Japanese-style Milk Bread
Recipe rewritten from combined sources, specifically for a 13" x 4" Pullman loaf pan, for making sandwich bread.
See the referenced links for helpful reference videos.
Ingredients
- 440 g bread flour
- 290 g whole milk
- 26 g sugar
- 9 g salt
- 53 g butter, room-temp (~1/2 stick)
- 13 g sweetened condensed milk
- 4 g active dry yeast
Steps
Add milk, yeast, sugar, and condensed milk to bowl of stand mixer. Let proof for a few minutes.
Add flour to bowl and mix under low speed until incorporated, ~2 minutes.
Slowly add salt, and then switch to medium speed for 6 minutes.
Add butter in chunks, and continue mixing for 6 minutes. The dough should be smooth and glossy. (Temperature of dough should be 79-82 F.)
Bulk ferment for ~60 minutes.
Punch down and divide dough into 5 pieces. Fold and round each piece. Bench rest for 20 minutes under damp towel.
Roll out each piece into a 4" x 6" rectangle. Pinch down one end (lengthwise) and roll (lengthwise), placing the pinched end down. Form the roll into a U shape, and place into the pan, alternating the facing of the U’s.
Proof at 90 F (85% humidity) until the dough rises to ~80% of the pan (~1 hour).
Preheat the oven to 395 F an hour before baking.
Cover with Pullman lid, and bake for 30 minutes.
After baking, shake the pan to loosen, and immediately transfer to a cooling rack. Wait at least an hour for bread to cool (completely) before slicing.
Notes
The temperature and humidity of the proofing environment, as well as the temperature of the dough itself, greatly matters. Colder environments will take much longer..
While the crumb/texture will be fine, it just won’t rise enough to give you the squared-off shape.
If you leave the cooked bread in the pan for any time, it will steam in the pan, softening the crust.
