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Marcia Harris's milk buns

An easy family recipe.

Milk buns. Credit: Chris Young / www.realbreadcampaign.org CC-BY-SA-4.0

Milk buns. Credit: Chris Young / www.realbreadcampaign.org CC-BY-SA-4.0

Marcia has used this recipe when working with children and parents. She demonstrated this occasional treat in the Theatre of Food at Latitude Festival 2024, with the help of children from the audience.

Marcia suggests that things you can talk, or find out, about together while waiting for the dough rise include:

  • Yeast and what it does
  • The Latin word for yeast
  • Why bakers sometimes add salt later in the process. 

‘During the first proof, the children can think about how they’ll shape the buns. Maybe they’ll be bunnies, hedgehogs, flowers, or braids. They could draw pictures, or you can look up different dough shaping techniques together online. They can also think about adding, or filling with, something, and what flavour combinations might work well.’

Real Bread Campaign note: Though sugar helps to create the characteristics of sweet, enriched breads like this one, you do not need to add any form of sugar when making plain or savoury bread.

Ingredients 

Makes 6 buns

300g white strong/bread flour 
200g whole / full fat milk
35g caster sugar 
7g fresh yeast 
30g unsalted butter
3-4g salt

Optional inclusions 

Such as…

  • Sweet: orange zest, powdered cinnamon, raisins or other dried fruit.
  • Savoury: Hard cheese (for example cheddar, parmesan or pecorino), dried herbs, chilli flakes. Leave out the sugar in making a savoury version.

Method

In a bowl or on a work surface, rub the fresh yeast into the flour and sugar (unless making savoury buns). Add the milk and mix to form a shaggy dough, then cover it and leave to rest for about 10 to 20 minutes.

Squeeze and pinch the butter into the dough using one hand, so you keep the other one clean. It might feel really squishy, but keep going until the butter is fully mixed in. When the dough is no longer sticky, instead feeling smooth and a bit stretchy, move it to a lightly-floured surface. Now you can use both hands and really knead the dough until it is very elastic. This all takes about 10 minutes by hand.

Lightly oil a large container or bowl, place the dough inside, put a lid or cover on and leave the dough to rise. At room temperature (18-20°C), this will take about an hour to an hour and a half. If the room is warmer, it will take less time. A lower temperature will slow down the process, so if you want to bake the next day, you can leave the dough overnight in the fridge.

Divide the dough into six, equally-sized pieces, ideally using scales, but you can do it by eye.

Flatten each piece of dough and, if using, add your sweet or savoury inclusions to taste - less is more!

Roll each piece of dough up into a tube/sausage shape, pinching each end closed. Cover and leave to rest 5-10 minutes. 

Shape each piece of dough into a ball and place on a tray (either greased or lined with baking paper/parchment) with a centimetre or two between them.

Cover the dough and leave to rise for about an hour to an hour and a half. Now’s the time to tidy and wash up!

Heat the oven to 200°C / 180°C fan.

Before baking, finish each bun. This can be as simple as brushing with milk. If using cheese, you can grate a little on top. 

Slide the tray into the oven and bake for around 15 to 20 minutes, checking after 10 minutes and turning the tray around if they are baking unevenly.

Take the buns out of the oven and off the tray, then leave on a wire rack to cool before eating.

An option for sweet buns is brushing while still with a glaze made by heating together equal weights of orange juice and sugar.

About the baker

Marcia Harris is a child and family support practitioner at a primary school in north London. She’s also founder of The Flour Union, dedicated to offering inspiring workshops for families focused on the art of baking. This social enterprise’s flagship programme, Bread that Bonds, is a unique therapeutic bread-making experience that encourages and strengthens the bond between parents and children. Marcia became a Real Bread Campaign ambassador in 2021 and again in 2024.


Recipe text © Marcia Harris. Reproduction prohibited without written permission of the copyright holder.


Social sharing

If you make this Real Bread, please share your photo(s) with the world on social media using #RealBread and other relevant hashtags, linking back to this recipe. Better still if we can see you in the photo, too: #WeAreRealBread!

Please don't forget to credit the recipe's author and us. We're at:

Published Wednesday 30 October 2024

Real Bread Campaign: The Real Bread Campaign finds and shares ways to make bread better for us, better for our communities and better for the planet. Whether your interest is local food, community-focussed small enterprises, honest labelling, therapeutic baking, or simply tasty toast, everyone is invited to become a Campaign supporter.

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