Japanese Milk Bread Rolls
Also referred to as Hokkaido milk bread, these rolls are incredibly soft and airy thanks to a simple technique involving a roux "starter," known as tangzhong. The roux is mixed into the final dough, producing wonderfully tender bread each and every time.
Ingredients
Tangzhong (starter)
- 3 tablespoons water
- 3 tablespoons whole milk
- 2 tablespoons King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour or Organic Bread Flour
Dough
- 2 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour or Organic Bread Flour
- 2 tablespoons Baker's Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) melted unsalted butter
Instructions
- To make the tangzhong: Combine all of the ingredients in a small saucepan, and whisk until no lumps remain.
- Place the saucepan over low heat, and cook the mixture, whisking constantly, until thick and the whisk leaves lines on the bottom of the pan, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Transfer the tangzhong to a small mixing bowl or measuring cup and let it cool to room temperature.
- To make the dough: Combine the tangzhong with the remaining dough ingredients, then mix and knead — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — until a smooth, elastic dough forms.
- Shape the dough into a ball, and let it rest in a lightly greased covered bowl for 60 to 90 minutes, until puffy but not necessarily doubled in bulk.
- Gently deflate the dough, divide it into 8 equal pieces, and shape each piece into a ball.
- Place the rolls into a lightly greased round bun pan. Cover the pan, and let the rolls rest for 40 to 50 minutes, until puffy. To use another pan, see "tips," below.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Brush the rolls with milk or egg wash (1 large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon cold water), and bake for 28 to 32 minutes, until golden brown on top; a digital thermometer inserted into the center of the middle roll should read at least 190°F.
- Remove the rolls from the oven. Allow them to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer them to a rack to cool completely.
- Yield: 8 rolls.
Nutrition Information
- Serving Size 1 roll (90g)
- Servings Per Batch 8
Amount Per Serving:
- Calories 250
- Calories from Fat 70
- Total Fat 8g
- Saturated Fat 4.5g
- Trans Fat 0g
- Cholesterol 40mg
- Sodium 320mg
- Total Carbohydrate 37g
- Dietary Fiber 1g
- Sugars 9g
- Protein 8g
* The nutrition information provided for this recipe is determined by the ESHA Genesis R&D software program. Substituting any ingredients may change the posted nutrition information.
Tips from our bakers
- These rolls can also be baked in a 9" round metal pan for about 25 minutes.
- To make a loaf: After the dough's initial rise, divide it into four equal pieces. Flatten each piece into a rectangle, then fold the short ends in towards one another like a letter. Flatten the folded pieces into rectangles again and, starting with a short end, roll them each into a log. Place the logs in a row of four — seam side down and side by side — in a lightly greased 9" x 5" loaf pan. Cover the loaf and allow it to rest/rise for 40 to 50 minutes, until puffy. Brush the loaf with milk or egg wash and bake at 350°F for about 30 minutes, until golden brown on top and a digital thermometer inserted into the center of the loaf reads at least 190°F. Remove the loaf from the oven, and cool it on a rack.
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Reviews
I am extremely delighted with this bread recipe it brings me back home, as an Asian who now lives in USA. The softiest the better for us. I have baked this for almost 5x already and I am always excited to eat it.
This was my first time using the tangzhong starter method, and I was very pleased. The rolls were soft and light, and browned beautifully, even though I made some substitutions based on what I had on hand. I used mostly KAF artisanal bread flour, rather than your standard bread flour, with about 50 grams of KAF white whole wheat flour because I ran out of the artisanal bread flour. I added some gluten since the flours I was using have less protein than KAF's regular bread flour. I also added a bit less than 2 tablespoon of ground flaxt. And I used half and half instead of whole milk, because my choices were nonfat milk or half and half. I kneaded by hand. It was a soft dough, but I find that's pretty common with enriched doughs. It reached a good level of elasticity pretty quickly. I worried I might have overproofed them on the second proofing, as they got rather massive and a few of them developed small splits. But the texture after baking didn't seem like they had been overproved. I baked them in a large glass (Pyrex) pie pan. I checked them at 25 minutes and they were done. They had nicely browned bottoms. I'm looking forward to trying these as the basis of cinnamon buns and as a loaf. Just a couple of questions: 1) Does the method described for a loaf (four separate pieces of dough that you lay side by side in the pan) produce a solid loaf that you slice, rather than a "share and tear" loaf? 2) Do you have any recommendations for making smaller rolls (perhaps 12 or even 16 rolls from the same recipe)? These turned out large enough to make a sandwich with, but I'd like to be able to serve them as dinner rolls. Any thoughts on adjusting the time?Hi there, Lynn! We're glad to hear that you enjoyed the results of the tangzhong method! It does sound like your rolls may have gotten a little over-proofed on the second rise, which resulted in the cracks you saw on the tops.
