Hokkaido chocolate milk bread

I was probably only 8 years old or so, but I remember there was this house, probably about 3-4 houses down from ours, and the lady baked fresh breads daily. I often went there to get fresh loaf of milk bread and other pastries. The smell of whatever she was baking was so intoxicating daily. It’s probably the highlight of my day when I walked down there, anticipating the delicious bread and pastries. Milk bread was one of her specialties. It never last more than 2 days in our house and so I got to walk down there to get fresh bread daily.

I’m not exactly sure why it’s called Hokkaido milk bread, perhaps it is originated from there and it has been so popular in other Asian countries too. I grew up eating milk bread eons ago. What is so special about Hokkaido milk bread ? The bread is prepared by using a roux starter (or they call it tang zhong), which is basically made of milk and flour that is being cooked into a paste and then incorporated into the dough. It somehow just contributes to the the soft and pillowy texture. So soft that my daughter who isn’t crazy about bread, love this milk bread. The first bite into this bread and she said “Mommy, this is one delicious bread”. I know babe !! that’s the exact memory I have of me when I had that bread as a little girl. Got addicted ever since. I added in chocolate morsels in there and oh boy!!! I’m in trouble !!

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Hokkaido chocolate milk bread (9 x 5 inch loaf)

Author Marvellina

Ingredients

Roux starter (Tang Zhong):

• 6 Tbsp of milk
• 2 Tbsp of bread flour

Bread:

• 1 Tbsp of active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 extra large egg
• 1 Tbsp condensed milk
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels
• 4 Tbsp of unsalted butter or you can subs with 4 Tbsp of cooking oil like avocado oil melted, grape seeds oil
• 2 1/2 cups bread flour to start with + more sifted
• Egg wash: 1 large egg + 1/2 Tbsp of milk beaten

Instructions

1. Place 6 Tbsp of milk and the bread flour in the mixing bowl. Whisk until there is no more lumps. Cook this mixture over medium heat until it is thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let it cool down completely
2. Warm up the whipping cream (not to the point of boiling, but just warm enough to activate the yeast) Dissolve 1 Tbsp of yeast in the heavy whipping cream and brown sugar. Stir to mix. Let it sit for about 10 minutes, it will start to foam. Stir in the roux started (tang zhong) you prepared earlier, crack in the egg, add in the condensed milk, salt, chocolate morsels, and melted butter/oil and stir again to mix everything. Add in 1/2 cup of the bread flour and then stir again and continue to add until you've added 2 1/2 cups of bread flour. At this point, the dough will be very sticky. Generously flour your work surface. Dust your hand with some flour. Add about 1 Tbsp of the flour and knead the dough and continue to add until it is no longer sticky and you are able to form a smooth ball. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes (a lot of kneading I know)
3. Place this dough in a lightly oiled large bowl, cover it with clean and damp tea cloth and let it rise at a warm place for about 45 minutes. It may not double in size, but it will puff up some for sure. Lightly oil your loaf pan and line your loaf pan with a parchment paper with side overhanging (easier to pull the bread out later). Punch the dough down, separate it into 4 equal size balls. Roll each ball out into a rectangle shape (don't have to be exact). Fold the two long sides up and then roll it from the bottom to top. Place the seam side down in the loaf pan and repeat with the other 3 doughs. Place them next to each other. Cover with a cloth again and let it proof again for another 40 minutes. Brush the top of the dough with egg wash
4. Preheat oven to 350 F (355 F on mine) and pop it into the oven (3rd rack from the top) and let it bake for the next 30-40 minutes depending on the oven. It will be drak golden brown on top. Remove from the oven and let it cool down in the pan for about 5 minutes and then lift bread out and let it cool completely on a cooling rack. Enjoy and once it's cooled down completely, wrap it up with plastic wrap and it's good for about 3 days or so (it didn't last that long in our house)