# Japanese Milk Bread Dinner Rolls

These Japanese milk bread rolls are by far the best I've ever made; they are so light, delicate, and fluffy.

- Servings: 9 servings
- Total time: 140 min
- Cuisine: Japanese
- Category: Baked Goods
- Language: en

## Ingredients

- 0.25 cup water
- 0.25 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 0.5 cup warm milk
- 1 packet active dry yeast
- 0.25 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 2.66 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons softened butter
- melted butter
- flakey salt

## Instructions

1. Whisk and cook flour, milk, and water in a saucepan over medium heat until smooth and thick like pudding for the Tangzhong.
2. Transfer the Tangzhong to a bowl, press plastic wrap against the surface, and let it cool to room temperature.
3. Mix warm milk with a teaspoon of sugar and a packet of yeast, and let it sit for about 5-10 minutes until frothy.
4. Add the cooled Tangzhong, egg, sugar, flour, and salt to the yeast mixture and mix into a shaggy dough.
5. Knead the dough with a dough hook for about 5 minutes, then add in the melted butter.
6. Knead for another 5 minutes until the dough is soft, smooth, and no longer sticking to the sides.
7. Lightly coat the dough with flour, shape it into a nice ball, and place it in a bowl.
8. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough prove for 1 to 2 hours until it has doubled in size.
9. After the first proof, divide the dough into 9 pieces.
10. Shape each piece of dough into a ball.
11. Place the dough balls in a greased or parchment-lined square pan.
12. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and let it prove a second time until doubled in size (about another hour).
13. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
14. Brush the risen rolls with an egg wash.
15. Bake the rolls for about 20 minutes until gorgeous and golden brown.
16. Cool the rolls in the pan for a few minutes.
17. Brush the baked rolls with melted butter and sprinkle with flakey sea salt.

## Equipment

- saucepan
- whisk
- bowl
- plastic wrap
- stand mixer with dough hook
- square pan
- parchment paper
- oven
- pastry brush

## Tips

- The Tangzhong is the necessary ingredient to making the texture extra light and fluffy.
- When bread goes stale, it's because moisture leaves the bread and it gets hard, so the Tangzhong allows more moisture to be absorbed into the flour as the dough bakes, resulting in a softer, fluffier bread.
- Tent with foil if browning too fast during baking.

## Source

- Original video: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTrjVPyDM/
- Recipe page: https://www.cliprecipe.com/recipe/30445aeb-6314-486b-94e8-83c6cbf0cbe4
- Extracted: 2025-11-26

Extracted from the video by Clip Recipe (https://www.cliprecipe.com). Quantities and steps are as stated or shown in the video. Site guide for agents: https://www.cliprecipe.com/llms.txt