The Tangzhong method is one of my favourite bread making techniques. It creates a bread that is so soft and pillowy. The Tangzhong method basically involves making a roux of flour and water, which gets mixed into the dough.
A classic bread recipe that uses this method is a milk bread. Milk breads have this milky, rich taste and texture that makes it super tasty. This, paired with that fluffy, pillowy texture really makes such a perfect bread.
I love this recipe because you can go from making the dough to eating the bread in one day! There is no overnight rise needed.
This recipe uses a stiff, sweet levain rather than a standard, 100% hydrated starter. You can read more about starter hydration here but basically, a stiffer starter is ideal for enriched doughs because it can rally hold up against the extra weight from the fats in the dough.
This recipe does also call for a stand mixer. Personally, I used a Kitchen Aid stand mixer. This is an optional piece of equipment. A mixer makes things easier and ensures there is strong gluten development. It is important in a Tangzhong recipe and an enriched dough recipe for there to be strong gluten formation in order to support all that fat and hold that fluffy airiness. The presence of the fat also can prevent some of the gluten from forming by coating and shortening gluten strands* so more extensive kneading is needed.
You can certainly hand knead this dough and add in a few extra rounds of stretch and fold. It will just require more time and effort. But, this is totally possible. I made enriched doughs all the time without a mixer and as long as the dough passes the windowpane test, we know the dough is ready!
Tangzhong Sourdough Milk Bread
Equipment
- Stand Mixer (optional)
Ingredients
Stiff Levain
- 50 grams Mature Starter
- 10 grams Sugar
- 40 grams Flour
- 20 grams Water
Tangzhong
- 15 grams Flour
- 75 grams Water
Dough
- 300 grams Bread Flour
- 30 grams Sugar 10%
- 24 grams Milk Powder 8%
- 6 grams Salt 2%
- 135 grams Milk 45%
- 1 Egg
- 30 grams Butter (room temperature) 10%
Instructions
Make Stiff Levain
- Combine mature starter, sugar and flour until fully combined.
- Cover and let sit at room temperature until triple in size (8-12 hours).
Make Tangzhong Roux
- Whisk together flour and water in a small saucepan.
- Cook on medium low heat, stirring constantly until the mixture is the texture of pudding.
- Take off the heat and let cool.
Make Dough
- Combine flour, sugar, milk powder and salt.
- Add milk, active stiff levain, cooled Tangzhong roux and egg. Knead dough using a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook on low until combined (3-4 minutes). If you are not using a stand mixer, knead by hand until combined.
- Add butter in, one small piece at a time with the mixer on. Once the piece as absorbed into the dough, add the next piece of butter. If you are doing this by hand, do the same while kneading by hand.
- Knead the dough on medium until dough pulls away from the bowl and the dough passes the windowpane test (about 10 minutes).
- Transfer to large bowl, cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
Stretch and fold
- Go around the perimeter of the bowl, pulling the dough towards the center. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
- Repeat 3 more times for a total of 4 rounds of strech and fold with 30 minutes rest in between. (Repeat 5 more times if you kneaded by hand).
Bulk rise
- Cover the dough and let rise at room temeprature until it increases 1.5 times in size (2-4 hours).
Pre-shape
- Divide dough into 3 even sizes. Pre-shape each piece by pulling the sides of the odugh towards the center, forming a ball.
- Place the balls seam side down and let rest on the counter for 30 minutes.
Shape
- Flatten out each dough. Fold both side in towards the centre. Roll from bottom to top.
- Place the 3 rolls in a loaf pan, cover and let rise at room temperature until about doubled in size (3-6 hours).
Bake
- Bake loaf at 350°F for 30-35 minutes until the top is golden brown.
- Let cool for at least 1 hour and enjoy!
Featured Products
This is just the basic milk bread recipe, but you can definitely add inclusions like matcha, cocoa powder, red bean paste, Nutella, coconut flakes, etc. But of course, this bread is super tasty on its own and does not need anything else added to it.
I hope you give this recipe a try and love it as much has I do!
Good luck and happy baking!