Vegan Hokkaido Milk Bread

Soft and incredibly fluffy, this famous Hokkaido Milk Bread id easy to make at home. This milk bread recipe uses the tangzhong roux method which helps create a tender loaf of bread that is perfect with a bit vegan butter on it for breakfast and snacking!

This vegan Hokkaido milk bread is dangerously good, it takes some serious willpower not to just eat the whole loaf in a day...It is seriously the softest, most flavourful bread you will ever eat!

So what is Hokkaido milk bread?  Hokkaido milk bread is like an Asian version of brioche, but it is even softer and uses a lot less butter. It has a cloud-like, tender crumb which can pull apart into flaky layers. 

It can also be sliced to make sandwiches or toast, and because it is sweet and flavourful on it's own, you can even eating it plain.

What is tangzhong? This Asian technique. Tangzhong is basically where you take a portion of the flour and liquid of the recipe and mix them together like a roux, then cook it until it forms a thick, pudding-like texture. This mixture is then cooled and added to the bread dough.

This technique pre-gelatinises the starches in the flour which means that they can absorb more water. In fact, flour will absorb twice as much hot water or milk as it does the lukewarm water or milk you would usually use in yeasted doughs.

Not only does the starch in the flour absorb more liquid; since heating the starch with water creates structure, it is able to hold onto that extra liquid throughout the kneading, baking and cooling process. This means that the bread will rise higher due to more water creating more internal steam (which makes bread rise in the oven-along with the carbon dioxide given off by the yeast.

Because the bread retains more water during baking, it will be softer and more moist and stay fresh for longer.

Ingredients:

Tangzhong:

• 30g bread flour
• 150ml unsweetened soy milk

Step 1:

• 7g instant/fast action yeast
• 5g sugar
• 150ml lukewarm unsweetened soy milk

Step2:

• 400g white bread flour
• 55g caster sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp soy milk
• 40g vegan butter, softened

Glaze:

• ½ tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tbsp water

Method:

Start by making the tangzhong. Whisk together the 30g bread flour and 150ml milk in a pan until no lumps remain. Place the pan over a medium/low heat and whisk constantly until the mixture has thickened to a pudding-like consistency. Scrape into a small bowl, cover with cling film directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming and set aside to cool to room temperature.

Once the tangzhong has cooled, it will become much thicker. Mix together the yeast with other 150ml of lukewarm milk and 5g sugar. Set aside for about 10 minutes until it goes foamy.

Mix together the 400g bread flour, 55g sugar and 1 tsp salt in a bowl of a stand mixer. Add the cooled tangzhong, the yeast mixture and the 3 tbsp milk and mix until it forms a rough dough.

Set the mixer to a medium speed and leave it to knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is stretchy. It should be soft and sticky but if it seems too wet you can add in a little flour, a tablespoon at a time.

Next, add the softened vegan butter and knead for a further 5-10 minutes until it is well incorporated and the dough is smooth, elastic and no longer feels greasy.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and place in a warm spot until the dough is doubled in size. You can also placed the dough in the fridge to rise overnight.

Once the dough has doubled in size, knock back the dough and give it a brief 30 second knead to knock out the air bubbles.

Divide the dough into 3 or 4 even pieces and roll each one into a ball. Line a 2lb loaf pan with baking paper.  Roll each ball into a long oval, fold one third of the oval over the middle (from the side, not the top) then the other third over the top to form a long, narrow packet.

Roll over the seam to flatten it, then roll it tightly from one end to make a fat sausage. Repeat with the other balls of dough then arrange them in the loaf tin, seam side down.

Loosely cover and leave to rise until at least doubled in size, it should rise above the top of the tin. This can take 1-3 hours depends on your house temperature. If you press the dough gently with a finger the indentation should spring back slowly but remain visible. If if springs back quickly it needs to prove for a little longer.

While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 180ºC. Mix together the maple syrup and water in a small bowl.

Once the loaf has risen, gently brush the top with maple syrup mixture, making sure that none drips down the sides as that can make the bread stick to the tin. If you don't want a sweet glaze then you can brush it with milk instead.

Place the loaf in the preheated oven and bake for 30-35 minutes. You may need to cover the top loosely with aluminium foil part way through baking if it starts to colour too much.

If you want the loaf to have a shinier crust, brush it with some more of the maple syrup water halfway through baking.

Once the bread is baked, remove it from the oven and brush with some more of the glaze. let it cool in the tin for 10 minutes then lift it out into a wire rack to cool completely before slicing. Store in an airtight container.