Milk Bread Dinner Roll

Nuts and Bolts:

Milk Bread Dinner Rolls are a new bread dough that I recently started baking. I had heard about this Asian style of bread on social media, and it enticed me to start baking milk bread dinner rolls. Since then, these rolls have become a family favorite. It employs a technique that entails using a Tangzhong, which is a roux made of water, milk, and flour. The ratios of liquid to flour will differ depending on the recipe. This is a technique that is used throughout Asia to make soft and slightly sweet bread. I based this recipe on a King Arthur recipe for Japanese Milk Bread Rolls.

My thoughts on Milk Bread Dinner Rolls:

1. It is essential to weigh out the ingredients in grams for this recipe to get the best results. 

2. Tangzhong sounds more complicated than it is to make. It is a warm roux or a paste of water, milk, and flour. This is what gives the bread its soft texture. 

3. It takes some planning since the tangzhong needs to cool to room temperature before making the dough.  

4. The size of the pan is important. I got the best results using an 8-inch round cake pan. The rolls rose higher and were softer in a smaller cake pan than in a 9 -inch round cake pan.

Method:

Ingredients you will need for the Tangzhong: 43g water, 43g milk, and 14g unbleached bread flour.

I weigh the flour into the pot and set it aside. After that, I weigh out the liquids and add them to the flour in the pot. Before starting to heat the pot, I whisk the ingredients together a little to remove any lumps in the mixture. Then, I place the pot on the stove over medium heat and whisk continuously until it becomes a thick paste. You should be able to create lines with a whisk in the roux. Then I transfer it to a bowl for it to cool.

Here is how the tangzhong should look through the process of making it. The Upper left is the milk, water, and flour about to be mixed, and the upper right is the heated mixture starting to thicken, the bottom left is the finished roux on the stove and the lower right is the tangzhong cooled and ready to use for the dough.

Mess Factor: Tangzhong is, for lack of a better term, a paste. It is like nursery school glue and is hard to wash off any object it touches. I soak any kitchen equipment it touches before I wash it because if it stays damp, it will not stick.

Then the rest of the ingredients you will need for the rolls are:298g Unbleached Bread Flour, 11g nonfat dry milk powder, 50g of sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon instant yeast, 113g milk at room temperature, 1 large egg at room temperature, 57g melted butter cooled, and two tablespoons of milk.

I weigh and measure out all of my ingredients before I start making the bread. For the butter, I weigh it cold before it is melted. Place a bowl with the dough hook on a stand mixer and add flour, sugar, dry nonfat milk powder, and yeast. I give it a little mix, then add the salt and mix until all the dry ingredients are well combined. Then stop the mixer and add the Tangzhong and the egg. Then start the mixer slowly to stir in the milk. Once all the milk is added, I turn the mixer’s speed up to medium. Occasionally stopping the mixer to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to get the ingredients incorporated. When it is almost mixed, add the melted butter.

Important tip: You do not want to add hot melted butter to a bread mixture; you want the yeast to be warm but not overheated; if the yeast gets too hot, it will die, and the bread will not rise.

Continue mixing the dough until it becomes a smooth and elastic dough. It will become a yellowish squishy dough that is a little sticky. Place it in a lightly oiled bowl to rise, then cover with plastic wrap for 60-90 minutes. For me, it will take the full ninety minutes.  But check on the dough as it is rising. It might not double in size but will puffy and airy to the touch.

Important tip: I like to use a vegetable oil spray to grease the bowl and pan for this recipe. This dough is not that sticky and is damp dough, so it does not dry out quickly. So just a little bit of vegetable oil spray works great.

On the left is the soft and smooth dough that is going to be proofed. On the right is the proofed dough, which is pillowy and soft.

Then it is time to shape the dough on a lightly floured surface. This recipe is very forgiving, so the dough does not have to be shaped perfectly.  Carefully deflate the dough, and then I make it into a log and cut it in half. Then I cut those halves of dough into half again. Then cut the four pieces of dough into halves again to get the eight pieces. Then I take the pieces and roll them into balls. In a lightly oiled 8" round cake pan, arrange the dough with one piece in the middle and the others surrounding it.

