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Classic St. Martin's Bread Men from Soft Yeast Dough, Just Like the Old Days

Prep
10 min
Bake
30 min
Total
40 min
Makes
10

Ingredients

  • 1 ⅔ cups400 mlmilkwarm
  • 1 stick110 gunsalted butterSoftened. German butter is unsalted and has about 82 percent fat. In the US use unsalted butter; European-style unsalted butter is closest. In the UK, unsalted butter.
  • ¾ tsp5 gsalt
  • 6large egg yolks
  • ¾ cup plus 1 tbsp170 ggranulated sugar
  • 1 cubeyeast1 cube of fresh yeast = 42 g. German recipes use either a 42 g cube of fresh yeast or a 7 g packet of dry yeast; one cube equals about two packets. In the US use active dry or instant yeast; one ¼ oz (7 g) envelope replaces half a cube of fresh yeast. In the UK, fast action dried yeast (7 g sachet per half cube), or fresh yeast from a supermarket bakery counter.
  • 7 ¼ cups900 gall-purpose flourIn German recipes plain flour means soft wheat flour Type 405 unless stated otherwise. In the US use all-purpose flour; in the UK, plain flour.

Optional

  • clay pipesSmall white clay pipes traditionally pressed into Weckmann bread men as decoration; they are not edible. In the US use Weckmann clay pipes ordered online, or leave them out; in the UK, Weckmann clay pipes ordered online, or leave them out.
  • handful of raisins or dried cranberries
  • 1large egg

Method

  1. Put three quarters of the flour into a bowl and make a well in the center. Pour the warm milk into the well, crumble in the yeast and add half of the sugar. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes so the yeast has a chance to become active.

  2. Add the remaining ingredients and knead the dough for 10 minutes, until everything comes together into a smooth, supple dough. If the dough is still very sticky, add the rest of the flour little by little. The dough should still be very soft and slightly sticky, but it shouldn't stick to your fingers in big clumps. Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm place for at least 60 minutes. Before you go on, it should have at least doubled in volume.

  3. After the first rise, punch the dough down completely and turn it out onto a floured work surface. For the bread men, divide the dough into 5 ¼ oz (150 g) pieces, roll them into balls and let them rest for another 10 to 15 minutes.

  4. Shape the balls into bread men and place them on a large baking sheet (about 16 × 14 inches / 40 × 35 cm; a US half sheet pan, 18 × 13 inches, works too) lined with parchment paper. Ideally, brush or spray them with a little water, then let them rise again for at least 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) convection (fan) or 400°F (200°C) conventional (top and bottom heat).

  5. Carefully brush the bread men with the beaten egg and put them into the hot oven. They bake for about 10 minutes and should be a lovely golden brown. Let them cool on the baking sheet and eat them the same day.

From German Pastry Chef. Full recipe with photos: germanpastrychef.com/recipes/st-martins-bread-men/