A wreath of pillowy milk bread, wrapped around a spicy cream cheese filling. # 318: Wool Roll Bread

This clever little rolled-up ring of dough brought me so much joy this week! Despite throwing out my back while trying to put away my stand mixer on the bottom shelf of the pantry… If that’s not a welcome to my 30s, not sure what is.

When I first saw the name “wool roll bread,” I pictured a fancy brioche knot or an intricately plaited loaf. I buckled up for a complicated bake, but joke’s on me: the thin ridges of dough are created by simply cutting the top section of rolled-out dough into thin rows and rolling it up so the sliced part sits on top. Voilà!

I’m already imagining cute riffs on the design, like braiding some of the dough strips to make it look like a chunky knit sweater. Ooo with a sweet filling, it would be the perfect pairing with a mug of hot chocolate and a Christmas movie!

This dough uses the tangzhong method, which I dove into in 2020 with my first attempt at milk bread. To paraphrase past me: pre-cooking a mixture of water, milk and flour gives the dough a head start on hydrating. When cooked, the starch in the flour changes structure, allowing it to absorb and store more liquid that will later be released as steam when the dough is baked.

The extra internal steam results in a fluffier, softer crumb. Yay science!

The line up.

Unrelated, but I’m obsessed with our new salt cellar. He’s very wise.

Nap time.

You could technically do this in one super long roll, but chopping it into 4 pieces is way easier.

My sweet-tooth needed a break, so I went with a furikake spice mix from Oaktown Spice Shop.

She cute.

Definitely going for thinner strips next time!

All snuggled up for nap #2.

Poof.

That egg wash glow.

I was cutting the wreath into sections to share with family and had a weird urge to rearrange them into a squiggly line. An infinity loaf, if you will? Now you can’t un-see it. You’re welcome (sorry.)

Happy munching!

Recipe mostly from: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/filled-wool-roll-bread-recipe