I'm glad it came out well - if you are measuring with cups, this may be partly that you can always get a bit of variation in measurement by volume. For many things, this is not a huge issue, but for baking I always recommend weighing if at all possible.

You could, and while it probably won't make too much difference it may make a little. Bread flour has a higher gluten forming content which helps to give the bread more structure, so the texture may be a little different. You might also find the dough slightly more damp with all purpose, so you may need to add slightly more flour, but it's hard to say for sure.

Can I use All Purpose Flour rather than Bread flour? Does it make a difference?

I haven't made it with oat milk myself, but I think there are other comments that suggest others have tried and it worked fine.

Glad to hear, thanks for coming back to say (might have to try myself 🙂 )

Hello Caroline, the cinnamon swirl version was absolutely delicious.

I'm so glad to hear it worked well, hope the filled version works out, too!

So glad to hear it worked out well for you and was easy to follow!

My first trial is a success, the bread texture turns out soft and fluffy. I used Japanese flour, and only diff I mixed the yeast in warm water to develop it first before mixing the ingredients. It's delicious and easy to follow. Thanks!!

Glad to hear you enjoyed!

So easy to make, delicious, light & fluffy, my lot dipped in condensed milk!

Glad you find it easy to follow!

I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed it!

Glad to hear you have been enjoying! So the main thing that is different is that active dry yeast needs to be bloomed in liquid before you add it, unlike fast acting where you can mix it in directly. So with active dry yeast, I'd suggest you gently warm the milk (only very slightly, to lukewarm), add the yeast and leave it around 5-10 minutes until it bubbles up. Then, add this mixture to the flour and other ingredients as in the recipe. The amount of yeast is the same, sometimes active dry takes a little longer in the rising time.

Those changes may impact rise for a couple reasons - butter has some water in it, while crisco is pure fat, so you are changing the liquid level slightly, which feeds the yeast. Also, cream has a higher fat content than milk so this, too, is probably impacting the liquid level a little, as well as making the dough a little denser. So it may take a bit longer to rise, or not rise quite as much. Although temperature and other factors also impact rise time so it's not necessarily that these are having an impact. Hopefully it rises a little more, even if a bit slower and if not quite the full way and comes out well!

Glad you found it easy, and hopefully still worked out well for you - the egg is only to help give it that shiny brown top (it's nice but not essential, as it were).

I haven't tried this in a gas oven myself as I don't know anyone who has one but it should be about the same temperature, or as you would normally adjust if you were to adjust other baking recipes. Shelf-wise, I would suggest towards the middle, probably.

Glad you enjoyed! It should keep a couple days, but it will depend a bit on how stored and weather etc. It keeps best in a bread box or wrapped and at cool room temperature.

Great recipe! I was wondering though how long this will last before it expires.

I'm so glad to hear the explanation and photos help! So I haven't done it that way myself but I see no reason why it wouldn't work letting it do the first rise in the fridge overnight. Then, if it hasn't risen enough allow it to sit out a little more to rise further and then continue with the rest of the steps as normal. On the seed mix, it will certain give a bit more texture to the bread but I think the fluffiness should probably be more or less the same - interested to hear if you try how it turns out!

First, is it okay to refrigerate the dough overnight and allow to rise and bake the following day?

Second, will adding a ground seed mix alter the fluffy texture of the gp bread?

Thank you kindly. Best regards.

This recipe isn't written as being for gluten free flour, but I believe some readers have adapted and had success making it GF.

So glad to hear it worked well for you! On the browning - so reducing the heat for a fan oven apparently depends a bit where you are, as ovens work slightly differently but if you are having it brown quickly then maybe yes, it might be worth reducing the heat slightly.

Glad to hear you all enjoyed!

I agree the smell is so good - hope you enjoyed the bread just as much! And yes I prefer using weights since they are more accurate, particularly for things like this, but I try to have recipes both ways to allow for different ways of cooking (and when someone doesn't have scales etc).

I personally haven't tried either, but I believe from other comments that other people have tried one or the other and have had it work well. Bread flour has a higher level of gluten-forming proteins so can help it rise a little better than regular flour, but it's a pretty light bread so I think regular should still work fine. Enjoy!

I haven't made this yet but was curious if I could use regular flour instead of bread flour? And also started in my bread machine

I am so glad to hear you all enjoyed it! I can't take credit for the style since it's a traditional one, but glad this recipe for it has worked well for you!

I'm so glad to hear that!

I made this loaf this afternoon and served it with soup! My husband cannot stop raving about it and asked for more slices, so not much left for tomorrow! Probably the best bread I've made:) Thank you so much!

So kneading is a little hard to be precise on as some of it is by feel - if you use a stand mixer with a dough hook, I'd say 3-4 minutes, if by hand, then more around 5 minutes. You are looking for the dough to appear fairly smooth and well mixed, ideally not sticky nor in shaggy lumps but more combined, if that makes sense. Hope it works out well for you!

