Best Japanese Milk Bread Recipes

JAPANESE MILK BREAD

Steps:

• Make the starter: In a small heavy pot, whisk flour, milk and 1/2 cup water (120 milliliters) together until smooth. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat and cook, stirring often, until thickened but still pourable, about 10 minutes (it will thicken more as it cools). When it's ready, the spoon will leave tracks on the bottom of the pot. Scrape into a measuring cup and lightly cover the surface with plastic wrap. Set aside to cool to room temperature. (You will have about 1 cup starter; see note below.)
• Make the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the flour, sugar, yeast and salt and mix for a few seconds, just until evenly combined.
• Add egg, milk and 1/2 cup starter. Turn the mixer on low speed and knead 5 minutes.
• Add soft butter and knead another 10 to 12 minutes (it will take a few minutes for butter to be incorporated), until the dough is smooth and springy and just a bit tacky.
• Lightly butter the inside of a bowl. Use your hands to lift dough out of mixer bowl, shape into a ball and place in prepared bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 40 to 60 minutes.
• Punch the dough down and use your hands to scoop it out onto a surface. Using a bench scraper or a large knife, cut dough in half. Lightly form each half into a ball, cover again and let rise 15 minutes.
• Heat the oven to 350 degrees. In the meantime, generously butter a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan.
• Using a rolling pin, gently roll out one dough ball into a thick oval. (By this time, the dough should be moist and no longer sticky. You probably will not need to flour the surface, but you may want to flour the pin.) First roll away from your body, then pull in, until the oval is about 12 inches long and 6 inches across.
• Fold the top 3 inches of the oval down, then fold the bottom 3 inches of the oval up, making a rough square. Starting from the right edge of the square, roll up the dough into a fat log, pick it up and smooth the top with your hands. Place the log in the buttered pan, seam side down and crosswise, nestling it near one end of the pan. Repeat with the other dough ball, placing it near the other end of the pan.
• Cover and let rest 30 to 40 minutes more, until the risen dough is peeking over the edge of the pan and the dough logs are meeting in the center. Brush the tops with milk and bake on the bottom shelf of the oven until golden brown and puffed, 35 to 40 minutes.
• Let cool in the pan 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack and let cool at least 1 hour, to let the crust soften and keep the crumb lofty. (If cut too soon, the air bubbles trapped in the bread will deflate.)

JAPANESE MILK BREAD (SHOKUPAN)

Steps:

• Starter:Whisk together milk, 1/2 cup water, and flour in a small saucepan until smooth. Cook over medium-low heat, whisking frequently, until thickened slightly but still pourable (it should have the consistency of loose pudding), 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl; let cool until warm to the touch but no longer hot, about 10 minutes.
• Dough: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, milk powder, sugar, salt, and yeast. Make a well in center of mixture. Add milk, melted butter, and starter to well; stir until a dough forms. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface and knead until dough is smooth and elastic and springs back when lightly pressed, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl brushed with butter; brush top of dough with more butter. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in volume, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush two standard 9-by-5-inch loaf pans with butter. Punch down dough. Transfer to a clean work surface and divide in half. Roll each half into an approximately 9-inch log; transfer to prepared pans. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise until more than doubled in volume (doughs should rise about 1 1/2 inches above tops of pans), 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• Whisk egg white with 1 teaspoon water and gently brush onto tops of dough. Bake until puffed, golden brown, and a thermometer inserted in centers registers 200 degrees, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool in pans on a wire rack 15 minutes. Flip loaves out onto rack; let cool completely before slicing and serving, or store, unsliced and wrapped in parchment-lined foil at room temperature up to 3 days, or sliced and frozen up to 3 months.

JAPANESE MILK BREAD

Steps:

• Whisk water and bread flour together in a saucepan over low heat. Cook roux until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center reads 150 degrees F (65 degrees C). Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
• Place 3 cups plus 3 tablespoons bread flour, sugar, milk powder, yeast, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix on low speed. Add cooled roux, egg, cream, and water. Knead dough until it comes together in a shaggy mass, 1 to 2 minutes. Continue to mix on low speed until dough starts to leave the sides of the bowl.
• Increase speed to medium and start adding butter. Mix until completely incorporated and dough is smooth, 10 to 20 minutes. Remove dough from the mixer and place in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 40 minutes.
• Flatten dough and roll into an oblong shape. Place in a greased loaf pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, 45 to 60 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
• Uncover loaf and bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Cover with foil if top starts to brown too quickly. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before inverting onto a rack to cool completely.

