Super Soft Burger Buns - Hokkaido Milk Rolls (Video)

A pillowy, melt-in-your-mouth, yeasty soft bun is the most important component of any great burger, slider or sandwich.

Milk buns, also known as Japanese milk buns or Hokkaido buns, are a type of bread roll or burger bun that is a hybrid between brioche and regular white bread buns.

They contain less egg and butter than brioche and instead use milk for hydration. They have a slightly sweet taste and are known for their light, fluffy texture, and they don't fall apart when holding together a juicy burger.

The secret to their softness is a pre-cooked starch called tangzhong, made from flour and water (or milk).

This burger bun recipe is easily scalable and can be used to make homemade slider buns, mini burger buns or even shaped into a shokupan bread loaf.

It can easily be made in advance, keeps well for days at room temperature and can be frozen for longer storage.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Video
• How to know when the buns are ready to bake?
• Tips for success
• Substitutions
• Serving suggestions
• Storage instructions
• Frequently asked questions
• Useful equipment
• Related recipes
• Recipe
• Comments

Ingredients

• Flour - All-purpose flour with a protein content of 12 %. If you're not going to use wheat gluten, you use Strong bread flour with a protein content of 15%.
• Tangzhong - Boiling water (or milk) and flour. Easily substituted for mashed potatoes. It helps the dough retain moisture and keeps the buns fresh for longer.
• Yeast - Dry active yeast, but you can use fresh yeast too by doubling the amount called for.
• Egg wash - Made with equal parts milk and egg. Used to brush the buns before baking to give it that beautiful golden top and pleasant shine.
• Xanthan gum (optional) - Natural stabilizer for maximum and equal air distribution. You need a tiny amount, best weighed out by tiny scales.
• Wheat gluten (optional)- Naturally found in flour, but adding more, strengthens the structure so that it can trap more air which means lighter less dense buns.
• Bread improver (optional)- Food for the yeast, resulting in a beautiful soft crumb and fluffy texture.

Instructions

Making the tangzhong

1. Mix the flour and the water well in a sauce pan.
2. Whisk on medium heat until it bubbles and thicken. Use straight away or freeze for future use.

Mixing the dough

Burger bun dough is usually an enriched dough. Meaning that it contains ingredients like butter, eggs and milk. Because of this, it requires much more vigorous kneading for proper gluten development. It's best to use a stand mixer and knead the dough for the recommended time.

1. While the tangzhong is still warm, add it to cold milk, followed by the egg and then the yeast. We use cold milk to cool the tangzhong down, so it doesn't kill the yeast. Mix until well combined.
2. Add the dry ingredients to a stand mixer bowl and whisk to combine.
3. Add the wet to the dry and mix on medium heat for ten minutes.
4. After ten minutes, add room temperature butter and mix for 5 more minutes on medium speed.

Resting and shaping

It's important to only use oiled hands and an oiled work surface. Do not use flour.

1. Oil a tray and place your dough onto it. Cover flush with plastic wrap and place into the freezer for 15 minutes, or fridge for an hour.
2. Once rested, divide the dough into 95 gram pieces if making burger buns, 40 gram pieces if making sliders or 20 grams if making mini burger buns. Roughly roll into a round shape and rest for 15 minutes covered on your work bench.
3. After the pre-shape, go ahead and shape into tight, smooth round balls.
4. Make sure to close the seam at the bottom of the dough by pinching it close.

If at any point you over work the dough and the top looks torn or not smooth, simply rest for 5 minutes to relax the gluten and try again.

Shaping perfect buns requires some practice, but it's very important that they are tightly shaped and smooth all over for the desired result.

Proofing

It's important to use a large enough tray for these buns to have enough space to expand. The triple, so consider that when spacing them out on the tray.

1. Oil your trays then line it with parchment and oil the parchment too. Place your buns onto the trays and cover with another tray turned upside down.
2. Place these in a warm place until fully proven. This can take 2 to 3 hours depending on the temperature. Keep an eye on them and turn your oven to 180 °C or 356 °F.
3. Once fully proven, they should look gentle and have a visible wobble when you move the tray.
4. Very carefully brush them with egg wash, taking care not to deflate them.

Enriched dough like this takes a much longer time to fully proof than regular bread dough. It works best in a slightly warm place like an oven with only the light turned on.

The ideal temperature range to prove them is between 30 °C - 35 °C (or 86 °F - 95 °F).

Baking

1. Bake the buns in a pre-heated oven at 180 °C or 356 °F for 15 minutes until golden brown.
2. When done, place on a wire rack and optionally brush them with a touch of melted butter before cooling to room temperature.
3. You can also sprinkle them with a bit of flaky salt.
4. Eat straight away or store for later.

Video

How to know when the buns are ready to bake?

There's a fine line between under and over proved burger buns. A poke test is usually required for breads.

In this case, you should avoid poking the dough, as it will deflate them.

Rather, look at the way they wobble when gently tapping or shaping the tray. This is visually demonstrated in the video.

Tips for success

• Use kitchen scales to accurately weigh out your ingredients. Cups and spoons are not accurate measurements, and they vary from brand to brand and country to country. Metric is they forward for any recipe.
• Use a stand mixer because the dough needs a lot of kneading to become the desired consistency. Kneading by hand will not work.
• Give the dry ingredients a thorough mix to evenly combine before adding the wet ingredients.
• Make sure to dissolve the yeast fully in the wet ingredients before adding to the dry ingredients.
• Keep your butter at room temperature so that it easily mixes into the dough.
• When shaping the dough, make sure the tops are smooth and then bottoms are sealed.
• Proof the buns fully before baking. They should look extremely inflated and have a good wobble. The ideal temperature for proofing is 30 °C or 86 °F.
• If using egg wash, be extremely careful to not knock out the air when brushing the buns.
• Always preheat your oven at least 30 minutes before baking to make sure it reaches the desired temperature.

Substitutions

• Tangzhong - Mashed potatoes makes a great substitute for the tangzhong. This way you'll make delicious potato rolls, way better than old Shake Shack.
• Milk - You could replace the milk with any alternative milks, like soy or almond. Just note that the sweetness and flavour will change.
• Flour - You could replace up to 15% of the all-purpose flour with any other flour. Take note though that all types of flour hydrated differently and will affect the final outcome.
• Bread improver - Although it's not the same thing, malt powder can be used instead.
• Butter - Replace with any other fat like lard or olive oil.

Serving suggestions

• Any kind of burger.
• Baked chicken or ribeye steak sandwich with homemade lemon mayo.
• Breakfast rolls with baked eggs and bacon.
• Something sweet like peanut butter and orange marmalade.
• And if you want a taste of South Africa, fill it with bobotie or chicken curry.

Storage instructions

As soon as the buns have cooled down to room temperature, you want to wrap them airtight. They will stay fresh for 3 to 4 few days.

Alternatively, they can be wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen for longer storage.

They will soften beautifully when you toast them for burgers or sandwiches.

Frequently asked questions

Useful equipment

Related recipes

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• Classic British Scones / American Biscuits (Video)
• Ultimate Homemade Vegan Flour Tortillas Without Lard
• Homemade English Muffins (Video)

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