Milk and Honey Buns (Hokkaido Milk Bread)

30 mins Prep Time

30 mins Cook Time

Written By

Nadia Boachie

These buns are incredible. Soft, fluffy, slightly sweet and a perfect accompaniment to a meal or a snack. They are essentially Hokkaido-style milk bread with some added sweetness from the honey in this recipe. These buns originated from the Hokkaido region, the northernmost of Japan’s main islands. Hokkaido-style buns are extremely soft, slightly chewy, milky and have a cloud like quality. These buns are made with Tangzhong, which is a gelatinous mixture of flour, water and/or milk. Tagzhong is use to make the bread softer and stay fresher longer. These buns are perfect brushed with garlic butter and served with dinner or can be eaten as a dessert with delicious jam or another sweet spread like a chocolate hazelnut spread. Try this recipe out today because you will not regret it.

Ingredients

Tangzhong

2 tablespoons (20 grams) bread flour
2 tablespoons (27 grams) water
4 tablespoons (60 grams) whole milk

Bread Dough

2 1/2 cups (350 grams) bread flour
1 tablespoon (9 grams) active dry yeast
1/2 cup (158 grams) whole milk
1 teaspoon (5 grams) salt
2 tablespoons (25 grams) granulated sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons milk powder
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 egg

Egg Wash

1 egg
2 tablespoons whole milk

Directions

Milk and Honey Buns

15 Steps

Step 1

Make Tangzhong: Add the Tangzhong ingredients into a small saucepan and mix over medium heat, stirring constantly until a thick, sticky paste has formed. Remove from heat, cover with plastic wrap and allow to cool to room temperature.
Step 2

In a small bowl, combine slightly warm milk (about 90-94°F), and add your yeast. Wait 10 minutes until yeast becomes foamy.
Step 3

Combine flour, salt and sugar into the bowl, add your yeast mixture, honey and eggs, mix, cover and set aside to let flour hydrate.
Step 4

Transfer to a stand mixer with a dough hook and mix on medium-low until dough forms.
Step 5

Add your softened butter a tablespoon at a time until it is incorporated.
Step 6

Mix for at least 7 minutes on medium. If you are having any trouble with the butter incorporating into your dough, add flour a tablespoon at a time, mixing for 1 minute before adding more. Do not add too much extra flour, if you have measured out your ingredients, there should be no need to add more flour.
Step 7

After about 10 minutes total of kneading, dump dough out onto your clean work surface, you should not need to flour it and use your hands for rounding the dough into a nice ball. Keep your hand in contact with your surface.
Step 8

Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, and coverwith a damp dish cloth and wait for about 2 hours until dough has doubled in size.
Step 9

Punch dough down and split into 9 balls, about 75-85 grams each.
Step 10

Use the same technique you did before when shaping the big dough to round your 9 pieces. (Keep dough on your surface and use your hands to round out the dough until it is smooth on top.)
Step 11

Grease a round 9-inch pan or a square pan and arrange your balls in the pan.
Step 12

Cover with a damp dish cloth again and allow to rise for 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours until about doubled in sized.
Step 13

Preheat oven to 350°F and make your egg wash by whisking your egg and milk together.
Step 14

Brush rolls with egg wash and bake rolls for about 30 minutes, peek through oven door after 25 minutes. You want your buns golden brown on top and puffed.
Step 15

Remove from oven. They may deflate ever so slightly when they are out of the oven and that is okay. Brush with butter if you like and serve warm or at room temperature, sweet with jam or other sweet spreads or savoury with garlic butter.