This recipe is based on Japanese milk bread.
Soft and flavorful, this bread is the ideal sandwich loaf. It slices beautifully, too. What also makes this Soft Sandwich Milk Bread special is the use of tangzhong. Tangzhong is a gelatinous roux of flour and water added into the dough. The result is a soft, moist sandwich bread with a prolonged shelf life.
This recipe was originally for a Pullman pan, but I've tweaked it to just work with our regular bread pans. I am also going to attempt to adapt it to be a rye bread next time. That is the "alternate rye" dough.
1 cup (240 ml) water 1/3 cup (40 g) bread flour
- 1 cup (240 ml) half & half
- 50g (1/4 cup) sugar
- 4 1/2 teaspoons (14g or 2 packets) active dry yeast
- 650g (5 cups) bread flour
- 62g (1/2 cup) milk powder
- 2 tsp (15 g) salt
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 4 tbsp (56 g or 1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (240 ml) half & half
- 50g (1/4 cup) sugar
- 4 1/2 teaspoons (14g or 2 packets) active dry yeast
- 390g (3 cups) bread flour
- 260g (2 cups) rye flour
- 2 tbsp vital wheat gluten
- 62g (1/2 cup) milk powder
- 2 tsp (15 g) salt
- 1 tsp (scant) allspice
- 1 tsp (scant) mace
- 1 tbsp caraway seeds
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 4 tbsp (56 g or 1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
In a small microwave-safe bowl, combine the water and bread flour for the tangzhong. Microwave in increments of 30 seconds, stirring in-between, until it is suddenly the texture of pudding.
Leave it to cool in the refrigerator while working on the rest of the recipe.
- Warm the half & half to about 110°F (49°C). (Slightly warm to the touch.)
- Stir together the warm half & half, sugar and yeast.
- Let sit for about 5 to 10 minutes, until foamy.
- In a stand mixer bowl, briefly stir together the bread flour, milk powder and salt to mix and to remove any large lumps. If making the rye variant, add the allspice, mace, and caraway as well.
- Add the eggs, the foamy yeast mixture, and the cooled tangzhong.
- Stir with a wooden spoon until the flour has been incorporated and everything roughly comes together to form a shaggy dough.
- Using a stand mixer, knead the dough with the dough hook attachment on low speed (setting #1) for a minute or two to bring the ingredients together.
- Increase to medium-low speed (setting #2) and knead for up to 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth, elastic and pulling away from the sides of the bowl. Test if the dough has been kneaded enough by pulling on a bit of it and stretching it thin with your fingers. If you can stretch the dough thin enough that light can shine through it without tearing, it has been kneaded enough.
- Add in the butter a tablespoon at a time and knead on low speed (setting #1), making sure each addition of butter is fully incorporated before adding the next.
- After all the butter is incorporated, increase speed to medium-low (setting #2) and knead for 3 to 5 minutes or until the dough is smooth, elastic and glossy.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let rise for about 1 hour or until double in size.
- Grease two bread pans.
- Remove the dough out onto a lightly floured surface.
- Divide the dough into 6 equal parts and shape each into a smooth ball.
- Cover the dough balls loosely with plastic wrap and let rest for about 10 minutes.
- Using a rolling pin, roll out a rested dough ball into an oval about 9-inches wide. (Lightly flour the counter and rolling pin as needed.)
- Fold the sides into the middle resulting in 3 layers.
- Flatten the dough with the rolling pin, then roll the dough into a snug cylinder.
- Pinch the seams and place seam side down into one of the loaf pans..
- Repeat steps 13-16 with the remaining five dough balls, placing three cylinders of dough per loaf pan.
- Cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap and let rise for about 1 hour, until about double in volume and ready to bake.
The dough is ready to bake when:
- The top of the dough has risen about three-quarters of the way to the top of the pan.
- If you lightly poke the dough, the indentation left by your finger slowly bounces back only half-way. (See TIPS)
30 minutes through the second rise, preheat the oven to 350°F (176°C).
Make sure your oven is preheated to 350°F (176°C).
Bake the bread for 30 to 35 minutes, until the bread is deep golden brown with an internal temperature of 190°F (88°C).
Remove the bread from the pans immediately after taking them out of the oven.
Cool your Soft Sandwich Milk Bread completely before slicing. (I know, I'm sorry.)
Don’t forget to soften your butter.
Butter will incorporate into the dough best when softened. Allow cold butter to sit out for at least 30 minutes to soften, or until you can press it with your finger and it will give beneath light pressure. To soften butter quickly: Cut cold butter into thin pats or small cubes. Then after a few minutes, I mash the butter with the flat side of a knife or the back of a spoon until it becomes smooth and spreadable.
Make sure your yeast is active.
Yeast must be active for bread to rise.
You know your yeast is alive and active if it becomes foamy when dissolved in warm water between 100°F (38°C) and 110°F (49°C) with a little sugar stirred in.
If the yeast doesn’t become foamy within 10 minutes, throw it out and try again.
After your yeast has been activated, don’t let it sit too long or else the yeast will be less effective.
Rest your dough for 10 minutes (and up to 30 minutes) then test again. (It’s amazing what a little rest can do for dough’s smoothness and elasticity.)
If the dough is still not smooth and elastic, knead for 3 minutes and then re-test.
Repeat, if needed, until the dough passes the windowpane test.
Do not over-knead.
If you start to feel the dough becoming firm and less stretchy, stop kneading or else you risk over-kneading your dough. Over-kneaded dough will become dry and dense with a hard crust.