It can be tricky, and you are right to not add too much flour. So a couple ideas - one is that sometimes you need to knead a little longer to get it to stop being sticky. If that still doesn't work, when you come to where you would roll and fold, that's when to have flour on the surface and on your hands - you ideally don't want to work it into the dough, but instead just have it on the surface to help it not stick to you and itself too much. Hope that helps!

So glad to hear you enjoyed (and will keep enjoying!)

So glad to hear you all enjoyed and that the instructions worked well for you!

Elaine: It sounds like too much flour or not enough liquid to me.
I do not knead it too much as I use a stand mixer to mix the ingredients.
Then I use a spatula to turn it out directly into a buttered glass pan. I put butter on my hands. I knead it a bit in the buttered pan, then put a glass top on it and let it rise. More flour does not help if you want a light bread.
When you turn it out to make the loaves, butter the cutting board and again put a bit on your hands when you go to roll them up.
My pan and mixing bowl are always pretty sticky when I make this.
When making other breads you do have less mess I agree. But for the taste and texture it is worth it to have a slightly messier clean up process.

Shrey:
Expense of bread flour does depend upon the brand. That elegant one with the pretty Medieval inspired design is very expensive. Other less pricey brands are available in regular grocery stores. A 5 pound bag of mid price bread flour will make many, many, many loaves. You can store bread flour, well wrapped, in the refrigerator or freezer. I live in the south and if pantry goods are not very well sealed or kept in cold storage bugs are a problem. It is very expensive and time consuming to throw everything out and using poisons in the house is not good either. But you can find affordable bread flour and it does make a difference I think.
Good luck and have fun.

I haven't used it myself, but I believe from other commenters that a couple people have tried and it worked out well.

Can I use almond milk?

Glad you enjoyed! Yes you can double the recipe - you will either need to divide it into two loaves of use a larger baking pan that holds about double the volume. Alternatively, you could divide the mixture into smaller rolls and place in a large skillet. In terms of making the mixture, you simple double everything, but you may find it needs slightly longer to rise with a larger amount, and bake time may need adjusted. If baking all as one in a larger pan, it will need longer. If they are as rolls in a skillet since they will have a larger surface area/smaller pieces, the bake time will be less.

I'm so glad to hear that it worked out well - here's to many more successful bakes!

That's great to hear! Glad you enjoyed.

Thanks for sharing! Glad it worked well adapted to be vegan, too.

For vegan friends and sourdough lovers, here’s what I did. Used almond milk, plant butter, about 1.5-2 Tb sourdough starter straight out of the refrigerator. Let it rise in frig overnight. In the morning , Let rise on counter til double, shape and let rise til just above pan. Very tasty, fluffy, and light! I have pictures.

I'm so glad to hear it worked out well for you!

Glad it worked out for you (even with a few tweaks etc!)

To a point, yes you probably could, but the challenge is then getting the right balance of liquid etc in the end recipe as it's not quite as simple as reduce down the liquid by x to put in the tangzhong paste, and then use x less liquid later on. It would need a bit of trial and error to get the right quantities.

So glad to hear you enjoyed!

Glad you enjoyed!

Love this easy recipe thanks from Thailand

So glad to hear it worked well for you, and hooray for first loaf and yummy smells!

That's so lovely to hear that this works so well for you. And yes, I do love that it keeps well.

So glad to hear you enjoyed, and the additions sound yummy, too.

Glad to hear you have been enjoying!

Made this twice now. Such a good bread recipe.
Used a high protein low fat milk and normal white sugar, which works well.
Also used a 1 litre bread tin, which seems to be the perfect size for the recipe.

So glad you enjoyed. I tend to find it's always easier to double a recipe than halve, which is why it's written this way, but definitely glad to hear you would want to make even more!

So glad to hear it worked out well for you and you enjoyed so much!

Not a problem - I know it can be confusing! So it depends the type of yeast - if you are using fast acting or instant yeast, you can just add it in with the dry ingredients. If you are using active dry yeast, you need to activate it in liquid first, so dissolve it in gently warm water and let it bubble up for around 10 minutes, then add it in. For this bread, I prefer fast acting/instant as you can then just add it in with everything else, rather than having it sit in the slightly warm milk first.

Oh how wonderful! So glad to hear, and thanks for letting me know (plus love that the kids are making it too!)

So glad to hear you are enjoying! It's a tricky balance between trying to stop mould and also drying out, as often something that makes one work causes the other. But I'd suggest wrapping in paper and trying to find a cool spot, away from the sun and not too humid is best. The other option is to freeze leftover bread, either as a chunk or slice it first.

That's wonderful to hear, so glad it worked well for you!

