Soft sweet milk buns - Pains au lait

My 4 years-old is missing tonight... he's got invited for a sleep over at his friend's place. I should be having a party but instead I feel a little bit lonely. I am so not used to the silence in my home. But that's not the topic of this post.
This morning, first thing after he woke up, he got his backpack and started getting ready for this very first time event: he chose his favourite pj - no need to say his dinosaur pj -, some spare clothes for tomorrow and all the first necessity things. It was 8am and he was already ready to leave maman and papa for a new adventure. So to keep him busy before the separation - around 4 pm, we decided to make soft sweet milk buns with chocolate filling for a shared breakfast with his little mate.

These soft sweet milk buns - called pains au lait in French - are half way through in between bread and brioche. They are fluffy, soft and moist, and only slightly sweet. They are a quite a healthy treaty snack for little ones, including my 11 months old bubba. For the older ones, they can be filled with chocolate or jam. In general, they are perfect for breakfast or school snack. For breakfast, you can spread chocolate, jam or butter over it. You can even half them and toast them slightly. Yum!

As a child, I used to love those milky buns, with or without filling they are a hit with kids! As a grown-up I still love them and made several attempts before I finally found the best recipe, the one that reminds me of the bakery of my childhood in my hometown in the countryside of France. That's the recipe I'm sharing with you today. This recipe makes 12 buns - I made 8 chocolate-filled buns and 4 nature for my No.2.

No. 1 and I had lots of fun together making those buns, although as you can imagine that wasn't necessarily easy to manage the impatience of a 4 years-old: 'Wash your hands first.' 'No I said wash your hands first, yes with soap... AND water!!!' 'Now dry out your hands honey.' 'No! don't touch the eggs, not yet... be careful you may break them...' 'so now we need to measure the flour, when you see a 5 and two zeros here (I write on the white board to help him - he's only 4!), it means we have enough flour, alright?... that's good (25 g)... you're doing well (80g)... yep, yep, keep going... (90 g)... (115 g)... we need more honey... well I mean flour... (150 g)... (200 g)... ... ... (300 g)... (400 g)... a bit more... (650 g)... Ooopsie that was just too much (target was 500 g)...' Anyway, that's how it goes when baking with little ones. Just don't expect too much from your kids and you'll make it. As say a French blogger I like very much: "Our kids are all perfect! We (mums) are so imperfect... so what?" But with a dose of humour and lots of patience we can make it.
Really to be honnest I sounded more like: 'NOoooooo!! not YET! Wait, WAit, WA-IT!' 'That's good, yep, yep... nah, no, gentle... gen-tle... don't leek your fingers! GENTLE!!!... Don't touch... no don't touch... do not touch!... AAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!'
But we did it! I am very proud of my little baker.  Don't they look gorgeous? - by the way my boy looked gorgeous, too, in his apron and with his chef's hat, but I don't feel ready to commit my kids' privacy, so sorry no pics.

Now the recipe...

Ingredients (12 buns)

- 500 g  (+ 1 tbsp) high grade flour*
- 50 g butter, cubed
- 80 g caster sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 egg + milk = 280 g - these two liquid sources (the egg and the milk) should add up to 280 g, no more!*
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp milk, slightly warm
- 1 sachet (or 2.5 tsp) yeast
- 1 yolk + 2 tbsp milk for egg wash the buns
- 1 tsp chocolate spread or jam per bun (optional)
- 2 tsp icing sugar and few drops of water (optional)

Instructions (~ 2.5 hours)

1. Prepare a starter with 2 tbps of warm milk and the dry yeast - mix together and rest for 10 mins. Alternatively you can use instant yeast.
2. Mix together the flour, the salt, the sugar, the egg and milk, and the vanilla extract together. Add the starter and knead for 5 mins. The dough should stick to the bowl.
3. Gradually add the butter while kneading the dough until the dough does no longer stick to the bowl - knead approx. 10 mins. I usually use my food processor (or any kitchen aid) for 5 mins and knead by hand for another 5 mins because I love kneading the dough - that's the funniest part when baking with kids! The dough must be soft and tacky,* just slightly sticky, and stretching. If the dough is too wet and sticks too much on the bowl edges, you may want to add the extra tbsp of flour.

At the beginning of the leavening process

4. Put the dough in a bowl and cover with a clean cloth - rest for 1 hour or until it has doubled volume.
5. Degas the dough by pushing it down with your fist, remove all the bubbles.

Degasing the dough until it is flat and all the bubbles have gone

6. Proportion the dough into 12 equal portions (I got 925 g of dough, about 77 g each) and round them. Let them relaxing a few minutes (the time you get ready for the following)
7. Flatten each ball (with your hand or with a rolling pin) and lay a tsp of chocolate spread in the centre.

Fold the bottom edge over the chocolate, then the top edge. Tight the ends and roll gently.

8. To form the bun, fold the dough to cover the chocolate and to tight the ends and roll gently in a bun.
9. Rest for another 30 mins under a clean cloth. Pre-heat the oven, fan bake, at 200C.

Once formed, let the buns leaven for another 30 mins. Then egg wash.

10. Egg wash the buns all over the surface with the yolk and milk mix.
11. Reduce the oven at 180C and bake for 15 mins. Allow for enough space between each buns if you want to let them to grow individually.

12. If you want, you can glaze the buns with some icing: I use a very light icing, which I put on the bun still warm, just for the shiny effect and for the sprinkles, but I personally prefer them without, just like they were in my childhood.

Enjoy!

Good to know...

* It is very important to use high grade flour: the use of a strong flour (rich in gluten) is crucial to get nice and fluffy buns because it boosts the yeast leavening action.
* In bread making the flour/liquid ratio is primordial: make sure the egg and the milk together add up to 280 g, for the prescribed 500 g flour and 50 g butter.
* Tacky means that when you press you hand on the dough, it easily releases without leaving much dough on your hand, while a sticky dough will clearly stick to your hand.