People in Asian countries love soft and fluffy bread.
China is changing so fast. Back to 20 years when I was still a girl, bakery seems quite far except the traditional egg cake. Bread, hamburger, cheese, even yogurt are all luxury food for us. KFC have been considered as high-level restaurants in China for years. But we can easily from food, wines and milk product from all over the world at the import food store several miles away. Lots of Chinese family kitchens have build-in ovens. So bread, baked buns, toast, cheese become more and more popular on our table along with our traditional Chinese dishes. We are enjoying free style meals everyday.
The milk bread introduced here is a very basic recipe I use daily if I do not have Tangzhong by hand. Japanese bakers influence Chinese baking a lot. In generally we love sweet, soft and golden brown bread and buns. In the past one year, I have failed lots of time at my own kitchen and I feel that pillow soft buns are so far from me. But in the new year of 2016, I made great progress and never failed again.
Ingredients
- 300g (2 and 1/3 cup,without shifting the flour) bread flour
- 50g (scant 4 tbsp.)sugar
- 2g salt
- 1 smaller egg
- 160g milk (3.5% fat)
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoon yeast
- 30g (2 tbsp.) unsalted butter at room temperature
Egg wash
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 tablespoon water
Steps
In a stand mixer, add all the ingredients of the dough except butter, knead on low speed for 5-7 minutes.
Then add butter in; continue kneading for another 7 to 10 minutes until you get a smooth, elastic and soft dough.
But my favorite way is to transfer the dough out to a slightly floured board after 5 minutes and smash it against the operating board, grab it up and smash again. Repeat this process for 2-3 minutes and shape into a round ball. This can help to strong the gluten.
Place in a large bowl and cover with a plastic wrapper and set aside for the first rise.
Until it is doubled in size.
Transfer the dough out and divide it into two halves. Press each halves to remove the inner bubbles and then shape into a round ball. Then divide one half of the dough into 8 portions and place them one by one in a cake mould.
My favorite method to set up proofing process is in the oven. I place a large bowl of warm water in the oven to ensure a qualified humidity.
When the buns are almost doubled in size, pre-heat the oven to 170 degree C (350 degree F) and brush egg wash and garnish toasted sesame seeds.
We love golden brown not dark browned buns, so I top the buns with silver papers when they are well colored.Â
Ingredients
- 300 g bread flour , 2 and 1/3 cup, without shifting the flour
- 50 g sugar
- 2 g salt
- 1 smaller egg
- 160 g milk , 3.5% fat
- 1.5 tsp. yeast
- 30 g unsalted butter , at room temperature
Egg wash
- 1 egg well beaten + 1 tbsp. water
Instructions
- In a stand mixer, add all the ingredients of the dough except butter, knead on low speed for 5-7 minutes. And then add butter in; continue kneading for another 5 minutes until you get a smooth, elastic and soft dough.
- Transfer the dough out to a slightly floured board after 5 minutes and smash it against the operating board, grab it up and smash again. Repeat this process for 2-3 minutes and shape into a round ball. This can help to strong the gluten.
- Place in a large bowl and cover with a plastic wrapper and set aside for the first rise until it is doubled in size.
- Transfer the dough out and divide it into two halves. Press each halves to remove the inner bubbles and then shape into a round ball. Then divide one half of the dough into 8 portions and place them one by one in a cake mould. You can make the other half the same or maker larger stuffed buns like me.
- Place the moulds in the oven along with a large bowl of warm water. Set aside for the proofing.
- When the buns are almost doubled in size, pre-heat the oven to 170 degree C (340 degree F) and brush egg wash and garnish toasted sesame seeds. Top with buns with sliver paper when the buns are well colored (optional). Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove out and cool down.
Notes
Nutrition
I have actually made these. OMG they are wonderful! Even 4 days later they are still moist and yummy. They make more than 8 small rolls, more like 16 regular size rolls. I weighed all my ingredients as the recipe gave. They were perfect! Foolproof
Thanks Cindy! That’s really a good news for me. I am always trying to tell people from me that soft milk bread can be made only with those simple ingredients. But lots of them insist to use Tangzong roux. It is so good to hear your feedback.
Hi! How many whater? Thanks from Venezuela, free land in the near future.
Sorry, How many?
It should be around 145ml to 150ml.
Today, I make the milk bread & it is very delicious & super soft. My family love the bread very much. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Thanks Jeannie for this encouraging feedback. This is my most used bread recipe and I am so happy to know it works fine on your side too. Happy cooking.
Elaine, today I used your milk bread recipe to make coconut buns. Each bun the dough is 60 gm. I bake for 20 mins for each batch of 10 individual buns but the bread is not soft like my first try. Could you kindly tell me what exactly I went wrong. I doubled the recipe. Thk you.
I forgotten to tell u, I wrapped the dough with fillings then I put it into fridge until the next morning. I took the dough fr the fridge & leave it at room temperature before I start to bake. Pls let me know why the bread is not soft like the first time I made it.
Your gluten may have over developed. The magic of most no knead bread is that the long overnight rest is actually developing the gluten strands that would normally develop from the kneading process. Since this bread is manually kneaded, leaving the bread for too long may have overdelveloped your gluten which leads to a less than desirable texture. If you must leave overnight, reduce your kneading time until just before the dough reaches windowpane test. I would let the shaped rolls proof for 30 minutes before wrapping and refrigeration. Then the next morning, heat your oven, take your rolls from refrigeration and bake immediately.
Elaine, I don’t know how to thank you enough for this recipe. These were the fluffiest, softest and tastiest milk buns I’ve ever eaten!
Thanks Rain for this wonderful feedback. This is a basic recipe I use for most of my homemade breads. I am so glad to know it comes out good for you too.
How long would you need to proof the dough in the oven with a bowl of warm water for?
Is the oven off when proofing in oven?
Usually it takes 40 minutes for me.
Hi Elaine,
I was wondering if it’s possible to knead the dough by hand?
Thank you!
Sure, hand-kneading is a good body exercise.
Is the egg for in the dough while kneading or just for the egg wash brushing on top the buns?
Hi Florence,
We need one egg in the dough. The egg wash should be prepared separately.
Thank you, Elaine!
Hi Elaine, pls advise if the milk should be lukewarm. Thanks.
Room temperature milk can work fine for most of the seasons, Monica. There is no need to add one step to warm up the milk. But if you want to slightly speed up the proof process in winter, lukewarm milk can help.
Thanks ?
Hi Elaine!
Have you tried making this kneading by hand? Ive tried hand kneading recipes that usually use a machine to knead, and usually it gets quite difficult.
Thanks!
Hi Kirsty,
I usually hand knead my bread in winter and cooler days. But I prefer to use a machine in summer. There are lots of skills when hand-kneading the dough, usually I use a method by folding up the dough and pull it longer. When the kneading skills are well mastered, it should be the same even better than stand mixer.