The internet seems to have crowned salt bread as the “most elite bread.”

But is it worthy of that title?

After seeing video after video of people baking salt bread, we decided to take up the challenge ourselves using Erin’s Cozy Kitchen’s viral recipe.

Making the Dough

To start, simply combine the dry ingredients: milk powder, yeast, salt, cake flour and bread flour. Easy enough, right?

Well, it should have been.

Someone (ahem, Emilyn) accidentally forgot to bring milk powder. After calling parents, a bit of panicking and some research, we decided to compromise and use one cup of milk and one less cup of cold water.

Once the dough came together, we added the cold butter and continued mixing until it passed the windowpane test. It was supposed to take around 20 minutes, so around 25 minutes in, we began to worry that the milk substitution had a negative impact. To our knowledge, it was likely because the stand mixer itself overheated and made the dough a little too warm. It took us around 30 minutes and four tests to finally achieve that smooth consistency where the dough could stretch thin without breaking.

To ensure the dough didn’t get overkneaded, which would’ve led to stickiness, we had to constantly monitor it. This was our least favorite part, since we were unable to sit down or do other activities without getting completely distracted.

Proofing the Dough

After the dough is made, the next step is to let it rise and rest until it doubles in size, which takes around an hour. While we thought the waiting would be boring, it didn't require any attention, so we spent the time studying, doing homework and a bit of doomscrolling.

Shaping the Rolls

Once the dough was ready, we divided it into 13 80-gram portions to shape into rolls.

We struggled a bit on this step because of our warm dough. When we began to roll out the dough, it seemed to shrink, and wouldn't hold its shape very well. Although it was annoying and took a bit longer, we managed to finally form the dough balls into long tadpole shapes.

When cutting the butter chunks, we didn’t consider how it would impact the shape of the roll, so we cut the butter into huge squares. We attempted the second shaping process, but the roll came out too flat and wide, so we had to cut the squares into fourths. It took some experimentation with the arrangement of the butter before we perfected a Tetris-like T-shape, giving us even rolls that almost looked straight out of a professional bakery.

Emilyn Sun

The rolls sit to rest for one final proof before they can go into the oven. In total, the salt bread took a little over four hours to make.

Baking

After a final proof, a few last touches of sprinkled pretzel salt and a spray of water, the dough was finally ready to bake.

The signature crispy exterior comes from the blocks of butter inside the bread. As it bakes, the butter melts, frying the bottom of the bread. Because of this, you’re not supposed to use parchment paper on the pan.

However, this caused some (OK, almost all) of our breads to stick to the pan. The crispy bottoms completely came off, and it was a struggle to scrape them off the pans — our deepest condolences to whoever had to wash them.

Despite making a compromise by substituting milk powder with actual milk, it didn’t seem to have a noticeable effect on our final product. Nevertheless, we wish we could have fully adhered to the original recipe to achieve the best end result.

Emily Leong

The salt bread cools off in a sea of melted butter. The bottom of the salt bread is fried by the melted butter resulting in a crispy texture.

Worth the Whisk?

Angelina: Yes

Whenever I recreate trending recipes, I always manage to mess them up, and I end up with unappetizing, overcooked results. To my surprise, salt bread was very beginner-friendly and came out delectable. As I was waiting for the bread to bake in the oven, the sound of the sizzling butter tantalized my growling stomach. I couldn’t help but stand by the oven and let the mouth-watering aroma seep into my nostrils. Every crispy bite I took of the bread made me more addicted to the subtle taste of butter and salt, which blended harmoniously to create a light, savory taste that lingered in my mouth. But as someone who will eat spoonfuls of butter straight out of the container, my only complaint is that the recipe needs more salted butter!

Emily: Yes

Right when Emilyn told us that she forgot to bring the milk powder, my first thought was that it wouldn’t be possible to make salt bread anymore. But even though we had to make some compromises throughout our baking experience, the end product thankfully still turned out delicious. The bread was nice and crispy on the outside, while still retaining a soft, moist texture on the inside. The only drawback to the salt bread for me was that the bread’s taste was on the plainer side, and the inside was a tad bit dense, so if we were to make it again, I would definitely want to experiment with different fillings and flavors.

Emilyn: Yes

I had wanted to make salt bread ever since it first popped up on my Instagram feed. I was a little intimidated at the thought of using yeast, as my last attempt at cinnamon rolls ended up painfully dry, but I actually really enjoyed making it. The satisfaction of shaping a perfect roll and the sound of the crispy exterior was so worthwhile, not to mention the soft inside. But who knows, maybe the real reason why it was so enjoyable was because of my fellow bakers!