Hokkaido Milk Bread Recipes

HOKKAIDO MILK BREAD

Steps:

• In a small saucepan over medium heat, combined the ingredients for the starter. Stir continuously for 4-5 minutes or until the starter thickens to the consistency of mashed potatoes. Transfer to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit until the starter gets to room temperature.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together bread flour, sugar, yeast, dry milk powder, and salt. Once mixed, add in milk, starter, and beaten egg.
• Using the dough hook attachment, beat on low for 5 minutes. Add in butter and beat 5 more minutes. Turn the speed up to medium and beat for a final 5 minutes.
• Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit for 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
• Transfer dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 4 equally sized pieces. Roll each out to be 8"x5" and then fold each of the long sides in 1". Starting on one of the shorter edges, roll up and then place in a greased 9"x4" pan. Repeat with each piece of dough.
• Cover and let rise an additional 45 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Once the dough has risen, brush the top of the dough with heavy whipping cream. Place into oven and bake for 35-40 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the inside is 190 degrees.
• Remove from oven and let sit 5 minutes before removing bread from pan. Let cool on a cooling rack.

HOKKAIDO MILK BREAD

Steps:

• In a saucepan, dissolve the flour in milk and water (mentioned under the roux ingredients). Place it on the gas stove and cook till until the flour thickens whilst stirring continuously.
• Once thickened, take it off the flame and immediately add the remaining milk and cream. This is done to reduce the temperature of the roux quicker.
• In the bowl of your stand mixer, add rest of the ingredients (except for butter) - salt, flour, yeast, sugar, milk powder and egg.
• Add the roux.. before adding the roux make sure that it is slightly cooled and not hot as if it is too hot it would kill the yeast.
• Attach the dough hook and combine everything on med. speed for 2 mins until it comes together as a dough.
• Then start feeding the dough with butter a little at a time. Once incorporated knead the dough for 8 mins.
• After which take the dough onto a lightly floured surface.
• Give the dough a round shape making the top smoother.
• Grease a bowl with some oil. You can use the same bowl in which you kneaded the dough
• Place the dough in the bowl and dab the remaining oil from your hands on top of the dough so that it doesn't dry out while proofing.
• Cover it with a tea towel and allow it to proof in a warm place for 1 hour.
• Grease the inner pot of your instant pot with some oil.
• Place the dough into it and dab the top of the dough with the leftover oil so that it doesn't dry out.
• Place the iiner pot into your Instant Pot and choose the Yogurt Setting.
• Set the time to 30 mins.
• Once proofed, punch and tip the dough onto your work top and divide into 3 equal portions. Either eyeball or use a kitchen scale and divide it into 3 portions of 205 gms each
• Roll it into a round shape by tucking the sides to the base.
• Cover the 3 balls with a tea towel and allow for an intermediate proofing of 10 mins.
• Meanwhile grease the baking pan with some butter and set aside.
• After 10 mins, take each portion and roll it lengthwise. Fold it into thirds.
• Roll again lenthwise and then starting from the corner near you roll it like we roll for a swiss roll cake. (Refer the step by step pictures in the post from above paragraph or refer the video in the recipe card).
• Place it in the greased baking pan, cling wrap and allow it for second proofing.
• Allow the dough to rise in the baking pan for around 1 to 1.5 hours.
• What you are looking for is that the bread dough should have doubled in size and reaches the brim of the baking pan.
• Bake this in a preheated oven of 180°C (355°F) for 30-35 mins until the top is golden brown in colour and the bottom sounds hollow.
• Allow the bread to cool in the pan itself for 5-8 mins then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

HOKKAIDO MILK BREAD

Steps:

• In a small sauce pan, add water, milk and flour on medium heat
• Whisk mixture until thicken, immediately turn off heat to avoid burning
• Set aside to cool
• In a large bowl or mixer, add warmed milk, yeast, and sugar
• Let sit for 10 minutes for the yeast to start bubbling
• Add tang zhong roux, egg, salt, milk powder, flour and mix thoroughly
• Add butter and knead dough until dough ball forms (Knead for about 5 minutes)
• Let proof in a warm place for an hour, covered
• After an hour of proofing, take dough ball and divide it into 4 equal pieces
• Roll each piece out to a square, approx 5x5 inches
• Fold two corners to touch in the middle, then roll from end to end (refer to picture for this step)
• Place inside bread pan
• Repeat for the rest of the 3 dough balls
• Let rise again covered in a warm place for another hour
• Preheat oven to 350F
• Brush the top of the bread dough with milk
• Bake uncovered for 30 minutes