I'm glad to hear you have been enjoying it, and thanks for letting me know it works well with almond milk, too!

I've tried this recipe with both milk and almond milk, and it makes no difference.. This is my go to bread recipe and most of the time I use almond milk 🙂

So glad to hear you enjoyed and that the tips and info were helpful! And yes, there are a few more bread recipes so hope you find others you enjoy, too.

I enjoyed the information about this breads origins.

Thank you for the detailed instructions and bread making tips.

I will be sure to try some of your other bread recipes.

Hi, yes this should still work fine with all purpose flour, the two just have slightly different levels of gluten forming protein so the structure may not be quite the same but for this type of bread it is probably less likely to be that different. Hope you enjoy!

Hi Caroline! Looking to make this over the weekend and wanted to know if I can use AP flour instead of bread flour? Bread flour is not a common thing around here and is ridiculously expensive, and as a student who enjoys baking to relax, it is not something I can afford. Any help is appreciated, thank you!

Thank you so much that really helps!

If you are making a smaller loaf, you almost certainly will need a shorter bake time as the loaf won't be as thick and so will cook through quicker. Exactly how short depends a bit on the shape etc, but could be anything from around 1/2 to 2/3 the time I'd say. I would say, though, that this bread does keep well (much more so than others) and you can freeze it too. It's also not that big compared to many breads, so it may well be worth still making a full loaf.

Hi I haven’t tried the recipe yet but I’m really excited to, I was just wondering if it’s okay to half the recipe and if you keep the baking time the same if you do?

Glad you enjoyed, not sure why the dough would be hard rather than soft - maybe you cooked the initial base a bit long or higher heat, or there was a bit too much flour compared to liquid? Not sure how you measured the ingredients, but I recommend weighing and also if it seems dry, add a little extra water, maybe.

I'm so glad to hear this has proven popular. And yes, it does have some similarities to challah (and I can relate to the de-stressing through bread-making!)

Bread baking has become my way to de-stress. I rarely eat it, but I love to bake loaves and give them away. A lot of my recipients were very happy with my challah, but I've given several of them this bread and they find it similar to challah, but like it better.

Glad to hear it came out well! The best way to store short-term is to wrap it loosely (ideally paper or with a cloth) or place in a bread box and store at (cool) room temperature - just make sure it isn't damp or too warm. If you won't be using it in a day or two, then you can freeze it, just make sure it is wrapped well in plastic or foil.

Glad you have been enjoying, and yes agree it keep well (if you let it!)

I am so glad to hear that you enjoyed it! And yes, it can definitely be made into rolls, too.

This is my go to bread recipe now. It makes such a good loaf and keeps so well. The only change I've made is I put a shallow baking tray of water in the base of the oven. My favourite way to eat this bread is sliced and used to make a fish finger sandwich

Hi Caroline!
This is the first time I'm commenting on a recipe site, but I just had to. This was the most amazing, softest, yummy bread ever. I absolutely love milk bread, and this was such a winner. I don't bake bread often at all, and I found this really simple, and actually found the dough easy to work with throughout. I used AP flour.
Definitely a keeper! I've already shared this recipe with a few others. Will attempt to make smaller individual rolls with this recipe next.
Thank you for sharing this with us 🙂

Ha, so glad to hear it was a success!

Glad to hear it was tasty, but not sure quite what happened that you say you were maybe heavy handed? Gluten free flour can behave a bit differently and may need different handling (plus not all gluten free flours are the same) - but certainly worth trying again I'd suggest!

I haven't tried it with almond milk myself but in theory, I think it should work. It may just change the hydration a bit so you may need a little more or less. I'd try with the same amount then if needed, add slightly more milk or flour a little at a time as you are kneading if it seems needed. Also, it won't have the fat as much as regular whole milk, so you might want a little more butter in there as well (only, say 1/2tbsp more). Hope you enjoy!

Caroline, I haven't tried this yet, but can't wait to! Can I use almond milk instead of whole milk? I don't have any whole milk at home, but could go buy some this week

Glad to hear you enjoyed the bread! As for the sticky dough, even with weighing, brands and types of flour can vary, and things like humidity can make a difference so it may just be that with where you are/what you are using, you need just that little bit more flour (or slightly less water).

Thank you for the recipe! I've made the bread twice and both times the bread turned out soft and fluffy. However, the dough after mixing turns out very very sticky - about 10% of the dough gets stuck to my hand while pulling it out of the mixing bowl, abt 20 tea spoons of extra flour to make it SLIGHTLY less sticky, although it still ism I've used a weighing scale for the ingredients and followed the recipe exactly. Mixed on medium for 15 minutes. Could you advise me on where I'm possibly going wrong? Thank you so much!!

So glad you all enjoyed and it came out well!

So glad to hear you have been enjoying this recipe and having it work well for you!

