Yes, I'm late to the bread making game. But with this recipe, you will never need to buy supermarket sandwich bread that's chalk full of preservatives ever again.
Last year during the height of the pandemic, almost everyone was busy experimenting with bread making, leading to a shortage of flour and yeast at the supermarkets. The 2 pound blocks of yeast normally sold at Costco for under $5 were all gone. Instead...that same yeast was selling for $20 to $25 online! Yes, crazy times back then.
Anyways, I did make a bunch of bread dough during the pandemic, experimenting with different flavor combinations--like these Vegan Steamed Purple Sweet Potato Buns, these Steamed Carrot Turmeric Buns, these Steamed Spinach Baos, or these Baked Paprika Buns, but I never tried using the Tangzhong method that everyone was obsessed about.
People who swear by this method gush over how soft and springy the bread is. That's because the method involves cooking a mixture of flour and water to create a thick paste that when added to the dough, traps more water in the final bread, resulting in a higher hydration bread compared to more traditional baked breads. The blog "what to cook today" explains how Tangzhong makes the bread softer through higher hydration, and gluten production. It's a cool read for sure if you are interested.
Anyways, once I tasted the bread using the Tangzhong method, I was hooked.
It's so soft and cloud-like, but it also has a slight chew. I literally have to stop myself from eating half the loaf in one sitting! So I most definitely wanted to post a Tangzhong method recipe on the blog so that I could easily reference it in the future rather than digging through my pile of handwritten recipe cards.
Most recipes that I looked up for milk bread using the Tangzhong method uses eggs. Since my sister is allergic to eggs, I wanted to develop an eggless Tangzhong method recipe that tasted just as pillowy soft, yet springy with a slight chew. And of course, you know me. I will incorporate some short cuts, like using the microwave, to make it as effortless and easy as possible.
Here's the final recipe after many tweaks and loaves of bread later. I do recommend using a bread maker or a kitchen aid mixer with a dough attachment to make your life easier, as it's quite sticky and will be tricky to mix and knead by hand.
This is the recipe for a basic plain eggless milk bread. Feel free to add things like cranberries, raisins, green onions, or chocolate chips, etc.
Yields 1 loaf suitable for a 1.5 pound bread machine
Ingredients for Tangzhong:
- ¼ c all purpose flour
- ½ c plus 2 T water
Ingredients for Dough:
- 3 c all purpose flour
- 1 c plus 1 T whole milk
- 3 T sugar
- 1 ½ t yeast
- 3 T unsalted butter
- ¾ t salt
- All of the tangzhong above when it has cooled down
FOR a 1 pound bread machine, use these below amounts:
Ingredients for Tangzhong:
- 3 T all purpose flour
- ½ c water
Ingredients for Dough:
- 2 c all purpose flour
- ¾ c minus 1 T whole milk
- 2 T sugar
- 1 t yeast
- 2 T unsalted butter
- ½ t salt
- All of the tangzhong above when it has cooled down
Procedures:
1. To a microwave safe bowl, add flour and water for the Tangzhong. Mix until there are no flour lumps. Then microwave on full power for 1 minute. Take it out and mix with a spoon. Then microwave again for 30 seconds. Take it out and mix, and let it cool to room temperature on the counter top. Should take only about 10 to 15 minutes to cool. (If you are in a hurry, you can add the cold butter to the hot tangzhong, mix, and that will help cool it down faster. See, super easy and almost effortless to make this pillowy soft bread with the microwave and breadmaker!!!)
2. In the meantime, add all the ingredients for the dough to your bread machine or kitchen aid mixer equip with a dough hook. Add the cooled tangzhong last. Turn on the bread machine and set it to the soft bread setting to automatically mix, knead, rise and bake the dough for you. HOW EASY IS THAT?!
3. If you don’t have a bread maker, then use a kitchen aid mixer with a dough hook to mix all the dough ingredients together in a bowl until combined. Then knead the dough for 15 minutes until smooth. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and allow it to rise for 60 minutes. (It’s best to use a bread maker or a kitchen aid mixer to mix this dough, as the dough is very sticky and will be difficult to mix by hand without being tempted to add more flour because the dough is so sticky.) After the dough has doubled in size, punch it down and shape it into a greased loaf pan lined with overhanging parchment paper for easy removal of the baked loaf later. Allow to rise again for 30 minutes. Bake at 350 F for 35 to 40 minutes.
4. Take bread out of pan. Allow bread to cool on the counter, then slice. Bread still stays nice and soft for 2 to 3 days. Eat within 2 to 3 days. Any longer and you need to store the bread tightly wrapped in the freezer, as homemade tangzhong method milk bread has no preservatives and will get moldy fast.