HOKKAIDO MILK BREAD

Steps:

• Make the tangzhong by heating up milk in a small pot. Stir in bread flour until a thick paste forms. Pour paste into a medium bowl. Add 1/2 cup milk and beaten egg; mix well.
• Place flour and yeast in a large mixing bowl. Mix with a spatula or by hand. Pour in tangzhong mixture. Stir well with a spatula until no dry spots remain. Gather dough in the middle of the bowl. Cover with a damp towel. Let rest for 20 minutes.
• Add salt to the dough and knead until incorporated. Repeat with sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Knead until dough is smooth, about 10 minutes. Add butter; keep kneading until evenly incorporated and dough is smooth.
• Form dough into a ball and place into a well oiled bowl. Turn dough to grease on all sides. Let proof at room temperature until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Turn dough out onto a clean work surface and deflate it. Press gently into a rectangle; roll up into a cylinder and transfer to a loaf pan. Let loaf proof until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Place loaf pan on the middle rack of the preheated oven and reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake until golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes before inverting onto a cooling rack. Cool completely before slicing.

SOURDOUGH HOKKAIDO MILK BREAD WITH TANGZHONG

Steps:

• See the Photo Gallery below for step-by-step process photos.
• Starter
• Mix the starter ingredients in a straight-walled, transparent container with space for at least 50% growth. (See photo gallery where 150ml grows to approximately 225ml in a Pyrex container.)
• Press down with your knuckles to create a uniform surface and to push out air. This reduces drying and allows you to see actual CO2 aeration over time.
• Let the starter develop at room temperature. It takes 6-12 hours for this sweet stiff levain to peak.
• Tangzhong
• In a small saucepan, whisk the milk and flour until blended. Cook it on med-low heat for several minutes until it's thickened, stirring frequently.
• Remove the pan from the heat and see the instructions below for melting the butter in the tangzhong if you're using a stand mixer.
• Dough Mixing and Bulk Fermentation
• These instructions are for using a stand mixer. Scroll to the end for hand-kneading instructions if you do not have a mixer.
• Add the butter in chunks to the tangzhong to melt it.
• Whisk the two eggs and then the milk into the tangzhong-butter mixture. Set aside briefly.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, briefly whisk together the flour, sugar and salt; and then add the sweet stiff starter, separating it into 5-6 portions as you add it to the bowl.
• Now pour in the prepped wet ingredients.
• With the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed for a minute, scrape down the sides, and then mix on medium speed for about 15 minutes. As you approach the 15-minute mark, the dough will become smooth and should pass the windowpane test.
• Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, form it into a ball, flip it smooth side up, cover and let rise for 6-12 hours depending on room temperature. If you refrigerate the dough, plan for longer rise times. See the photo gallery for approximate dough expansion during the bulk fermentation.
• Shaping and Final Proof
• Prepare your pans by greasing them. You can use two standard loaf pans, or make one loaf and eight rolls in a 9" round pan like I did. Other options include: sixteen rolls in two 9" round pans, eighteen rolls in two 8" square pans, twenty-four rolls in two 9" square pans, and eighteen rolls in a 9x13" rectangular pan. Your total dough weight is about 1470g.
• Scrape the dough out onto a clean countertop. There's no need for flour. Press the dough into a rectangle, divide it and roll the pieces into balls.
• Place the dough balls in your pans, cover and let proof for 2-4 hours (more if you put the dough in the refrigerator).
• Baking*
• Preheat your oven to 350F and brush the dough with the egg-milk wash.
• Bake loaves for 45-55 minutes and rolls for 30-35 minutes. Cover with foil partway through if the bread seems to be browning excessively.
• The internal temperature when ready should be at least 190F.
• Remove the bread from the oven but not the pans, brush the top with butter while its hot, and then let cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pans.
• After the bread is completely cooled, store it in a plastic bag at room temp for a week or longer.
• *Bread baked in a glass loaf pans will need longer than metal pans.
• Instructions for kneading by hand
• Mix all of the ingredients except the softened butter in a bowl with a spatula, dough whisk and/or your hands. Let rest for 10 minutes, then transfer to your countertop and knead by hand, adding 2 Tbsp of butter at a time, kneading between butter additions until the butter is incorporated and the dough stays together. Now follow the instructions above from when you transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and start the bulk fermentation.