Okay, so I’ve been wanting to get better at making bread, especially the sweet kind, you know? Like those soft, fluffy buns you get at Asian bakeries. The problem is, making dough takes time, and sometimes I just don’t have that kind of time on a weekday. So I thought, why not try freezing the dough? I did some digging and it seemed totally doable, so here’s how my little experiment went.
Mixing and First Rise
First, I grabbed my go-to sweet bread recipe – the one I’ve messed up a few times but finally got the hang of. I mixed all the ingredients: flour, sugar, yeast, milk, eggs, the whole shebang. I always get a little nervous when it comes to kneading, hoping I don’t overwork it or underwork it. This time, I kneaded it for a good 10 minutes until it was nice and smooth, and not sticking to my hands too much.
Then, I put the dough ball in a lightly oiled bowl, covered it with plastic wrap, and let it rise in a warm spot. I think I left it for about an hour, maybe a little longer, until it doubled in size. This part is always so satisfying to watch!
Shaping and Freezing
After the first rise, I punched the dough down – gotta get that air out. Then, I divided it into smaller portions. I was thinking of making individual buns, so I rolled each portion into a ball. I placed some of the dough balls onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, making sure they weren’t touching.
Here is what I did:
- Wrapped the baking sheet tightly with plastic wrap. Make sure it is air tight.
- Put them in the freezer.
I left the dough balls to sit in the freezer.
The Second Rise and Baking (The Next Day…Or Week!)
Okay, so fast forward to when I actually wanted to bake the bread. I took the frozen dough balls out of the freezer and placed them on a new baking sheet, still with parchment paper. I covered them loosely with plastic wrap and let them thaw and rise again. This took a while, longer than the first rise, I placed them in the fridge overnight.
Once they puffed up nicely (I poked them gently to make sure they were ready – they should slowly spring back), I brushed them with an egg wash (just a beaten egg with a little water). This gives them that nice golden color. Finally, I baked them in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 15-20 minutes, until they were golden brown and smelled amazing.
The Verdict
They turned out pretty good. They tasted freshly baked, soft and fluffy. Freezing the dough definitely didn’t ruin the texture or flavor. The great things is I can pull a few dough balls out of the freezer whenever I want a warm, freshly baked treat. I’d say this experiment was a success!
