Japanese Milk Bread Rolls

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5 from 7 votes

These are soft, fluffy, and feather light. Easy to make!

Prep Time10

Cook Time25

Resting Time2 50

Course: bread

Cuisine: Japanese

Keyword: bread, easy, rolls, TangZhong starter

Servings:

Calories: 258kcal

Ingredients

For the TangZhong starter:

3 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons whole milk
2 tablespoons all-purpose ("plain") flour

Additions to the TangZhong starter

1/2 cup whole milk
1 large egg
1/4 cup melted butter
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

Dry ingredients for the dough:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons instant nonfat dry milk
1 teaspoon table salt
1/4 cup sugar

For glazing and topping the rolls before baking them:

1 egg, beaten with 1 teaspoon water
Sesame seeds -- a sprinkling for each roll

Instructions

In a small saucepan, whisk together the TangZhong ingredients: water, milk, and flour. Whisk well to smooth out any lumps. Set the pan over low heat, and whisk constantly until the mixture thickens -- about 4 minutes. Remove from heat.
Whisk in each addition to the TangZhong: milk, egg, melted butter, and yeast.
In a large (-ish) bowl, stir in the listed dry ingredients for the dough. Then stir in the TangZhong mixture. Stir until a shaggy dough develops. On a lightly-floured board, knead the dough by hand until it is elastic and fairly smooth -- about 5 minutes. Wash out, dry, and lightly grease the mixing bowl.
Form the dough into a ball, and place it in the greased mixing bowl. Then flip the dough to grease its underside. Cover with cling film, and then place in a warm location. Let rise until doubled (or nearly doubled) in volume -- 90 minutes to 2 hours.
Lightly grease a 9-inch-diameter cake pan. Gently deflate the dough. Then cut the dough in half. Cut each half into 4 equal size pieces to achieve 8 pieces total. Form each dough segment into a roll, and place in the prepared cake pan. Cover and let rise until the rolls fill the pan -- about 50 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F.
Brush the rolls with egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 teaspoon water). Brush gently to avoid deflating the rolls. Top the rolls, if you wish, with a sprinkling of sesame seeds.
Bake in the preheated oven until the rolls are brown and beautiful -- 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool for at least 10 minutes in the pan before serving.

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