JAPANESE TANGZHONG MILK BREAD (WATER ROUX)

Steps:

• Make tangzhong (water roux) by wisking together the 25 g flour with the 125 ml of water in a small saucepan.
• Heat mixture over medium-low heat while stirring constantly until it thickens enough that your stirring leaves 'lines' or 'trails' on the surface, and then remove from heat immediately and scrape into a small bowl.
• Cover bowl with plastic wrap to prevent it from drying on the surface and cool to room temperature.
• Put milk, egg and cooled tangzhong in mixer bowl or bread machine pan.
• Add remaining ingredients except butter and turn on machine to begin mixing.
• Mix until ingredients just come together and then add butter.
• Knead until dough is smooth and elastic and will form a windowpane when stretched.
• Proof dough, covered, until it doubles.
• Deflate dough and divide into 4 equal portions, trying to make them as equal as possible (weighing is the best way).
• Cover and rest 15 minutes.
• Roll out each portion into an oval shape.
• Fold each side of the oval to the middle and roll again to flatten the seam.
• By hand, roll up each portion of folded dough starting at the unfolded end, so it resembles a swiss roll.
• Place all four rolls into a greased 9" x 5" bread pan with the ends of the rolls facing the long sides of the pan.
• Cover and proof until doubled.
• At this point you can apply an egg-wash by beating an egg and lightly brushing it over the top of the dough (optional).
• Bake in preheated 350 degree F oven for about 30 minutes, until a deep golden brown.
• Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.
• If you didn't use an egg wash, you can brush tops of hot bread with melted butter if desired.
• NOTE: for those of you who do not have a scale, the measured ingredients would be: tangzhong=2 Tbsp + 2 tsp flour, 1/2 c water, Recipe=2 1/2 c bread flour, 2 tsp instant yeast, 4 T sugar, 1 tsp salt, 4 tsp milk powder, 1 egg, 1/2 c milk, 3 T butter.

JAPANESE MILK BREAD OR ROLLS WITH SOURDOUGH

Steps:

• Refresh your sourdough starter with a cup of flour and 1/2 cup of water to make a thick starter and let double in volume.
• To make roux, mix flour and water and heat slowly until it begins to thicken and trails can be seen as it's stirred. Take off heat and continue to stir for about a minute.
• Drop the cold butter pats onto the roux to keep the roux from forming a film.
• When the roux is lukewarm, mix it with the sourdough starter and the rest of the ingredients in a mixer. Cover and let sit for 10 minutes.
• Knead well, for about 8 to 10 minutes and tip out onto a floured counter.
• Stretch the dough into a rectangle and fold letter-style, top to bottom and side to side. Place in an oiled, clear straight sided container and cover. after 15 minutes, stretch and fold again. Put back into container.
• Let rise until doubled in volume from the original volume.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• After the rise, shape a loaf and place in an 8 inch by 4.5 inch pan that's well oiled. Cover with oiled plastic wrap and let rise until 1 inch above the walls of the pan. Brush the loaves lightly with an egg, beaten with 1 teaspoon of water and bake for 30 minutes, turning after 15 minutes for even baking.
• If making rolls, divide risen dough into 12 pieces (56 to 57g each). Shape as desired and place on parchment paper, cover and let rise until puffed and about 50% larger in size. A piece of dough in a straight sided juice glass to judge when the dough is 1.5 times its original volume.
• Brush the loaves lightly with an egg, beaten with 1 teaspoon of water and bake in 350F oven for 6 minutes, turn and bake for 7 minutes until browned and 200F internally.
• Cool on rack before serving.

JAPANESE MILK BREAD (YEAST VERSION)

Steps:

