No-Knead Low-Fat Soft European Bread Super Easy! Success in One Try
1. The steps are very detailed, make sure to read carefully for guaranteed success. 2. Prepare the dough one day in advance!!! The dough needs to be made 12 hours ahead!!!! Please plan and prepare in advance!!! 3. No need to knead the dough, no skills required. 4. Fillings can be swapped according to personal preference. 5. If you love mochi, you can add half more of the amount. 6. The color can also be changed freely. I used red yeast rice powder and pink edible dye here, but you can opt for natural colors as well. 7. If you don’t like whole wheat flour, you can substitute it with regular high-gluten flour. 8. Apart from preparing the dough the night before (20 minutes for the dough), it took me 2.5 hours to make the European bread. Honestly, I found it very very simple. There's no need to obsess over forming a membrane; this recipe can naturally form a bit of a membrane. 9. I am really absolutely useless at kneading dough!! 10. Steps: Prepare the dough ➡️ let it rise for 30 minutes, steam the mochi and sweet potatoes ➡️ divide the dough ➡️ prepare the fillings and set aside ➡️ make the bread ➡️ let rise in warm water ➡️ bake.
Ingredients
Steps
Mix the dough ingredients: milk 120g, egg 1, salt 3g, sugar 30g in a bowl and stir evenly; then melt the butter in advance using water bath method and add to the mixture.
Step Two: Mix 250g whole wheat flour and 4g yeast thoroughly.
Step Three: Divide the liquid mixture prepared earlier into two portions, add 4g red yeast rice powder in one, and 5 drops of edible dye in the other. Stir well and set aside.
Separate the flour into two portions, and add the prepared colored liquid into each portion.
Knead into doughs. It’s better to wear gloves at the beginning to avoid sticking. It may be slightly sticky initially, but knead a few more times and it’s fine. The most important step: Cover the kneaded dough with cling film and place it in the fridge to cold ferment for over 12 hours at 4-5°C.
I prepared the dough at around 8pm and used it by 9am the next day. After refrigeration, take it out and let rise at a warm place for 30 minutes. (Picture shows the risen dough, leave the cling film on)
Finished risen dough: poke a hole in it with your finger, it won’t shrink back.
Divide the two doughs into 8 portions and round them up (I didn’t weigh, just estimated). I kept cling film on throughout to prevent the dough from drying.
While letting the dough rise, prepare the mochi and fillings: mix all the mochi ingredients except butter in a plate, stir evenly, cover with cling film, and steam for 20 minutes after water boils. Glutinous rice flour 65g, corn starch 10g, sugar 5g, milk 140g.
I steamed the purple sweet potato, pumpkin, and sweet potato together with the mochi, but they were placed into the steamer when the water was still cold, while the mochi waited until the water boiled before steaming.
If adding butter to mochi, do it at this step: Knead the steamed mochi with butter while it is still hot, until the mochi absorbs the butter.
Complete setup: Add an appropriate amount of milk to the steamed purple sweet potato and sweet potato, mash them into purée using a spoon (just enough milk, don’t measure, as long as it’s not too runny). Pumpkin doesn’t need milk as it’s watery.
I wrapped two shapes. This is the round shape. Roll a piece of dough into a circle (for a round shape, it’s better to keep the middle thicker and the edges thinner). Add mochi, purple sweet potato, sweet potato, pork floss, and honey beans in sequence. Sometimes I added pumpkin, sometimes not, depending on preference, as I didn’t have much pumpkin. Mochi was handled with gloves to prevent sticking.
Then wrap it like wrapping a dumpling.
The other shape is oval (for oval shape, the edges should ideally be slightly thicker for easier sealing).
Seal the edges (seam side down).
Second fermentation: Place the wrapped European bread in the oven with a bowl of hot water (don’t turn on the oven), let ferment for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Preheat the oven for 5 minutes, set upper heat to 170°C and lower heat to 160°C. I wanted to score the bread diagonally for a prettier look but forgot. Bake on the middle rack for 20 minutes. Sprinkle powdered sugar after baked.
Actual outcome: It looks great and is delicious, mainly because there's no need to knead the dough—it’s super easy.