Japanese milk bread is probably the lightest, fluffiest, most tender bread you’ll come across. It’s the perfect everyday loaf, from sandwiches to toast, and is one you need to try! This recipe was created in partnership with the dairy farm families of New England.
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I’ll admit, when I have seen lines of similar-looking white bread any time I have been in Asia, I haven’t felt inspired. I’ve always been more of a fan of artisan-style loaves, whether that’s something like a sourdough rye bread or with ‘bits’ in it like my fig walnut bread.
However, when I heard about Japanese milk bread I knew I needed to give it a try. It might be about all you can find if you are in Japan, but when it’s such a wonderfully soft and light loaf, it really doesn’t matter.
This loaf is perfect for everyday use as well. It’s a great base for sandwiches and toasts beautifully too. The method might seem a little unusual, but it’s the combination of that less typical method and ingredients that makes this bread so wonderfully light and soft.
What is the tangzhong method?
One of the things that makes this loaf so soft is the fact you start by making a roux with flour and water. This warming starts to activate the gluten in the flour before you even mix it with the rest of the ingredients which helps create the soft texture. And while this loaf didn’t get a chance, apparently it helps preserve the bread better too.
The method was apparently developed in Japan, but named in China and used in many breads around the region. If you are used to Western bread, it might seem strange, but it’s not difficult and believe me, you want to give it a try.
The other aspect of the light, soft texture and flavor is using milk as an ingredient. Dairy in it’s many forms can really add to the flavor and texture of a dish, as well as the nutrition, and using milk definitely helps this loaf become something special.
How to make Japanese milk bread
If you have made other breads, most of this will look familiar. Only the tangzhong and how the dough is folded is a bit unusual. The steps are:
- Put water and small amount of flour in a small pan. Mix until smooth and no lumps remain.
- Warm the flour paste gently until it thickens, stirring, then set aside to cool (this is the tangzhong).
- Measure out remaining ingredients (flour, yeast, milk, melted butter, sugar, salt and egg) and add cooled tangzhong. Mix all the ingredients together then knead, either in mixer or by hand.
- Once the dough is no longer sticky, transfer to an oiled bowl and let rise until doubled.
- Knock back the dough, divide into three pieces and roll each piece into an oval.
- Fold one side of dough over to halfway across the remaining dough then fold the other side on top so you have three layers (see photos). Gently roll slightly, if needed, then roll up the piece of dough as you would a cinnamon roll.
- Repeat with the other pieces of dough then put all three rolls of dough in an oiled loaf pan.
- Cover and leave to rise again then brush with egg wash.
- Bake for approx 30 minutes until golden brown. Turn onto a cooling rack to cool.
It can be a little difficult to describe exactly how to fold the bread, but hopefully the pictures below make it clearer:
Additional tips
You don’t have to fold the pieces of dough in this traditional way – some recipes form small rolls, for example – but it’s kind of fun to do and gives a lovely appearance to the finished loaf. If you form rolls, try using a round pan instead.
As you are making it, you may find it much softer than other bread doughs. You may need to add slightly more flour as you are kneading so it is not too sticky, but it should stay soft. It is closer to a brioche in texture but without that slight sweetness. To me, this is a more versatile bread.
Make sure you oil your bread tin to help the bread come out without sticking. Use a knife to help ease it away from the side before turning onto a cooling rack.
Once you have baked the bread, try to avoid the temptation to slice it immediately. It’s hard, I know, as it smells so good! However this is a pretty soft loaf and it will slice better when cooler.
You can either cut the loaf as a whole or break off one of the chunks and slice that, as I did here. Either way, once you slice you’ll see the wonderfully light crumb.
We got through this loaf in one meal, we all enjoyed it that much (true, we had a couple extra helpers). We particularly liked it spread with pate or soft cheese. If you do have some leftover, it’s a great bread for toasting.
Japanese milk bread might look a little unassuming, but this is one special loaf. While perfect for every day use, it’s so light and fluffy, you’ll have everyone back for more.
If you like this, you might also like my lemon thyme focaccia. Plus get lots of lunch recipes in the archives.
