Bread, 3 ways: A big-batch dough recipe you can transform into sweet and savoury delights
Bake babka, breakfast sweets and garlic balls with only one knead!
Whether you’ve never baked a loaf in your life or your starter is now a named member of the family, the allure of homemade bread has possibly never been stronger. That’s why we couldn’t just bring you a single recipe to get bored of after one bake. Instead, we’re showing you how to turn a big batch of dough into a trio of sweet and savoury delights for different meals of the day. They’re simple enough for beginners to tackle, too — knead once, and you’re all set. Check out the video below to see how each bake comes together, then scroll down for the dough recipe to get you started.
Big Batch Bread Dough
Once you’ve prepared the simple dough below, you can use it to make these Breakfast Pinwheels, Pull-Apart Garlic Bread and Chocolate Babka.
Ingredients
- ½ cup lukewarm water
- ⅓ cup sugar, divided
- 2 pkg (¼ oz) active dry yeast
- 7 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 ¼ tsp kosher salt
- 1 ½ cups 2% milk, lukewarm
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter, melted
Preparation
Combine the warm water and 2 tsp sugar in a small measuring cup. Stir in the yeast and let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, remaining sugar and salt; set aside.
Using a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, mix together the milk, eggs and butter until blended, about 1 minute. Add the yeast mixture and the flour mixture; mix on low speed until a smooth, soft dough forms, about 4 to 6 minutes.
(Alternatively, mix the dough in a large bowl with a wooden spoon until a shaggy dough starts to form, about 5 to 8 minutes. Turn out the dough onto a clean work surface and knead by hand until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes.)
Place the dough in an oiled bowl. Cover and let rise until the dough is doubled in volume, about 1 ½ hours.
Punch down the dough to remove some of the air, knead gently for about 1 minute and divide it into thirds.
Yield: 3 batches of bread dough.