Glad to hear you enjoyed! Yes it should still work fine with less sugar, will just obviously taste a little different. Yes, afraid for various reasons I can't enable people to upload photos here, but I love seeing them shared on instagram (just tag the @carolinescooking handle) and I try to share them on!

Sorry to hear that, that's not something I tend to hear as a challenge with this type of bread, but a few possibilities - one problem may be you need to knead it a little longer. Another option is that you have added too much four and so try to avoid adding when you are kneading as much as possible. Just add a little bit more to your hands and the work surface to help stop it stick but let it be sticky as much as you can as it will naturally get less so as you knead. The one other thing is it may not have risen enough before baking. Try to make sure it rises as much as the recipe says in terms of being well up the tin rather than just by time as room temperature and other factors can make quite a difference. Hope these help and good luck!

I tried this recipe twice, but somehow my bread comes out hard as a rock. During my 2nd attempt I tried to cut the baking time by 5 minutes. But it still comes out very hard! Any idea what could be the cause? Thank you!!

I'm so glad to hear you have been enjoying this recipe, and appreciate you mentioning re gas oven - indeed, baking times can certainly vary a couple minutes up or down with different ovens. Like the garden mat idea too!

So glad to hear it worked out well for you!

Glad it worked well for you. As for adding sweet potato, its not something I have done so it's really hard to say quantities as it will definitely impact the texture of the dough etc - it's effectively a completely different bread, just using the same basic technique as the base. But I may try and work on it and come up with a recipe to share in due course.

Glad it worked out well, it's definitely the kind of 'blank canvas' you can add the odd flavors too (though I'd generally suggest not too strong).

So glad to hear!

Ilove the recipe, I've made it multiple times and it always turns out perfect.

Yes to all! You can make this as small rolls - a cast iron skillet can be good to use to bake them in, just be sure to leave a little space between them when you first put in the skillet or other baking dish then they will expand slightly. And yes, all purpose should work, just be aware it has a slightly different level of gluten-forming protein and can absorb liquid differently. So you may need a little more/less liquid and a little more time to let it rise. And finally yes, milk in the tangzhong also works. Not too sure on flavor since it's a relatively small amount, but you may notice.

Hello Caroline! I just want to ask if I can make this recipe in small round pieces and not in the form of a loaf? Would it be okay to use All-Purpose flour as substitute? And for the Tangzhong, can I use milk instead of water? (will it make it milkier?)

That makes me very happy to hear - glad it worked out so well!

So glad to hear you enjoyed and found it easy!

Glad you enjoyed! Yes this is a relatively sticky dough, I'm not sure that mixing more would help, I'd suggest you maybe needed just a tiny bit more flour, especially on your hands, to make it a little easier but hard to tell for sure.

So glad to hear you like this bread as much as we do. And while I haven't done it with this, I do sometimes switch AP for bread flour and have found it to work just fine, so glad to hear it worked here too.

Great, glad to hear you enjoyed! It really is such a lovely fluffy bread, I agree.

Thanks for the recipe!

I haven't done it with this particular bread but I think it should work - I'd suggest just giving it part (say up to half) of the second rise out at room temperature then do the rest in the fridge overnight.

Can the dough be pre made and refrigerated overnight if I wish to bake early in the morning?
Thank you!

Great, glad to hear. Yes, all purpose definitely works very close to the same, it's just slightly different in gluten-forming proteins etc but I have had good success swapping it in a lot of bread recipes.

I haven't tried myself but think it should certainly work fine, it just may not be quite as soft but I doubt it would be that different.

Hello, I was wondering if this could be made with almond milk or oat milk instead of whole milk?

I haven't got a bread maker myself to try, but I believe from other comments that other people may have tried it and it worked.

Hi, can I use my bread machine for this recipe?

Glad to hear it was still great, hopefully that little but better with butter next time too 🙂

I baked the 2 loaves without putting in the butter and they tasted great next time I won't forget. Thanks for the recipe

You might be able to work it into the dough later, but I'm really not sure if it will work out as well, I'm afraid. You'll still get a bread that's perfectly edible without the butter, it just won't likely be as soft and rich.

I forgot to put in the butter and its first rise is up. Is it too late to put it in?

So glad to hear you found it easy to follow and that it came out well. It's definitely one of my favorite breads.

I haven't frozen this myself but there's no real reason why it wouldn't work as long as it is well wrapped. And yes, you can certainly double it. If you divide and bake in two pans there's no need to adjust cook time, just double all the ingredients. It may need slightly longer to rise. If you are making a very large loaf then it will need longer to cook.

Can this be frozen? And can this recipe be doubled? Thanks

So I used slightly larger than that, but an 8x4in will probably work as long as it is relatively deep (at least 2 1/2in) - you might just have the top spill over a little when it bakes.

Hi Caroline I have an 8 by 4 inch cake tin is this tin to small.

