Soft Fluffy Chinese Whole Wheat (Wholemeal) Steamed Buns

Make the best soft fluffy whole wheat Chinese steamed buns (wholemeal) with this easy foolproof recipe. All the tips you need to get smooth steamed buns in 3 different ways: fold-over steamed buns, mantou, and round steamed buns.

My family loves it when I made my soft fluffy Chinese steamed buns. I really love that recipe too as it produces soft fluffy and very smooth steamed buns. I was never a fan of whole wheat flour (or known as wholemeal flour) as a kid, but now as an adult, especially for the past 5 years I’ve started making my own bread with whole wheat flour, I’ve really came to love whole wheat flour. I personally think whole wheat flour has that sweet nutty aroma that I really like. It tastes much better too. I know many people may not agree with this part. Thankfully, my two kiddos don’t really care whether I serve them whole wheat steamed buns or regular white steamed buns. They are accustomed to both!

WHY YOU WILL LIKE THIS WHOLE WHEAT STEAMED BUNS RECIPE

1. YOU CAN DO 100% WHOLE WHEAT STEAMED BUNS
Many whole wheat steamed buns recipes out there use a combination of all-purpose flour or Hongkong bao flour with whole wheat/wholemeal flour. This combination is to ensure that the whole wheat steamed buns won’t be too dense. Tell you what people, I managed to do 100% whole wheat steamed buns that are still soft and fluffy and really good too.
2. YOU CAN ALSO CHOOSE TO DO 50% WHOLE WHEAT STEAMED BUNS
I experimented by using 50% whole wheat flour and 50% cake flour. The result is a much lighter bun compared to 100% whole wheat steamed buns, BUT, when the family tasted both, they really think the 100% whole wheat steamed buns are very comparable in terms of softness and fluffiness compared to 50% whole wheat.

INGREDIENTS

1. WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR / WHOLEMEAL FLOUR
I used King Arthur whole wheat flour, which has about 14% gluten content. You can use whichever brand you like.
2. CAKE FLOUR OR ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR
If you are going to do 50-50 combination, you can use cake flour or a combination of all-purpose flour and cornstarch to make the cake flour
3. YEAST
You can use either instant or active-dry yeast
4. SUGAR
I use regular white sugar and the amount is really small. If you want to make it sweeter, you can increase the amount of sugar to your taste
5. COOKING OIL
Use any neutral-tasting cooking oil. I usually use grapeseeds oil. I’ve seen some recipe uses shortening. It’s up to you.
6. MILK OR WATER
I prefer to make steamed buns with milk, but you can absolutely use water to make it vegan-friendly. Make sure to start with cold milk or water or at least room temperature.
7. SALT
Just a small amount of salt is needed to enhance the overall taste of the steamed buns.

I wrote pretty detailed explanations on how to get smooth fluffy steamed buns in this soft fluffy Chinese steamed buns post, so you are welcome to check it out if you are interested. The same concept is applicable to whole wheat steamed buns too.

HOW TO MAKE SOFT AND FLUFFY WHOLE WHEAT CHINESE STEAMED BUNS

1. MAKE THE DOUGH
Mix flour, yeast, sugar, and oil in a mixing bowl.

Turn on the mixer on medium speed and gradually add the liquid, start with the lowest amount of liquid and then add as necessary until a dough is formed.

Don’t dump all the liquid all at once. Knead for about 5 minutes until you get a rough dough. Add the salt and knead again for another 10-12 minutes until the dough is very stretchy and smooth. Cover and rest the dough for 15 minutes. This is not to proof the dough. It shouldn’t double in size. This is to relax the gluten for easier shaping and rolling the dough

2. SHAPING
For fold-over steamed buns: Divide the dough into 8 equal portions. Keep them covered and work with one dough at a time. Roll into a round ball. Flatten with your palm.

Use a rolling pin to roll it into an oval shape.

You can place a piece of parchment paper (or you can skip this part) and fold the dough over and place on another parchment paper.

For round steamed buns: Divide the dough into 8 equal portions. Keeping the dough covered and work with one dough at a time. Pull and tuck the dough from top to bottom so the seams are at the bottom and the surface is relatively smooth.

Roll the dough into a smooth round ball in between the palm of your hand REALLY make sure the dough is smooth.

Cup the dough with both palms and move the dough in a circular motion to shape it taller.