The shaping for a loaf that is suggested in the tips will give you a unique and interesting shape — if you'd like a regular loaf for toast or sandwiches you can certainly shape the dough as you normally would.
For smaller rolls you'll have to do a bit of experimenting on the rise times. We'd suggest checking on the shaped rolls after about 25 to 30 minutes and going from there to ensure they don't get over-proofed. We hope this helps and happy baking! Morgan@KAF
I've tried other recipes, but this by far is a keeper. I've made this a couple of times and it has turned out great every time. I actually make Chinese hot dog buns with this recipe and my kids love it! I actually use my bread machine to do all the kneading and rising of the bread, and that makes it super easy! Thanks for a great recipe.
I make these rolls and bread often and they come out perfect. Following the recipe for volume, it has never failed me. I use this as a dough for cinnamon rolls and butter rolls. I have replaced half the flour with King Arthur Whole Wheat Flour with very good results. I always double the recipe and mix ingredients by hand before kneading with a KitchenAid. I let it knead on the lowest setting for 11 minutes. The consistency is perfect and easy to handle. I do proof the yeast because I live in a rain forest on the coast and food perishes rapidly. I also have learned over many years of baking that a little less yeast than what the recipe calls for works best as long as one is vigilant and does not over proof the yeast nor allows the dough to sit too long during the rising process.
I followed the instructions exactly except for substituting monkfruit sweetener for sugar. I also made the loaf instead of rolls. I would absolutely make this again for a treat! It tasted similar to Hawaiian rolls. However, even though the internal temp was 190 degrees, I probably could have cooked it longer. It was gummy in some spots. But I also needed to add more flour. I kneaded for almost 20 minutes with a stand mixer and it just was not coming together. At around 15 minutes of kneading I added maybe 2-3 tbsp flour, but I was nervous to add more. The loaf turned out a little more dense than I thought it would. Maybe because of over-kneading? Maybe because it needed more flour? I am a novice bread maker, so I'm still figuring out how the dough is supposed to look. Even with my errors, it is a delicious, completely edible, enjoyable loaf. I'll be making it again!
I tried this the second time. Made a loaf with multi grain flour, replaced butter with brown butter and skipped the egg and added few more tbsp of milk. Came out well.
This bread turns out great! One question however, would the dough be okay for 24 hours in the fridge instead of 1 hour room temp during the first proof? Thanks!Hi Nate! You may be able to get away with letting the dough rise in the fridge overnight, but 24 hours is pushing it and it could over-proof and then collapse. It's a little risky but you're welcome to experiment! Annabelle@KAF
Followed the directions almost 100% which in of itself is a major coup. I did use all purpose not bread and I did use a loaf pan but I made my four loafettes/rolls different sizes to see how it would design in the pan, but 31 min was good. Beautiful.
These rolls are incredibly light and fluffy. I'm in Arizona so I always decrease the amount of flour a smidge and it comes out perfect. The recipe mentions how long these rolls will stay fresh but they're gone before they even finish cooling!
I followed the directions for bread in a loaf pan. The bread is tall, soft, fluffy and delicious. The loaf had a tear near the top on one side. I did the poke test for the final proof and I used an egg and water wash before it went in the oven. I'm wondering if using steam or misting the loaf with water would help prevent the tear?Great idea, Darlene!Some steam may help, or you could gently score the top of the loaf with a sharp knife or lame (see our blog articles on scoring for tips) so that the steam has a distinct place to escape from. Annabelle@KAF