Enriched Dough Guide: 6 Tips for Baking With Enriched Dough

Basic bread dough (also known as lean dough) contains just four ingredients: flour, water, yeast, and salt. These simple ingredients produce some of the world's most iconic loaves. But some breads take things a step forward with extra ingredients such as eggs, milk, and sugar. You can make enriched dough with sourdough starter or commercial yeast (such as active dry yeast or instant yeast), and the resulting breads can be savory or sweet. Think of enriched dough as an umbrella category for a wide variety of different breads.

Although "enriched" can mean almost anything, enriched doughs almost always contain at least one of the following ingredients.

1. 1. Sugar: Sweet doughs have a weak gluten network because sugar bonds to water molecules, blocking the flour proteins from doing the same. Sugar's water-absorbing qualities also yield a moist, tender crumb. Since sugar browns quickly, sweet breads can burn before they're fully cooked, which is why enriched breads often bake at lower temperatures.
2. 2. Eggs: Though the fat and emulsifiers in egg yolks weaken dough’s gluten network by bonding to flour proteins, the proteins in egg whites contribute to the dough's structure (think of egg whites whipped to stiff peaks). Breads made with eggs are tender and slow to stale. An egg wash added to the outside of a bread will yield a dark, shiny crust.
3. 3. Butter: Butter and other fats disrupt gluten development in dough in the same way as egg yolks, bonding with flour proteins so that they can't bond together.
4. 4. Milk: Milk (and buttermilk) weaken the gluten network while also yielding tender breads with a longer shelf life.

Enriched doughs can yield some of the most delicious breads. Use these strategies for the best results.

1. 1. Knead flour and water together first. Most enriching ingredients weaken dough’s gluten network. For an enriched bread with a solid structure, an easy solution is to build the gluten network first by kneading, and then add the remaining ingredients.
2. 2. Use a stand mixer. Since enriched doughs contain gluten-weakening ingredients, they often require gentle, prolonged kneading. This is a great time to give your arms a break and let an electric stand mixer fitted with a dough hook do the work for you. On low speed, the machine will accomplish in minutes what could take you hours.
3. 3. Add extra yeast. Some recipes for enriched breads call for extra yeast to compensate for the sugar and other ingredients.
4. 4. Expect a longer rise. Enriched doughs typically have longer fermentation times, so plan for a slow dough rise.
5. 5. Chill the dough before you shape it. Doughs with a strong gluten network are easy to work with, due to the developed gluten's elasticity, but enriched doughs can be wet and messy. Refrigerate enriched dough before handling it. The cold makes the dough more solid and easier to shape.
6. 6. Bake enriched dough in a loaf pan. Since enriched doughs tend to be fragile, they're often baked in loaf pans or other containers that help them hold their shape.

The most famous breads made with enriched dough include:

1. 1. Babka: A Jewish treat enriched with sugar, eggs, and butter, and swirled with chocolate.
2. 2. Brioche: This buttery French dough is enriched with eggs, sugar, and plenty of butter. Learn how to make brioche.
3. 3. Challah: A braided Jewish bread enriched with oil, eggs, and sometimes sugar. Learn how to make challah.
4. 4. Cinnamon rolls: Cinnamon roll dough is enriched with butter, sugar, and eggs and then rolled around a cinnamon-sugar mixture. It's usually proofed in the refrigerator overnight.
5. 5. Dinner rolls: Fluffy dinner rolls are typically enriched with butter and milk.
6. 6. Donuts: Donuts are fried, not baked, but they're still made with a yeasted dough that is enriched with sugar, milk, and eggs.

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