Ingredients

• 8 cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups milk
• 2/3 cup butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2.5 oz yeast
• 2 egg yolks

Directions

1. Gently warm the milk in a saucepan, just to the same temperature you would want water for a yeast dough. (Nowhere near boiling) Then, stir in the yeast and let it sit for 5 minutes.
2. Gradually mix in half of the flour, either by hand or with a dough hook of a mixer. Then, add the soft butter, sugar, salt, and one egg yolk. (The other one is for egg wash later.) Finally, gradually add the rest of the flour and knead well until everything is combined.
3. Transfer the dough ball to a greased bowl, cover it with a cloth, and let it rise for about an hour. While you wait, preheat the oven to 400 and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
4. Now it’s assembly time. Working on a floured surface, take a handful of dough (or as much as you want per Mutschel) and gently press it into a circle. Also, grab a smaller bit of dough to make the braid and the decorations later.
5. Now, pinch part of the dough in the center and separate the points of the star. It takes some work to get it to look pretty.
   Traditional Mutschel have a braid of dough around the center and a different ornament on each point. Be creative and make these out of the other little piece of dough.
6. To get the ornaments to stick and to give the whole thing a nice shine, make an egg wash out of the other yolk and a splash of water, and brush it over the Mutschel.
7. Bake at 400 for about 30 minutes, depending on the size. When they’re done, they’ll look absolutely irresistible!