Agege Bread

By Yewande Komolafe

Agege Bread
Johnny Miller for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Rebecca Jurkevich. Prop Sylist: Paige Hicks.
Total Time
1½ hours, plus rising and cooling
Rating
4(244)
Notes
Read community notes

Agege bread is a soft but dense sweet white bread made from a rich, low-yeast dough. This dough will take its time to rise, but it can be prepared up to 1 day in advance and slow-proofed in the refrigerator, which will develop the dough’s flavor. This recipe fits a standard Pullman loaf pan, so it makes a lot. Serve the bread in nice thick slices alongside some obe ata and scrambled eggs, or butter and toast it to enjoy dunked into milk tea.

Featured in: Yewande Komolafe’s 10 Essential Nigerian Recipes

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Ingredients

Yield:8 to 10 servings (Makes one 4-by-13-inch loaf)
  • 1tablespoon active dry yeast
  • 1cup/240 milliliters warm water or whole milk (110 degrees)
  • 5cups plus 4 tablespoons/715 grams bread flour, plus more for dusting the work surface
  • ¾cup plus 2 tablespoons/175 grams granulated sugar
  • 1tablespoon milk powder
  • 1tablespoon kosher salt
  • 2large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 4tablespoons/55 grams unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing the pan
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)

708 calories; 9 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 136 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 34 grams sugars; 20 grams protein; 499 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, add the yeast, warm water or milk, 2 tablespoons flour and 1 tablespoon sugar. Let stand, undisturbed, until foamy, 8 to 12 minutes.

  2. Step 2

    In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining flour and sugar with the milk powder and salt. Once the yeast is foamy, add the eggs and the flour mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon just until a shaggy dough forms, then add the softened butter.

  3. Step 3

    With the mixer on medium-low, knead the mixture until it comes together into a stiff but stretchy dough, about 12 minutes. (At this point, the dough can be stored in a resealable plastic bag and slow-proofed in the refrigerator overnight. When ready to bake, remove from refrigerator and let sit to remove the chill, about 30 minutes.)

  4. Step 4

    Shape into a smooth ball, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand until the dough doubles in size, 1 to 2 hours.

  5. Step 5

    Grease a standard 4-by-13-inch Pullman loaf pan and the inside of the lid with butter.

  6. Step 6

    Punch the dough down to deflate and turn out onto a lightly floured work surface. Shape the dough into a 10-by-12-inch rectangle and roll tightly into a 12-inch log. Transfer the dough, seam-side down, to the buttered loaf pan. Cover with a clean dish towel and allow the dough to rise again until it is just below the top edge of the pan, 1 to 2½ hours, depending on the temperature of your kitchen.

  7. Step 7

    Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Slide on the lid and allow dough to continue rising for another 20 minutes. Resist the urge to peek at this point! The dough will have doubled in size and fill the pan, touching the lid. Any attempts to move the lid will deflate the dough, so trust the process.

  8. Step 8

    Transfer to the oven and bake the bread until it's set, about 30 minutes. Carefully slide off the lid and bake until the bread is just golden brown and sounds hollow when the surface is tapped, 15 to 20 minutes. An instant-read thermometer should read 190 degrees when inserted into the center of the loaf.

  9. Step 9

    Transfer to a wire rack, allowing the bread to cool slightly in the pan, about 20 minutes. Unmold and let the bread cool completely on the rack. Serve warm or toasted. (Baked bread can be frozen for up to 2 weeks.)

Ratings

4 out of 5
244 user ratings
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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Momo

For the people reducing the sugar in this recipe, this bread is traditionally sweet and on the denser side. If you reduce the sugar or mess with the rising time, you essentially are making regular bread. Go consult a regular bread recipe if you are so inclined for that. Please respect our cultural foods.

theoperadiva

Lovely bread. I reduced the sugar to 100 grams overall and it did not affect the texture one bit. I did read that the rise can go more quickly if you have a lower sugar content and sure enough, mine did. Just be sure to factor that into your timing. At 100 grams the flavor was akin to a burger bun level of sweetness, which I quite like for a serviceable sandwich bread. It was a very stiff dough so next time I might add a little extra milk at the start. But, a nice even crumb. A keeper!