For mantou shape: Roll the dough into a long log. (I used a slightly different method in the video, either way works)

Use a dough cutter (serrated knife) to cut into 8 equal portions. Look at how the dough is squished when I used a dough cutter. In the video, I used a serrated knife and the mantou shape was nice

3. PROOFING
Keep the shaped steamed buns covered with a towel and let them proof until about 50% bigger than the original size, it may take about 30 minutes to 1 hour, maybe a bit longer if it’s winter. Don’t go by the time, go by how the steamed buns look like. It should feel lighter and slightly puffy after proofing

4. STEAMING
Bring the water in your steamer to a boil. Wrap the lid of your steamer with a kitchen towel. LOWER THE HEAT TO MEDIUM. Place the buns in there, leaving about 1-inch space in between. Close the lid but leave about 1/4-inch gap to let some steam escape during steaming. After steaming do not rush to open the lid. Let them sit in there for 5 minutes and then transfer to the cooling rack. This helps to prevent the bottom from getting soggy.

100 % WHOLE WHEAT STEAMED BUNS AND 50-50 WHOLE WHEAT STEAMED BUNS COMPARISON

Can you tell which one of these are made with 100% whole wheat flour? 🙂

It’s not easy to spot unless you look closely at the color. Hint: The 100% whole wheat flour has a deeper brown color!
This was made with 50-50 whole wheat flour and cake flour. The color is lighter.

This was made with 100% whole wheat flour.

VERDICT: In terms of fluffyness, both actually turned out pretty close. If I want to be REALLY picky, I can say the 50-50 whole wheat steamed buns may be a bit, just a tiny bit fluffier. But overall, the 100 whole wheat flour steamed buns are actually very comparable to the 50-50 one. In fact, my husband really likes the 100% whole wheat flour steamed buns. He was surprised by how soft and fluffy it was.

My mom was pretty stoked that the 100% whole wheat steamed buns came out soft and fluffy, which means, she would start making 100% whole wheat steamed buns too 🙂 I’m very happy with the result too.

RECIPE REALLY GIVES SMOOTH STEAMED BUNS

Even though the whole wheat steamed buns will not be as silky smooth as baby bottom compared to the regular white steamed buns because of the whole grains, but you can expect really smooth steamed buns without any wrinkles or bumpy top with this recipe.

VARIATIONS

1. Filling
This is basic whole wheat bao without any filling, but you can use any savory or sweet filling
2. Add seeds and dried fruit
You can make it even heartier by adding seeds like pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, etc or dried fruit like raisins or cranberries when you mix all the dry ingredients. You may need a bit more liquid to form the dough
3. Make it vegan and dairy-free
Replace milk with non-dairy milk or water

DID YOU MAKE THIS SOFT AND FLUFFY CHINESE WHOLE WHEAT STEAMED BUNS RECIPE?

I love it when you guys snap a photo and tag to show me what you’ve made 🙂 Simply tag me @WhatToCookToday #WhatToCookToday on Instagram and I’ll be sure to stop by and take a peek for real!

CHECK OUT THIS SOFT AND FLUFFY STEAMED BUNS MADE WITH REGULAR WHEAT FLOUR

These Soft and Fluffy No-Yeast Chinese Steamed Buns are so good and super easy to make!

Soft Fluffy Whole Wheat / Wholemeal Steamed Buns (Mantou / Bao)

Prep Time 40 mins

Cook Time 5 mins

Proofing dough: 20 mins

Total Time 1 hr 5 mins

Servings 12 medium buns

4.9 from 12 reviews

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Ingredients

 

MetricUS Customary

 

0.5x1x2x

For 100% whole wheat steamed buns:

• 300 gr whole wheat flour or wholemeal flour
• 4 gr instant yeast
• 13 gr sugar more or less to your taste
• 1 ½ Tbsp cooking oil
• ¼ tsp salt
• 150 ml milk or water (start with this amount, you'll need more)

For 50-50 whole wheat steamed buns:

• 150 gr cake flour see notes
• 150 gr whole wheat flour
• 4 gr instant yeast
• 13 gr sugar more or less to your taste
• 1 Tbsp cooking oil
• ¼ tsp salt
• 150 ml milk or water (start with this amount, you'll need more) cold or room temperature

Instructions

 

Make the dough with a machine:

• Mix flour, yeast, sugar, and oil in a mixing bowl. If you use a machine, use a dough hook attachment. Turn on the mixer, start on speed 2 (on Kitchen Aid) and gradually add the liquid (it's important to start with room temperature or cold liquid), start with the lowest amount of liquid and then add as necessary until a dough is formed. Don't dump all the liquid all at once. Knead for about 5 minutes until you get a rough dough. Add the salt and knead again for another 10-12 minutes until the dough is very stretchy and smooth

