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!
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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.
Try these other bread recipes:
- Pain de campagne (French country bread)
- Anadama bread (a New England bread with molasses and cornmeal)
- Caramelized onion sourdough bread
- Fig and walnut bread
- Plus get more bread recipes in the archives.
Japanese milk bread
Ingredients
For the tangzhong
- 2 tablespoon bread flour (2tbsp is approx 20g)
- 90 ml water
For rest of loaf
- 300 g bread flour (300g is approx 2 cups plus 2 tbsp)
- 7 g fast acting yeast (technically a little under but can use 1 sachet, ¼oz/ 7g)
- 120 ml milk (lukewarm or room temp, but not hot)
- 28 g unsalted butter melted but not hot
- 5 ml salt
- 42 g sugar (caster sugar/fine)
- 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.
This post was created in partnership with the dairy farmers of New England. For further information, including school nutrition, and health and wellness topics, please visit New England Dairy.
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Theresa says
This is the only bread recipe I'll bake now. Other recipes I tried turned out like a sour dough. This recipe is a keeper, will be making extra next time for cream buns 😋 but I might add less sugar for the bread, it is very sweet. I baked the loaf at 165°c fan forced oven for 25min. Perfect!! Thank you Caroline ⚘️
Caroline says
I'm so glad to hear it has worked well for you and honored it's been selected as the one you have liked most!
Melanie Jenkinson says
Hi Caroline. I made this bread for the first time. To me this is how home made bread should taste! I was wondering though, can it be made with wholemeal flour?
Caroline says
Glad you enjoyed it! So I haven't made it with wholemeal/whole wheat flour, and I'm not sure it would work all that well, or at least not swapping entirely. This is quite a light bread, and also very soft, and wholemeal flour tends to make a much denser bread. Also, it tends to not have quite the same gluten-forming ability so may need either a little more yeast and/or longer rise time. My suggestion as a first step would be to swap in just part wholemeal, say up to 1/3 of the total, and maybe add slightly more yeast. I'd also say to try to keep the soft texture as far as possible, using whole wheat pastry flour rather than the coarser "regular" whole wheat/wholemeal flour should give you a softer bread but still with some of that added flavor etc. Would be interested to hear how it goes, and may have to experiment myself soon, too!
Chris Edwards says
This bread is delicious cannot fault it very easy recipe to follow I make it all of the time now and it freezes well
Caroline says
So glad to hear that!
Pip says
Its good so far, how long do I rise it for when its in the tin?
Caroline says
The second rise time can vary a little, depending on room temperature etc, but around 40 minutes, maybe a bit longer. Hope the rest of it works out well!
Phyllis Wallen says
Can you shape this recipe into rolls without overworking the dough?
Caroline says
Yes, if you cut into however many smaller pieces rather than the three at that stage in the recipe, then roll each and place in your dish rather than rolling the three pieces and placing in the loaf pan, it should be just fine.
Jean says
This was one of the simpler recipes to try making Japanese milk bread! Followed to the tee and it was so delicious! It was not as soft and more dense than I expected but off to a great start and will try again considering how easy this was!
Caroline says
I'm so glad you enjoyed it and found it easy to follow!
Mat says
Making this as an (almost) vegan version (soy milk, vegan butter) but am including the egg, and 50% pizza flour 50% all purpose. Will report as to how it goes! Dough was wet so i had to add about 1/4 cup more flour.
Caroline's Cooking says
Look forward to hearing - it is a relatively wet dough but also adjusting the flours used can impact this too, so you can sometimes need a little more (or less). Being on the wet side is part of what helps the texture, so hope it's still just as soft and light.
HYA says
Thank You for creating this wonderful delicious bread recipe. Made our first loaf 5 days ago. Started today to make our next loaf but making 2 loafs instead.It will be our go to bread. I saw that it calls for 5 ml of salt I assume you mean 5g?
Caroline's Cooking says
I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed it! Actually it is meaning 5ml, as it's 1 teaspoon. But It's very close in grams - 1tsp is around 6 grams.
Chu says
Can I second rise it in the fridge overnight and bake it in the morning?
Thank you.
Caroline's Cooking says
I haven't done so with this bread myself but there's not really any reason why it shouldn't work.
