Japan Yeast Bread Recipe

Japanese milk bread or shokupan is an every day white loaf bread made with tangzhong. It's got a thin golden brown crust and the fluffiest, light, feathery interior that's got a good chew like good bread should! Milk bread tastes slightly sweet and are great sandwich breads, like for our Japanese egg sandwich (tomago sando) .

This Japanese milk bread recipe is long overdue. We've been trying to perfect this recipe, and it's finally met our expectation and good enough for sharing.

Milk bread really makes for great sandwich breads, but it's totally not us snacking on the whole loaf because we can't get enough of how beautiful it shreds!

Ambrosia: Japanese Milk Bread Buns / #breadbakers

Japanese milk bread is also known as simply milk bread, hokkaido milk bread, and shokupan. They are everyday bread enjoyed in Japan as white bread is in American. Shokupan literally translates to eating bread.

Milk bread is loved for its thin, crust with super light and feathery interior crumb that shreds like a good cheese pull. It's made like regular enriched breads, with flour, milk, sugar, salt, egg, butter, yeast, and sometimes milk powder. However, there is a secret ingredient known as tangzhong that gives milk bread its beloved fluffiness.

Tangzhong is the secret ingredient used to allow milk breads to be super light and fluffy, yet moist. It allows the milk bread dough to hold more moisture than a dough without tangzhong, which also helps to extend milk bread's shelf life.

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So what is tangzhong? It's a bread making technique from China that cooks part of a dough's total flour with water to create thick paste, also known as a water roux. This paste is thickened when the flour is cooked and becomes gelatinzed, which enables the flour to absorb a much large amount of water than raw flour.

Honestly, Japanese milk bread can be enjoyed on its own, like a snack, and it's additive! You could also enjoy it anyway you would white sandwich bread. Below are some recommendations that you could try:

2. Pour the flour and water mixture into a small nonstick pan and cook over medium heat until the tangzhong is thick and opaque. Make sure to constantly mix the tangzhong so that it cooks evenly. This is especially important when it starts to thicken to prevent burning.

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3. Transfer the tangzhong to a plate or bowl and cover with a cling wrap. Make sure the wrap is touching the tangzhong and let it cool in the fridge until completely cooled.

1. Sprinkle the yeast into the warm milk and mix well. Set aside to let the yeast dissolve and activate, about 3 to 5 minutes.

2. In the stand mixer bowl, add the bread flour, sugar, and salt. Give the dry mixture a good mixed, then add the egg, cooled tangzhong, and milk and yeast mixture.

Sweet And Soft Japanese Milk Bread, Tangzhong Milk Bread, Japanese Milk Bread

3. Using the dough hook attachment, mix on low to medium low speed until a dough forms. Then, increase the speed to medium high or high and knead until the dough is smooth, supple, and passes the window pane test. For more information on the window pane test, please refer to the

Some stand mixers require premixing the dough until it roughly comes together before it can knead the dough properly.For us, it's a frequent occurrence when we only make one loaf of dough in a 5 quart mixing bowl.

4. Once the dough passes the window pane test, add the softened butter and knead on medium to medium high speed until the butter is fully absorbed by the dough.

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5. When the butter has been incorporated, round the dough into a ball and place it into a clean bowl. Cover and let the dough proof in a warm area until doubled, about 1 hour. This milk bread dough will be on the tackier side, so we recommend handling with gloved hands for minimal sticking.

The oven is a great place to proof your doughs! Keep the oven OFF and place the dough in the oven and just turn and keep the oven light on. If it's cold, you can go a step further and turn on your oven briefly (maybe 5 to 10 seconds), just enough to slightly warm up the oven.

1. Prepare an 8 inch by 4 inch loaf pan with a lid. Lightly grease it with some butter if it is not nonstick.

Japanese Milk Bread Loaf With Step By Step Photos

2. Once the dough has doubled, punch it down to degas. Divide the dough into 3 even pieces and place them onto a lightly floured work surface. Round each piece of dough into a ball.

3. Working with the first ball of dough, roll the dough into a 7 inch by 7 inch square. Fold dough into thirds, like a letter. Then, using the rolling pin, roll the dough to about 2½ to 3 inches wide, and about ¼ inch thick.

4. From the bottom, roll the dough upwards to form a roll. Pinch the seams together and place the roll seam side down in the loaf pan. Repeat with remaining dough balls.

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Before rolling up the dough, flatten out the top edge of the dough, almost in a smearing motion. This will make that part of the dough super thin, so that it adheres to the dough well and keeps the bottom of the roll flat.

5. When the doughs are all shaped, slide the lid onto the loaf pan and let the dough proof in a warm area.

🍞 For flat top loaf (aka pullman loaf): Let the dough proof until the highest part of the dough touches the lid. You'll feel a slight resistance when trying to slide the lid off the pan. Keep the lid on.

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🍞 For a rounded loaf: Let the dough proof until the highest part of the dough peaks past the the top of the pan by about ½ inch to 1 inch. If you are covering the dough with the lid, make sure to remove the lid before the dough touches it!

Make an egg wash by beating an egg or beating a large egg yolk with 1 tablespoon of milk. When the rounded loaf is done proofing and ready to bake, brush the top of the dough with some egg wash.

2. When the dough is ready, bake the milk bread, with the lid on, for 25 minutes, or until the outside is golden brown and the internal temperature registers at least 195°F.

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3. Remove the milk bread from the oven and remove the lid. Tap the loaf pan on the sides and bottom to pop the milk bread out of the pan.

Sufficient gluten development is the key to ensuring our milk bread is light, feathery, yet still chewy like how good bread should. There are a few ways to test whether the milk bread dough has developed enough gluten. One of the post popular way is called the window pane test. You can also apply this test to other doughs.

To see if a dough passes the window pane test, take a small piece the dough and gently stretch it between your fingers. Keep stretching the dough until you can see silhouettes through it without tearing. If the dough passes the test, it's ready for the next step. However, if the dough does not pass the test, keep kneading the dough and redo the test.

The Ultimate Guide On How To Make Milk Bread

Milk bread, like most breads, are best enjoyed the day of. After the milk bread loaf has completely cooled down, you can slice it up and enjoy.

If you are making it for the next day, let the milk bread loaf completely cool at room temperature before wrapping up tightly using cling wrap or stored in an airtight container. It can be kept at room temperature for up to 3 days before it loses its softness. We recommend keeping the loaf whole and slicing it whenever needed to keep the crumbs moist.

If you are not going to finish it within 3 days, we recommend freezing it in an airtight container. Also, pre-slice the loaf before freezing, if you plan on using it for sandwiches. When ready to eat, simply thaw as many slices as you'd like.

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Although you can make milk bread with all-purpose flour, the result may not be the best. However, for this recipe, we do not recommend substituting the bread flour for all-purpose. All-purpose flour cannot absorb as much liquid as bread flour, which will create a very sticky dough.

Yes! We've often made this milk bread recipe using lactose-free milk and dairy free milk substitutes like oat milk. For the butter, vegan butter or melted and cooled coconut oil can be used.

Yes. If you only have instant dry yeast, you can use it in place of active dry yeast. Instant dry yeast does not need to be dissolved in liquids first, so you can add it straight into the flour instead of the milk. Do still use all of the warm milk for the recipe.

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If you’ve made this recipe or any recipes from our blog, please tag us on Instagram using #! You can also tag us in your Instagram stories using @two_plaid_aprons. We would love to see your creations! It absolutely makes