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5 from 3 votes

Japanese Hokkaido Milk Bread

Prep Time45 mins
Cook Time20 mins
Resting time1 hr 45 mins
Total Time2 hrs 50 mins
Servings: 1 loaf
Author: Yukiko @foodie.yuki

Equipment

  • Stand mixer with hook attachment (can be also be knead by hand ), loaf pan 20-25cm

Ingredients

Ingredients for the roux or tangzhong

  • 20 g bread flour/ all purpose flour
  • 100 ml water

Ingredients for the bread dough

    Dry ingredients

    • 290 g bread or all purpose flour
    • 5 g active dry yeast
    • 30 g sugar
    • 6 g salt
    • 7 g dry milk powder (DF/V: dry coconut milk powder)

    Wet ingredients

    • roux / tangzhong room temperature
    • 130 ml whole milk DF/V: soy milk
    • 25 g butter, softened DF/V: vegan butter
    • 25 g egg (about half medium egg) DF/V: omit

    Egg wash

    • 1 tbsp whole milk or cream DF/V soy milk

    Instructions

    Make the roux/tangzhong

    • Place the water and flour into a small saucepan and whisk until there are no lumps left.
    • Heat over medium heat while whisking constantly until the mixture thickens and has a curd-like consistency.
    • Remove from heat and let cool down into a small bowl, covered with cling film.
      Set aside to cool down completely.

    Make the bread dough

    • In the bowl of stand mixer fitted with the hook attachment, whisk together flour, sugar, yeast, salt and milk powder.
    • Add milk, tangzhong and egg and knead on low until the ingredients are combined.
    • Add the softened butter and knead until the butter is completely combined (5 minutes).
    • Increase speed to medium high and knead for another 5-7 minutes or until the dough pulls off from the sides of the bowl.
    • The dough should be elastic and tacky but not sticky.
    • Shape the dough into a ball and place into a lightly greased bowl.
    • Let rise in a warm place for 40-60 minutes, until doubled in size.

    Shape the bread

    • When the dough has doubled in size, remove from the bowl and gently punch to deflate.
    • Use a weighing scale to weigh the dough and divide into 3 (or 4 for a bigger pan) equal portions.
    • Shape into balls,cover and let rise for 15 minutes.
    • Gently deflate and roll out each ball into an oval.
    • Fold the short sides toward the center and roll out to seal.
    • Roll up each rectangle like Swiss Roll into a log.
    • Place the logs seam side down into the pan ( I used a 20x12x10 cm pan)
    • Cover and let it rise for 30 minutes.
    • Preheat the oven to 180C | 355F degrees.
    • Brush the loaf with egg wash or milk.
    • Bake in the middle of the oven for 25-30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

    • Remove from oven and let cool into the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool down completely.