This is the softest, milkiest Japanese milk bread (Hokkaido Milk Bread) using Tangzhong method, that will make the best sandwiches or dinner rolls!
Soft and incredibly fluffy Japanese Milk Bread is world famous! It’s also really easy to make at home. Plus, using this method keeps your bread soft for days!
What is a Japanese Milk Bread?
Japanese milk bread, also known as Hokkaido milk bread, is a soft, fluffy, and slightly sweet bread that’s popular in Japan. Its unique texture comes from a method called Tangzhong, where a small portion of the flour is cooked with water or milk to form a roux. This technique gives the bread its pillowy, tender crumb and helps keep it moist for longer. It’s typically made with ingredients like milk, butter, and sugar, making it richer and more flavorful than regular white bread. It’s perfect for sandwiches, toast, or eating on its own!
How can you make a Tangzhong?
Making a tangzhong, or a water roux, is simple and adds a fantastic texture to bread. Here’s how you do it:
- Ingredients:
- 1 part flour
- 5 parts liquid (water, milk, or a combination of both)
For example, you can use 2 tablespoons of flour and 1/2 cup of milk (or water).
- Instructions:
- In a small saucepan, combine the flour and liquid.
- Whisk the mixture to ensure there are no lumps.
- Place the pan on medium heat and cook, stirring continuously.
- Heat the mixture until it thickens and becomes a paste. You’ll know it’s ready when lines form as you stir (around 150°F/65°C).
- Remove from heat and let it cool before adding it to your bread dough recipe.
The tangzhong helps create that soft, fluffy texture in milk bread by retaining moisture during the baking process.
How To Make a Japanese Milk Bread (Hokkaido Milk Bread) Using Tangzhong Method
Activate the Yeast
This recipe is using an instant dry yeast, but you can use a regular active dry yeast as well. Regardless of what you use, activating the yeast is a recommended step to make sure the yeast is “alive”. Sometimes the yeast can be less active after a couple of months (even if it’s not past the expiration date).
This will also ensure that the yeast dissolves and spreads evenly throughout the dough, ESPECIALLY for active dry yeast with larger granules.
Adding all other ingredients
Once the yeast is activated, all the other ingredients (except butter) can be added to make the Japanese milk bread.
You can add all the ingredients to the bowl, while making sure that SALT is the LAST TO BE ADDED. This will ensure that the yeast will stay active. (Direct contact between salt and yeast can cause the yeast to “die”).
Kneading and proofing the dough
Once the dough is kneaded (with a dough hook in your mixer) for a few minutes, the gluten will start to form. Add the butter halfway through the kneading process. The butter will add flavor and also contribute to the soft texture of the bread.
This bread is REALLY SOFT AND STICKY. So don’t be tempted to add more flour! If you keep kneading, you will end up with a dough that is soft, shiny and tacky (but not too sticky). The dough will come off the sides of the bowl when you’re kneading it too.
The next step is the initial proofing. If you are using INSTANT DRY YEAST, you only need to proof the bread for 10 minutes. If using ACTIVE DRY YEAST, proof your bread for an hour.
Shaping the dough
Once the dough is proofed, it’s time to shape the dough. You can either make a Japanese milk bread loaf OR you can make Japanese milk bread rolls that are perfect as dinner rolls.
If making dinner rolls, make sure you weigh each dough ball to get consistent size and even baking.
Final proof and baking
Cover the loaf pan or square pan with plastic wrap and let this dough proof in a warm place until doubled in size (about 1 hour). Once proofed, brush the top with an egg wash (egg yolk + water) or a milk wash (milk or cream).
Pre-heat oven to 350°F / 180°C. When the oven is preheated, place the pans in the oven to bake.
With bread rolls, it would only take about 20 – 25 minutes. But bread loaves can take longer (up to 35 minutes).
If you need to bake further after the bread has turned a golden brown color, just place a piece of foil over the bread to prevent the crust from burning. A dark brown crust is really delicious, but make sure to prevent it from burning!
If you have a candy thermometer, measure the internal temperature. It’s cooked at about 190°F / 88°C.
Once baked, remove the bread from the oven and let it rest just for a few minutes.
Then turn it out on to a wire rack to cool down.