So in theory, yes, but one of the main things about this bread is the super soft texture and that's not going to be the same with whole wheat flour. You could try whole wheat pastry flour which is less coarse and about the closest to white flour. Just be aware different flours absorb liquid differently and have different levels of gluten, so you may need a little more or less flour to have a similar texture and the rise may take a little longer, I think.

That's praise indeed, so glad you enjoyed!

So glad to hear you enjoyed, and yes milk works well as an alternative to egg for brushing.

So glad you enjoyed and fantastic that it's the best!

Yes, you could - you can also make small round rolls eg baked in a skillet. Just be aware smaller loaves/rolls will generally cook quicker so keep an eye on them as they bake.

Instead of putting all three in a pan, could I make mini loaves?

I have yet to try but yes, it should work fine. You may not need quite as much liquid and the dough may be slightly less easy to work with or slower to rise. Just be careful not to be tempted to add a lot of extra flour as you knead - try to work with it a little first.

Hi can I substitute all purpose flour ??

It's a little hard to tell without a little more detail as there are always a number of variables making bread. But as a guess, it sounds like it may either be a little too dry (so possibly too much flour) or maybe did you cut it while still warm, as that can make it look a little strange when you cut it? Did you weight the ingredients or use the volumes, as the volumes are less accurate so you may need to adjust to get the right 'feel' to the dough. If possible, it's always best to weigh if possible. Try not to add too much flour when you are kneading as well - it can be tempting to add more flour to make it less sticky, but you really want to avoid adding too much, it does become smoother with kneading. Hope these help.

Hi! I made this bread last night and the inside of my bread looks kinda strange. It’s more crumbly then flaky and soft. How do I fix this?

Glad you enjoyed, and the filling sounds tasty too! Yes I can see some fillings working but probably not too much and nothing too heavy.

Delicious! I made this this evening and during the folding steps I added some cheese and garlic butter to make cheesy soft garlic bread and it is heavenly! Can't wait to make it again plain and possibly try other fillings! I thought adding ingredients to an enriched style dough might prevent rising but it still worked at treat!

Glad it seemed to work in the end - the tie it takes to rise depends a lot on temperature, amongst other things. While you typically form it in three parts, they join together as they bake so you can still slice it as a regular loaf in slices, you don't need to split it into three. But if you'd rather have it as one piece, you can roll it in one piece a bit like a jelly roll and then put that in the pan for the second rise. On the pronunciation, it's relatively phonetic with the "zh" being like the French "j" as in "jus", if that helps.

I haven't frozen it myself (we always get through it pretty fast!) but I don't see why not - I'd put it in a freezer bag, making sure you get the air out before sealing.

Can it be frozen? It is so soft, and delicious toasted, or for sandwiches. I just love it.

I don't have a bread machine so haven't been able to test myself, but I see from other comments, someone mentioned they did 1hr 55min rapid bake and it came out well.

Is it possible to use this recipe in the bread machine or do I need to adjust it?

Thank you!

I typically use unsalted - if you use a salted butter it may make a slight difference in the flavor of the bread, but you are not using all that much so it won't be too significant.

That's great to hear! And yes, I do love how soft it is.

I have made this bread and love it!!
It is so soft.. thanks for giving out this recipe..💞

Great, glad to hear!

Love it!

So glad to hear you all enjoyed!

You're best to use a medium-low speed to knead on a mixer, with a dough hook, and probably just 1 - 2 minutes, though it may depend on the machine.

Please could you tell me how long to mix in a machine and on what speec?

So glad to hear you enjoyed it!

That's great, glad to hear you enjoyed and will be making again!

Thanks for suggesting - yes chick pea water/aquafaba can be used as a replacement but generally for egg white, as it has a similar consistency especially when whisked up. It can help recreate that stickiness and lift, so can work in eg macarons (though I have heard it's tricky in those, but then they are tricky in general). What it doesn't have is the richness you get from egg yolk, which is part of what the egg here is for. So it may work to a point, but probably not in full.

Canned CHICK PEA WATER is used instead of egg in a lot of vegetarian recipes so perhaps you can use it in the bread.

Yes different flours absorb liquid slightly differently. But this is typically a slightly stickier dough than some to start with, so while you may need to add some extra flour, whichever kind you use, you still need to resist adding too much.

I think it depends on the kind of flour too...

Yes, thanks for expressing in a different way - that's part of what I meant by saying to try to resist adding flour as you knead 🙂

I found kneading longer helps with the stickyness. As you work it more it becomes less sticky, so might want to work it more before adding more flour.