• Tangzhong
• Whisk the milk and flour in a small saucepan until blended. Cook on med-low heat for several minutes until thickened, stirring or whisking frequently.
• Remove from the heat, and see the instructions below for melting the butter in the hot tangzhong.
• Dough Mixing and First Rise
• These instructions are for using a stand mixer. Scroll to the end of the recipe for hand-kneading instructions if you don't have a mixer.
• Add the butter in chunks to the tangzhong to melt it.
• Whisk the two eggs and then the milk into the tangzhong-butter mixture. Set aside briefly.
• In the bowl of your stand mixer, whisk the flour, sugar, salt and yeast; and then pour in the prepped wet ingredients.
• With the dough hook attachment, mix the dough on low speed for about 1 minute.
• Scrape down the sides of your mixer, and mix on medium speed for about 15 minutes. As you approach the 15-minute mark, the dough will become smooth and should pass the windowpane test.
• Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough into it. Form it into a ball, flip it smooth-side up, and cover.
• Let the dough rise until it has doubled, about 1-3 hours, depending on your room temperature and if you used instant vs. active yeast.
• Dough Shaping and Second Rise
• Prepare your pans by greasing them. You can use one large pullman pan, two loaf pans, or make rolls (16 rolls in two 9" round pans, 18 rolls in two 8" square pans, 24 rolls in two 9" square pans, 18 rolls in a 9x13" rectangular pan).
• Scrape the dough out onto a clean countertop. There's no need for flour. Press the dough into a rectangle, divide it and roll the pieces into balls. Your total dough weight is about 1400g. I divided the dough for my large Pullman pan in six 230g pieces.
• Place the balls in your pan(s) and cover. To be able to squeeze the dough balls into the large Pullman pan in an even manner, I placed the end pieces in first and worked my way toward the middle.
• Cover and let the dough proof for 1-2 hours (more if you put the dough in the refrigerator).
• Baking*
• Preheat your oven to 350F and brush the dough with the egg-milk wash.
• Bake loaves for 45-55 minutes and rolls for 30-35 minutes. Cover with foil partway through if the bread seems to be browning excessively.
• The internal temperature when ready should be at least 190F.
• Remove the bread from the oven but not the pans, brush the top with butter while its hot, and then let cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pans.
• After the bread is completely cooled, store it in a plastic bag at room temp for a week or longer.
• *Bread baked in a glass loaf pans will need longer than metal pans.
• Instructions for kneading by hand
• Mix all of the ingredients except the softened butter in a bowl with a spatula, dough whisk and/or your hands. Let rest for 10 minutes, then transfer to your countertop and knead by hand, adding 2 Tbsp of butter at a time, kneading between butter additions until the butter is incorporated and the dough stays together. Now follow the instructions above from when you transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and start the first rise.
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JAPANESE MILK BREAD ROLLS

Steps:

• For Starter: combine all ingredients, whisk till no lumps, low heat, wisk till thick, cool to room temp.
• Combine starter to remaning ingredients mix and knead to elastic ball, oil and rest for 60-90 min. until puffy. not doubled.deflate, cut in pieces, to ball. place in greased pan, rest for 40-5- min. until puffy. Bake at 350 till 190 degrees in ctr.

JAPANESE MILK BREAD

Steps:

• 1. Begin by making the tanzhong: In a medium saucepan combine the cream, water, and bread flour. Whisk until smooth then cook over medium heat until the mixture becomes very thick, about 5-7 minutes. The mixture should reach 150 F. Set aside to cool.
• 2. Now, prepare the bread dough. Combine the heavy cream and water and heat until it reaches 105 F. Add the yeast and 1 teaspoon of the sugar and allow to stand for 10 minutes, or until the mixture is foamy and bubbling.
• 3. In the work bowl of a stand mixer combine the remaining sugar, flours, milk powder, gluten, salt, egg, and butter along with the yeast mixture and the cooled tanzhong. Using the dough hook mix the dough on low speed for 3 minutes, or until the ingredients are just combined, then increase the speed to medium and mix for 8 minutes. The dough may seem sticky and loose, but this is ok.
• 4. Turn the dough out onto a work surface dusted with flour. Gently knead the dough, adding additional flour to keep it from sticking, for 3 minutes then form the dough into a smooth ball and place into a lightly greased bowl. Cover with a damp kitchen towel or plastic wrap and allow to rise until double in bulk, about 1½ hours.
• 5. Once risen turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and use your palm to press the dough flat. Once flat use your finger tips to poke holes in the dough to make sure it is thoroughly degassed. You do not want any large gas bubbles to remain.
• 6. Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Form each piece into a log that is three inches longer than your pan. Twist the logs together to form a loaf and transfer to a lightly greased loaf pan. Cover with plastic or a damp kitchen towel and allow to proof until the dough reaches the top of the pan, about 45 minutes.
• 7. Heat the oven to 350 F. Bake the bread for 25 - 35 minutes, or until the bread is deeply golden brown and it sounds hollow when thumped on the side. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a rack to cool to room temperature. Cool completely before slicing.