Make the dough by hands:

• If you are kneading by hands, mix until you get a rough dough (it's not going to be smooth yet). Cover and rest it for 15 minutes. Then go back and knead it. You'll be surprised by how easier it is to knead it now. Knead until the dough is smooth and pliable, about 15-20 minutes. At any point during kneading, you can always stop and rest the dough if you find it hard to knead. This is to relax the gluten. Then go back to knead again and you'll be surprised by the difference it makes by just resting the dough before kneading again. It's easier for you too

Rest the dough:

• Cover and rest the dough for 15 minutes. This is not to proof the dough. It shouldn't double in size. This is to relax the gluten for easier shaping and rolling the dough

If doing fold-over steamed buns:

• Instead of dusting your work surface with flour, spray some cooking spray or use a bit of oil. The more flour you add to the dough, the drier and tougher it gets. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions. Keeping the dough covered and work with one dough at a time
• Roll into a round ball. Flatten with your palm and then use a rolling pin to roll it into an oval shape. Fold the dough over and place on a parchment paper. Repeat with the rest and proceed to proofing step

If doing round steamed buns:

• Instead of dusting your work surface with flour, spray some cooking spray or use a bit of oil. The more flour you add to the dough, the drier and tougher it gets. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions. Keeping the dough covered and work with one dough at a time
• Pull and tuck the dough from top to bottom so the seams are at the bottom and the surface is relatively smooth
• Roll the dough into a smooth round ball in between the palm of your hand REALLY make sure the dough is smooth.
• Cup the dough with both palms and move the dough in a circular motion to shape it taller. This part is important so your steamed buns come out tall instead of spreading to the side after steaming
• Place on a piece of parchment paper. Proceed to the proofing step below

If doing mantou shape:

• Instead of dusting your work surface with flour, spray some cooking spray or use a bit of oil. The more flour you add to the dough, the drier and tougher it gets
• Roll the dough out into rectangle, about 9 x 12 inch then roll it up like a Swiss roll. Use a sharp serrated knife to cut into 12 pieces. The two end pieces may be a bit smaller compared to others. Place on parchment paper and proceed to the proofing step below

Proofing the steamed buns:

• Keep the shaped steamed buns covered with a towel and let them proof until about 50% bigger than the original size, it may take about 30 minutes to 1 hour, maybe a bit longer if it's winter. Don't go by the time, go by how the steamed buns look like. It should feel lighter and slightly puffy after proofing. The dough should feel lighter when you lift it up. Proceed to steaming

Steaming:

• Most likely your steamer won't be able to accommodate steaming all buns at one go. You may need to steam in 2-3 batches, which means, the rest of the batches will sit longer and continue to proof while waiting for the steamer. If you think the buns are proofing way too fast (getting bigger too fast), here's what you can do: Make sure to cover them with plastic wrap and then place them in the refrigerator to slow down the yeast activity or halt it all together until they are ready to be steamed
• Bring the water in your steamer to a boil. Wrap the lid of your steamer with a kitchen towel to prevent moisture dripping back on the steamed buns as this will create "burn" spots
• LOWER THE HEAT TO MEDIUM. Place the buns in there, leaving about 1-inch space in between. Close the lid and leave about 1/4-inch gap to let some steam escape and steam like this for 8 minutes. Steaming them this way will give you a very smooth surface without any wrinkle
• After steaming, turn off the heat. DO NOT OPEN THE LID of the steamer. Let the buns sit there for 1 minute like this. The buns will not sink or wrinkle due to the sudden change in temperature

COOLING:

• Remove the buns to a wire rack to let them cool down. This is to ensure the bottom of the steamed buns will not be wet and soggy

STORING:

• If you make extra and plan to store them, let the already steamed buns cooled down completely and then place them on a baking sheet, not touching each other, and then put the entire tray inside the freezer for about 1 hour. They will harden, but not completely frozen yet. Transfer to a freezer bag and they will not stick to each other anymore. Try not to keep for more than 1 month

REHEATING:

• They can go straight from freezer to steamer when you ready to eat them. Steam on high heat for 5 minutes and they are as good as new

Notes

If you don't have cake flour, you can use 120 gr all-purpose flour and 30 gr cornstarch or potato starch.

Recommended products:

Kitchen Aid Standmixer

Dough Hook Attachment

Food Steamer

Small Round Parchment Paper

Did you make this recipe?Please leave me a comment below and tag @whattocooktoday and #WhatToCookToday on Instagram