Sourdough Japanese Milk Bread (Tangzhong Method) (2024)

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This sourdough Japanese milk bread is super light and pillowy. It is mild in flavor and the perfect bread for any sandwich!

There are three parts to this sourdough milk bread recipe; the levain, the tangzhong, and the main dough. Make sure to scroll down for the complete ingredient list and recipe.

Sweet Levain

• Active sourdough starter – To prepare for the sweet levain, you want to make sure your sourdough starter is active and bubbly before you begin.
• Milk – Use whole milk for the best results. I prefer to use it cold from the fridge.
• Bread flour – I used a strong flour at 13% protein for this.
• Sugar – Regular white sugar to sweeten the levain.

Tangzhong

• Milk – I used whole milk at 3,5% fat.
• Bread flour – Strong flour at 13% protein again.

Tangzhong is a Japanese baking technique that I often use in my recipes. It involves pre-cooking a portion of the recipe’s flour and liquid, causing the mixture to thicken and gelatinize. In my experience, the Tangzhong causes the bread to remain softer with an extended shelf life.

Main Dough

• Bread flour – flour at 11-13% protein. Alternatively, you can use a 50/50 mix of all-purpose and bread flour.
• Sugar – Regular white sugar is what you want to use. We just need a little bit to slightly sweeten the bread.
• Whole milk– Cold from the fridge to prevent the dough from overheating while kneading.
• Eggs – You’ll need 70 grams, one whole medium-sized egg, + one egg yolk.
• Cream cheese – Full fat cream cheese all the way.
• Sweet levain – All of the active sweet levain.
• Tangzhong – All of the cooled tangzhong.
• Salt – We always need salt in our doughs for flavor and to help gluten development. Regular sea salt is fine to use.
• Butter – I’m using unsalted, softened butter.

The secret ingredient to this bread is cream cheese. The cream cheese is a fun addition that makes the bread extremely soft and delicate with a mild cream cheese flavor.

The milk bread dough is enriched with milk, butter, AND cream cheese. The result will have the most incredible soft texture and flavor – but it will take a bit longer for the dough to rise (compared to if it was just flour and water).

How To Shape Milk Bread

1. Transfer the dough to your work surface and divide it into four equal pieces. Roll into seamless rounds, cover, and rest for 10 minutes.
   

2. With a rolling pin, roll each round into an oval about 8 in/20 cm long. Grab one of the short sides of the oval and roll it up like a roulade. Repeat on all four pieces: cover, and rest for 10 minutes.

3. With the seam side up, use a rolling pin to flatten each dough piece into long ovals again. Shape the ovals into roulades as you did previously. Transfer to a greased 10-inch bread pan.

4. Cover the bread tin and proof in a warm spot for 10-12 hours until the dough fills up about 85% of the tin.

Here are some tools I recommend you have on hand to make this recipe a success:

• Digital Scale is essential for exact measurements.
• Stand mixer fitted with a dough hook to easily knead your dough.
• Brød & Taylor Proofer Box – to perfectly manage the temperature during proof.
• Rolling pin to roll out your dough during shaping.
• This dough fits perfectly in a 10-inch baking pan.

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