Dutch Crunch Bread or Tigerbrood is a soft and chewy bread inside covered with a crunchy layer that looks like Tiger’s skin. Here is how to make a perfectly baked bread at home.
I just love the smell of freshly baked bread and when the smell wafts through the entire house, it’s just so therapeutic.
Especially on weekends, there is a different joy in enjoying your favorite cup of beverage with a freshly baked bread or a muffin.
Therefore, it is a custom at my house to bake something or other on a Saturday morning so that all of us can lazy around and enjoy the delicious bakes.
Baking bread is my absolute favorite!
Varieties of bread flavored with different herbs and filled with delicious fillings, I find a different level of joy in baking them.
So I thought of sharing a bread recipe, which is regular at home.
It’s Dutch Crunch Bread Recipe, also called as Tiger Brood.
A soft yet chewy bread that has a crunchy layer on the top that looks similar to the tiger’s skin.
It has become everyone’s favorite at home since we had it for the first time at one of the gourmet bakeries in San Francisco.
When I returned, I knew that this recipe has to be made at home, and to my surprise, it came out just perfect.
If you like baking bread at home, you can even try some of my other favorites – Moist Mexican Cornbread, and Banana Pecan Bread.
About the recipe
It is a simple bread that is soft from inside and has a crispy layer on the outside which looks like a tiger skin.
A mixture is applied on the top of the dough to get this texture, making it different from other bread.
Ingredients
How to give the tiger-like effect?
Giving a tiger-like effect on this bread is not as difficult as you think!
Just make a thick mixture of rice flour, yeast, salt, sugar, and a little water.
Apply this thick paste on the raised dough and when the bread is popped into the oven, this rice paste cracks open and gives a tiger-like effect to the bread. Interesting, right?
So whenever you are planning to bake your next white bread at home, do not forget to try this trick and give your bread a tiger-like effect.
About its name
This bread is popularly served in some part of Netherlands, thus the name “Dutch” and as it has a crackling and crispy top layer due to the rice flour paste, the name has “Crunch”.
Thus, this tiger brood bread is also called a Dutch Crunch.
Usage Ideas
The best way to eat this bread is by cutting it into half from the middle and slashing a generous amount of fresh butter on it.
Yummy, this is my favorite tea time snack ever!
You can turn this Tiger Brood Bread into a delicious hamburger or use it to make a sandwich as it is firm and can easily hold the filling for a generous bite.
You can even serve as a side with a heavy soup such as Instant Pot Cauliflower Soup, Easy Slow Cooker Potato Soup, Cream of Mushroom Soup, and Pumpkin Curry Soup.
Even serve it as a side along with your favorite Salad, Pasta, and Risotto.
Step By Step Recipe
In a large mixing bowl, combine yeast, sugar, milk, and water. Stir and let it sit for 5 minutes, till the mixture starts to bubble a bit.
Add vegetable oil, salt and 1/2 cup flour in the yeast mixture. Mix with a spatula or use a stand mixer until combined. Add the remaining flour, little by little, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
Turn out the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for 5-6 minutes until it is smooth and elastic. If using a stand mixer, knead the dough on medium speed for 5-6 minutes.
Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover and keep in a warm place for an hour or until it doubles in size.
Once the dough has risen, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 7-8 equal portions.
Shape each into a ball and keep on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover the baking tray with a kitchen towel and let the balls rise for 15 minutes.
Mix all the ingredients of the dutch crunch topping in a bowl and mix vigorously. The consistency of the topping should be like stiff royal icing, spreadable but not runny. Add more rice flour or water if necessary. Keep aside for 15 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees. Coat the top of each ball with a thick layer of topping using your fingers ( a thin topping will not crack properly )
Bake the bread for 30-35 minutes, till the crust appears well browned. Remove from the oven and serve warm with some butter on the side.
Dutch Crunch Bread Recipe
Ingredients
For the buns
- 1/4 cup Warm water
- 1 cup Warm Milk
- 2 and 1/4 tsp Active Dry Yeast
- 2 tbsp Granulated Sugar
- 4 cups All Purpose Flour
- 3 tbsp Vegetable Oil
For the dutch crunch topping
- 1 cup Rice Flour
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Oil
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- 1 tbsp Active Dry Yeast
- 3/4 cup Warm Water
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine yeast, sugar, milk and water.
- Stir and let it sit for 5 minutes, till mixture starts to bubble a bit.
- Add vegetable oil, salt and 1/2 cup flour in the yeast mixture.
- Mix with a spatula until combined.
- Add the remaining flour, little by little, until the dough pulls away the sides of the bowl.
- Turn out the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for 5-6 minutes until it is smooth and elastic.
- If using a stand mixer, knead the dough on medium speed for 5-6 minutes.
- Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover and keep in a warm place for an hour or until it doubles in size.
- Once the dough has risen, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 7-8 equal portions.
- Shape each into a ball and keep on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Cover the baking tray with a kitchen towel and let the balls rise for 15 minutes.
- Mix all the ingredients of the dutch crunch topping in a bowl and mix vigorously.
- The consistency of the topping should be like stiff royal icing, spreadable but not runny.
- Add more rice flour or water if necessary.
- Keep aside for 15 minutes.
- Pre heat the oven to 375 Degrees F (190 degrees C).
- Coat the top of each ball with a thick layer of topping using your fingers ( a thin topping will not crack properly )
- Bake the bread for 30-35 minutes, till the crust appears well browned.
- Remove from the oven and serve warm with some butter on the side.
shobha
Loved the design of the topping .. looks so nice. I will try out sometime soon 🙂
Trent
Tasted pretty good, looked good. 190 degrees was strange. I put it at 190F and cooked for 25 minutes – didn’t look much different than when I started 🙁 looked at another recipe that said 400F. I upped it to 400F and cooked another 25 minutes = good. I’m assuming maybe that the 190 is in C? 190C=374F? anyway, it worked out – thanks 🙂
Neha Mathur
Hi Trent, Thnx for trying the recipe. I live in India so I am used to writing the temperature in C. Glad that the bread turned out fine for you 🙂
Diane McFarland
Is it 2 1/4 tbsp or teaspoon of yeast? It seems like it might be a typo?
TBSP is tablespoon,right?
Neha Mathur
It’s tsp. Sorry for the Typo. Corrected it now.