Baking Great Bread at HomeA soft loaf under a crackly rice-flour crust
BeginnerTiger Bread (DutchCrunch)
by Henry Hunter Jr.
The crunch is in the topping
Rise Time
2 to 2.5 hours
Bake Time
20 minutes
Yield
Eight sandwich rolls, or one 9x5 inch loaf (about 12 slices)
Perfection is not required
"Perfection is not required. Progress is."— Henry Hunter Jr.
By Henry Hunter Jr., founder of Crust & Crumb Academy and Baking Great Bread at Home.
Authentic Flavor
Henry Hunter Jr. is the founder of Baking Great Bread at Home and Crust & Crumb Academy, teaching home bakers that good bread is a skill anyone can build.
Equipment Needed
Ingredients
Soft Dough
A gently enriched white dough. Milk and butter keep the crumb tender.
Tiger Topping (Dutch Crunch)
Mix this shortly before you need it and give it time to get bubbly. White rice flour only.
Pro Tip
White rice flour is what makes the crust crack. All-purpose or bread flour has gluten, so it stretches with the dough instead of breaking. Do not swap it.
Mix
Mix the Dough
About 10 minutes
One bowl, everything in. This is a soft, tender dough, not a stiff one.
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Combine the wet and dry
In a large bowl, stir together the lukewarm milk, sugar, and . Add the bread flour, softened butter, and salt. Mix with a or your hand until there's no dry flour left and it comes together in a shaggy mass.
Knead until smooth
Knead in the bowl or on the counter for 5 to 8 minutes, until the dough is smooth and a little tacky but not sticky. It should pass a loose test. If it's sticky, resist adding much flour. A minute more of kneading usually fixes it.
Pro Tip
Milk-based doughs feel softer than water doughs. That's what you want here. Soft dough, soft crumb.
First Rise
Let It Rise
About 60 to 90 minutes
Cover and let the dough double.
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Bulk rise
Round the dough, place it seam-side down in a lightly oiled bowl, and cover. Let it rise at room temperature until doubled, about 60 to 90 minutes depending on your kitchen.
⏱ Wait Time
Let the dough double at room temperature, about 60 to 90 minutes.
Pro Tip
Warm kitchen? Check it at 60 minutes. Cool kitchen? Give it the full 90 or a little more.
Precise Timers
Use these interactive timers to track your stages.
First Rise
Shape
Divide and Shape
About 15 minutes
Rolls for sandwiches, or one loaf for the table. See the Shaping section for both.
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Divide
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter. For rolls, divide into 8 even pieces, about 105g each. For a loaf, keep it whole.
Shape and rest
Shape each piece into a tight round or short log for rolls, or shape the whole piece into a loaf. Place rolls on parchment-lined sheets with room to spread, or set the loaf into a greased pan. Follow the Shaping section below for the step-by-step.
Pro Tip
Leave space between rolls. They spread as they proof and again in the oven.
Shaping
Shape It Your Way
This dough works as sandwich rolls or a single soft loaf. Pick your format.
Sandwich Rolls
Eight soft rolls with a crackly top. The best format for burgers and subs.
RecommendedClick each step to mark complete
Preshape
Pat each piece into a rough square. Fold the sides to the middle, then roll into a short log or tuck into a tight round. Rest 5 minutes.
Final shape
For subs, roll each into an even 5 to 6 inch log. For round rolls, cup your hand and drag on the counter to build surface tension. Place seam-side down on parchment.
Soft Loaf
One dramatic table loaf with a shattering crust.
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Preshape
Gently round the whole dough and rest it 10 minutes, seam-side up.
Final shape
Pat into a rectangle, roll into a tight cylinder, seal the seam, and set seam-side down into a greased 9x5 loaf pan. Or shape a free-form bâtard on parchment.
Proof Test: Press the dough gently with a floured finger. It should spring back slowly and leave a faint dent. If it springs back fast, give it more time.
Topping
Make the Tiger Topping
5 minutes to mix, 15 to rest
The crackle lives here. Mix it while the shaped dough starts its final proof.
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Whisk the paste
In a small bowl, whisk the white rice flour, warm water, instant yeast, sugar, oil, and salt until smooth. You're after a thick, spreadable paste, somewhere between thick pancake batter and ketchup. It should drop slowly off the whisk, not run.
Let it bubble
Set the paste aside for 15 to 20 minutes. It should loosen and turn bubbly as the yeast wakes up. If it thickens too much, whisk in water a teaspoon at a time. If it's too loose, add a little rice flour.
Pro Tip
Add a teaspoon of toasted sesame oil in place of some of the neutral oil if you want that classic deli aroma. It's optional, not required.
No gluten, no stretch
Rice flour has no . When the loaf expands in the oven, the topping can't stretch along with it, so it dries, sets, and breaks into those rough islands. That's the tiger pattern.
Why a little yeast
The pinch of yeast aerates the paste so the baked crust stays light and crisp instead of hard and flat.
The Takeaway
Wheat flour would stretch and go smooth. Rice flour breaks. That break is the whole point.
Proof & Coat
Final Proof and Apply the Topping
About 45 to 60 minutes total
Let the shaped dough puff, coat it, then let it settle before baking.
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Start the final proof
Loosely cover the shaped rolls or loaf and let them proof for about 30 minutes. They should look puffy but not fully done yet.
Coat generously
Give the paste a stir. Spoon it onto each roll (about 1 tablespoon per roll, 2 for large ones) or over the top of the loaf. Spread it with a small offset spatula or the back of a spoon, out to the edges and just down the sides. Be generous. A timid coat gives fine cracks. A full coat gives the bold pattern people expect. Work with a gentle hand so you don't deflate the dough.
Settle before baking
Let the coated dough rest, uncovered, another 15 to 25 minutes while the oven preheats. The surface will begin to show hairline cracks. That's your green light.
⏱ Wait Time
Proof, coat, then rest until the surface starts to show fine cracks.
Pro Tip
Timing matters. Coat too early and the paste dries out before the can crack it. Coat too late and there's no push left to open it up.
Precise Timers
Use these interactive timers to track your stages.
Final Proof
Settle After Coating
The Final Step
Bake Until Deeply Mottled
Rolls bake hot and fast. A loaf bakes lower and longer so the crust doesn't scorch before the center sets.
Baking Methods
High heat gives the crust a fast, dramatic crack.
Equipment: Two parchment-lined baking sheets
Preheat
Preheat the oven to 450°F (232°C) with racks in the upper and lower thirds.
Load and drop
Put the rolls in and immediately drop the temperature to 425°F (218°C).
Bake
Bake 18 to 24 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway, until the tops are deeply colored and cracked and the sides are golden.
Cool
Cool on a rack at least 20 minutes. The crust crisps as it cools.
"The topping should look almost too dark. That deep color is where the flavor is."
Nutrition Facts
Per 1 roll (about 110g) • 8 servings per recipe
* Values are estimates based on standard ingredients; actual values vary by brands and portion size.
Storage
Room Temperature
Best the day it's baked. Keep leftovers 1 to 2 days in a paper bag or loosely wrapped.
Refrigerated
Not recommended. The fridge dries bread out and dulls the crust.
Frozen
Freeze rolls or sliced loaf up to 3 months in a freezer bag.
Refresh
Toast slices directly from frozen, or warm a whole loaf at 350°F (175°C) for 10-12 minutes.
💡 Warm frozen rolls straight from the freezer in a 350°F oven for about 10 minutes to bring the crackle back.
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Troubleshooting
Baker's Notes
Common questions and solutions for perfect results
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