Authentic Japanese Milk Bread Recipe

Try our recipe for the best milk bread with the softest, fluffiest crumb! This is also known as Japanese milk bread, Hokkaido milk bread, Korean milk bread (우유식빵

If you're looking for the best homemade milk bread with the fluffiest, softest crumb, look no further! This recipe is from my mom, a retired pastry chef, that's been adapted for the home baker. You'll end up with professional bakery results from this simple, easy recipe for milk bread!

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Milk bread is an incredibly soft, fluffy, light white bread made with milk that's perfect for toast, sandwiches, or simple enjoying by itself. It goes by many names and is also known as Japanese milk bread, shokupan, Korean milk bread (우유식빵), Chinese milk bread, or Hokkaido milk bread.

Japanese Milk Bread Recipe, Tangzhong Method

Japanese milk bread is also called 'shokupan' in Japan, which is translates to 'eating bread' because it can be eaten every day as a simple, white bread. Hokkaido milk bread is made from milk from Hokkaido, which is known for their high quality milk and dairy products.

They're sold in most Asian bakeries such as 85° Bakery, Tous Les Jours, and Paris Baguette. They can be baked in open loaf pans to reveal a golden, brown crust or baked in pullman loaf pans for a rectangular shape that's great for sandwiches.

Asian milk bread is traditionally made using 'tangzhong' or 'yuddane' which is a roux or starter made by heating water and flour together. But my mom let me in on a baker's secret for the fluffiest, softest milk bread which is using dough enhancer!

Japanese Milk Bread (shokupan)

Dough enhancer is what professional bakers use to get soft, light, fluffy breads that stay fresh for longer periods. It's also called dough conditioner or dough improver, and there are different benefits depending on what ingredients are added.

While both tangzhong and dough enhancer can achieve soft and fluffy milk bread, dough enhancer is used and preferred by professional bakers because of it's far more consistent and reliable than using tangzhong.

The type of flour, level of humidity, and duration of cooking time are all variables to control when making tangzhong, which can make it difficult for the home baker. On the other hand, dough enhancer is specially formulated and the amount added is based on the weight of flour which makes it easy to calculate for the home baker.

Japanese Milk Bread Recipe How To Make The Softest Bread Ever

A sign of perfectly baked milk bread is a soft, stretchy texture that easily pull apart with your hands as seen in the photo above. The crumb should be soft, fluffy, and delicate while showing proper gluten development. Continue reading for step by step photos and instructions for how to achieve this!

Properly made milk bread should pull apart easily to reveal a soft, light, fluffy interior. The crumb should look smooth without irregularity and should pull apart in stretchy 'strips', which shows proper gluten development and shaping.

This bread is made of milk, bread flour, sugar, butter, and yeast. It's called milk bread because milk is the only wet ingredient added to this bread.

Easy Milk Bread Loaf

Brioche has a much higher ratio of butter to flour versus milk bread. Brioche also contains eggs which give it a richer taste compared to milk bread.

Try this milk bread recipe for the softest, fluffiest homemade milk bread! Also known as Japanese milk bread, Hokkaido milk bread, or shokupan.

I highly recommend using a kitchen scale and the metric measurements provided for best results. Click on Metric under the ingredients list to access gram measurements.

Japanese Milk Bread (shokupan) (video) 食パン • Just One Cookbook

Leftovers: I recommend pre-slicing the bread and storing in an airtight container in the freezer. Re-heat up by placing in the toaster or toaster oven.

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Tried this recipe? Let us know how it was and give it a 5 star rating! Tag @ to show off your creations! I love seeing your photos!Soft and incredibly fluffy Japanese Milk Bread is world famous! It’s also really easy to make at home. Get the step by step recipe to make this flavorful sandwich bread right here.

Japanese Milk Bread Recipe (hokkaido Milk Bread)

This is a special kind of bread. It’s really soft, and still slightly chewy. It tastes exceptionally milky, with a soft, cloud-like mouthfeel (if one could taste cloud that is). It’s the best sandwich bread I’ve made and eaten.

As the name suggests, this bread originates from Japan. The technique for making Hokkaido milk bread involves a water roux (or tangzhong) which is the secret to a soft, springy, delicious bread.

Tangzhong is a roux made with water (and sometimes milk) and flour. It’s cooked to make a thick pudding-like paste, and then cooled down to room temperature and added to the flour mix when kneading the dough. It’s also called a water roux since it’s traditionally made with water.

The Best Soft And Fluffy Japanese Milk Bread

The starch is gelatinized at high temperatures by absorbing the liquid, WITHOUT forming any gluten in its structure. The starch molecules in tangzhong absorb far more liquid than it would at room temperature. When this is added to the bread dough, the tangzhong adds MORE water to the dough, and a stable, soft matrix that creates a cushion-like, spongy texture in the final baked product.

You can add tangzhong to ANY bread recipe and make it softer than it would otherwise be. I even make my childhood favorite bread snack with a tangzhong base to replicate that pillowly softness!

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It’s very important to have the right ratio of liquid to flour to make tangzhong. If too little liquid is added, then you risk developing gluten in the flour as you stir it.

Shokupan Recipe (fluffy Japanese Milk Bread With Tangzhong)

The magic ratio is 5 parts liquid to 1 part flour. You can use all water, all milk or half milk and half water too. I prefer to have a mixture of the two.

I add the flour into a saucepan, then add half the amount of water. Then I whisk it to mix the flour well and to make sure there are no lumps. Next, I add the rest of the liquid (water and/or milk), and stir to combine.

Once the tangzhong is cooked, I transfer it to a bowl and cover the surface with plastic wrap. This will prevent a skin from forming on the tangzhong. Let the paste cool to room temperature, and then it’s ready to be used.

Japanese Milk Bread (hokkaido Milk Bread )

I personally like to make double the amount of tangzhong at a time, because it lets me control the temperature and the consistency better. But you can make enough for 1 loaf, but make sure to use a small saucepan to make sure that the tangzhong won’t cook too quickly.

However, it is possible to make a good tangzhong with a small amount of liquid and flour. Just make sure to use a smaller saucepan. Or you may risk over-evaporation and end up with a tangzhong that is too thick.

The tangzhong can be stored in the fridge for later as well. But make sure to bring it back to room temperature before using.

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The Best Fluffy White Bread Recipe

The process is really simple. However, because the dough can be really soft, I highly recommend letting the dough chill for a few hours if you can, to make shaping the dough much easier.

Here I’ll be showing you how to make a traditional milk bread loaf, as well as milk bread rolls with the same base recipe.

All the ingredients, except for the milk, should be at room temperature. The milk should be slightly warmer as you will be activating the yeast in the milk.

Matcha Shokupan (japanese Milk Bread)

I prefer to use bread flour for milk bread, because you want to aid gluten development for a sturdy structure in the bread. The high protein bread flour is better at developing gluten.

To make the hokkaido milk bread taste even more delicious and soft, I add another ingredient – dry milk powder! This ingredient is often used to make bread taste milkier and softer.

If you don’t have dry milk powder, you can leave that out and still get soft and delicious bread. You can also substitute the milk with an equal amount of evaporated milk to get a milkier tasting milk bread loaf.

Japanese Milk Bread By Marco Interactive

If you’re using active dry yeast, the consensus is that you do need to activate it first. I use Bob’s red mill active dry yeast which has very small granules. I do find that I don’t always need to activate this because it dissolves in the dough very easily even without activation.

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”).

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

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