Japanese milk bread
Ingredients
For the tangzhong
- 2 tbsp bread flour (approx 25g)
- 6 tbsp water
For rest of loaf
- 300 g bread flour approx 2 cups plus 2 tbsp
- 2 tsp fast acting yeast (technically a little under but can use 1 sachet, 1/4oz/ 7g)
- 120 ml milk 1/2 cup
- 30 g unsalted butter 2tbsp, melted but not hot
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp sugar (caster sugar/fine), approx 42g
- 1 egg
To glaze
- 1 egg (lightly beaten - won't need all)
Instructions
For tangzhong - made slightly ahead
- Put water and flour for tangzhong in a small pan. Mix until smooth and no lumps remain - do this before turning on the heat.
- Warm the flour paste gently over a medium-low heat until it thickens, stirring constantly. You should see trails left by the spoon/whisk as you stir it. Set the pan aside to cool.
To make bread
- Measure out the remaining ingredients into a large bowl (flour, yeast, milk, melted butter, sugar, salt and egg). Add the cooled tangzhong - I gently beat the egg into the tangzhong first to both save the tangzhong being too thick and help egg to mix better but you don't need to, just make sure you mix it well. Mix all the ingredients together then knead, either in mixer or by hand on a floured surface. Add a little more flour if needed.
- Once the dough is no longer sticky, transfer to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and leave to rise in a relatively warm place until doubled - around 1 hour.
- Once it has risen, knock back the dough, divide into three pieces. Set the other pieces to one side and roll one piece into an oval.
- Fold one side of dough over to halfway across the remaining dough then fold the other side on top so you have three layers (see photos above). Gently roll slightly, if needed, then roll up the piece of dough as you would a cinnamon roll.
- Repeat with the other pieces of dough then put all three rolls of dough in an oiled loaf pan - 9x5in (22x12cm) or slightly smaller.
- Cover and leave to rise again until the loaf is just reaching the top of the pan. Preheat oven to 350F/175C. Lightly beat the egg and brush the top of the loaf with egg wash.
- Bake the loaf for approx 30 minutes until golden brown. If it browns too fast, tent with foil for the last part of cooking. Turn onto a cooling rack to cool before slicing.
Notes
Nutrition
See some of my favorite cooking tools and ingredients in the Caroline’s Cooking Amazon store.
Recipe draws on a few sources, with my own tweaks, particularly King Arthur Flour’s milk bread rolls and Beautiful Life and Home’s Japanese milk bread.
For information about the dairy farm families of New England, school nutrition, and health and wellness topics, please visit New England Dairy & Food Council and Must Be the Milk.
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Zara says
Hi Caroline, thanks so much for sharing a brilliant recipe with step by steps.
I made this loaf last night for the first time and wasn’t sure how it would turn out as first I’ve never made bread in my life and second I wasn’t too confident as it looked a lot of work ie kneading. But I must admit I am pleasantly surprise with the outcome. I brushed milk on the bread before baking and not an egg and then brushed a bit of butter on the top after taking it out.
The bread is soft, fluffy and crumbly…and we loved it…. This is now going to be my ‘go-to’ recipe and one I’d like to master…
I did, however, want to ask the bread looked a tiny bit dense at the bottom – not sure why? Could it be that it needed a few more minutes more in the oven? I also wanted to ask should the bread be left to cool down completely before slicing it?
Thanks again…. ❤️
Caroline's Cooking says
So glad to hear it worked out well and you enjoyed! In general yes, it is best to let bread cool down completely before slicing – this is mainly because when it’s still warm, the knife can pull a bit and cause dough-like clumps. I admit, I am very bad at waiting that long and normally slice it when it’s still slightly warm so sometimes get slight clumps but not too much. On being dense in the bottom, it could be that the bread needed slightly more space or time to rise on the second rise. So when you put the dough into the baking tin, try to make sure you don’t press it down so there’s a little space. If it was dense-looking more into the middle (which may be more towards the bottom but more or less the middle of the loaf) then yes I imagine it may have needed slightly longer to bake.
Lisa says
Thank you for this recipe. Can i replace bread flour with all purpose flour? Thanks
Caroline's Cooking says
Yes you can, the bread flour just gives a softer texture. Enjoy!
Vanessa says
This is my new favorite white bread receipe! Wow! Absolutely delicious!! I didnt have fast acting yeast so I just use the standard one with 1/4 cup of water for it to rise and 1/4 cup almond milk. I will make another one tomorrow so I can hopefully last the week! But it’s so tasty, I doubt it!
Thanks for a delicious go-to bread!
Caroline's Cooking says
So glad to hear you enjoyed! I agree it’s such a wonderful bread.
