Ah, milk bread—a soft, slightly sweet, and pillowy bread often inspired by Japanese shokupan. It’s perfect for sandwiches, toast, or just eating plain. Here’s a simple recipe:
Ingredients (for 1 loaf)
- 300 g all-purpose or bread flour
- 40 g sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 7 g instant yeast
- 180 ml warm milk
- 30 g unsalted butter, softened
- 1 egg (optional, for richer dough)
Instructions
- Activate yeast (if needed):
- Mix yeast with a little warm milk and sugar. Let sit 5–10 minutes until foamy.
- Make the dough:
- In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt.
- Add yeast mixture (or just milk if using instant yeast) and egg. Mix until a dough forms.
- Knead:
- Knead for 8–10 minutes by hand (or 5–6 minutes with a stand mixer) until smooth and elastic.
- Add softened butter and knead until fully incorporated.
- First rise:
- Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm place for 1–1.5 hours, until doubled in size.
- Shape and second rise:
- Punch down dough and shape into a loaf.
- Place in a greased loaf pan and let rise for 30–45 minutes until it nearly reaches the top.
- Bake:
- Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
- Brush top with milk or egg for a shiny crust.
- Bake 25–30 minutes until golden brown.
- Cool:
- Let cool slightly before slicing.
Tip: For extra soft, fluffy milk bread, use the tangzhong method—a cooked flour-and-milk roux that keeps the bread moist for days.
If you want, I can give a step-by-step tangzhong milk bread recipe, which makes it super soft and pillowy, almost like bakery bread. Do you want that version?