It sounds like you are adding too much flour which is making it more dense. I wouldn't recommend less liquid, as that's basically going to give you the same just in a different way. I'd say as you are kneading, try to just dust the work surface, a little over the top of the dough and on your hands to start and knead a few times. If it sticks to you, don't worry, just keep working it a bit and only add a small amount more as you go. The stickiness will become less as you work the dough without you needing to add lots of flour. It is a soft dough, but as I say the stickiness largely goes down through kneading rather than needing lots of flour, if you can try to hold off adding too much. Hopefully this will also help with the fluffiness, but if by fluffiness you mean it hasn't risen enough, it may be that you need to leave it to rise slightly longer during the two rising periods. Hope it works out a little better!

Thanks!

So glad to hear you enjoyed! And I know what you mean, I often find many bread recipes too big so I often adjust down to what we more realistically use.

It is delicious. Also it it great to have a bread recipe that is just right

for a small family.

I've never heard of bread flour containing yeast already. I'd check on the flour packet to see whether it says you don't need to add additional yeast or not. You may not need to (or maybe some but much less), but being unfamiliar with it, it's very hard to say, I'm afraid.

So I bought bread flour but it says « yeast included » Do I still use the sachet or dry yeast as well since it is in a different step?

Yes, it should work fine with all purpose, you might just need to adjust the amount slightly as flours can react differently, so I'd hold back slightly in case you need less, or if it's wet you can add a little more. You may also need to leave it slightly longer to rise as AP is typically slightly lower in gluten-forming protein so may need a bit longer to rise.

Appreciate the comment. Yes fresh yeast is definitely different (and I can never find it either - I remember my grandpa used to get it from the local homebrew shop!). In terms of active v instant, I haven't seen recommendations to use a slightly different amount, more if anything you may want to adjust the rise time such as in this article: https://www.thekitchn.com/whats-the-difference-between-active-dry-yeast-and-instant-yeast-54252. I imagine with the quantity here, it wouldn't make a huge difference but you could adjust the amount slightly if you prefer.

Hi Caroline. Thanks much for this recipe! Only been baking bread for three months, so I'm very much still a newbie at it. Anyway I've read instant yeast is stronger than active dry, so if it calls for 1 tbsp of active dry, you'd use 2.4 tsp of instant. I haven't even tried active dry yet, much less pro Baker's favorite yeast, fresh yeast because no grocery stores I've tried carry it. Thanks again.

I think either would probably work, but I'd certainly go with the lightly salted butter out of the two. You might want to reduce the salt ever so slightly as a result, though if it's just lightly salted it is probably not so necessary. Enjoy!

In the US, the regular sugar is pretty fine so work, or super fine is great if you have it. You just want it to be relatively fine so that it dissolves easily.

Glad to hear you enjoyed! And yes it is definitely similar to brioche in texture/flavor.

I'm glad to hear it worked out well and you enjoyed! It is such a lovely soft bread.

Do you mean uncooked? I haven't tried and not sure if it would still rise OK if you did. However if you bake it then you can wrap it in foil then in a freezer bag and freeze it like that.

You can omit the egg glaze from the top (as you'll see some others have and use eg milk) but I'm afraid I can't think of a good replacement for within the bread itself. The egg adds a level of richness that isn't easy to replace. You could miss it out, and you should still get a nice soft bread, but it will be a little different.

Glad to hear you enjoyed, and yes great as rolls as well.

So glad to hear you enjoyed! I like the idea of using it fr aloo buns as well.

Glad you enjoyed. Will be interested to hear how the sourdough worked out.

It's with a fan oven - without you'd probably want slightly higher. It's not a bread that rises as much in the oven as some, though it will definitely rise a bit - but glad it turned out well either way!

Thanks

Regular granulated should be fine (especially if you are in the US where the 'regular' sugar is finer anyway). The main reason for caster is it will dissolve more easily. If you use a coarser sugar I'd suggest adding it to the milk and stirring a minute to help it dissolve before adding the other ingredients.

Glad to hear it worked out well with overnight rises!

I tend to knead by hand where it's less likely for that to happen but yes, I think you could over-knead this as you could with almost any dough. You want it to be soft and come together into a smooth ball. If it becomes very firm it's probably over-kneaded. IF so, it may rise slower so you'll want to give it a bit longer to rise, then try to work it as little as possible after.

I did an overnight refrigerator rise twice and both times worked great. Had fresh baked bread in the morning and is always a great way to start the day.

I let the dough sit out on the counter with a towel on top to warm up before baking. Followed the recipe from there and had beautiful loads both times.

I also used AP flour and it worked fine. Took a lot longer to knead vs using bread flour for me. I’m sure everyone’s flour will be different, this was my experience.

I haven't frozen this myself, but I don't really see any reason why you couldn't since bread generally freezes fine. Just make sure it cools completely first, then wrap it in plastic or foil, put in a freezer bag then freeze.

So glad to hear you enjoyed! (I'm actually in Australia myself at the moment, too :))

I haven't tried it that way, but I think it probably should work fine - will be interested to hear how it goes!

