Cute Bear Milk Buns

Course: Baked Buns

Cuisine: Asian

Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 18

Proof the dough twice:: 2

Total Time: 2 38

Servings: buns

Calories: 301kcal

Author: Marvellina

If you love Kawaii food, make these easy and cute bear-shaped milk buns. Not only are they adorable, they are super soft and fluffy!!

Add all ingredients for the dough except for the butter. Use the dough hook to stir the mixture a bit so the flour won't fly around when you start the mixer.
Knead on the lowest speed for 2-3 minutes and then increase to speed 2 and knead for 3 minutes and then speed 4 for another 3 minutes or until it forms a sticky dough, but not smooth yet
Add the softened butter and knead on speed 2 for about 2-3 minutes and then increase speed to 4 and knead for 5 minutes or until the dough is soft, smooth, elastic. You may need to stop the machine halfway and scrape the sides of the bowl and continue to knead again. The dough is slightly sticky, but try not to add more flour.
If you stretch a small amount of the dough thinly, it won't break easily. This is called a window-pane stage. It shows that the gluten development is sufficient and you can stop kneading

Lightly oil your hands and use a bench scraper to help you scrape the dough off the bowl and round it up into a dough ball. Spray the bowl with some non-stick spray or use an oil, then put it back into the bowl to let it proof until it is doubled in volume. It may take 1 hour or so at a warm temperature. If it's colder, it may take longer to proof the dough

I use 8 x 8 inch square pan. Lightly oil the bottom of the pan. Line with parchment paper.
Shape the red bean paste into about 40-45 gram-portions. Round into a ball for easier wrapping
Punch down the dough to deflate all the air from fermentation. Divide the dough into 9 smaller dough balls. Pinch off two tiny pieces of dough from each dough to make the "ears" for the bears later
Round each dough into a round shape. Cover and let them rest for about 5 minutes to relax the gluten.
Flatten each dough and roll into about 5-inch circle, it doesn't have to be exact Place the filling on the center .
Wrap the dough around it and pinch the seams together to seal it.
Roll the tiny ears into a ball shape and attach them on the bigger dough.
Place inside the prepared pan

Loosely cover with a lightly oiled plastic wrap. Let the dough proof at a warm place until they puff up and fill up the pan, about 1 hour or so, depending on the tempearture. Preheat the oven to 375 F (190 C) for conventional oven, 350F (180 C) for convection oven.

Dust the top of the buns with some flour. Place the baking pan in the middle rack. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-18 minutes until the top edge is just lightly golden brown. The internal temperature should be about 190 F (88 C)
Let the baked buns cool in the pan for 2-3 minutes and then gently loosen the edges with an offset spatula and remove the baked buns to cool on cooling rack

The buns have to be cooled down completely before you start decorating with chocolate
Melt a bit of white chocolate and milk chocolate, separately. You can use a microwave or with bain-marie(water bath) method
I transfer the melted chocolate into a small plastic bag. Use a scissors to snip off a tiny hole. Squeeze a small amount of chocolate to make the eyes for the bear
I use a semi-sweet chocolate chip for the nose. I flip the pointy end of the chip downward and gently press it into the dough
Use the melted white chocolate to draw the white line on the chocolate nose
Let the chocolate harden, which won't take long.
They are best served on the same day if possible. If you are making the buns ahead, definitely decorate only on the day you plan to serve them
You can read more details on ingredients, substitutions, variations, and other tips in my post that may answer your questions not covered in the recipe card