Heidi

This is a beautiful bread, great crumb and tasty. Just a bit too sweet for my taste. Next time I will cut sugar at least by half.

Sue

This dough contains enough sugar to make life more difficult for the yeast and slow down rising, so that's not surprising. It's nothing to worry about, but if you want fast action, you can try a yeast that's specially designed to work well in sweet breads, such as SAF gold.

Candace

Can one use buttermilk powder as a substitute for milk powder?

Nancy from Cali

I love Momo’s note from two years ago. It’s helpful to understand the rationale behind the recipe. And a great reminder that eating can be an act of understanding.

OnlyInNY

I don't have a Pullman pan with a lid. Can I use (2) loaf pans and back w/o lids, or must I buy a Pullman pan?

NSD

Has anyone made this and frozen it as a loaf to serve at a later date?

Nancy from Cali

I love Momo’s note from two years ago. It’s helpful to understand the rationale behind the recipe. And a great reminder that eating can be an act of understanding.

Mister Mustard

Caution. 12 minutes is a long time for a mixer to knead dough. Kneading with a KitchenAid® mixer for 2 minutes is equivalent to kneading 10 - 12 minutes by hand. KitchenAid® does not recommend kneading bread dough for more than 2 minutes at Speed 2, and that the total mixing and kneading time does not exceed 4 - 6 minutes. Kneading Speeds

Justin M

This is the best loaf of bread I’ve ever made. I didn’t have powdered milk, so I used 1/4 C of half and half and reduced water by 1/4 cup. I also used 3/4 of turbinado sugar. 20 out of 10 would bake again.

Nike

This is just all wrong. It made with HONEY. As a Nigerian native it pains me to see these sites try to recreate our food without doing proper research and understanding the history here. Agege bread doesn’t have a brown crust. Every part of this is just wrong.

NSD

I would like to make this properly. How much honey to use, and how much does it reduce liquid? Thank you.

one lucky lass

I found this bread a little too dry for my taste. I added water and it suited my palette better, I did not mind the sweetness.

one lucky lass

I made this recipe not weighing my ingredients- I added a little extra water because I like a soft dough . It rose beautifully for both proofing and in the pan! I also added some ground nutmeg because my Ghanaian friend likes it that way!

Annabelle S.

I really love this bread toasted with butter! Made it exactly as written, it took about 24 hours from start to finish (and I did use SAF Gold).

Momo

For the people reducing the sugar in this recipe, this bread is traditionally sweet and on the denser side. If you reduce the sugar or mess with the rising time, you essentially are making regular bread. Go consult a regular bread recipe if you are so inclined for that. Please respect our cultural foods.

Leslie

I just kneaded it in my Kitchenaid Artisan stand mixer (325 watts) and almost blew out the motor. It couldn't mix this tough dough. Anyone else have this issue?

MoonLightOnWater

In spite of my yeast proofing well, the bread is taking 3 hours for the first rise and similar for the second rise...sigh....anticipation lol!

Sue

This dough contains enough sugar to make life more difficult for the yeast and slow down rising, so that's not surprising. It's nothing to worry about, but if you want fast action, you can try a yeast that's specially designed to work well in sweet breads, such as SAF gold.

theoperadiva

Lovely bread. I reduced the sugar to 100 grams overall and it did not affect the texture one bit. I did read that the rise can go more quickly if you have a lower sugar content and sure enough, mine did. Just be sure to factor that into your timing. At 100 grams the flavor was akin to a burger bun level of sweetness, which I quite like for a serviceable sandwich bread. It was a very stiff dough so next time I might add a little extra milk at the start. But, a nice even crumb. A keeper!

Heidi

This is a beautiful bread, great crumb and tasty. Just a bit too sweet for my taste. Next time I will cut sugar at least by half.

BEVERLY A SAUER

Is the milk powder necessary— for those of us allergic to whey (cassein). Or is there a vegan substitute?

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