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Sausage Bread
How to bake Chinese bakery style sausage bread with my easy recipe, with detailed step-by-step guide to create the braid shape for the sausage bread.
Sausage bread is one of the more typical Chinese bakery bread, and they come in many different kinds of shapes, but I am going to use shape them in braid form.
I use the same bread dough recipe like the one for my ham and mayonnaise bread rolls, and I can vouch that this dough is good for not only savory filling but also for sweet filling bread.
I use beef sausages for this, but you can easily swap with chicken, pork, turkey, or other kinds of your favorite sausages.
How to Shape Sausage Bread into Braid Form
Once your bread dough is finished proofing for the first time, it is time to shape the bread.
Here is how to shape it into braid form:
- Divide the dough into 12 equal portions.
- Take one portion of dough and flatten into an oval with the long side about the same length as the sausage.
- Place the sausage at the center of the dough, and make 5 cuts each side with a knife. You should have 6 strips of dough at each side of the sausage.
- Braid the strips to enclose the sausage. Repeat for the other 11 portions.
You can also refer to the photos for visual guidance.
Once you have properly assembled all the bread, arrange them on a half-sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
Cover and let these proof for the second time until puffy and the volume is almost doubled.
Egg Wash, Sesame Seeds Sprinkles, and Baking
When the bread rolls are closed to finish their second proofing, it is time to preheat oven to 200 Celsius or 400 Fahrenheit.
Be sure to do the following steps right before baking the bread:
- Combining one egg with one teaspoon of water to make an egg wash, then brush the dough surface with a generous amount of egg wash.
- I use black sesame seeds to sprinkle each bread, you can use regular sesame seeds too. If you don’t have any sesame seeds, feel free to skip this setp.
Once the oven reaches the desired temperature, bake in middle rack for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
The bread is super delicious if consumed straight out from the oven. But they should stay fresh for up to 3 days.
I like to reheat my bread slightly in microwave since in my opinion warm bread tastes to much better than cold or even room temperature bread.
Sausage Bread
Ingredients
- Bread dough
- 150 ml (10 tablespoon) warm milk (38 Celsius or 100 Fahrenheit)
- 5 gram active dry yeast
- 5 gram sugar
- 300 gram all-purpose flour
- 10 gram sugar
- 4 gram salt
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature
- Other ingredients
- 12 hot dog sausages
- egg wash (mix together 1 egg + 1 teaspoon water)
- 1 tablespoon black sesame seeds, sprinkles (optional)
Instructions
- Mix together warm milk, active dry yeast, and 5 gram sugar. Let rest for 20 minutes until foamy.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, 10 gram sugar, and salt. Make a well, then pour the foamy yeast solution, egg, and butter. Knead into a smooth, soft, elastic, and non-sticky dough. If the dough is too sticky, you may add 1-2 tablespoon of all purpose flour. Kneading time is 20 minutes.
- Place the dough in the bowl, wrap with wet kitchen towel or saran wrap. Let it proof until the volume is doubled, about 1 hour in warm kitchen.
- Punch the dough to release air bubbles, knead for a couple of minutes. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions.
- Flatten each dough into an oval and make the long axis the same length as the sausage. Place one sausage at the center of dough, make 5 cuts to the dough at each side of the sausage, and make braid with the cuts to wrap the sausage with the dough. Place this on a baking tray (I use a half-sheet pan) lined with parchment paper. Repeat for the other 11 portion.
- Let the bread rolls rest for another 1 hour until the volume is about 150% original size.
- Preheat oven to 200 Celsius (400 Fahrenheit).
- Mix together 1 egg and 1 teaspoon of water for egg wash. Brush the top of the bread with egg wash, and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until the bread is golden brown.
- Best served warm when out from the oven. The bread should be fresh for up to 3 days.
Comments
are the sausages cooked from raw? or blanched before wrapping? or are you using the red frankfurts which are technically precooked?
Hi Tania, I use sausages meant for hotdogs so you can eat even without cooking.
Those look totally delicious and perfect for Memorial Day weekend.
ohhh my kids will love these! What a simple and delicious recipe!
