giraffe bread a.k.a. dutch crunch rolls ༼ (´・ω・`) ༽

i like the texture of this bread very much… it’s soft, but dense… how best to describe this? and recently, i enjoy pumping up the amount of sea salt in my bread to give it that salty taste. so good to eat it even on its own.. however, this is quite a failed attempt… the cracks on the giraffe body did not turn out the way i wanted it to be… plus! i thought the face looks more like a bear… a mouse… a whatever …. wuahhhhhhhh ヘ(>_<ヘ)… Mel, i’m disappointing you this time…

Recipe (er.. can’t recall where i printed this from … so apologies to the author)

Ingredients

Soft White Rolls

1.5 cups mlk
1.5 tbsp butter
3.5 – 4 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp active dry yeast
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp salt

Dutch Crunch Topping

1 tbsp active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 – 1 cup rice flour

Directions

– microwave milk and butter for about 1 minute, until milk is warm and butter has melted. stir together, and set aside to cool until lukewarm
– in a large bowl, whisk together 3 1/2 cups flour with yeast, sugar and salt. add lukewarm milk and butter mixture and fold in with a spatula until everything is combined in a somewhat sticky dough. if it is very sticky, add a bit more flour. otherwise, turn dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead, incorporating remaining flour only as needed, until the dough is elastic, tacky and smooth
– shape dough into ball with a smooth top surface and place in greased bowl. proof until it doubles in size
– line baking sheet with parchment paper. punch dough down and divide into 6 equal pieces (for jumbo burger size). shape each piece into a bawl by tucking the outer edges underneath and pinching them together as you would a twist-tie. place the balls of dough pinch-side down on prepared sheet, spaced apart from each other. cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise for another 35-40 mins, until puffy
– preheat oven to 425 degrees D. prepare dutch crunch topping by mixing all ingredients together. beat together well to form a smooth and thick batter that drips off the whisk in thick clumps. add additional rice flour as needed. let mixture sit for 15 mins
– spoon the topping in equal amounts over the fully risen roll. as you do so, it will start rolling over the sides of the roll. once you’ve used it all up, scoop up any excess topping that has dripped onto the baking sheets and use it to cover any areas of the rolls left exposed
– bake rolls in preheated oven for 15 mins, until golden brown on top. cool briefly before serving

Personal notes:

– i halved the recipe and made 5 giraffes (per giraffe – body 44g, ear 1g/side, face 8g) and 5 bread rolls, each weighing 37g
– i baked the bread for only 11 mins as the bottom of the bun was browning too quickly and the internal bread temperature has reached 96 degrees C (i usually remove bread from oven when it is 96 degrees C so that it continues cooking using the internal heat… i realised bread is fluffier that way). i wonder if my bun will burn if i continue baking it to achieve that nice brown top.. ┗( ●-﹏ ｀｡)づ

my messed up safari…  things don’t go your way all the time does it? ><

Pollution index: light showers in Tokyo