Milk Bread Garlic Rolls

Soft and fluffy milk bread made drizzled with garlic and spring onion butter, the perfect accompaniment to any dinner

What is milk bread?

Milk bread is a style of bread popular in Asia. It is softer, fluffier, and sweeter than European styles of bread, and most East Asian countries have their own kind. For example, in Japan, it's known as shokupan!

Milk bread can come in so many different forms from loaves to buns, and they are the basis for all the sweet bread rolls you find in Chinese bakeries.

This bread recipe takes the delicious fluffy milk bread and puts a European twist on them. Elevating classic dinner rolls to softer, fluffier garlic pull-apart rolls.

What is tangzhong?

Asian bakery bread has that super soft and fluffy texture that is so different from European bread which tends to be much harder with a crust.

The hardest part of making Asian-style bread is recreating that texture. It's very easy to end up with gummy or dense bread, rather than that cloud-like texture. This is where the technique of tangzhong or yudane comes in.

This is a Chinese technique that cooks flour with water until it forms a thick paste. The roux is then cooled and added back into the rest of the dough. This process forces the flour to absorb more water and ultimately become a soft and lighter dough.

Follow these steps when making your roux

• Heat the flour and water over medium heat: Heat the water and flour slowly. Overheating can cause it to clump up rather than thicken into a smooth paste.
• Whisk constantly: The more you whisk the flour and water the smoother the paste will form.

• Remove when a thick paste forms: Once the roux forms a thick translucent paste take it off the heat. It should be thick enough to hold itself together when scooped up with a spatula.
• Cool the paste to room temperature or in the fridge overnight: It's important to give the paste enough time to cool down before incorporating it into the dough.

Ingredients

Roux

• Bread flour: The flour in the roux is used to absorb the water, adding extra moisture to the rest of your dough when added.
• Water: We are cooking the flour and water together to form a thick paste. Make sure you measure out the water as too much water will prevent the roux from forming.

Dough

• Bread flour: Make sure you use bread flour as it has more protein than regular flour. This helps the bread rise higher and have more structure.
• All-purpose flour: I like to use a mix of all-purpose flour and bread flour so the buns have a lighter texture.
• Milk powder: Milk powder makes this milk bread! It adds a milky flavor to the bread rolls while also increasing the protein content of the bread so that it has more structure.

• Granulated sugar: Sugar adds a little sweetness to the dough, a characteristic flavor of milk bread.
• Pinch of salt: Salt helps to balance out the flavors of the dough while also helping to strengthen the gluten in the bread.
• Instant yeast: Yeast is the driving force behind the rising and airiness of the bread roll.

• Large egg: The egg helps to bind the dough together as well as enrich the flavor of the dough.
• Lukewarm water: Water adds moisture to the dough and binds all the dry ingredients together.
• Unsalted butter: Butter gives the dough a softer texture and a more fragrant aroma and flavor.

Garlic Butter

• Unsalted butter: Butter is essential when it comes to garlic butter! You can use regular butter but I like to use unsalted as it allows me to have control over how salty the butter will be.
• Kosher salt: Salt is essential to bring out the flavor of the garlic butter. As the bread itself is a little sweet we need to salt to balance it out.

• Garlic cloves: You can't have garlic butter without garlic, make sure you use fresh garlic for a better garlic flavor.
• Spring onion: I like to add spring onion for a pop of green and another layer of flavor. Feel free to replace it with other herbs like chives or parsley if you prefer.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do these last?

These are best eaten the day they are made as they will be the softest and fluffiest. However, they will last up to 3 days when stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container

If you store them in the refrigerator make sure you heat them up before eating them as the bread rolls will get salter and firmer. Just 20 seconds in the microwave or 5-10 minutes in the toaster oven is perfect to bring it back to that fluffy texture.

Can I freeze these?

Yes, these garlic rolls are perfect for freezing I recommend wrapping them individually or breaking them apart before placing them in the freezer. This will make is easier to separate them later, otherwise, you will have to defrost all of them at once.

