Soft fluffy Asian milk bread

Have you ever tried bread from an Asian bakery before? Because it’s texture is unlike most breads out there. In order to make the loaf they use a special type of dough that uses a roux to help keep this Asian milk bread insanely soft and fluffy on the inside for days on end!

I’m actually almost a little surprised it turned out so well because I used whole wheat bread flour this time and it still ended up being just as fluffy when I made it with all purpose flour .

But of course you can make it with regular all purpose flour but making it with bread flour will leave you with a fluffier loaf

The turn out was absolutely amazing! I mean look at the gluten strands! 🙂

I feel like I say this every time I make bread but…even though making this milk bread literally took an entire day with all it’s rising times and all that fun stuff but it was definitely worth it.

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Asian milk bread recipe

Ingredients (1 loaf):

2 1/2 cups whole wheat bread flour (or all purpose)
2 teaspoons yeast
1/2 cup warm milk (whole milk works best)
1 egg
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup Tangzhong (recipe below)

1/2 cup raisins (optional if you want to make raisin bread)

Tangzhong:

40 mL bread flour
1/2 cup water

Method

1. Make the tangzhong by putting the 40 mL bread flour and 1/2 cup water in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk the tangzhong until it thickens and swirls form. Then remove from heat and stir it for another 30 seconds so it can thicken a little more. Let cool for 3 hours before use or use it the next day.

2. In a measuring cup mix the yeast, warm milk and a sprinkle of sugar together; set aside until foamy. Then, put the sugar, salt, bread flour,and coconut oil in a large bowl.

3. Whisk in an egg then our the milk mixture and the cooled tangzhong into the flour mixture.

4. Stir everything together to form a dough (if it still feels sticky you may need to add a bit more flour).

5. Knead the dough for 15 – 25 minutes until smooth and elastic. Let the dough rise covered in a warm place for 1.5 hours.

6. When the dough is done rising, split it into 5 equal dough balls

7.  Flatten each dough ball into an oval with a rolling pin. Sprinkle in your raisins if using.

8. Fold the ends of the oval inwards by 1/3 allowing them to overlap in the middle. Flip the dough over, and roll it again with a rolling pin to flatten then flip it back over again.

9. Roll the piece of dough into a mini log. Do this for the rest of the dough balls until you have five rolls.

10. Place the rolls into the loaf pan beside each other.

11. Let the dough rise for 30 minutes in a warm place until it doubles. Brush with egg wash.

12.Bake at 350F for 30 minutes until golden brown.