Nice tutorial! I like that this is such a final and simple recipe...I'll have to try this very soon!
What a funky idea! So much fun. Can't wait to give these a go on the weekend :)
I'm sold. I think I could eat this every day of the week! And you've made them look so pretty too!
Made this today. The 1 hr 20 min is waaaay off. Read the instructions. It's about 3 1/2 hrs. The bread seemed a little dry, but the flavor was good. I used regular sesame seeds because I didn't have black. Poppy seeds might be good as well.
I am so sorry about the time. I didn't include the proofing time, only the active hands-on time. I have updated the recipe to also include the proofing time, so yes, it is about 3.5 hrs when included. The baking time may be a bit too long if bread comes out a bit dry. Since oven temperature can be finicky, I trust my eyes more usually and remove the bread once they turn golden brown. Thanks for giving the recipe a try. :)
Oh man! This look so delicious. Saving and pinning this post. I can’t wait to try this. Thank so much for sharing.
Very cool tutorial & I just love the braiding! Thanks so much for sharing this.
Loving the braiding :) This looks so tasty, i'm definitely going to try this for my family!
I was a big fan of the Ham & Mayo rolls, and even if I have no plans to make it, sometimes I just like looking at this recipe because I LOVE SAUSAGE BREAD! AAAAH... Now, in my opinion, what really makes me swoon is picking the right type of sausage. My ideal sausage has some 'snap' to it, but I haven't quite found the same quality from the ones I get at the grocery store vs. the ones in the sausage breads I've enjoyed from cafes/bakeries (Granted, I don't buy tons and tons of sausages to compare, lol).
Anyway, sausage breads are definitely one of my go-to quick snacks I get when I'm in Asia, and I'm a big fan of savory pastries. But I must confess... I made this... with no sausages!
I ended up using a block of (Turkey) Spam- slicing it into 12 lengths, each piece roughly the size of my finger. So granted, these were a bit smaller than standard US-sized hot dogs, but for all intents and purposes it cooked fine. I think the main difference was lack of casing and a touch more saltiness.
I already went into a lot of detail about the bread-making process on the Ham and Mayo rolls- Basically, I'm always stuck using ancient yeast and I was also too impatient to allow much rising (I knew better, but I was sort of in a rush) so my bread turned out a bit dense. It didn't really matter though because the process of making dough is very satisfying- the kneading, the smells... It feels very rewarding to eat.
The recipe yield is reasonable, and it's flexible for different shapes and fillings (considering I never seem to have the right ones!!!!!).
Can I make this ahead and store in the freezer up until I am ready to bake them?
Hi Vicky, you can. After the first rise, shape the bread, then you can freeze the dough before second rise on a baking sheet. Once frozen, store the dough in an airtight container for up to four weeks. Thaw, covered, on greased baking sheets in the refrigerator overnight. Cover and let it rise in a warm place until doubled (this is the second rise), which will take longer than dough that has not been frozen. Bake as directed.
Can I use instant yeast instead of active dry yeast in this recipe?
Hi Jane, you can use instant yeast. Please skip step 1 and immediately proceed with step 2. Incorporate all the ingredients from step 1 into step 2, and everything else should stay the same. :)
Hi Dear Anita. I just wanted to share with you, it’s turn really good my sausage bun. Thank you for sharing this recipe.♥️ My family loves very much,especially my kids.. May God bless you and your family. Sending Loves!!🌻🌻 From:Natasya Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia.
Absolutely love this recipe. I’ve made it twice now, my whole family loves it. Recipe is easy to follow and straightforward. Love love love it. Thanks 😊
Hey there I have cooked maple breakfast sausage wonder if they would taste good with this dough? Dipped in maple syrup and Dijon mustard?
Hi Connie, I've only ever tried with hotdog sausages, but I think homemade sausage should taste even better right? You can always dip the sausage bread in maple syrup and Dijon mustard when serving.
I usually use frozen pastry and there’s always this yucky chemical taste this recipe is AMAZING and will be a new fav dough recipe for all kinds of appetisers!! Thank You.
Made these and the dough was nice and soft. Tasted great!
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