Petits pains au lait

This recipe makes about 8 soft, slightly sweet brioche-like rolls, which are nice for breakfast or afternoon tea. You can easily make and prove the dough in a bread machine.

310 ml milk, or half milk, half water
1 egg
1 tsp salt
60 g butter at room temperature
3 tbs caster sugar
1 tbs vanilla sugar, or a few drops of vanilla extract
600 g white flour (this can be ordinary soft cake flour)
1 sachet easyblend yeast

If using a breadmaker, add the ingredients in the order specified in the breadmaker manual and set to “Dough”. Otherwise blend all ingredients in a food processor or by hand, put the ball of dough in a bowl covered with a cloth, and leave to rise in a warm place for about an hour and a half.

Knead slightly, cut into 8-10 pieces, and fashion into whatever shape of rolls you like, placing them on a greased baking sheet. Cover with a cloth and leave for another 40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200C. If you like, you can cut slits along the tops of the rolls with a sharp knife. Brush with a mixture of milk and sugar (or beaten egg if you want) and bake for 20 minutes, or until the bottoms sound hollow when tapped.