So glad to hear you enjoyed! It may be the flour, but it could also be your egg may have a darker yolk.

So glad to hear!

Love the bread!!

Yes instant dry yeast is another name for fast acting yeast and so just use the amounts as above. And yes, the milk is better to be lukewarm or room temperature to save the butter solidifying, and to be slightly better in helping the yeast activate, though the tangzhong will be slightly warm and help with that too. Thanks, I'll update recipe to reflect that.

Hi! Can i use instant dry yeast? And milk should be lukewarm?

So glad you enjoyed, and sounds good as burger buns too.

I understand you would prefer to reduce sugar, and some breads work better than others for that. This one is a little tricky as the texture and flavor is definitely impacted by having sugar in there. You could reduce it, but I don't really think the bread would be quite the same with none at all. I do have a few other bread recipes which I think would work better to have no sugar in than this - my fig and walnut bread, for example, just uses a little honey : https://www.carolinescooking.com/fig-and-walnut-bread/

Great, glad you enjoyed! So the main things when it comes to substituting flour is the different level of gluten-forming protein and how much they absorb liquid, as well as texture. Since you've made it as original, you have a sense for the texture you are looking for so can hopefully make a good guess if you need more or less of the flour you are substituting by the feel of the dough, as it can vary. All purpose and bread flours are relatively similar so it usually works fine to swap, the bread may just not rise quite as well with AP flour. White whole wheat has a similar texture but lower protein, so I'd generally suggest you just swap in a third and see how it goes rather than any more. Other whole grain flours are generally a coarser texture so the bread is likely to not be anything like as soft, and also typically lower protein - again I'd suggest maybe swapping just a bit to see how it goes.

Recipe works like a charm! Can you substitute flour? Today I'm trying with all purpose because it's what I have. But curious about white whole wheat or 100% wheat flours? Thanks!

So glad you enjoyed! Yes, you could make two, just double everything.

I'm so glad to hear you are enjoying this so much - I agree it has such a wonderful texture.

Thanks for sharing, glad to hear it worked out well!

Just did in my breadmaker 1Hour 55 mins on rapid bake Perfection

I haven't got a bread machine myself to be able to advise for sure - I'd say you would at least need to still make the tangzhong ahead of time to get the benefit of that, and then you may be able to let the machine do the mixing, proofing and cooking. It won't give the same shape, obviously, but may otherwise work. I'd suggest referring to the instruction manual to see if there is general advice on adapting regular bread recipes.

You can use the same amount of everything, just active dry yeast should be dissolved in liquid before adding to everything else, so dissolve it in the milk which is best to be lukewarm, let it sit for around 5-10 minutes to help it activate, so I'd suggest you do that first, then make the tangzhong, let it cool while you measure the flour etc then mix them all together.

I haven't tried it with sourdough and in theory, you probably could use a little but to be honest, this loaf is all about being soft, light and fluffy and so not sure a sourdough flavor is necessarily the best fit. I'd suggest maybe try using the sourdough for something else (I have recently shared both sourdough pizza dough and sourdough pancakes which are a great fit!)

So glad you enjoyed and well done on your first loaf!

Glad to hear you enjoyed! The egg does definitely add a nice richness, but yes you can make without.

Not crazy at all! I haven't tried using this dough to make cinnamon rolls, but in principle I can see it working - just instead of splitting the dough into three pieces and folding each, keep it as one and roll it flat and add the filling (I'd suggest the mix I use in my eggnog cinnamon rolls would be good, if you don't already have a preferred filling mix), roll up and cut in slices as you would other cinnamon rolls.

Great, glad to hear it worked out well and you enjoyed! And yes, a stand mixer is a great way to make the kneading that bit easier (I just quite like doing it by hand, I find it relaxing!)

That makes me very happy to hear! I understand, it's a tough time right now in so many places and glad baking this helped make things that little bit better!

I'm so glad it both worked well for you and that you enjoyed!

Yes, as I mention to someone else, I believe this should work with AP flour, it may just not rise quite as well. All flours (even of the same type) can be different but I'd start with around the same weight as the bread flour, and then adjust flour/water slightly depending how the dough feels. It is a relatively soft dough, but shouldn't be too sticky.

Can you pls. help me? can I use APF instead of bread flour? I do not have any bread flour stock here because of covid-19.

What are the adjustments in flour or water?

Glad to hear you enjoyed! Yes, I'd think milk should be good, too, maybe just not quite as glossy.

I've been having challenges getting bread flour as well. Bread flour has a higher level of gluten than all purpose, so the structure of the dough tends to hold a little better, but I think it should still work with AP, you may just need a little more flour and the texture may not be quite as fluffy.

