Brie & Cranberry 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.
Servings: 12 Dough Balls
Equipment
- Digital Scales
- Digital Food Probe
- Stand Mixer
- Dough Scraper
- Metal Bench Knife
- 9" x 13" Baking Tin
- Pastry Brush
- Palette Knife
Ingredients
Tangzhong
- 20 g Strong White Bread Flour
- 40 g Whole Milk
- 40 g Water
Dough
- 380 g Strong White Bread Flour
- 15 g Caster Sugar
- 8 g Maldon Salt
- 7 g Instant Yeast (Fast Action Yeast - See Notes)
- 1 tsp Milk Powder
- 1 Large Egg
- 85 g Whole Milk
- 85 g Water
- 40 g Unsalted Butter (At Room Temperature)
To Stuff
- 200 g Brie
- 100 g Cranberry Sauce
Egg Wash & Topping
- 1 Large Egg
- 1 tsp Whole Milk
- 1 tsp Sesame Seeds
To Finish
- 25 g Unsalted Butter (Melted)
- 2 tsp Finely Chopped 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.
- Once cooked, transfer the tangzhong to a bowl & leave to cool to room temperature.
Dough
- Add the flour into the bowl of a stand mixer, along with the sugar, salt, yeast, milk powder, egg & cooled down tangzhong.
- Next, add the milk & water into a jug, warm in a microwave to 38°c/100°f then pour into the flour.You can also do this in a pan, over a low heat.
- Using the dough hook, knead the dough on a medium speed until smooth & starting to come away from the sides of the bowl. This will take 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 around 5-10 minutes.The windowpane test is where you stretch a small amount of dough between your fingers. If it stretches thin enough to see through, the dough has developed enough gluten. If it tears, more kneading is required.
- Once the dough is ready, transfer it to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with clingfilm or a tea towel & leave to double in size at room temperature. This will take between 1-1½ hours.
- In the meantime, cut the brie into 12 equally sized pieces then place in the fridge until needed. You'll also need to grease & line a 9"x13" baking tin with baking parchment.
Shaping
- 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. Each piece should weigh around 60 grams.
- Next, take a piece of dough & flatten slightly with your hands. 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 45 minutes - 1 hour. The dough should have risen by almost double & the dough balls will just be touching.
Baking
- Whilst your dough balls are proving, preheat an oven to 180°c/160°c fan (356°f/320°f).
- Once the dough is well risen, whisk together the egg & milk for the egg wash then brush a good layer over the top of the dough and sprinkle with the sesame seeds.
- Bake the dough balls in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, until they're a deep golden brown.
- Whilst the dough balls are baking, add the melted butter & chopped thyme into a small bowl then stir to combine. Brush this all over the dough balls as soon as they come out of the oven.
- Let the dough balls cool for 5-10 minutes 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.If the dough balls are too hot, you won't be able to lift them out of the tin!
Notes
1. Cooking In An Aga- Cook the dough balls in the baking oven, on the bottom set of runners. Use the simmering plate to cook the tangzhong.
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. Leftover dough balls can be served warm, cold or at room temperature.
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. Make sure to use a bread flour with a protein content between 12-14%.
5. Cranberry Sauce - You can use either a homemade or shop bought cranberry sauce for this recipe. If you'd like to make your own, I'd recommend my boozy cranberry sauce.