Crusty Crackle-Top Bread
Dough Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian Recipes Oven Recipes
The inside is soft, white, and fluffy, while the outside is cracked and extra-crispy, giving the impression of rustic bread baked in grandma's wood-fired oven. But the method for achieving this crust, while ingenious (using the difference in rising rates between two types of flour), is very easy to put into practice.
It's ideal for sandwiches.
Ingredients
240 ml warm milk
60 ml warm water
2 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1 packet dry yeast
500 g all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
Crust
120 g rice flour
1/2 packet dry yeast (about 4 g)
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon oil
125 ml warm water
How to prepare crusty crackle-top bread
- Knead the dough from the first set of ingredients and let it rise in a warm place for 1 hour. I put them in the order listed in the bread machine and set it to the kneading and rising program.
- After that, divide the dough into 6 equal pieces. Shape them into rolls by pulling the dough edges underneath (if you want, you can roll them slightly to give them an elongated shape - I shaped 3 that way; the rest I left as round rolls).
- Cover the rolls with a plastic bag and let them rise for 15 minutes (no longer!).
- Meanwhile, mix all the crust ingredients together for 1 minute. You should get a paste that flows slowly off the whisk. If not, add a little water. Let the glaze rest for 15 minutes (while the rolls rise).
- Brush the rolls with this paste, gently so they don't deflate. I put the glaze on with a spoon and spread it with my fingers. The glaze layer shouldn't be very thin. At this stage, the rolls will look awful - don't panic 😊
- Bake the rolls at 200°C for 30 minutes. After 10 minutes, you'll notice the crust is already cracking. If they don't brown well enough in 30 minutes, switch the oven to grill/broil mode for 5 minutes until they get a nice color.
Shaped dough rising
Glazed bread
After 10 minutes of baking, the crust cracks
