Milk Bread Rolls are amazingly soft and pillowy. They are made with a technique called tangzhong. Tangzhong is a roux starter made with heated water, milk, and flour. The tangzhong is added to the other ingredients, resulting in airy and tender rolls that stay fresh longer than normal rolls.
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About Tangzhong
The secret to these light and airy rolls is an Asian technique called Tangzhong. I first read about this technique on the King Arthur Baking site. In fact, the recipe that I used here is an adaptation of the recipe on the King Arthur site.
With the tangzhong technique, you create a starter by cooking a small amount of flour in water and milk until it congeals into a thick roux. After allowing the starter to cool, you add it to the remaining ingredients for the rolls.
The tangzhong technique physically modifies the starches in the flour, allowing it to absorb and retain more liquid.
As a result, the dough is less sticky and the rolls will stay fresh longer.
Making the Tangzhong Starter
The tangzhong starter consisted of three simple ingredients: Water, milk, and bread flour.
I started by whisking together the water, milk, and bread flour in a small saucepan until there were no remaining lumps.
Then, I whisked the mixture over low heat until it thickened and left a trail from the whisk in the bottom of the pan. This took about 8 minutes.
I set the thickened roux aside to cool.
Ingredients for the Milk Bread Rolls
For these amazing rolls, I used not only the tangzhong starter, but also milk, unsalted butter, egg, granulated sugar, nonfat dry milk, Kosher salt, bread flour, and instant yeast.
Making the Milk Bread Rolls
- The first thing I did was to melt the butter. Then, I lightly whisked the egg. Finally, I greased a 9 x 13-inch baking sheet with some butter.
- Once the starter and the melted butter had cooled, I added them along with the whisked egg and the remaining ingredients for the rolls to the pan of my bread machine. I added the yeast last.
- I placed the pan into my bread machine, programmed it to the dough setting, and walked away.
- Once the dough setting was complete, I transferred the dough to a floured surface. I also had on hand my trusty scale and a bench scraper.
- I wanted each roll to weigh the same, so I planned to make 12 rolls. So I first weighed the dough - it weighed just over 23 ounces. Then, I divided by 12 to determine the weight of each of the rolls - 1.91 ounces!
I know that I'm a total nerd when it comes to cooking, but weighing things really makes life so much easier!
Anyway, I portioned the dough into 1.91 ounce pieces and formed each of the pieces into a ball. I placed each of the dough balls onto the prepared baking sheet.
I placed the rolls in my electric oven that I had slightly heated to allow for a rise.
- After about an hour, the rolls had nicely risen and were ready to be baked. Before baking the rolls, however, I brushed them with an egg wash.
- I popped the rolls into a preheated 350°F oven for about 15 minutes. During this time, I watched the rolls carefully to ensure that they didn't get too dark.
After about 10 minutes, I thought that they had achieved the right level of golden brown, so I loosely covered them with aluminum foil for the remaining 5 minutes of cooking.
- I removed the rolls from the oven. For the final step, I brushed them lightly with some melted butter.
The Milk Bread Rolls were picture perfect, amazingly airy and light, and absolutely delicious. Yum!
Frequently Asked Questions
I use my bread machine to knead the dough for just about all of my bread recipes. However, you could definitely use a stand mixer or food processor to knead the dough. You could also knead the dough by hand.
You can use either instant or bread machine yeast in this recipe. If you use active yeast, however, you need to proof it before adding it to the remaining ingredients.
These rolls contain a fair amount of sugar. It definitely adds to the taste. However, it can cause the rolls to over-brown if you're not careful. In fact, the first couple of times that I made these rolls, they definitely came out too brown. What I do is watch them carefully. When they achieve the desired color, I loosely cover the rolls with aluminum foil for the remaining time in the oven.
Other Delicious Recipes for Rolls Using Bread Machine
Bread and rolls are one of my favorite things to make. One of the reasons is that my trusty bread machine does most of the work.
If you're interested in other amazing recipes for rolls, you should check out these recipes:
- Buttery Dinner Rolls (Bread Machine)
- Easy Garlic Knots in Food Processor
- Flaky Buttery Homemade Crescent Rolls (Food Processor)
- Brown and Serve Dinner Rolls-Bread Machine
- Oat Rolls (Bread Machine)
- Homemade Crusty French Bread Rolls (Bread Machine)
- Amish Potato Rolls (Bread Machine)
- Homemade Hamburger Buns (Bread Machine)
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Recipe
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Milk Bread Rolls
Equipment
- Bread Machine
Ingredients
Tangzhong Starter
- 3 Tablespoons (1.5 ounces, 43 grams) water
- 3 Tablespoons (1.5 ounces, 43 grams) whole milk
- 2 Tablespoons (0.5 ounces, 14 grams) bread flour
Milk Bread Rolls
- Tangzhong Starter (from above)
- ½ cup (4 ounces, 113 grams) whole milk
- ¼ cup (2 ounces, 57 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- ¼ cup (1.76 ounces, 50 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons (0.5 ounces, 14 grams) nonfat dry milk powder
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 2 cups plus 2 Tablespoons (10.5 ounces, 298 grams) bread flour
- 1 Tablespoon (0.42 ounces, 12 grams) instant yeast
Instructions
Tangzhong Starter
- Whisk together the water, milk and flour in a small saucepan util there are no more lumps.
