I use the Japanese milk bread technique called tangzhong. It's super simple, takes only a few hours, and creates a soft sandwich bread that you'll love.
4tablespoonunsalted butter, room temperature (60 g)
Instructions
For the Tangzhong:
This needs to cool a bit before using, so plan for about 20 minutes.
Whisk together the flour and milk in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, whisking constantly until mixture begins to thicken. Stir until mixture is just barely paste consistency, like warm pudding. Remove from heat. Quickly transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let cool a bit (I put mine in the fridge).
For the Bread:
When the Tangzhong starter is warm but not hot start the bread. In the bowl of a stand mixer or Bosch with the dough hook, mix together the warm milk, Tangzhong, sugar, yeast, salt, eggs and butter.
With the mixer on low, add the 6 cups flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and let the mixer knead the dough on medium or medium-low speed for 12 minutes. The dough will be sticky and become more smooth as mixing happens. Scrape down the sides of the bowl periodically as needed, so everything mixes evenly.
After 12 minutes the dough will be tacky but smooth and not as rough as at the beginning.
Turn into a greased bowl, pull in the edges to make a ball then turn over so the round, oil-coated surface is on top. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and set in a warm place to rise (I use a 100ºF warmed oven that has been turned off).
Let dough rise until it is almost double in size and an indent stays when poked with a finger, instead of bouncing back, 30 to 45 minutes depending on how warm the environment is.
Grease 2 9-by-5-inch loaf pans or 3, 8½-by-4½-inch standard loaf pans. Turn dough out on a pastry cloth or lightly floured surface. Divide in half weighing if desired. For 3 standard loaves, divide dough into thirds.
Roll each piece into a rectangle about 15 inches in length (12 inches for smaller loaves), and 9 or 10 inches wide. Bring the two long ends together to meet in the middle.
You can shape the dough as needed to maintain a rectangle.
This technique is not necessary, but helps the loaf have an even gluten structure when baked. Don't use excess flour.
Then roll up the center to create a loaf. Pinch the long edge together on the bottom of the loaf. Place in greased loaf pans.
Lightly cover and let rise a second time until almost double in size, 15 to 25 minutes, depending on how warm the environment is. When you poke in your finger it should stay and only push back slowly.
While dough rises a second time, heat oven to 350ºF. Use an oven thermometer to check the accuracy of the oven temperature.
When loaves are ready, bake until deep golden brown, about 25 minutes. You can rotate pans halfway through cooking if your oven has hot spots. Let loaves cool in pans 1 or 2 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
Video
Notes
Nutritional analysis is for 1 loaf.Is weighing my ingredients necessary?While not everyone will have a kitchen scale, I highly recommend getting one. I like this scale. Weighing the ingredients guarantees accuracy and will result in loaves just like mine. If you do not weigh the flour you will most likely add too much flour and the bread will be a little more dense. It will still taste great, but you won't have the same texture as the tested loaves. Can I use different sized pans?You can use any bread pan you like. The old standard is 9-by-5-inches and makes two gorgeous large loaves. If you're using 8 ½ - by - 4 ½ - inch loaf pans I suggest using 3 pans and dividing the dough equally between them.