Simple Milk Bread Recipe

Mmm

Not gonna lie, when I was young, I didn't appreciate bread as much as I should have. Also, growing up, I was never really a fan of milk bread. I don't know why, I always preferred thick, chewy, dense breads such as sourdough and ciabatta. Now that I'm older, I've started craving many of the foods I ate during childhood- especially foods that I did not like!

One of the childhood foods that I have recently began to appreciate is milk bread. I always preferred supermarket white bread or honey wheat bread to the loaves of milk bread my mom would pick up from Asian bakeries such as Kee Wah. Now, I've come to crave milk bread with different accompaniments. I've discovered that with the right complements, milk bread can be quite delicious.

For this reason, I decided to start working on my milk bread recipe this past summer. My initial experiment was with hot dog rolls, as I tried to come up with something reminiscent of the Kee Wah hot dog buns we used to eat. You know the ones that come in pairs on a thin piece of aluminum foil? Dang I miss those!

After making dozens and dozens of hot dog rolls, I decided to perfect my milk bread loaf recipe. The secret to the light and fluffy texture is the use of tangzhong, a simple roux made by heating up flour and milk (or water) together. This helps the final dough hold its moisture longer. The recipe I will share today is similar to what I used to make the hot dog rolls, but tweaked to fit into a 9 x 5 loaf pan. 

First, a starter roux is made by combining a small amount of milk and flour together, then cooking in a saucepan until thickened. Eggs, sugar, milk, and yeast are mixed and combined with the flour. Melted butter is incorporated into the dough, then kneaded until soft. Two rises later, the dough is baked in the oven for about an hour. 

Don't forget to turn some music on, as you will be waiting for a while during dough rising time! My mood was in the key of c# minor today, so I had Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 24 playing while I worked.

The Cast

First, we make the starter roux with flour and milk

This is what the starter roux should look like after it has cooked and thickened. It will look like cream of mushroom soup without mushrooms

Yeast blooming in milk and sugar. See how beautifully it has expanded to nearly twice its size in there? One of our eggs decided to photobomb. Come on, let our yeast have its moment, yo

Liquid ingredients, sans butter, getting mixed together.

Our dough ball preparing for resting time. It's going to take a nap for an hour. It's ok if it doesn't look completely smooth right now. We will work that out later.

I always feel like a badass whenever I throw flour onto the counter. 

Doubled in size! Yea, kinda ugly right now, but no worries. We will smoothen this baby out!

First fold. See how it already looks much smoother?

Pinch the seams so the dough doesn't burst and get itself into a funky shape. It will look like a massive dumpling. 

Flip her over to make sure the other side is nice and taut. There she is, all pretty and smooth. Ready for the next rise!

Score the top three times and let it rise. She's ready for some oven time!

So nice and golden. Can you tell from the picture how great it smells up in here?

Slice and serve

The Recipe

5 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar

2 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1 cup milk, divided

1/2 cup butter

1. Spoon 2 tablespoons of flour from the 5 cups into a saucepan to make the tangzhong. Pour out 1/4 cup of milk and whisk until there are no more lumps. Place on low heat and cook until thickened to a cream soup-like consistency. Set aside to cool

2. Heat up the remaining 3/4 cup milk and stir in sugar to dissolve. Add 1 tablespoon of active dry yeast to bloom for 10 minutes

3. In a separate mixing bowl, combine remaining flour and salt

4. Melt the butter

5. Place the cooled tangzhong into a large mixing bowl and slowly whisk in the yeast and milk mixture. Next, add in the two eggs until combined.

6. Start adding in the flour, one cup at a time and mix with a wooden spoon. After the 3rd cup of flour, start adding the melted butter; alternating between additions of flour and butter until everything is in the bowl.

7. Knead for 8 minutes, then cover with plastic wrap to rest for one hour.

8. After one hour, place the dough onto a floured surface and punch down. Then knead for 3 minutes more.

9. Shape the dough into a rectangle and fold the bottom third up, then top third down. You will feel like you are folding a letter to place into an envelope. If you’re feeling romantic, you can pretend you are folding a love letter :) "Notre amour est chose charmante comme les chansons du matin..."

10. Pinch the edges to seal the dough. It will look like one big massive dumpling. You don’t want any edges sticking out, or the loaf will look lopsided after baking. Flip the dough over, with the seam side down, to make sure the surface is taut. If it looks ok, place it in an oiled 9 x 5 inch loaf pan, seam side down. Score the surface three times and rest for an hour and thirty minutes.

11. Place the bread in a preheated 375 degree oven and bake for 50 minutes. After the first 20 minutes, cover the loaf loosely with aluminum foil so it doesn't get too brown. Let it hang out for an additional 10 minutes with the oven off before removing.

12. Lastly, slice and enjoy!

This bread will already be very fragrant and flavorful due to the eggs, butter, and milk in the recipe. You can most definitely eat it plain, or with jelly, or *gasps* condensed milk. If you're really into the savory + sweet combination, you can make a ham and egg sandwich out of this as well. 

XOXO,

The Bustling Cook