Brie & Cranberry Stuffed Dough Balls

Fluffy tangzhong dough balls, stuffed with cranberry sauce & brie! These are a super easy appetizer or side dish to serve in the holidays, either at Thanksgiving or Christmas.

These brie & cranberry dough balls make a great festive starter, snack or side dish! Made with an enriched tangzhong dough, these bread rolls are soft, & fluffy and they’re stuffed with creamy brie & sweet cranberry sauce then topped with sesame seeds. To finish, we’re brushing our dough balls with melted butter that’s flavoured with fresh thyme, to give them a glossy finish & even more flavour!

This recipe makes a batch of 12 generously sized dough balls so they’re perfect for sharing. They’re perfect for the holidays (especially Thanksgiving or Christmas!) and they’re incredibly easy to make. You could serve them alongside your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner as a side dish or on their own as a tear & share style appetizer or snack! And if you’ve got loads of leftover, these dough balls can be served cold alongside cold cuts of meat, cheese, chutneys, crisps & all that good stuff…

For more homemade breads, take a look at our ever growing baking recipe collection! And for more festive recipes, check out our Christmas recipes.

Using A Tangzhong For The Fluffiest Bread

Using a tangzhong is the secret to making the softest, fluffiest bread! This is an Asian technique where a small portion of the flour & liquid in a bread recipe is pre cooked in a saucepan, to make a thick paste (like a roux). This paste is then cooled down & incorporated into the dough along with the other ingredients.

To make these bread rolls even fluffier, we are making the dough with half milk & half water, plus we’re using butter & egg to enrich the dough as well. All of these techniques combined makes the softest ever dough balls!

What You’ll Need

• Brie – A good brie makes all the difference here! You’ll need 180g, cut into 12 pieces.
• Cranberry Sauce – Each dough ball gets stuffed with half a teaspoon of cranberry sauce. This can be homemade or shop bought. If you’d like to make your own cranberry sauce, take a look at our homemade recipe!
• Sesame Seeds – We’re adding a sprinkling of sesame seeds to the top of our dough balls for some added crunch. Feel free to leave these out, if you’d prefer.
• White Bread Flour – A strong white bread flour is best for this dough ball recipe. Your flour should have a protein content between 12-14%. I use a Canadian white bread flour from Shipton Mill.
• Butter – We’re adding softened butter to our dough & brushing melted on top of the cooked bread. Make sure to use unsalted butter as this lets us control the salt content of the dough.
• Instant Yeast – We’re using instant yeast (fast action yeast) for this dough but dried active yeast will work as well! If using dried active yeast, you’ll need to activate it in the warm milk before adding it to the dough. You’ll also need to keep in mind that dough made with dried active yeast will take a bit longer to prove.
• Whole Milk – For a softer dough, we’re using whole milk. If you’ve only got semi skimmed milk, this will work as well.
• Salt – A good quality sea salt works best for homemade bread. I like to use Maldon.
• Milk Powder – Adding a teaspoon of milk powder is optional but gives the bread a deeper golden colour & softer texture. Don’t worry if you haven’t got any though, these dough balls can be made without it.

How To Make Brie & Cranberry Dough Balls

These brie & cranberry stuffed dough balls are based on my tanghzong dinner rolls but have a festive twist! To make these dough balls, we make a simple white bread dough with the addition of a tangzhong then stuff them with chunks of brie & a spoonful of cranberry sauce as we shape them. To finish, we’re brushing the tray of dough balls with a flavourful thyme butter.

Step 1 – Making The Tangzhong

First, we need to make the tangzhong. To do this, we place strong white bread flour, whole milk & water into a small saucepan, whisk together then cook over a low heat until thick, stirring constantly. Like when you make a roux!

Once cooked, we transfer the tangzhong to a bowl & leave it to cool to room temperature. This will take around 20 minutes.

Step 2 – Mixing The Dough

To make the dough, we place strong white bread flour, sea salt, caster sugar, instant yeast milk powder, a large egg, the cooled down tangzhong, milk & water into the bowl of a stand mixer then mix, using the dough hook until we’ve got a smooth dough that’s starting to come away from the sides of the bowl. This will take around 5 minutes of mixing on a medium speed.

Next, with the mixer still running, we add in room temperature butter a small amount at a time then continue mixing until the dough passes the windowpane test. This will take another 5 minutes or so, of mixing. There’s a full explanation of the windowpane test below!

Step 3 – First Rise

Once mixed, we let the dough to rise at room temperature for 1-1½ hours, until it has doubled in size.

Step 4 – Shaping

Once the dough has doubled in size, we knock back then transfer to a lightly floured work surface. We then use a bench scraper to cut the dough into 12 equal pieces (each will weigh around 60g).

To shape, take a ball of dough & flatten slightly with your hands. Next, place half a teaspoon of cranberry sauce into the centre then top with a small piece of brie. Fold the dough’s sides up & over the cheese, to seal completely then flip the dough over & shape into a ball with cupped hands. Place the shaped dough ball into a lined 9″ x 13″ baking tin, seam side down then repeat with the remaining dough.

Step 5 – Final Rise

When all the dough has been shaped, we cover the baking tin loosely with clingfilm (or a tea towel) then leave to rise at room temperature for 45 minutes – 1 hour. Once proved, the dough balls will be well risen & should just be touching each other. See the photo below, for a visual guide!

Step 6 – Baking

Before baking our dough balls, we need to brush the tops with egg wash (I use an egg mixed with a splash of milk) then top with a sprinkle of sesame seeds. Then to cook, we bake the dough balls at 180°c/356°f for 25-30 minutes until they are well risen and a deep golden brown.

Once cooked, we’re going to brush the dough balls with a generous amount of melted butter then we let them cool for at least 15 minutes before serving (they should be just warm!). Make sure not to serve the dough balls straight out of the oven as they’ll be too hot & the dough will be a bit doughy still!

For extra flavour, I like to add some finely chopped fresh thyme to the melted butter before brushing it onto the bread. Feel free to leave this out if you’d prefer though. We’re brushing the dough balls with butter to give them a glossy finish!

The Windowpane Test

The best way to assess the gluten development in your dough is by using the windowpane test. To perform the windowpane test, you take a small piece of dough & stretch it between your fingers. If it stretches thin enough so that you are able to see through it, enough gluten has been developed. If it tears, more kneading is required.

How To Reheat Dough Balls

Although this bread is best eaten fresh, if you happen to have any leftover they can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. To reheat, either wrap the baking tin with foil & place into a low temperature oven (around 170°c/350°f) for 10-15 minutes. Or, place the bread onto a plate & microwave for 20-30 second batches until warm.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Bread Recipes To Try!

• Baked Camembert Dough Ball Wreath
• Tear & Share Cheesy Garlic Bread
• 3 Day Poolish Pizza Dough
• Overnight Focaccia
• Potato Burger Buns
• Pizza Oven Pittas
• Overnight Tangzhong Doughnuts

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