As Agnes from Despicable Me puts it, “[It’s] so fluffy, I’m gonna DIE!” This unbelievably light, fluffy Japanese milk bread is worth the effort–slightly sweet and buttery, it’s the perfect bread for making French toast or simply enjoying with a side of your favorite spread.
When I first started reading The Hunger Games in college, I’ll admit that I considered Peeta a bit of a pansy. Sure, he was loyal beyond measure and a total cutie to boot, but a baker’s boy who spent every day making bread loaves from scratch? I mean, how hard could THAT job be?
And then I tried making my first yeast loaf by hand. And my second. And my third. After my fourth dense ball of undercooked, overkneaded dough came thudding out of the oven, I finally threw my floured hands up to the jarring tune of “Party in the U.S.A.” and admitted defeat. Suddenly, marrying a baker’s boy seemed like a very attractive idea indeed… #TeamPeeta
Over the years, I’ve learned to hide my bread-less skills by baking the least effortful loaves possible: no-knead varieties like my favorite Irish Soda Bread, sweet quick breads like this Better-for-You Banana Bread, or no-effort loaves like this Easy Bread Machine French Bread that I recently shared. Then, three months ago, the world shut down in quarantine and all 7.8 billion people on the planet (minus me) suddenly decided to master the warrior’s art of baking ALL. THE. BREAD. Even Wallflour Boy made his own sourdough starter and at that point, my avoidance of bread just seemed totally ridiculous. It was time to enter the fray, fists up and loins girded.
Enter the delicious delectable opponent: this Japanese Milk Bread!
If you’ve never heard about Japanese Milk Bread, you’re in for a treat. Like most Japanese baked goods, it’s extremely fluffy and derives its slightly sweet & buttery flavor from–you guessed it–some extra sugar and butter. Like all yeast breads that require kneading, just make sure that you allow your dough plenty of time to rest between kneading sessions and handle it gently in order to avoid compressing all of the air bubbles that make this such a light loaf. If this is your first time kneading bread by hand, check out this guide to kneading bread from Spruce Eats for some extra tips!
The result was extraordinary: not only did this loaf rise like a steamy dream fresh from the oven, it also had a soft and chewy crust that’s perfect for making thick French toast, which I plan on cooking soon with my leftovers. And the best part of all? My fear of baking bread from scratch has been cured so thoroughly that I now plan on baking the living bejeezus out of every bread out there, starting with my favorite Chinese pineapple bun and those iconic Round Table Garlic Parmesan Twists that the Internet has yet to successfully replicate. And maybe marrying the bejeezus out of Peeta, too. Now that’s my kind of bread hero!
What’s your favorite way to enjoy Japanese Milk Bread?
As Agnes from Despicable Me puts it, “[It’s] so fluffy, I’m gonna DIE!” This unbelievably light, fluffy Japanese milk bread is worth the effort–slightly sweet and buttery, it’s the perfect bread for making French toast or simply enjoying with a side of your favorite spread. Original recipe from NYTimes Cooking.
Japanese Milk Bread
Ingredients
For the starter:
For the dough:
Instructions