When you are ready to eat them just place them, in the oven to defrost and toast up.

Why didn't my bread rolls rise?

There are a couple of reasons why the bread rolls didn't rise:

• The yeast was expired
• Active yeast was used instead of instant and it wasn't activated
• The water added was too hot and it killed the yeast

Why are my rolls dense?

There are many reasons for the bread rolls being dense, here are a couple of possibilities that will help you troubleshoot:

• The yeast was dead
• The dough wasn't kneaded for long enough
• The dough was over-kneaded (It will from being smooth to rough and not as elastic)
• The dough was under proofed

Why doesn't this recipe use an egg wash?

I don't find an egg wash necessary for this recipe as the melted butter poured over the top of the rolls gives them a beautiful sheen already.

If you still want to give them an egg wash just brush some beaten egg over the roll before they go into the oven.

Can I add cheese to these?

Definitely! Cheese would be the best addition to these. You can either place a piece of mozzarella cheese in the center of each roll when you are shaping the buns. Or you can sprinkle over parmesan cheese halfway through baking for a cheesy crust on the buns.

Let's Get Cooking

If you liked this recipe make sure to leave me a comment and rating down below, I would love to know how you went. Also don't forget to tag me on Instagram @catherine.desserts so I can see and share your desserts.

Follow me on facebook, pinterest, youtube and tiktok for more of my baking creations and updates! Until next time... happy caking!

📖 Recipe

Garlic Milk Bread Rolls

Print Recipe

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4 from 1 review

Soft and fluffy milk bread made drizzled with garlic and spring onion butter, the perfect accompaniment to any dinner

• Author: Catherine Zhang
• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour
• Yield: 9 Rolls 1x
• Category: Bread
• Method: Easy
• Cuisine: Asian Fusion

Ingredients

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Roux

• 24g Bread flour (3 tbsp)
• 120ml Water (½ cup)

See Also This Recipe:  Steamed Red Bean Buns (Dou Sha Bao)

Dough

• 380g Bread flour (2 ¾ cup)
• 90g All purpose flour (¾ cup)
• 27g Milk powder (¼ cup)
• 78g Granulated sugar (⅓ cup 1 tbsp)
• Pinch of salt
• 7g Instant yeast (2 ¼ tsp)
• 1 Large egg
• 160ml Lukewarm water (⅔ cup)
• 45g Unsalted butter (3 tbsp), room temperature

Garlic Butter

• 120g Unsalted butter (½ cup)
• ½ tsp Kosher salt
• 6 Garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 Spring onion or scallions, thinly sliced
• Flaky sea salt, optional

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Instructions

Roux

1. Combine the water and flour in a small saucepan and whisk on medium heat until thickened into a paste
2. Remove from the heat, cover, and cool until room temperature

Dough

1. Combine bread flour, all-purpose flour, milk powder, sugar, salt, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment
2. Add the egg, water, and cooled roux and knead on medium for 3 minutes or until a rough dough forms
3. Add the butter and continue to knead for 15-20 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic (if kneading by hand this process will take from 20-30 minutes)
4. Roll the dough into a ball and place it in an oiled large bowl
5. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and place in a warm place for 1-2 hours or until doubled in size
6. Transfer the proofed dough to a lightly floured surface and press out the excess air
7. Divide the dough into 8 equal portions and roll them into balls
8. Prepare a 9-inch round cake tin or any baking dish of your choice, and line the bottom with parchment paper
9. Arrange the 8 balls of dough in the dish
10. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm place to proof for 30 minutes, or until almost doubled in size
11. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C/355F
12. Bake for 25 minutes or until the buns are golden brown and spring back when touched (the internal temperature should be 190F/88C on an instant-read thermometer)
13. Meanwhile, prepare the garlic butter

Garlic Butter

1. Melt the butter in a small saucepan or in the microwave
2. Add the salt, garlic and spring onion, and stir to combine
3. Once the rolls come out of the oven pour over garlic butter and allow it to soak into the bread
4. Cool for 10 minutes and sprinkle with flaky salt to serve