Japanese Milk Bread Rolls

Milk Bread Rolls! Also known as Japanese Milk Rolls or Hokkaido Milk Bread, these yeasted rolls are as soft, tender and pillowy as they come. I can’t say enough about them. With a golden brown exterior and fluffy white interior, these rolls are perfect for any family gathering or Sunday night dinner. Even better—they keep well and make a delicious breakfast topped with some butter and jam.  

These rolls are:

• Soft and tender
• Pillowy
• Slightly sweet
• Easy to make 
• SO good with some melted butter and sea salt

Healthy-ish Milk Rolls

Milk rolls don’t have too long of an ingredient list, and much of those ingredients are non-negotiables. But, since this is ZK, I did want to up the nutritional value a bit. 

To do so, I added some white whole-wheat flour to mix and decreased the sugar from ¼ cup to 2 tablespoons.

If you want to use a natural sweetener instead of white sugar, add some honey to the wet ingredients and ditch the sugar. 

How to make Japanese milk bread rolls

Step 1 & 2: make the tangzhong (starter) by cooking milk, water and flour together. 

Step 3 & 4: combine the tangzhong with the remaining ingredients in a stand mixer.

Step 5: mix and knead the dough until a smooth, elastic dough forms.

Step 6 & 7: let the dough proof for 1½ hours. 

Step 8 & 9: gently punch the dough down, divide into 8 equal pieces and form into smooth rolls. 

Step 10: let the rolls proof for 50 minutes. 

Step 11: brush rolls with milk and bake. 

Step 12: let cool slightly, then brush with butter and sprinkle with sea salt. 

What is Japanese milk bread 

Japanese milk bread, also called tangzhong milk bread and hokkaido milk bread, is a light and tender yeasted bread made with bread flour, milk and dry milk powder. Japanese milk bread has a golden exterior with a creamy bright white interior. Fluffy and slightly sweet from the milk and sugar, milk bread can be used for sandwiches, toast, or made into rolls like I did here.

What is Tangzhong

Baking with tangzhong is a Japanese baking technique used to create softer, fluffier yeast breads. Tangzhong is essentially a starter for yeast breads and consists of cooking a small portion of flour and liquid (most often water or milk) together to create a thick, gluey mixture that is then combined with the other ingredients. 

And there’s good reason to use a tangzhong, or starter, in yeast breads. It pre-gelatinizes the starches in flour which allows them to absorb more water throughout the kneading and baking process. 

Using a starter also helps the dough to create structure and hold on to liquid throughout the proofing and baking process. All of this helps to create a dough that’s less sticky (aka easier to knead), create more steam in the dough which means the rolls get more lift during baking, and create rolls that are more moist in general (they will last longer because of this). 

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Quality ingredients matter

Quality of ingredients matter when it comes to cooking, but especially in bread baking. With such short ingredient lists, each ingredient matters and each ingredient is important for the success of the recipe. 

Aside from salt and sugar, this recipe calls for just seven ingredients. SEVEN. That is all. Plus, they are all pantry ingredients. 

Here’s what we’re working with:

• Unbleached bread flour (unbleached. period.)
• White whole-wheat flour (white works best here, but you can also use whole-wheat pastry flour)
• Nonfat Dry Milk Powder (essential for the texture of the bread—you can also use dry milk powder in these animal cookies!)
• Instant yeast (check the expiration date! Make sure your yeast isn’t past its prime)
• Whole milk (these are called milk rolls, which is why I only use the highest quality milk—AE Dairy!)
• Egg
• Butter (unsalted, always bake with unsalted)

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What kind of milk to use

Because these are milk rolls you need to use milk. I know that may seem obvious, but it’s really a non negotiable here. A few things on the milk: use whole milk not low-fat or skim. And don’t be tempted to make these more decadent by using half-and-half. The added fat will mess with ratios of the recipe. 

It’s important to use high-quality milk for these rolls, which is why I’m using Anderson Erickson whole milk. AE Dairy, an Iowa-based dairy company, is known around Iowa for its dedication to creating high quality dairy products through innovation. 

For my fellow Midwesterners, did you know that AE Dairy sources their milk from Iowa family farms? Which means fresh local milk can hit your store’s shelves in a matter of hours. Plus, AE Dairy limits how far their dairy travel—ensuring you get the highest quality product every single time. Isn’t that incredible? 

I grew up eating AE vanilla yogurt and cottage cheese from their iconic wax containers. I still remember adding multi-colored sprinkles to my little yogurt cups after school—looking back it sounds like such a bad idea, but at the time it was genius.

And their cottage cheese—don’t even get me started on their cottage cheese. It’s like liquid gold in our house. You can bet the rest of us will call you out if you take the last bit of it. 

If you’re wondering where you can find AE Dairy products, you can find more details here. I recommend their cottage cheese, but don’t forget to grab some whole milk for these delicious rolls! 

You may also like…

• Garlic Naan Bread
• Healthy Cornbread
• Mochi Bread Donuts

Make sure to tag me @ZESTFULKITCHEN ON INSTAGRAM or tag #zestfulkitchen on social media if you make a recipe! 

If you make these milk bread rolls, leave a comment and rating below! To pin this recipe and save it for later, you can click the button on any of the photos, or the red button on the bar below the recipe. Happy baking!

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This post was sponsored by AE Dairy. As always all thoughts, opinions, and recipes are my own. Thanks for supporting all things ZK!