Step-by-step method

At a glance

You're looking at a three-hour baking adventure that involves two separate rising periods—an hour for the starter dough, then another hour for the full dough after adding the remaining ingredients. The most time-intensive part is the waiting, but the actual hands-on work is pretty minimal: mixing, shaping 20 small buns, giving them a quick egg wash or water brushing, and popping them in the oven for 15 minutes until they're golden. If you've got a bread maker handy, you can skip the manual mixing and let it handle the dough work for you.

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Smooth starter dough

In a large bowl, mix together the milk, honey, plain flour and half a cube of crumbled yeast. Stir into a smooth dough. Cover and leave to rest for an hour in a warm place. I like to wrap the whole bowl in a large plastic bag.

For this step
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100 milliliter
Fresh Whole Milk (3.5% Fat)

15 gram
Honey

150 gram
All-purpose wheat flour

20 gram
Fresh Yeast
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Rising

After the first hour of rising, add the rest of the ingredients. Use melted, cooled butter. You should end up with a smooth, non-sticky dough, which you then leave to rise for another hour.

For this step
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80 milliliter
Fresh Whole Milk (3.5% Fat)

1 piece
Chicken Eggs

100 gram
Powdered Sugar

100 gram
Unsalted Butter

3 gram
Salt

300 gram
All-purpose wheat flour
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Using a bread maker

If you have a bread maker, you can run the dough programme twice in a row and let it mix and rise the dough for you, hassle-free.

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Shape and slash

Divide the risen dough into 20 pieces. Roll these into small, narrow buns on a floured board, then slash the tops twice with a razor blade if you like, to give them that classic French 'pain au lait' look, since they're usually scored this way.
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Brush with egg yolk

Place the shaped buns on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and brush with either water or beaten egg yolk, whichever you prefer. I like to sprinkle mine lightly with sugar afterwards, so I just use water.

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1 piece
Chicken Eggs
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Bake

Bake in an oven preheated to 200°C for about 15 minutes. Keep an eye on the buns as they bake and adjust the temperature and baking time to suit your own oven. The finished buns should be pale golden in colour.
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Serving

Let the buns cool completely and serve them sweet – for breakfast, an afternoon snack, dinner, or simply alongside a good cup of coffee.

Pain au Lait – French Milk Buns

Name: Heavenly French Pain au Lait Buns
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 370 min
Yield: 20
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 2 piece Chicken Eggs; 20 gram Fresh Yeast; 180 milliliter Fresh Whole Milk (3.5% Fat); 15 gram Honey; 100 gram Unsalted Butter; 450 gram All-purpose wheat flour; 100 gram Powdered Sugar; 3 gram Salt

bohynekuchyne

Prep 25 min Cook 15 min

Plus 5 h 30 min of resting (not counted in active time)

8 Ingredients

7 Steps

Medium Difficulty

Ingredients — what you'll need

You only need 8 ingredients

Adjust servings

2 piece
Chicken Eggs
20 gram
Fresh Yeast
180 milliliter
Fresh Whole Milk (3.5% Fat)
15 gram
Honey
100 gram
Unsalted Butter
450 gram
All-purpose wheat flour
100 gram
Powdered Sugar
3 gram
Salt

About this recipe

This is a bread I fell in love with in France, and I love baking it at home too. Weekend breakfasts have become a real, much-loved ritual for us, and these wonderful French milk buns are so good you don't even need to spread anything on them. But paired with homemade jam or milk caramel spread, they taste absolutely heavenly. With a cup of fragrant coffee, they make the perfect weekend treat.

Vegetarian Breakfast Bread & Rolls French

Step-by-step method

At a glance

Smooth starter dough

For this step

Rising

For this step

Using a bread maker

Pain au Lait – French Milk Buns

Ingredients — what you'll need

About this recipe