Mannele, the brioche men of St Nicholas' Day
Traditional manala recipe eaten in Alsace on St Nicholas Day
Servings: 6
Ustensiles
- Emporte-pièce en forme de bonhomme (optional)
Ingredients
- 500 gr flour
- 15 cl warm milk
- 2 eggs
- 1 sachet of express baker's yeast
- 150 gr soft butter
- 80 gr fine sugar
- 1 sachet of vanilla sugar
- 1 yellow + a little milk for gilding
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, vanilla sugar, eggs, softened butter, baking powder and warm milk. Knead until dough is elastic. This may take 10-15 minutes.
- Cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place until the dough has doubled in volume.
- Scoop out balls of dough weighing around 80g, shape them on non-stick baking sheets (or baking parchment), and make cuts with scissors (or a knife) to form the arms and legs of the mannele (or use your own cookie cutter if you prefer). Tip: keep the figures well apart, because if they're too close together on the plate, they'll stick together.
- Let double in volume again when lukewarm.
- Preheat the oven to medium (thermostat 6/180°C), brown with the egg yolk+milk mixture and bake for approx. 20-25 min (watch).
Notes
A cup of hot chocolate, a mannele, and you've got yourself a delicious St. Nicholas snack!