Pain au Lait – French Milk Buns
·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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Serving
Let the buns cool completely and serve them sweet – for breakfast, an afternoon snack, dinner, or simply alongside a good cup of coffee.