- Heat the tangzhong mixture over low heat, whisking constantly until thick enough that the whisk leaves lines on the bottom of the saucepan, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.
Milk Bread Rolls
- Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Set aside.
- Add cooled tangzhong starter, milk, melted butter, egg, sugar, milk powder, salt, flour, and yeast to the pan of the bread machine. Select the dough cycle and press start.
- When the dough cycle finishes, transfer the dough to a floured surface. Portion the dough into 12 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and place on a prepared baking sheet. (See Tip 1)
- Allow to rise in a warm place until double in size, about 60 minute. (See Tip 2)
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Brush rolls with egg wash (1 egg plus 1 tablespoon of water). Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. (See Tip 3)
- Remove from oven. If desired brush lightly with melted butter.
- Yield: 12 Milk Bread Rolls (See Tip 4)
Video
Tips/Notes
- I'm a total nerd when it comes to weighing stuff. The weight of this dough is just over 23 ounces. To determine the weight of each roll, I divided 23 ounces by 12 rolls, arriving at a weight of around 1.9 ounces per roll.
- I consistently follow Julia Child's recommendation regarding the rising of bread or rolls. I turn on my electric oven and leave it on for 1 minute and 45 seconds. I don't set a temperature. Rather, after 1 minute and 45 seconds, the oven is at the perfect temperature for proofing the bread and rolls.
- This recipe contains a fair amount of sugar. While the sugar adds to the taste of the rolls, it can also cause the rolls to brown too much. Therefore, after the rolls have been in the oven for about 10 minutes, I tend to cover them loosely with aluminum foil to inhibit further browning.
- Because of the tangzhong technique, these rolls remain fresh significantly longer than one would normally expect.
Emily says
These came out amazing, thank you so much! Great flavor, I used this dough recipe to make pineapple buns. I used my zojirushi bread machine and instant yeast. I added the sugar cookie topping on top of these buns when it came time to bake, and the bread was so perfect! I’ve tried a few different bread recipes for pineapple buns and this one was my favorite.
Chula King says
Excellent - I'm so pleased that the Milk Bread Rolls turned out. The pineapple buns sound amazing!
Chula
Kay says
I must admit I'm at the proofing stage right now and I'm extremely impressed with the dough. It feels like velvet. I know they will be amazing. Thank you for an easy to follow recipe.
Chula King says
Kay,
They really are amazing! Hope they turn out as well for you.
Chula
Naz says
I made these but only had salted butter, semi skinned milked and full fat powdered milk but they still came out amazing. Thank you so much for this recipe.
Chula King says
So glad that the Milk Bread Rolls were a success!
Chula
Brendalyn J Bryant says
This was a simple recipe, however, it just turned out to be a soupy mess. Dough did not come together at all.
Chula King says
I'm sorry that this recipe didn't work out for you. I'm thinking that perhaps you didn't weigh the ingredients and therefore added either too much liquid or not enough flour. I always weigh the ingredients for bread and rolls. The reason is that other ways of measuring the ingredients can vary significantly.
Laura says
I would strongly recommend you dissolve the yeast in the milk milk up to temp. because adding it in the end didn't work for my rolls. They didn't raise.
Chula King says
Laura,
Sorry that this didn't work for you. I consistently use instant or bread machine yeast which doesn't need dissolving, i.e., proofing prior to the use. Perhaps you used active dry yeast instead which does require proofing?
Chula
Mae says
Hello Ms. King,
Would like to know, what is a good bread machine to buy (brand, model, etc…)
Chula King says
Hi Mae,
The only brand of bread machine that I've used is Zojirushi, which I use weekly. I'm currently using the Zojirushi BB-CEC20 Home Bakery Supreme (https://www.amazon.com/Zojirushi-BB-CEC20-Supreme-2-Pound-Loaf-Breadmaker/dp/B002XVUAOU/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=bread+machine+Zojirushi&qid=1628002569&sr=8-3). Previously I used the Zojirushi BB-HAC10 Home Bakery 1-Pound-Loaf Programmable Mini Breadmaker (https://www.amazon.com/Zojirushi-BB-HAC10-1-Pound-Loaf-Programmable-Breadmaker/dp/B000G32H84/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=bread+machine+Zojirushi&qid=1628002569&sr=8-4). The reason for upgrading to the current model was the larger capacity, i.e., 2-pound loaf. I've had consistently good results with both bread machines whether I use them for just making the dough or actually producing a loaf.
Hope this helps.
Chula
Julia A Brissot says
Hello
(Breads)
Can this be done without a bread machine? How long do you proof in the oven?
I appreciate your response.
Thank you
Julia Brissot
Chula King says
Hi Julia,
This recipe can definitely be made without a bread machine using whatever technique you normally use for making bread, i.e., stand mixer, food processor, hand kneading.
Once the oven is warmed, I proof the rolls between 45 minutes and an hour. I pretty much eye-ball the rolls at this point. Once then have risen together, I bake them. This recipe is very forgiving!
Chula