Brie & Cranberry Dough Balls
Brie & cranberry stuffed dough balls make the perfect Christmas snack! Made with a tangzhong, these are light, fluffy & super cheesy.
Servings: 12 Dough Balls
Equipment
- Digital Scales
- Digital Food Probe
- Stand Mixer
- Dough Scraper
- Metal Bench Knife
- 9" x 12" Baking Tin
- Pastry Brush
- Palette Knife
Ingredients
Tangzhong
- 20 g Strong White Bread Flour
- 40 g Whole Milk
- 40 g Water
The Dough
- 380 g Strong White Bread Flour
- 85 g Whole Milk
- 85 g Water
- 7 g Dried Active Yeast
- 8 g Maldon Salt
- 15 g Caster Sugar
- 1 tsp Milk Powder
- 1 Large Egg
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- 30 g Unsalted Butter At Room Temperature
To Stuff
- 180 g Brie
- 120 g Cranberry Sauce
Egg Wash & Topping
- 1 Large Egg
- 1 tsp Whole Milk
- 1 tsp Sesame Seeds
To Finish
- 25 g Unsalted Butter
- 2 tsp Thyme Leaves
Instructions
Tangzhong
- Place the flour, milk & water into a small saucepan & whisk to combine. Cook over a low heat until you have a thick paste, stirring constantly with a spatula.Transfer to a bowl & leave to cool to room temperature.
Dough
- Next, place the milk & water into a jug & warm in a microwave to 38°c/100°f (alternatively you could heat this up in a saucepan then transfer to a jug), then whisk in the yeast & leave to go bubbly, 5-10 minutes.
- To the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flour, salt, sugar, milk powder, egg, oil & the cooled down tangzhong. Give the activated yeast a whisk then add to the bowl. Using the dough hook, knead the dough on a medium speed until smooth & starting to come away from the sides of the bowl, around 5 minutes.
- With the mixer still going, add in the butter a small amount at a time, incorporating each piece fully before adding more. Once all the butter has been incorporated, keep mixing until the dough passes the window pane test, this will take roughly 5-10 minutes.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with clingfilm or a tea towel & leave to double in size at room temperature, 1-1½ hours.
- In the meantime, cut the brie into 12 equally sized pieces then place in the fridge.
- Grease & line a 9" x 12" baking tin.
- Once risen, knock the dough back then transfer to a lightly floured work surface. Using a metal bench knife, portion the dough into 12 equal pieces. They will weigh around 60g each.
- Take a piece of dough & flatten slightly. Place ½ tsp of cranberry sauce into the centre then top with a piece of brie.Fold the sides of dough up & over the cheese (so that the filling is completely covered) then flip the dough upside down & use your hands to shape into a ball.Place seam side down into the baking tin.
- Repeat with the remaining dough. In your baking tin, you should have four rows of three dough balls. Make sure that they are spaced equally apart.
- Cover the tin loosely with clingfilm & leave to rise at room temperature for 1 hour. The dough should have risen & the dough balls will just be touching.
- In the meantime, preheat an oven to 180°c/160°c fan (350°f/320°f).
- Once the dough is well risen, whisk together the egg & milk for the egg wash. Brush this all over the top of the dough then sprinkle over the sesame seeds.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, until a deep golden brown.
- Melt the butter, mix with the thyme leaves then brush over the bread, whilst it's still hot.
- Allow to cool slightly then serve.
- To remove the bread from the tin, run a palette knife around the outside & in between each bun. You will then be able to pull the bread out with your hands.
Notes
1. Cooking In An Aga- Cook the dough balls in the baking oven, on the bottom set of runners.
2. Storage - This bread is best served fresh but if you have any leftover, it can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days.
3. Reheating - To reheat, either wrap the baking tin with foil & place into a low temperature oven (around 160°c/320°f) for 10-15 minutes. Or, place the bread onto a plate & microwave for 20-30 seconds or until warm.
4. Flour - The flour that I used for this bread, is a Canadian strong white bread flour from Shipton Mill (in the UK). Any strong white bread flour can be used but I get the best results using this one.