Quick Sweet Bread Dough |No First Proof|
This quick, sweet bread dough is easy to make, versatile, and perfect for everything from soft rolls to babka and filled buns. With a simple method that uses a quick yeast sponge and a warm rise, it delivers light, fluffy results every time
Updated recipe from 2010.
HOW QUICK SWEET BREAD DOUGH WORKS
What makes this dough special is the way I use instant yeast. Instead of adding it directly to the flour, I always ‘speed activate’ it by making a quick sponge. I mix the yeast with warm milk, a bit of flour, and a touch of honey, which feeds the yeast right away and gets it bubbly and vigorous within minutes. This simple step jumpstarts the process and helps create a beautifully risen dough.
Once the sponge is ready, I knead the dough until it pulls away from the bowl. I usually let it knead for about 10 minutes in a mixer. Then comes a short resting period (10-20 minutes) in a warm spot, which allows the gluten to relax and makes the dough much easier to shape.
After shaping, the dough goes through a second, deeper rise for 1 to 2 hours, depending on what you’re making. This step is key to achieving that soft, fluffy texture. And here’s the most important part: warmth. This dough thrives in a warm, slightly humid environment. My favorite trick is to place a bowl of hot water in the oven alongside the dough. Close the oven door and let the gentle warmth and steam do the work. It’s a simple method I’ve relied on for years whenever I need quick, dependable sweet bread, and it never disappoints.
THINGS YOU NEED
- My Favorite Baking Tools – all the tools can be found in my shop, or otherwise stated.
- Mixer with a hook attachment or prepare dough by hand
- Spatula
- Mixing Bowls
- Whisk
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INGREDIENTS
- Flour
- Honey & Sugar
- Instant Dry Yeast
- Milk
- Butter
- Egg Yolks or a whole egg
- Vanilla Extract
- Salt
PREPARE YEAST SPONGE
- Into a medium bowl, pour warm milk (not hot, around 100°F-110°F / 38°C).
- Add a pinch of honey, instant yeast, and a tablespoon of flour.
- Whisk well and let sit for 5 minutes.
- Wait until the mixture is foamy on the surface.
KNEAD YEAST DOUGH
- Into a bowl of your stand mixer, add flour, sugar, and salt. Whisk well.
- Add all the wet ingredients and stir with a spoon until well combined.
- Use a hook attachment to knead the dough.
- I usually knead it for about 5 to 10 minutes until it’s smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. The dough should be soft.
- Dump the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for a minute. Shape the dough into a ball.
- Let the dough rest for 10-20 minutes to relax the gluten. Place it in a bowl, cover it, and let it rest in the oven with a pot of hot water on the bottom.
- After 10-20 minutes, you can start shaping buns and rolls.
- Once you have filled and shaped the buns, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment.
- Cover with a damp paper towel or oiled food wrap and let rise in a draft-free, warm, and slightly humid spot for 1-2 hours. Depending on the side of the buns/rolls.
- Brush with an egg wash or milk. Sprinkle with streusel topping, or sugar, or keep it plain.
- Bake at 350°F (180°C) until the buns are golden.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Mix yeast with warm milk, a little flour, and a 1/4 teaspoon of honey to quickly wake it up and get it bubbly. Honey is a simple sugar, and it feeds the yeast more efficiently.
Knead the dough until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes) to build a strong gluten network.
Resting in a warm spot relaxes the gluten, making shaping much easier.
Form buns, rolls, babka, or sheet breads.
Let the shaped dough rise for 1–2 hours. This step is crucial for soft, fluffy results.
Use a warm spot – an oven with a bowl of hot water (3-4 cups) to help the dough rise properly.
Cinnamon buns, filled jam buns, Moravian Kolache, babka, fruit sheet breads, and small bread tarts. Possibilities are endless.
Baked sweet rolls, filled buns can also be frozen. They keep well in the freezer for up to 2-3 months.
MORE BREAD RECIPES
Quick Sweet Bread Dough Recipe |No First Proof|
Ingredients
- 3 2/3 cups all-purpose flour 500-520grams
- 3¼ tsp instant dry yeast
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar 65 grams
- 1 cup warm milk 250ml/grams
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled 1 stick is 113 grams
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Melt butter (1 stick, 113 grams) and let it cool to room temperature. Into the melted butter, whisk two egg yolks and vanilla extract (1 teaspoon), and set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together warm milk (1 cup, 250 ml), sugar (1/4 teaspoon), dry active yeast (3¼ teaspoons), and flour (1 tablespoon). Let sit for 5 minutes or until foamy.
- Add flour (3⅔ cups, 500-520 grams), granulated sugar (1/3 cup, 65 grams), and a pinch of salt into your stand mixer bowl. Whisk well.
- Into the flour mixture, pour all the yeast mixture and the butter-egg mixture. With a wooden spoon, stir until combined. If the dough appears too dry, add 1 tablespoon of warm water or milk. If the dough appears too wet, add 1-2 tablespoons of flour.
- Knead dough with a hook attachment until dough is smooth, about 5 to 10 minutes.
- Invert the dough onto a lightly floured surface and continue kneading for 1 minute until it forms a ball. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes to relax the gluten.
- Fill and shape buns, rolls, and small bread tarts. Cover with a lightly oiled food wrap and a kitchen towel, and let rise in a warm spot for 1 to 2 hours.
