My version of Japanese Milk Bread Dinner Rolls are perfectly easy to make and never fails to come out of the oven with the highest honors!
Japanese Milk Bread (Shokupan) is known for its soft and pillowy texture with a light delicious taste and beautiful shape! The airy bread is perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner. You can make small finger sandwiches for afternoon tea or as a gleaming addition for your dinner table.
The traditional Japanese Milk Bread is made with a special technique called “Tangzhong,” which involves pre-cooking some of the flour and milk or water into a soft paste. The paste will be added into the bread making process later to create a soft and cloudlike texture. However, it adds more time than it is worth. You can achieve equal results much more simply. Your rolls will be so tender and fluffy with the pull-apart layers ready for butter, or plainly delicious with embellishments.
I hope you will enjoy making these Gleaming No-Hassle Japanese Milk Bread Dinner Rolls! If you are a bread lover, you can also check out my Savory Five-Star Sesame Garlic Bread recipe for a completely different experience.
MORE BREAD RECIPES:
Bishop Absalon’s Deluxe Danish Nut Bread
The Easiest Breakfast Egg Sandwich
Gleaming No-Hassle Japanese Milk Bread Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
The Dough
- 300 g All-Purpose Flour (or Bread Flour)
- 2.5 tbsp Sugar
- 180 g Whole Milk, warm
- 6 g Dry Yeast
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 25 g Unsalted Butter, softened at room temperature
Egg Wash
- 1 Egg, beaten
- some Whole Milk (adjustable)
Instructions
- In a measuring cup, mix together the Warm Whole Milk and the Dry Yeast. Set aside for about 5 minutes.
- In a mixing bowl, add in the All-purpose Flour and Sugar. Gradually add in the Milk Mixture. Use a spatula to slightly mix the mixture together.
- Then add in the Salt. Gently mix again.
- Use a stand mixer, mix on low speed until the dough comes together for about 2-3 minutes. (If you do not use a stand mixer, you can knead the dough with your hands for around 10 minutes.)
- Stretch the dough with your hands a little bit and spread the softened unsalted Butter on top.
- Start the mixer and mix the dough again on low speed for about 2-3 minutes until everything is well combined.
- Take out the dough and shape it into a ball.
- Lightly Oil a mixing bowl. Put the dough in the bowl and slightly Oil the top of the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 2 hours. The dough will double in size.
- Dust your countertop with a little bit of flour. Place the dough on the flour and divide it into 8 equal pieces, shaping them into balls.
- Line a 19 cm x 28 cm baking dish with parchment paper. Place the balls on the paper, leaving a little space between them. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside to let it rise for another 30-45 minutes. They should be touching now!
- Brush the tops with Egg Wash and bake in a preheated oven at 150C (300 F) for 20-22 minutes until tops are golden brown. The sides will be golden yellow at the top and light yellow on the bottom. Perfect!
- Let cool on a rack for a few minutes. Ready to enjoy!
English 
Dansk
These are wonderful dinner rolls, and very versatile. They’d be perfect slider buns, and are sweet enough to even work in a bread pudding.
Or, just slather one in some good butter and eat as-is.
Hi Ryan, thanks so much. That’s a great idea for slider buns. Glad you like the recipe.