Milk Bread Recipe
Say hello to milk bread! This is a fabulous recipe for the iconic soft and fluffy bread that can be made into loaves, pull-apart bread, rolls, or split-top buns. You seriously won’t be able to stop eating this!
Have you ever had milk bread?
I honestly had never heard of it until I saw a Food52 video on Facebook a couple of months ago, and I was immediately sucked in with the promise that it was “the most addictive bread you will ever eat”. Challenge accepted.
The origin of this recipe comes from the Kindred restaurant in Davidson, North Carolina. Apparently, this bread is served as mini pull-apart loaves warm from the oven in lieu of a bread basket, and has a total cult following. The restaurant uses the same dough recipe for its burger buns, split-top rolls, and sandwich bread.
I was totally sold on making the bread, and after a couple of small tweaks, I can confirm that this is, indeed, a hopelessly addicting bread. Grab your favorite butter and let’s get rolling!
What is Milk Bread?
On the surface, milk bread is an utterly fantastic soft and fluffy bread that totally melts in your mouth.
It’s rich, much like challah, but lighter and airier like white bread – the best of both worlds – making it perfect for pull-apart loaves that you just slather with butter.
What Makes the Bread Soft and Fluffy?
So what keeps an enriched dough that uses eggs, butter, cream and honey so soft and fluffy?
This style of bread dates back to 19th century Japan, and utilizes a Chinese technique called tangzhong, which is to first cook a small amount of the flour with water to create a paste that is almost like a roux. Once that is made, you add the rest of the ingredients and and proceed with your bread. Doing this creates a bread with a soft, springy texture that has tiny air bubbles throughout the crumb.
As you can see below, the mixture is a little looser than a roux, yet still thick. The heavy cream and honey get added to the paste, and warmed until the honey has completely dissolved.
Can You Use This Recipe to Make Rolls?
Yes! In fact, you can use it to make all sorts of great bread variations. I made two simple loaves of bread, but you could also make any of the following:
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- Rolls (dinner roll size or larger)
- Mini loaves
- Split-top rolls (for hot dogs, po boys or lobster rolls!)
I’ve included instructions in the recipe notes on how to make the variations above.
The first time that I made this bread, I had two major issues:
#1 – The dough took FOR-EV-ER to rise both times. As in, like HOURS (3+) for each rise, and even at that, it never got as high and fluffy as I think it should have.
#2 – The bread was super, insanely salty. I’m usually not one to be too bothered by excess salt, but this was like borderline I couldn’t even eat it. My husband actually thought it was pretzel bread because it was so salty.
I made two easy fixes and the next round turned out absolutely phenomenal! First, I swapped the active dry yeast that was in the original recipe for instant yeast. Given that the dough has so much fat between the eggs, cream, and butter, as well as a healthy dose of sugar with the honey, I thought it needed a boost to get going, and the instant yeast provided just that. It rose beautifully with the instant yeast and the resulting bread was super light and fluffy.
As for the salt, I simply cut it in half and it was perfect. It balanced out the rich sweetness but wasn’t overpowering.
If you’ve never tried milk bread before, you HAVE to give this recipe a try! It’s easy and the bread totally melts in your mouth. I made one loaf as a sandwich loaf, and the other one to pull apart. I think you could roll smaller balls and use this base for an incredible spin on the classic monkey bread recipe! I could NOT stop ripping big chunks off and slathering them with butter. It lasted less than a day, and I would have loved it if three more would have appeared in my kitchen, ha!
The sandwich loaf was equally as delicious, and made absolutely phenomenal sandwiches!
More Favorite Bread Recipes
- White Bread Recipe (Sandwich Loaves)
- Ciabatta Bread
- Italian Bread Recipe
- English Muffin Bread
- No Knead Bread
Milk Bread
Ingredients
For the Bread
- 5⅓ cups (666.67 g) bread flour, divided
- 1 cup (250 ml) water
- 1 cup (238 ml) heavy cream
- ⅓ cup (113 ml) honey
- 3 tablespoons nonfat dry milk powder
- 2 tablespoons instant yeast, from 3 envelopes
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 2 eggs
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes, at room temperature
For the Egg Wash
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon water
- Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling, optional
Instructions
- Combine ⅓ cup of the flour and the water in a small saucepan and place over medium heat, whisking constantly, until a thick paste forms (it should be a little looser than a roux), about 3 to 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to low, add the heavy cream and honey and whisk until honey dissolves. Remove from the heat.
- Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook and add the milk powder, yeast, kosher salt, eggs, and 5 remaining cups flour. Knead on medium speed until dough is smooth, about 5 minutes. Add butter, a piece at a time, fully incorporating into dough before adding the next piece, until dough is smooth, shiny, and elastic, about 4 minutes (the dough may look loose and separated at first, but it will come together, just keep kneading).
- Coat a large bowl with nonstick cooking spray and transfer dough to bowl, turning to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Coat two 9- by 5-inch loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and divide into 12 pieces. Nestle the pieces side-by-side to create 2 rows down length of each pan. Cover with a clean dish towel.
- Let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size (dough should be just puffing over top of pan), about 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and water for the egg wash. Brush top of the dough with egg wash. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt, if desired. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until bread is deep golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center registers 190 degrees F, about 30 minutes. Let the bread cool in the pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes before turning them out, then let cool completely before slicing.
Notes
- To make rolls, divide the dough into 12 equal pieces, shape into rolls, and place in greased 9×13-inch pan. Cover with clean dish cloth and let raise until doubled in size. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with flaky sea salt, if desired. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown brown and instant read thermometer registers 190 degrees F.
- To make split-top rolls, lightly coat two 9×13-inch baking dishes with nonstick cooking spray. Divide dough into 12 pieces and shape each into a 4-inch long log. Place 6 logs in a row down length of each dish. Cover with clean dish cloth and let raise until doubled in size. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with flaky sea salt, if desired. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown brown and instant read thermometer registers 190 degrees F.
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
Hi Michelle – I really want to try this but I do not have a stand mixer – is there any chance I could just knead it myself or what would you recommend? Thanks!
Thank you thank you thank you! This bread is amazing. It slices beautifully. Great recipe. Follow the directions, you wont go wrong.
I have wanted to make bread for a while now. I don’t like bread much so I have been putting it off. I saw the pictures of this bread and finally decided I was going to try. OMGEEEEE!!!! This recipe was so simple and worked perfectly.
I wish I could post a picture here.
I used buttermilk powder and did NOT add salt to the dry mixture. I also rubbed the tops with butter right out of the oven.
I followed the recipe exactly for everything else.
SOOOO SOOOO YUMMY!
Literally sooo beautiful! I used active dry yeast but I activated it with some of the flour/water/honey/cream roux and a bit of extra water and it came out perfectly and rose very quickly! I was even pressed for time and everything but it still rose and baked quickly although I had to raise the oven temp a bit towards the end to achieve the correct degree of browning but honestly that’s probably just cause I’m in a very high altitude!! Thanks!
Hi. I noted you are at a high altitude. I’m at 7500 feet in Colorado. You didn’t seem to change amounts if liquid, fat, or sugar as I often need to do. How does your altitude relate to mine?
Thank you,
This is the third time making this and it always turns out amazing. Last time I used the dough to make cinnamon rolls as I am doing this moment. It made the best cinnamon rolls! I rolled it out into a rectangle and made a cinnamon butter mixture, added nuts and raisins and then after baked, added the vanilla icing and it is the best. Today, I am doing the same thing but using sour cherries instead of raisins. The only problem I ever have is it seems the dough is really more on the sticky side when I put in the bowl for the first rise. I don’t want to add more flour because I fear it will be too stiff and not as fluffy. I knead it for at least five or more minutes. So, I am not certain that’s the way it is suppose to be or not. It doesn’t look like your picture with it all coming together around the hook with clean sides of the mixing bowl, but it works in the end. If you know what I am missing, please tell me. Nonetheless, it is outstanding.
