If you are looking for a traditionally leavened, super soft, lightly sweet, rich dough recipe then this is your lucky day!
I’ve been messing around with this recipe for a few months and even before it was perfect it was sooooo good. The dough is easy to handle, ferments beautifully, and tastes incredible.
I chose the classic braided presentation for my photos but any shape will work well. This rich dough makes wonderful dinner rolls, sweet buns, filled pastries, and brioche.
What is a Rich Dough?
Rich dough is short for a dough that has been enriched. Enrichment is typically done by adding fats and sweeteners. Most often enriched dough or rich dough has whole eggs or egg yolks, butter, milk, and sugar added into the dough too make it soft and sweet. The addition of fats in rich dough also shortens gluten strands making the crumb more tender. Rich doughs are delicious and in this case made even better with healthy real-food fats and unrefined sugar.
Try this bread sliced thin, brushed with butter, and baked for the most delectable toast points you’ve ever had. Serve your toast points with a classic Chicken Liver Pâté or my famous Cranberry Apple Duck Liver Pâté.
Of course my favorite way to eat this bread is sliced and slathered with pastured butter!
The perfect multipurpose rich dough for Challah, rolls, buns, pastry, brioche, and more!
- 1/2 Cup Sourdough Starter (125 grams at 100% hydration)
- 1/2 Cup Butter (113 grams) Melted
- 5 Egg Yolks
- 1/2 Cup Coconut Sugar Or other unrefined sweetener (80 Grams)
- 1 1/2 Teaspoon Salt (12 grams)
- 1 Cup Whole Milk (255 grams)
- 2 Cups Organic All Purpose Flour (300 grams)
- 2 Cups Organic Bread Flour (280 grams)
- 1 Egg Yolk
- 1 Tablespoon Water
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Whisk the starter, cooled melted butter, egg yolks, sugar, and salt together in a large bowl. Whisk until throughly combined.
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Add the milk and whisk again.
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Using a dough whisk, stir the flour into the liquid in two additions until fully combined.
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Let the dough rest for 5 minutes before doing a series of 3-5 stretch and folds with wet hands or a dough whisk.
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Repeat the resting and S&F process up to 5 more times.
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Cover the bowl and leave it in a cool place overnight. If your house is very warm you will let it double before refrigerating it for the remainder of the time.
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Do a stretch and fold of the dough in the bowl to deflate it.
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Lightly flour your work surface and turn the dough out on it.
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Divide the dough and shape it into your desired shape.
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Move your dough to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
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Let the dough double.
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Preheat your oven to 350°.
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Mix the egg yolk and water to make an egg wash. Brush it lightly over the dough covering all exposed areas.
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Bake for 25-35 minutes depending on the size of the breads.
Want to learn everything about sourdough? Well, I have the free guide for you!
Melissa
Tuesday 12th of May 2020
Hi, I’ve tried this recipe twice and failed! My dough after refrigeration overnight deflated and never rose back up after shaping and with the 2nd rise process. 🙁. Both times the dough almost melted and became very flat. I baked it anyways and although it tastes ok, it was very dense and chewy. Anyway to troubleshoot this? My starter was very active and bubbly... For the 1st rise I let it rise in my instant pot and it doubled and it looked very promising. But once I took it out of the fridge after it was in there overnight it deflated and was very dense. For the 2nd rise, I placed it in a warm oven with a pot of boiling water... and it just flattened more and looked melted. Any tips? Thanks!
Butter For All
Wednesday 13th of May 2020
Hi Melissa,
Darn it. How old is your starter? To me it sounds like a bacteria yeast imbalance. Check the troubleshooting section of this guideDemystifying Sourdough – Everything You’ve Ever Wanted To Know About Sourdough Starter – Why It’s Better For You – And How To Start One. I think it is possible that you are using too much heat as well. All my recipes are written to have a long slow proof at room temp. Around 65-70℉. This recipe is also tricky because the sweet potato might have more of less hydration than mine does. So as with all SD recipes you may have to adjust flour during the initial mixing to get the right consistency. This is where intuition comes in. If you want to send pictures to me for review, I can take a look. courtney@butterforall.com
Hope we can get it figured out!
Courtney
Dan
Saturday 2nd of May 2020
What about creating a tangzhou to help this last longer than a day or two? Have you tried that? I love the simplicity of your recipes. It's been great to help me in my sourdough journey these last 6 months or so.
Butter For All
Sunday 3rd of May 2020
Hi Dan!
I've never had an issue with this bread dying out, but you could certainly try it! I'd love to hear if it was successful! I do use a similar technique with rye, and I have a recipe for that coming soon. Hope you have success in any case and enjoy all the recipes!
Thanks for the great feedback!
Courtney
Jenny
Thursday 30th of April 2020
Question, I tried making this recipe. I used AP flour (can't get bread flour right now) and used 1 cup whole wheat flour. I substituted honey and sugar for the coconut sugar but the rest was exactly as written. The dough did not raise at all, the overnight rise was about 12 hours, nothing. I just carried on and the second rise, nothing. My starter is active, bubbles beautifully, wonderful sour smell. Do you use the starter when active or non active? I fed my starter and when doubled that's when I pulled the 1/2 cup, stirred down.
Any suggestions? My place is a little cool (approximately 75°f). Haven't had an issue with other recipes though.
Butter For All
Sunday 3rd of May 2020
Hi Jenny,
Gosh, it's hard to say what happened there. It is possible for honey to affect fermentation, but usually not with an established starter. How old is your starter? What didi you do with the dough? Is it in the fridge? Did you bake?
Hope I can help,
Courtney
Angela
Tuesday 21st of April 2020
This is my first ever comment on a blog, but I just had to say that this was a fantastic and easy bread to make. I am a bit new at sourdough...OK, I have made a total of four recipes, so I am really new at it. I made another challah recipe that was more labor intensive and it didn't stand a candle to your easy recipe. I also liked that it was photogenic, too. Our son has a client that wants pictures of her nut spreads for advertising in local grocery stores. Your bread recipe made some beautiful pictures.
Butter For All
Tuesday 21st of April 2020
Hi Angela,
Wow, this is such great feedback. I'm so happy the recipe performed that well for you too. It's always nice to hear when someone is pleased with my recipes, so I appreciate you taking the time to comment!
Congratulations on becoming a sourdough!
Courtney
Lizi
Saturday 11th of April 2020
Just wanted to say this is one of our favorites! I don't usually get the rise quite as nice as yours -- I don't bake as frequently as probably should do a few more room temp feeds of my starter before I bake each time, but I'm usually too impatient! But even with less of a rise, it is still a phenomenally delicious bread! Our top favorite way to eat this bread is to turn it into french toast. It is beyond amazing. Thanks for the great recipe!
Butter For All
Monday 13th of April 2020
Hi Lizi,
What a nice comment, thank you!
I like to feed my starter a few hours before I put it in the fridge, that helps me keep it active for the next bake. Often times I pull the starter out and it doubles coming up to room temp. Might be something to try if you only want to bake once a week or so.
Anyway I'm so happy you like this recipe! Take care!
Courtney