in the morning and was out of Morning Rounds so I left early and stopped at the store. I bought a new package of morning rounds, some Madhava raw unfiltered honey, and a box of Justin's  honey peanut butter.  Sprouts does not sell it by the box so the cashier had to open the box and ring up each package. I remembered I had medjool dates in the cupboard and packed a few before leaving the house.

I wanted pasta for dinner one night. I couldn't sub all the spaghetti noodles with zucchini. I cooked up some bronze cut spaghetti al dente and then boiled the zucchini "noodles" for about a minute. We make out pasta with turkey because I don't like the taste of beef.

It's okay to have pasta twice in one week because I used half zucchini noodles. I made a quick alfredo sauce with heavy cream and butter. I baked the no knead bread dough too soon. I should have waited the full three days before baking because it was a little bland. I still have more dough in the fridge so I'll bake the rest tomorrow.

Donut Day at work. I met the donut guy outside my office. He delivers about 25 boxes of donuts to us every month. I only ate 2.

I opened up a box and this was stamp on the inside of the box.

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Soft Pretzels Like Auntie Anne's and Wetzel Pretzels

My name is Malisa and I have a problem. I occasionally go through food obsession periods. My current obsession is:

I've been buying quite a few of them at the mall. Pretzels are easy to make so I lugged out the old Zoji, dumped in the ingredients and pressed a button.  I started off shaping them and decided pretzel nuggets were perfectly tasty and required very little skill and effort.  I even made cinnamon-sugar and sprinkled it over one of the pretzels.  The other advantage to eating a mall pretzel at home is washing them down with frozen pina coladas straight from the old Margaritaville machine.  

The recipe below was adapted from Food Network and simplified using the dough cycle of a bread machine.

Dough:

1 cup milk (I never have whole milk at home so I always make my own using 3/4 cup 2% milk plus 1/4 cup half and half)

2 1/4 teaspoons SAF instant yeast

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon salt

Rest of ingredients:

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

coarse sea salt

2 cups water

1/4 cup baking soda

1. Add all ingredients to bread machine and select the dough cycle.  The dough cycle of my Zojirushi bread machine preheats ingredients to temp before kneading and proofing so softening or melting butter is usually not required.  I think the Zoji does a great job but it's not perfect.  I usually help it along during the cycle to make sure all the ingredients get evenly mixed.  

2. At the end of the cycle, pour dough out onto a floured surface, forming an even mound. Cover the dough with a wet towel and let the dough relax approximately 15 minutes.  

3. Cut down into six even pieces.  Using your palms, roll each piece into a long rope.  If you want your pretzels to resemble the pretzels from Auntie Anne's or Wetzel Pretzels, you will have to roll your dough very long and thin because after shaping, the dough will retract and shrink back a bit.  The shaping part doesn't have to be perfect. 

4. Mix water and baking soda in a bowl.  The size and shape of bowl you will need depends on how you decide to shape your pretzels. Gently dip each pretzel in baking soda solution and place on lined baking sheet.  You will want to line your baking sheet.  Trust me. Either a silpat or parchment paper work. Sprinkle each pretzel with coarse sea salt.  Bake in preheated 450 degree oven for approximately 10-15 minutes.  

5. Transfer pretzels to wire rack and brush with melted butter.  Dunk or sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar if you are feeling a little adventurous.  I am pretty boring and pretty my pretzels with just butter or cinnamon-sugar.  I never order the "gourmet" pretzels covered with fancy cheese, pepperoni, or crunchies. I also always decline the dips.  

This recipe produces a soft mall-style pretzel. It uses a baking soda bath rather than a lye bath so the pretzels it will be very light in color.  It is best eaten the same day. If you're looking for a movie theater or ball park pretzels, buy a box of frozen pretzels and reheat them.  They come in a black box with a picture of a pretzel on it.

I just downloaded photos from my phone.  Below are random photos.  Some are recent.  Some are not. Some are photos of food and some are just random.

That's a salad.  There's spring mix under the mangos, apples, roasted tricolor fingerling potatoes, medjool dates, feta, and my own glazed walnuts.  I made it to take over to my department holiday dinner.

Hiking at Red Rocks Canyon.  

I wanted to make a gingerbread house. I took a picture of one instead.

Boyz II Men.

Another Vegas trip.  This time we stayed at a different hotel. The Encore gets a thumbs up.

Centerpiece at our company Christmas lunch.

Breakfast in Cabo.  The bartender used a cool contraption to squeeze the OJ.

Christmas Eve dinner on the beach.  That's a Princess cruise ship on the Sea of Cortez.

Divorce Beach on the Pacific Ocean side.  The waves are pretty rough and very dangerous for even the most experienced swimmers.  I turned around for just a second and was knocked down. Fortunately I was not pulled out into the ocean. 

Lover's Beach is in the background.  Lover's Beach is safe for swimming.

I chose to climb up the rocks because I thought it would look cool.

I had to find a way back down.  I jumped and hoped for the best.

Cabo Beach Club on a small stretch of swimmable stretch of Medano Beach.

Menorah in the Marina district.

 Right next to the menorah was this sign.  I did enough climbing on the beach and so I did not attempt climbing into the "C" like other tourists.  When in Mexico, drink a Mexican hot chocolate.

 This taco shop was recommended by several people and was our original destination our first night in Cabo but we took a wrong turn and ended up at a restaurant we would rather forget about.

I was so full from eating, I barely managed to finish my two tacos.

My shrimp ceviche tostada Las Tres Islas. I also had crab and flan.

We've been getting quite a bit of rain in San Diego.  We took a drive up to Laguna because we miss snow. It does snow in San Diego County. I couldn't find my snow boots. Uggs are usually not my first choice for snow but it was either my really old Uggs, old Uggs, new Uggs, Fryes, or heeled boots. Since the decision to drive up to see snow was not planned, I put on my really old Uggs. My toes got a little wet even though they were treated with a water repellent spray. I didn't pick the best pants either. They are made from recycled plastic water bottles but were not very warm.  I thought about putting on snowboarding pants but felt a tad silly.

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