This recipe was extremely easy to prepare which allowed me to feel confident in my ability to achieve my goal of bread baking. The quantity was perfect to try a couple of different options for baking rolls and a small loaf. Will make this again and soon! Thank you
I’m sure you know this, but salt inhibits yeast. If the first loaf was too salty to eat, it was too salty for the yeast. That’s probably why it rose so poorly.
I’m really excited to try this recipe! From the photos posted, it looks like you might be using the Williams Sonoma Goldtouch bread loaf pans. I have the 1 lb. Pans: 8 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ x 2 3/4″ high. Your recipe calls for using 9 x 5″ pans, and it looks like the next size up for the Goldtouch bread loaf pans are the 1 lb. 8 oz. Pans: 10″ x 5″ x 3″ high. Did you use the Goldtouch pans, and if so, which size did you use?
Hi Mark, I did use the Goldtouch pans and I used the 1.5 lb pans. Enjoy the bread!
Perfect. I had no milk powder at home, so made it without.
Thank you for this recipe. Made it last night and gone by lunch time today. The family asked me to make some more.
May the Lord bless you and thank you again for sharing.
Bloody brilliant recipe. Made it today with the kids and it was absolutely fabulous. Daughter loved all of the info and pictures above as it helped her along so she could bake with only minimal help from me. Thanks for putting all of this knowledge out there for all of us! Only hard thing was trying to wait for it to cool down – we totally failed and scoffed plenty immediately with loads of cold salty butter :)
I did not follow recipe exactly. But I am SURE the actual recipe would have been even better than my version. I somehow flubbed up making ricotta and not all the milk curdled and separated so I had lots off liquid post ricotta draining. So I used the runoff instead of the milk and water prescribed in the recipe. I also ended up using a little more flour than the recipe because it was far too shaggy after 5 1/3c. I used about 5.75c . Yep. You read that right. AND I live in the desert so it is arid. Maybe my eggs were big. Anyhoo… even with all those seemingly disastrous things the bread turned out delightfully puffy. I made a big load and 12 roll (which I rolled out into strips and rolled like a sweetroll. Fantabulous. I may have come up short on ricotta but have lots of delicious rolls to go with dinner. Thanks for the easy to follow recipe and pics.
Hi! I want to make this milk bread but a family member is alleric to honey. Can i sub the honey for something else? Thank you!
Hi Sarah, Sure, you could use Lyle’s golden syrup (sold in a lot of supermarkets in the international aisle, as well as on King Arthur Flour and Amazon), also agave syrup would make a great substitute. Molasses or maple syrup would work, but would impact the flavor more so than the others. You can also use light brown sugar.
This is Hokkaido Bread, sold in bakeries all throughout Japan. In China, the tangzhong method is used to make small rolls. The “heels” are sliced off, dried and crushed to make Panko. While I love your bread recipes, I do wish you would include Grams/Ounces in the ingredient list. Baking is a science and to be off slightly, can make a big difference. Your salty bread could be avoided, perhaps, if it were weighed, not measured. I have been baking this bread for years. While it is nice for Cinnamon Rolls, dinner rolls and doubled for a Pullman, I have found it holds up poorly to hamburger Buns, especially when the meat is juicy.
I made this over the weekend and it was delicious! I used my Thermapen (thanks to your giveaway!) to make sure it was done. :-) I was a little worried when I mixed the dough up because even after all the kneading, there were tiny white lumps scattered throughout the dough that weren’t incorporated – as if maybe the flour or dry milk or some combination thereof clumped when I added them in. It was probably just one of those fluke things but I wanted to share in case it happened to anyone else. I tore out as many of the lumps as I could see/feel…despite being concerned that I didn’t catch all of them, the bread turned out beautifully and looked just like the pictures! I took a loaf over to a friend’s house and her family was still raving about it the next day.
Hi Michelle! I recently came across this in an article about cinnamon rolls. Apparently, Cook’s Illustrated says this dough makes excellent cinnamon rools. Curious if this dough needs to be separated into small pages in order to make a single loaf of can it be formed like most American loaves?
