Japanese Milk Bread Rolls (Hokkaido/Snow Bread)

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Snow bread or Hokkaido bread is a popular Japanese milk bread roll. Love bread? Check out these dinner rolls, ciabatta, sugar donuts, cheese breadsticks and coconut buns. This Japanese milk bread recipe has step by step photos and a video to show you how to make this soft, fluffy and light bread rolls for breakfast, snack or lunch.

Love Japanese food? Check out these Japanese curry, tonkatsu, California rolls, teriyaki chicken rice bowl, gyudon beef bowl, miso soup, crispy teriyaki tofu and chicken udon noodles stir fry recipes.

Baked Japanese milk bread rolls on parchment paper

What is Japanese milk bread?

Japanese milk bread is called Hokkaido bread. Some people call it snow bread because the flour is dusting on top of the dough and it looks like snow on the bread.

Hokkaido bread is famous for light, fluffy, soft, tender and little sweetened bread. It is more flavorful than regular bread because it’s so soft and like a sponge.

What are the ingredients for fluffy Japanese milk bread rolls?

Most of the Hokkaido bread uses tang zhong, a roux starter. However, in this Japanese milk bread rolls recipe I only use a few simple ingredients: yeast, sugar, milk, salt, bread flour and butter.

The hydration and kneading of the dough makes the milk bread rolls fluffy, soft and light.

Cooking tips for how to make Japanese milk bread:

The best is to use warm milk. (Let the milk out at room temperature an hour before or warm it in the microwave for 10-20 seconds.)
Cut the butter into small pieces and add them one at a time into the dough.
It helps a lot when you use a Bosch bread mixer to mix the dough.
Let the dough run in the mixer for 10-15 minutes until the dough is not as sticky.
Put the dough in a mixing bowl and cover with a wet cloth. Let it rise for 45 minutes to an hour at room temperature. (To speed up the dough rising time I usually preheat the oven to 200F. Then, turn off the oven and put the dough into the oven for 15-30 minutes.)
Spray some oil on the parchment paper to prevent the dough sticking on the paper.
Dust some flour on top of the dough before baking it.
Preheat the oven at 350F, but bake the dough at 300F for 18-22 minutes until it’s slightly golden brown.

FAQS:

Can I make Japanese milk bread rolls by hand?

Yes, of course you can. Most people use their hands to knead the dough when they don’t have the mixer. However, it does help a lot when you use the mixer to knead the dough instead of hands.

How to store milk bread rolls?

Once the milk bread rolls are completely cool off. You can put them in a ziplock bag and leave it on the table at room temperature for a couple days. Or refrigerate them for 4-5 days.

How to warm up the Hokkaido bread rolls?

Warm it up in the microwave for 10 seconds if it is at room temperature. If it is out of the refrigerator, put them in the microwave for 20-30 seconds. Or, warm them in the toaster oven at 350F for a couple minutes.

Instructions for how to to make fluffy Japanese milk bread rolls:

Preparation:

1. Pour ¾ cup of milk (warm the milk in the microwave for 10-20 seconds or leave it at room temperature for an hour before using) and add ¼ cup of sugar into the Bosch mixer or a mixer.

2. Next, add 2 teaspoons of active dry yeast.

3. Turn on the Bosch mixer, the lowest setting #1, let it mix a little bit, cover the lid and wait for 5 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, put 2 cups of bread flour into the container. Then, add ½ teaspoon of salt. Mix them well.

5. The following, turn on the Bosch mixer the lowest speed #1, slowly add the flour mixture from step 4 into the yeast mixture in step 3. Then, change the speed to medium #2 or 3.

Dough rising:

6. While the dough is mixing, cut 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter into small cubes. Then, add the butter into the dough one at a time. Let the Bosch mixer run for 10-15 minutes until the dough is not too sticky.

7. After that, put the dough into a mixing bowl and cover with a wet cloth. Let it rise for 45 minutes to an hour at room temperature. (To speed up the dough's rising time, I usually preheat the oven to 200F. Then, turn off the oven and put the dough into the oven for 15-30 minutes.)

8. While waiting for the dough, put a parchment paper into the pan (9.5 inches square pan) and spray some oil.

9. After the dough rises double size, roughly divide the dough into 12 pieces. (If you want the perfect size, you need to weigh them.)

dough roll into balls and lay in the pan

10. Roll the dough into a ball and put it on the pan.

11. Cover the dough rolls with a wet towel and wait 15-30 minutes at room temperature. (To speed the time, I usually preheat the oven to 200F. Then, turn off the oven and put the dough into the oven for 5-10 minutes.)

flour dust on the dough rolls ( Japanese milk bread rolls)

Baking:

12. Put ½ tablespoon of bread flour into a strainer and dust the flour over the dough.

baked Japanese milk bread rolls in the pan

13. Preheat the oven at 350F, then drop the temperature and bake them at 300F for 18-22 minutes.

Enjoy this simple and fluffy Japanese milk bread rolls recipe with some homemade cinnamon honey butter! Also, check out these miso soup, Japanese chicken curry, tonkatsu, gyudon, teriyaki chicken rice bowl and chicken udon stir fry recipes.