What Is Milk Bread?

Sporked’s Jordan Myrick and I recently went to the viral Ghost Sando Shop in Toluca Lake. A delicious time was had by all, especially since they make their sandwiches on Dutch crunch bread, a recent bread favorite of mine. It’s a perfect bread for a big, overstuffed sammie. But sometimes, I want bread upon which I can lay my weary head and get a solid eight-hour sleep. That’s where milk bread comes in. What is milk bread? I’m glad you asked. 

What is milk bread?

The most basic bread dough is made with water, flour, salt, and yeast. That’s going to turn out your classic baguette or ciabatta. You look at those breads and think, “Wow, perfect. What else is there to do with bread that could make this delicious loaf better?”

Well, as it is with all foods throughout history, people just can’t help tinkering with perfection to uncover even greater heights of culinary delights. And that’s where we get enriched bread. Enriched, like my dog when she’s trying to solve a food puzzle, and the results are just as exciting.

Enriched bread is made from dough with all the traditional ingredients along with some kind of extra fat: butter, milk, eggs, etc. A wonderful, well-known example of this is the brioche. Milk bread is also an enriched bread that uses milk as its primary enrichment ingredient. 

The results: pillowy soft, slightly sweet, extremely delicious.

What is Japanese milk bread?

Also known as Hokkaido milk bread, Japan has been making and perfecting the milk bread loaf since the end of World War II. It is often sliced thick and toasted for sandwiches, used as an accompaniment for breakfasts, and even eaten as a midday snack. 

How is milk bread made?

Japanese milk bread begins with a roux called a tangzhong. Milk and flour are whisked over heat until they get to the consistency of gravy. This is not all of the flour and milk that will be used for the bread, just some of it.

While the tangzhong is cooling, the base flour, water, salt, and yeast are combined. After that, the tangzhong, the remaining milk, the eggs, and the butter are added. The bread is kneaded into a smooth dough and left to rise. The bread is then baked in rectangular pans.

What is Spanish chocolate milk bread?

Japan isn’t the only country to enrich their bread. In Spain, the pan de leche (milk bread) is an extremely popular breakfast treat that has been adopted in many Central and South American countries. The Spaniards proclaimed “not rich enough!” And the world rejoiced. Not only is the bread enriched with milk, but it is also filled with a custard or swirled with cocoa powder.