Kozunak in a Bread Machine

From the listed products you get 2 kozunaks. One is baked in the bread machine, the other, so the dough does not over-proof, is baked in the oven.

The necessary ingredients are: 4 eggs (at room temperature), 150 g sugar for a not-very-sweet kozunak or 200 g for a very sweet kozunak, 11 g dry yeast, 850 g quality white flour, 250 ml milk, 150 ml oil, 1 large lemon, 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus another 4-5 tablespoons crystal sugar for sprinkling. Also: raisins if you wish.

Preparing kozunak in a bread machine: Warm the milk slightly. Set aside 50 ml of it, to which you add the dry yeast and 1 teaspoon of the flour. Stir and leave the yeast to activate. To the remaining milk add the sugar and stir to dissolve it. If needed, warm the milk a little more. When the sugar is fully dissolved, add half of the oil (75 ml). If you have a thermometer, you can measure the temperature of the milk with the fat (it should be about 40-42 degrees).

From the eggs set aside one yolk, with which you will later brush the kozunaks. The total weight of the eggs I put in the milk was 195 g. With a wire whisk or fork, beat the sweetened milk, the fat and the eggs. To them add the grated lemon zest (on a fine grater grate only the yellow zest) and the activated yeast. Pour this mixture into the container of the bread machine.

Pour 700 g of flour onto the liquid ingredients. In the middle of the flour make a small well and put the salt there, stirring it lightly with a little flour. Put the container in the bread machine and start a short kneading program. For me it is 10 minutes. At first the dough is quite thin and sticky. When the mixture is well kneaded, gradually add from the remaining flour until the dough stops smearing under the kneaders. That is the sign that no more flour is needed.

As I already said, for me this amount was 850 g, but it depends on the flour itself. Let the program finish and start it again, adding a little of the remaining planned fat (75 ml) during the second kneading. When the dough takes up the fat, let the program finish the kneading. Place the dough in a large greased pot to proof until it triples in volume. Close the pot with the lid. This takes about an hour to an hour and a half and depends on the warmth in the room. The dough proofs faster when the room temperature is higher — about 25-27 degrees.

Shaping your kozunak in a bread machine: As I said at the beginning, the dough is for 2 kozunaks. The proofed dough is divided into two parts. The dough is not kneaded or re-kneaded. Each part is divided into three. Each third is flattened by hand into a strip about 10 cm wide and about 40 cm long. It is rolled up and twisted. If you are adding raisins, they are put in before rolling up. The three strands are braided like a plait. You make the two kozunaks.

Remove the paddles from the container and put one kozunak in the bread machine, the other in a cake tin. Return the container to the bread machine and leave it closed there to proof again for 30-40 minutes. If you have a yogurt (milk-culturing) program, you can use it. Cover the other kozunak with a cloth and leave it to proof for the same time.

Brush the proofed kozunaks with the reserved yolk, to which you have added 1/2 teaspoon oil and 1/2 teaspoon sour or fresh milk. Sprinkle with the intended sugar, to which you have added 1 teaspoon water to moisten the sugar. Bake the kozunak in the oven on a middle rack in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 35 minutes. Bake the kozunak in the bread machine on an additional-baking program for 40 minutes.

This recipe for kozunak in a bread machine will help you make perfect kozunaks.

Dobrinka, 05.04.2018 at 15:58: Excuse me, but I cannot understand — once you run it only for kneading 10 min and after that twice on the knead-and-proof program? After these kneadings and proofings do you take it out and put it in the pot so it proofs once more? Reply — admin, 05.04.2018 at 18:57: After the first kneading for 10 minutes (that is my short kneading program), I run the program 2 more times for 10 minutes each and then I leave the dough to proof.