I didn't fill them as buns, though you certainly could if you like. Just be aware some filling will mean the dough won't rise as well and may become dense in places. You can make the buns as big or small as you would like but I'd say 6 to 9 would be good, depending on how big you'd like them.

You filled when rolling up the buns? How many buns does this recipe make ?

Glad to hear you enjoyed!

Salt in bread serves a couple purposes, partly for flavor but also it helps with the texture of the bread. So you can reduce it a little, but be aware it will probably impact both of these.

That's great to hear that it was such a success, and yes please try some of the other recipes - there are plenty to choose from 🙂

Fast acting yeast and instant yeast are the same thing, so just use exactly the same amount (and in fact if you had active dry yeast, the other kind of dry yeast, it would also be the same amount it just needs to be dissolved in water first while that doesn't really matter with fast-acting/instant). Hope you enjoy!

Since this was such a success, I look forward to trying more of your recipes!

God Bless

Only that I'd suggest probably not using the lid, if it has one, so you get the nice rounded shape etc, but otherwise I hope it worked out!

Hi Caroline. My first run is rising in the oven with the light on now I’ll be using a pain de mie pan. Any cautions?

Sorry for the delay in replying, internet problems! Basically you don't want it to have huge bubbles of air - if it roughly doubles that's fine, but if it's say 3 times as big as it was originally it's probably too much. Good luck, hope all works out!

I’m going to make this tomorrow. What is over proofing? How can you tell when it’s perfectly proofed? I do t want to mess this up!

I haven't tried and as I think I replied to someone else, the challenge with regular whole wheat flour is it tends to be more coarse so I don't think the end loaf would have that lovely soft texture. However I have found whole wheat pastry flour a pretty good alternative in other recipes and can see it working here to still keep a good texture - you just may need a bit more/less flour as different flours react a bit differently.

This is very much a soft textured loaf, and I think regular whole wheat flour would be too dense a texture. However if you can find whole wheat pastry flour, it is much more fine and I think it should work fine - you may just need to adjust the exact amount as different flours react a little differently.

So glad to hear it worked out well and you enjoyed! In general yes, it is best to let bread cool down completely before slicing - this is mainly because when it's still warm, the knife can pull a bit and cause dough-like clumps. I admit, I am very bad at waiting that long and normally slice it when it's still slightly warm so sometimes get slight clumps but not too much. On being dense in the bottom, it could be that the bread needed slightly more space or time to rise on the second rise. So when you put the dough into the baking tin, try to make sure you don't press it down so there's a little space. If it was dense-looking more into the middle (which may be more towards the bottom but more or less the middle of the loaf) then yes I imagine it may have needed slightly longer to bake.

Yes you can, the bread flour just gives a softer texture. Enjoy!

So glad to hear you enjoyed - I agree it's such a lovely bread!

This is perfect bread. I'm a pastry chef not a baker so I was pleasantly surprised and so happy that I could pull THIS off in lieu of my regular wheat bread here at home for my husband.

So glad to hear you enjoyed! I agree it's such a wonderful bread.

The typical 5-7 minutes, so you get the gluten stretching etc. Hope you enjoy!

Great! They sound tasty!

So glad to hear, and the fillings sound tasty!

I loved the recipe and I made 10 rolls from it. Filled 5 with chocolate and the other 5 with turkey bacon and cheese. Turned out great. You could also make a curry but make sure it’s more paste like not runny. 😃

So the nutrition values are calculated per serving, so it's assuming you get 16 servings, in this case. I haven't weighed the finished loaf, but adding up the ingredients, it comes out around 650g total, so about 40g per serving, but this is only approximate and doesn't really allow for much evaporation, which could well happen.

So glad to hear you enjoyed this (and found it easy to follow). It really is a special bread, I agree!

Sounds wonderful in a wood fired oven, glad to hear you enjoyed!

No I haven't tried it. With any filling, you run the risk of it soaking in to the dough and weighing it down, so you just need to take care it doesn't make the dough underneath go soggy and maybe not cook. So if you try it, don't over-fill or have a filling that's too liquid. Would be interested to hear how it goes!

So glad you enjoyed! I haven't tried adding more, but in theory a little more shouldn't make too much of a difference, especially since it is already a soft loaf. I have seen recipes with a little more sugar in there as well. However if you add too much it may impact the structure - to help avoid too many issues, you may need a bit more flour to balance it out and just watch it as it rises so it doesn't over-prove.

Thank you, it really is so incredibly light and soft. Worth trying for sure!

Typically I would make this with whole milk (cow's milk). I haven't made this with dairy free milk and can't say for sure how it would work since it may react differently with the other ingredients - eg you may need a little more or less since the flour may not absorb it in the same way.

Thanks, it really is so light, and I can see it having so many uses.

Thank you, hope you enjoy as much as we did!

Thanks - I think both kinds definitely have their place, but we instantly loved this light, fluffy loaf.