Mel Bernard says
How long do I knead the bread with my mixer? Just enough for ingredients to be incorporated or the typical 5-7 minutes?
Caroline's Cooking says
The typical 5-7 minutes, so you get the gluten stretching etc. Hope you enjoy!
Angel Robertson says
I loved the recipe and I made 10 rolls from it. Filled 5 with chocolate and the other 5 with turkey bacon and cheese. Turned out great. You could also make a curry but make sure it’s more paste like not runny. 😃
Caroline's Cooking says
So glad to hear, and the fillings sound tasty!
Laura says
Is the nutrition values based on per 100g or per serving? And if it’s per serving, how many grams per serving please? I’m looking for a bread that’s low salt to give my children so need to work out of it is! Thanks!
Caroline's Cooking says
So the nutrition values are calculated per serving, so it’s assuming you get 16 servings, in this case. I haven’t weighed the finished loaf, but adding up the ingredients, it comes out around 650g total, so about 40g per serving, but this is only approximate and doesn’t really allow for much evaporation, which could well happen.
Denise Henry says
I made this bread yesterday for my daughter’s birthday dinner. I have been baking bread off and on for years. My brother is a master baker(39 years of experience). I can’t even come close to him. That being said neither he nor I have ever made milk bread. After trying your easy to follow directions the bread turned out wonderful. Everyone highly praised it. I know this recipe will go into my top 5 favorites. Thank you for taking the time to share it with all of us.
Caroline's Cooking says
So glad to hear you enjoyed this (and found it easy to follow). It really is a special bread, I agree!
Brianp says
Great recipe, easy as to make, cooked in a wood fired oven, sensational!
Caroline's Cooking says
Sounds wonderful in a wood fired oven, glad to hear you enjoyed!
Chen says
Have you used the dough to make buns with fillings? Will the buns turn out soft and fluff?
Caroline's Cooking says
No I haven’t tried it. With any filling, you run the risk of it soaking in to the dough and weighing it down, so you just need to take care it doesn’t make the dough underneath go soggy and maybe not cook. So if you try it, don’t over-fill or have a filling that’s too liquid. Would be interested to hear how it goes!
Angel Robertson says
I loved the recipe and I made 10 rolls from it. Filled 5 with chocolate and the other 5 with turkey bacon and cheese. Turned out great. You could also make a curry but make sure it’s more paste like not runny. 😃
Caroline's Cooking says
Great! They sound tasty!
Per says
This was great! Very easy to make. Can I add more sugar if I want it to be sweeter? or will that affect the structure of the bread? Thanks!
Caroline's Cooking says
So glad you enjoyed! I haven’t tried adding more, but in theory a little more shouldn’t make too much of a difference, especially since it is already a soft loaf. I have seen recipes with a little more sugar in there as well. However if you add too much it may impact the structure – to help avoid too many issues, you may need a bit more flour to balance it out and just watch it as it rises so it doesn’t over-prove.
Lisa | Garlic & Zest says
I’ve heard you describing this bread for a while now and I’m so excited to see it! It looks soft and pillowy. I can’t wait to give this one a try, Caroline!
Caroline's Cooking says
Thank you, it really is so incredibly light and soft. Worth trying for sure!
Rene says
What type of milk do you recommend. Is dairy free an option?
Caroline's Cooking says
Typically I would make this with whole milk (cow’s milk). I haven’t made this with dairy free milk and can’t say for sure how it would work since it may react differently with the other ingredients – eg you may need a little more or less since the flour may not absorb it in the same way.
Christine says
This is perfect bread. I’m a pastry chef not a baker so I was pleasantly surprised and so happy that I could pull THIS off in lieu of my regular wheat bread here at home for my husband.
Caroline's Cooking says
So glad to hear you enjoyed – I agree it’s such a lovely bread!
Sharon says
This Japanese milk bread looks so light and fluffy. This bread would be perfect for Sunday dinner.
Caroline's Cooking says
Thanks, it really is so light, and I can see it having so many uses.
Krissy Allori says
Oh my gosh! This looks amazing. I can’t wait to try it.
Caroline's Cooking says
Thank you, hope you enjoy as much as we did!
Shashi at SavorySpin says
Wow – that’s such a delightfully fluffy loaf – I used to think I preferred artisan loaves too, but after looking at this – it’s hard for me to choose!
Caroline's Cooking says
Thanks – I think both kinds definitely have their place, but we instantly loved this light, fluffy loaf.