- Bake in the preheated oven at 350℉ (180℃) until golden. Depending on the size regular-size buns take 12-15 minutes.
Notes
-
Can I make the dough ahead of time? You can proof the dough in the fridge overnight. Reduce the amount of instant yeast in the recipe to 2 1/2, and let the dough rise, covered in the fridge overnight. The next day, shape the buns, let them rise in a warm, draft-free spot, and bake.
Alternatively, you can shape the buns first, cover them well with oiled food wrap, and refrigerate overnight. The next day, let them come to room temperature, allow them to rise, and then bake.
Can I freeze baked rolls?
Yes, baked rolls can be frozen for up to 2-3 months.
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Hi, I’m Hani
Welcome!
Thank you for visiting Haniela’s. On my blog, you’ll find delicious sweet & savory recipes made with simple ingredients. Why not start a new adventure? Discover a world of cookie decorating with my step-by-step tutorials.
Hi, I’m Hani
Welcome!
Thank you for visiting Haniela’s. On my blog, you’ll find delicious sweet & savory recipes made with simple ingredients. Why not start a new adventure? Discover a world of cookie decorating with my step-by-step tutorials.
I did make the bread loaf,was very good and vary close to my Grandmother’s sweet bread this time I added a tad more sugar just to see I’ll give update on how it tastes 😋
Hi Cindi,
That’s wonderful. Are you making Paska/Easter Style Bread loaf?
Can I freeze the dough before baking it up like most of them are find inthe freezer
Hi Cindi,
yes you can freeze it, you can shape the buns and freeze them before letting them rise.
Allow them to come to room temperature and rise before baking.
Thank you I kind of figured you could but ,I do have a question maybe I’m reading it wrong, do you not put the whites in with the yolk?
Hello Cindi,
I don’t put egg whites in with the egg yolks. Often I will use 1 whole egg and one egg yolk but in
general I prefer to use egg yolks only, as it make for a richer dough.
This is the best sweet
dough recipe I have ever made Ilove it and use it all the time it really make the best cinnamon rolls ever.thank you so much for sharing it.
Debra,
You made my day! Thank you so much for sharing your experience.
Happy Fall!
I will try this recipe. You make it seem so easy, and it’s really quick. Thanks for sharing.
Hello Aurelia,
Thank you for stopping by. Please keep me posted how it goes.
Have a great day.
Hani
This is the best sweet
dough recipe I have ever made Ilove it and use it all the time it really make the best cinnamon rolls ever.thank you so much for sharing it.
Thank you so much, Debra! I’m thrilled you enjoy it.
Happy Baking,
Hani
Can I make this bread in a bread loaf
Hi Shelley,
I have used it to make blueberry babka or a twisted cinnamon bread in a standard loaf pan and it works great.
Have a great day.
Recipe calls to mix In 3 tsp yeast but top ingredients say 5 tsp. Why the difference
Hi Cindy,
thank you for catching the typo. Yes, for a quick yeast dough it’s 5tsp.
And if you have time to let it rise overnight in the fridge or for 1 hour or so before shaping you can use 3tsp.
Have a great day. Hani
I used this dough for Kolache, and it was amazing! So delicious!
For the longest time, I’ve been looking for a sweet bread dough recipe that made something not only sweet and buttery, but also soft and pulled apart like cotton. This recipe is it! Thank you for sharing.
Hi Gemma,
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed it! I’m craving kolache, maybe over the weekend I’ll make them again.
Have a great week!
Thanks for the great recipes. Every confection looks so flavorable, I want to try them all. I baked the blueberry babka and the first loaf dropped after cooling. The second loaf is hard. Please offer suggestions to improve the recipe. I was planning to make blueberry French toast. I plan on making another attempt at baking babka. Thanks, I. Archer
Hello I. Archer,
Bread when cooling can drop for several reasons
1. Lack of gluten development, this can be caused by know enough kneading and even by the flour itself. I had this issue with flour recently, and had to switch to a different brand that gives me much better results. Or you can use a combination of all purpose and bread flour.
2. When bread cools too rapidly when you take it out of the oven it can also collapse. You can loosely cover bread with a kitchen towel and avoid placing it into cold room/area or in a cold draft. It will cause the air pockets to shrink too quickly hence bread that collapsed.
3.Too much rise. This can happen when bread has over-risen. Bread will expand too much in the oven but it has weak structure due to those extra large bubbles. Later it can collapse.
Dense or heavy bread can also be a result of not kneading the dough enough, mixing salt and yeast together
I have to tell you I just made your dough for quick sweet bread. That was the easiest and most beautiful dough. I’m trying it for almond roll and one with apricot filling and one with cherry and almond filling . I split it into 3. I hope it works. They’re all filled and resting to bake soon. I hope it works. I’ll try to give an update how they came out.
Hi Holly,
They sound amazing. I hope they bake nicely for you and please keep me posted how they turn out.
Happy Easter.
Hani
Hi, what is peach bread? Do you have a recipe for it?
I’ll be posting it soon.:-)
Please make a video on how to make kolaches. I can make yeast dough, but have trouble shaping the kolaches. Thanks.
I’m on it. 🙂
Ooops!!
I meant the Apricot Bread Tartlets…:O))
Thanks for the recipe Haniela…yeast always scares me so I appreciate the link to explain how yeast works and the different types available.
I would love to be able to make these tarts.