Marissa says
I baked this a few years back and it was very good. Today, i doubled the recipe but my dough was very moist so i added more flour. First rise was an hour, did not rise much. I did not roll individually but just lumped them into 3 loaf pans. The rising took 3 more hours plus. 🙂 though overnight in the ref would be much better. It turned out yummy as well!
Maybe i should use a parchment paper so it is easier to be lifted out? Thanks!
Caroline's Cooking says
I imagine the combination of the larger quantity and extra flour led to taking longer to rise, but glad it turned out well in the end either way! You can use parchment, it really depends on your pan/tin a little - I haven't tended to find it tricky to take out and I like the browning which you may get less of if you use parchment, but it's certainly an option if you are unsure.
Michael Greenhill says
Fantastic easy to follow recipe. I've made it into 8 good sized breadcakes instead of a loaf. Really soft and fluffy.
Caroline's Cooking says
So glad to hear, and yes great in smaller sized rolls, too.
Kevin Wong says
Made it and so easy follow recipe
Caroline's Cooking says
That's great to hear!
Caroline says
Excellent recipe. Easy to follow and produced a lovely pillowy milk bread. Thanks Caroline from another Caroline
Caroline's Cooking says
So glad to hear you enjoyed! (and good name 🙂 )
Mimi Radford says
I have just made this bread for the second time. The first loaf was great but the dough was so wet and sticky which made it difficult to knead by hand. I used less milk for the second loaf so that I could knead the dough and guess what, the bread is too dry! My mistake but as a baker I'm concerned that using the food mixer for about 15 minutes might have an adverse affect on the gluten and ultimately the bread. Would you please advise for how long a mixer can be used to knead the dough. Thank you.
Caroline's Cooking says
It can be a little sticky, I know - what can help is to try to flour your hands fairly regularly as you knead so you hopefully don't add too much to the dough, but save it sticking to your hands. If you want to try using a mixer, then I'd suggest at most half the time compared to kneading by hand. Hope that helps!
Nancy says
Just mixed this bread up and on the first rise……the feel of the dough is perfect. Can’t wait to bake this up for dinner tonight. Thank you for your recipe🙃
Caroline's Cooking says
So glad to hear, hope you enjoy!
Mitsi says
It's the perfect bread! I had it with my homemade pate. I am making another loaf tomorrow! I am determined to always have a loaf of this milk bread in the house. Thank you for sharing.
Caroline's Cooking says
So glad to hear you are enjoying it!
Mirukubread lover says
i would marry this bread if i could
Caroline's Cooking says
Ha, it is indeed very tasty!
Atro says
I utterly ADORE this recipe! Used it first on Friday and made on loaf which my mother, brother,and it ate all at once as soon as it came out of the oven. I'm using it again today and this time making 3 loaves, the recipe makes the most *gorgeous* bread, utterly adore it! 10 out of 10! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Caroline's Cooking says
I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed it!
Mariss says
Thank you for your recipes. I initially came for the jam and then bounced into the bread. Thank you again.
Mariss
Caroline's Cooking says
You're welcome, and glad you found a few recipes you liked the look of (and hopefully enjoy!)
Jude says
I just made this bread yesterday and it's almost gone. Absolutely delicious toasted. I'm going to attempt to make rolls today. Needless to say, my dog stole a slice from the counter and thoroughly enjoyed it as well. Thanks for the recipe!
Caroline's Cooking says
So glad you enjoyed (dog included!)
Chris says
I’ve just won first prize in the village baking competition with this bread recipe. It tastes really good on its own. And looks terrific with the glazed top.
Thanks for this one Caroline.
Caroline's Cooking says
Congratulations, and nice to hear it's now a prize-winning recipe!
Kelly Dean says
Beautiful light tasty bread
Caroline's Cooking says
So glad you enjoyed! And yes I love how light it is.
Yasmin says
Last used a similar recipe about 4 years ago and after a lot of sourdough and other breads it was time to try this one again.i used milk that had soured instead of fresh milk and vegetable oil as i had run out of butter and the loaves are beautifully soft and delicious
Caroline's Cooking says
Glad you enjoyed!
Zahra says
So delicious 😍😋
Caroline's Cooking says
Glad you enjoyed!