Hi John, I think you could form it like a regular loaf.
Saw on a website that this bread was recommended for cinnamon rolls. I was intrigued because I have become addicted to using cinnamon roll dough to make cinnamon swirl break by braiding the dough after rolling it then placing the loaf in a bread pan.kinda like an Estonian Kringle but in a loaf. Will have to try this one. Thanks for posting this. Go ‘guin’s.
Why is it called milk bread?
Thank you for this incredible recipe. I make this weekly now per the request of my toddler and husband! Love your blog and it’s quickly becoming one of my top sources for baking.
Hi Michelle,
Have you tried making this in a bread cloche? Curious as to how it would come out.
Best,
Joe
The bread came out lovely, though not as dark brown as the pics. But brown enough given my gas oven with burner underneath only. I’m working in S. America now and have learned to make adjustments based on how their flour reacts. I used 0000 flour, (and not their 000 bread flour, which always seems to ruin my breads), and reduced water and cream to 1/2 cup and 200ml, respectively. Also no kosher salt, so I reduced the already reduced amount by another half, to 1/2 tbsp of table salt. The dough was gorgeous even using the dough hook by itself (which never happens). But I took it out and kneaded it for another two minutes because I couldn’t help myself! I let it rise both times for an hour in the oven with a pan of hot water beneath it (and a tea towel over). My boyfriend saw the precooked loaves and said, Wow! Yummy at breakfast too, with strawberry jam. I would suggest it as something to bring to a friend or family breakfast, tea or perhaps lunch…not really dinner bread. More for special occasions.
Hello,
Bread looks amazing, but was wondering how many calories and carbs are in this bread?
Hi Terri, Unfortunately I don’t have that information.
I made it yesterday. It is sooooo yum and fluffy. I put ham and cheese in the other loaf pan. Super tasty! Boyfriend loves it❤️👏🏻❤️ Thank you so much for the recipe.
Outstanding recipe!! I am THRILLED to finally find a recipe that will make soft buns for hamburgers, etc. It’s fascinating how cooking the flour with a little water works in this dough. You nailed it
!!
So thrilled you enjoyed it, Elisabeth! Thanks so much for taking the time to come back and leave a review, it’s much appreciated!
How to mix dough if no stand mixer/bread hook is available?>>
Hi Barbara, You can mix it with a spoon and knead by hand, if necessary.
I’ve made this recipe into buns, loafs, and split tops. One time I made loafs I had a little bil left over and I decided to flatten bits of dough and fry them in a pan with a little oil. They made great fry bread! Thank you for the recipe. My whole family loves whatever I make with this dough.
Can I use all purpose flour instead of bread flour?
Hi Kimchie, It will affect the texture of the bread, so I do recommend bread flour.
I may have missed someone’s comment, but the original recipe used Diamond kosher salt (which is less salty than Morton’s kosher salt).
I just baked this and am diving into the first fluffy slice now! First of all, I had to make some adjustments to accommodate what ingredients I had on hand, so the roux was made with 1/3 cup of winter wheat flour, followed by 5 cups of all purpose flour. I didn’t have cream, so used 2% milk and then I had full fat powdered goat milk, so added 4 tablespoons–not 3–to hopefully make up for the loss of cream. I also sprinkled the top with sesame seeds.
This bread came out very soft, quite savory and definitely fluffy. I do think the winter wheat gives a slightly odd flavor, but the bread as a whole is still delicious. The texture is slightly cake-y, which makes sense since I used all purpose flour. All in all, it is delicious and was super easy to make. I’ll try it next time with bread flour.
Can I make the dough in my bread machine (including the tzangzong) then proceed with the recipe? Must I cut the dough into 12 pieces, or can I just halve it to make 2 loaves?
Hi Betsy, I’ve never used a bread machine, so I can’t say with 100% certainty, but I think it SHOULD work. If you want to make a pull apart loaf, I would recommend cutting into 12 pieces, otherwise you can just halve it.