Japanese Milk Bread (Hokkaido Milk Bread) Using Tangzhong Method
Equipment
- 1 Stand Mixer with dough hook
- 1 Small pot
- 1 Spatula
- 1 Bread loaf pan
- 1 Mixing bowl
- 1 Cling wrap roll
- 1 Weighing scale
Ingredients
Tangzhong
- 60 ml Water 1/4 cup
- 60 ml Milk 1/4 cup
- 23 g All-purpose flour or bread flour 2 tbsp
Japanese Milk Bread
- Tangzhong mixture room temperature
- 120 ml Milk warm (not too hot), 95℉/35℃
- 8 g Instant dry yeast 1 packet
- 50 g Sugar 1/4 cup
- 15 g Powdered milk 2 tbsp (optional)
- 1 egg room temperature
- 350 g All-purpose flour or bread flour
- 58 g Unsalted butter softened, 4 tbsp
Instructions
Make the Tangzhong
- In a small pot, combine the 60ml of water, 60 ml of milk and 23g of flour. Whisk until you have a smooth mix with no lumps.
- Heat over medium heat while whisking constantly until the mixture thickens. The resulting mixture should have a thick, pudding-like consistency. Temperature should be around 150°F/65°C
- Scrape the mixture into a bowl and then cover with plastic wrap. Make sure the plastic wrap is touching the surface of the tangzhong to prevent a skin from forming on top.
- Allow to cool at room temperature.
Make the Japanese Milk Bread Dough
- In your mixing bowl, place the 120 ml warm milk and 50g sugar. Sprinkle the 8g of yeast over the mixture and stir gently. Allow the milk + yeast mixture to stand for about 10 – 20 minutes until the yeast is activated. The mixture should become bubbly and frothy on the surface.
- Once the yeast is activated, add the 2 tbsp of milk powder (if using), the tangzhong mixture, 1 egg, 120g of flour, and finally a pinch of salt. Using a spatula, mix the dough to combine the ingredients.
- With the dough hook attached to your mixer, knead the dough for about 5 minutes on a low speed (speed 2 or 3). The dough will be very sticky and stick to the sides, but continue mixing and the dough will start to come together.
- After 5 minutes of kneading, add the 58g of butter in 3 additions, mixing for about 20 seconds in between. Scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl to make sure the dough mixes well.
- Once all the butter is incorporated into the dough, turn up the speed to 4 – 5 (medium speed) and knead for a further 5 – 7 minutes. Scrape the bowl once or twice while kneading. The dough should become smooth, satiny and pull off cleanly from the sides of the bowl.
- Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and shape the dough into a ball. Then place the dough back in the mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Keep the bowl in a warm place and allow the dough rise (about 10 minutes).
- Weigh the dough, and divide it into 3-4 equal portions. Roll out each dough portion into a six inch (approximately) square
- Fold the opposite corners of the square in towards the middle. Roll up this piece of dough, starting from the pointed end. Make sure you roll up the dough firmly, and a little tightly. Fold the pointed edge in and pinch the seam to seal (See video for reference).
- Place the rolled up dough in the dough pan, seam side down. There will be 3-4 rolls per loaf pan.
- Cover the loaf pan with plastic wrap and let the dough proof in a warm place, until doubled in size. This can take about 1 hour depending on the ambient room temperature. The dough should rise to just below the top of the loaf pan.
Baking the Japanese Milk Bread
- Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C. Once preheated, AND the bread is proofed, brush the top of the bread dough with a milk wash (for a more matte crust), or an egg wash (for a glossy crust). Bake in the preheated oven for 30 – 35 minutes. If the bread starts to caramelize too much in the oven, place a piece of foil over the surface of the bread to prevent it from burning.
- If you have a thermometer, bake until the internal temperature is about 190 – 205°F (88 – 96°C).
- Remove the loaf pan / baking pan from the oven and let it cool for a few minutes.
- Turn the dough out onto a wire rack and let it cool down further. This bread is easier to slice when at room temperature, but can be enjoyed warm too.
Notes
- If you make a small indent on the dough with your finger tip and it bounces back slightly, then it’s ready to be baked.
- If the indentation stays, it’s starting to over-proof, so bake it as quickly as possible.
- If the bread deflates when poked with a finger, then it has definitely over-proofed and may need to be re-done.
CHECK OUT THESE OTHER RECIPES
Other 3-Ingredients or less recipes
SHOP FOR BAKING PRODUCTS USED IN THIS RECIPE:
This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy for more details.
Leave a Reply