This bread was made out of necessity and because of my sister's incessant begging for me to replicate the herb bread that she fell in love with when we had breakfast in a hotel in Korea. The dough was pretty sticky and made a little mess, so be sure to flour your work surface often.
It's best to serve this bun with butter and jam, for it's a little lacking when eaten plain.
Anytime Butter Twists, adapted from Fast Breads by Elinor Klivans
Ingredients:
3/4 cup milk
192g unbleached all purpose flour, plus more if dough is too sticky
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 egg
113g cold butter, cut into 16 pieces
70g butter, melted
Seasonings(optional):
Sea salt
Black pepper
Sesame seeds
Oregano
Parmesan Cheese
Method:
1. Heat milk over medium heat to about 130F/54C.
2. In a large bowl, stir 128g flour, sugar, salt and yeast. Add the hot milk and stir to combine. Stir in the egg until blended.
3. In another bowl, sift in remaining flour. Scatter cold butter pieces on top. Using your fingertips, or a pastry blender, work the butter into the flour until flour-coated pea-sized pieces form. Stir the butter-flour mixture into the milk mixture until the flour is moistened and a sticky dough forms. You will see pieces of butter.
4. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours or up to 4 days.
5. Prepare 2 baking sheets. Remove half of the dough from the fridge.
6. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough into a rectangle 10 by 4 inches and 3/8 inches thick. Pat the dough to make the edges even if necessary.
7. Brush the dough with 1tbsp melted butter. Sprinkle the seasonings you're using on the dough and press it lightly onto the dough.
8. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough lengthwise, into 10 by 1 inch strips. Holding both ends of the strip, twist the ends until it forms a tightly twisted strip. Place it on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with other strips.(As the dough was too sticky for me to handle, I just rolled the dough into a ball and placed it on the baking sheet.)
9. Brush the twists with some melted butter. Repeat with other half of dough if using.
10. Cover the twists lightly with plastic wrap and let rise until slightly puffed, 30 minutes. They will not rise much. At the same time, preheat your oven to 375F/190C.
11. Remove the plastic wrap and bake the twists for 20 minutes. Let it cool for 15 minutes. Serve.