Important tip: One of the reasons I love this recipe is that this is a tear-and-share. So, the dough balls do not need to be perfect. They will all rise together, and they will look lovely no matter how you shape them. 

Cutting the dough into pieces to be rolled into balls.

After that, cover the rolls and leave to rest on the counter or warm spot in your kitchen for 40-50 minutes. They will be puffy and have no gaps between the rolls when they have proofed. Then preheat your oven to 350°F. After the rolls have risen, brush the tops of the rolls with milk. Then place in the oven and let them bake for 25-30 minutes., They should have nicely browned tops, and the middle roll should have a temperature of at least 190°F.

Remove the rolls from the oven and let them cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Next is to transfer them to a cooling rack to finish cooling.  Enjoy!

Left: are the rolls in the pan just before resting. Middle: The dough is ready to brush with milk and put in the oven. Right, are the finished rolls ready to be eaten.

Final thoughts on Milk Bread Dinner Rolls:

I am enamored by this dough. It makes a slightly sweet soft roll. This dough is a versatile dough that I will experiment with to make other types of breads. So, enjoy experimenting with this dough in your mess!

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Milk Bread Dinner Rolls

Yield: 8 rolls

Author: Dorothy's Mess

Ingredients

Tangzhong:

• Tangzhong:
• 43g water
• 43g milk
• 14g Unbleached Bread Flour

For the Milk Bread Roll:

• 1 Recipe of Tangzhong
• 298g Unbleached Bread Flour
• 11g Nonfat dry milk
• 50g sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon instant yeast
• 113g milk, room temperature
• 1 large egg, room temperate
• 57g melted butter cooled

Instructions

For the Tangzhong:

1. Combine the water, milk, and flour in a pan and whisk together to remove all the lumps.
2. Then place the pan over medium heat, continue whisking until it turns into a thick paste, and you can draw lines with the whisk.
3. Then transfer the roux to a bowl to cool to room temperature.

For the rolls:

1. Place a bowl with the dough hook on a stand mixer and add the flour, sugar, nonfat milk powder, and yeast. Give those ingredients a little mix and stop the mixer from adding the salt. Then mix until all the dry ingredients are well combined.
2. Then stop the mixer and add the Tangzhong and the egg. Then start the mixer slowly to stir in the milk. Once all the milk is added, turn the mixer’s speed up to medium. Occasionally stopping the mixer to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to get the ingredients incorporated.
3. When it is almost mixed, add the melted butter. Continue mixing the dough until it becomes a smooth and elastic dough. It will become a yellowish squishy dough that is a little sticky.
4. Place the in a lightly oiled bowl to rise to cover with plastic wrap for 60-90 minutes. It might not double in size but will be puffy and airy to the touch.
5. Then it is time to shape the dough on a lightly floured surface. Carefully deflate the dough and make it into a log to be cut in half. Then cut those halves of dough into half so that there are four pieces of dough. Then cut those four pieces into halves again to get to eight pieces of dough. Next, roll the pieces of dough into balls. And Finally, in a lightly oiled 8" round cake pan, arrange the dough with one piece in the middle and the others surrounding it.
6. Then cover the rolls and leave to rest on the counter or warm spot in your kitchen for 40-50 minutes.
7. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
8. They will be puffy and have no gaps between the rolls when they have proofed. After the rolls have risen, brush the tops of the rolls with milk and place them in the oven and let them bake for 25-30 minutes.
9. The done rolls should have nicely browned tops, and the middle roll reaches a temperature of at least 190°F. Remove the rolls from the oven and let them cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
10. Then transfer them to a cooling rack to finish cooling. Enjoy!

Created using The Recipes Generator

Recipe adapted from King Arthur baking Company’s Japanese Milk Bread Rolls