Homemade Dutch Crunch Bread

Okay. I don't know if Dutch Crunch is a Bay Area thing or what, because no one in Utah seems to have heard of it... but it is the BEST kind of bread ever. I made this when I had a few hours to kill on a Sunday morning (my church doesn't start until 1, and I inherited the family gene of being a morning person...). It was GREAT!!! Easier to make than I thought (just time consuming) and WAYYY good.

In the oven:

Fresh Bread:

This Recipe makes 7-8 rolls (depending on size) and the rolls are great for sandwiches!!!

Bread
2 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup warm milk

1 Tbsp. sugar

2 tsp. vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp. salt

2.5 - 3.5 cups all purpose flour (I used bread flour, but I doubt it matters)

Topping

1 Tbsp. active dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup white rice flour

1. Place sugar and yeast along with the warm water, warm milk and oil in your mixer bowl. Mix for 30 seconds and let sit a few minutes until dissolved.

2. Mix salt with 2 1/4 cups flour and to the bowl, mixing on medium until the dough comes together.

3. Switch to dough hook and slowly add the last 1 1/4 cup until bowl pulls away from the side of the bowl. I ended up adding a total of 2 3/4 cups.

4. Turn mixer to medium and knead until tacky and smooth. Alternatively, you can do this step by hand.

5. Place dough in an oiled container and let rise until it has doubled, approximately an hour.

6. Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface. Shape into 8 balls and place on lined baking sheet, and cover. Let sit for 15 minutes. (I ended up with 8 balls of approximately 90 grams each.

7. In the meantime, mix up topping. Dissolve yeast and sugar in water. Add in vegetable oil. Then rice flour. Whisk all ingredients together until you get a thick cake batter-like consistency. It should be smooth. Let sit for the rest of the 15 minutes, plus another 10 minutes.

8. Rolls should have risen a little bit by this point. With a brush, spread topping all over each of the rolls. This should be done in a thick layer. Brush a generous layer on each roll. Then brush a second layer on each roll, using up all of the batter. This step is why you need parchment or a silpat on your baking sheet.

9. Let rolls rise for another 20 minutes until puffy. In the meantime, preheat oven to 350F.

10. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool. You must let them cool--the topping tastes a bit weird until it's completely set and cooled.