Instant Pot Soft and Fluffy Japanese Milk Bread Recipe (Tangzhong Method)

5 from 1 vote

Servings: people

Calories: 232kcal

Author: Shobee

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/8 cup white granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup milk
1 large egg
2 tbsp softened butter This is not melted butter but softened butter in a room temperature.
yeast mixture
tangzhong mixture

Warm the water in the microwave for six seconds. The idea is not to overheat the water so that it will not kill the yeast. Mix and set aside until the yeast blooms. This takes about five to ten minutes.

Turn on the heat to low. Place the Tangzhong ingredients into the small saucepan and mix them together. Continually mix on low heat until the mixture becomes pasty, but not burnt. This process takes five to eight minutes.

Place parchment paper into your bread pan and spray nonstick oil. Set aside. Attach your hook attachment to the electric mixer. Place the flour, white granulated sugar, yeast mixture, and Tangzhong mixture in the electric mixing bowl. Mix the ingredients to low speed until the mixture will look like wet sand.
Now you can add the softened butter. Mix to medium speed. The mixture will look really wet, but eventually, it will form into a dough. Mix until the flour mixture will not stick to the side of the bowl.
Remove the dough and form it into a ball. Brush the bowl you used with oil and return the dough back into it. Turn the dough so that it will be coated with oil. Cover and place the dough in a warm place for one hour.
After an hour, sprinkle your working area with flour and divide the dough into three. Form each into a smaller ball and flatten it using a rolling pin. Roll the dough into a log and place it sealed down into the prepared bread pan. Do the same to the rest of the dough. Cover the dough with a cloth or plastic wrap and let it sit in a warm place for thirty minutes.

Prepare the pan by lining it with parchment paper and spraying it with non stick oil. Set it aside.
Place the trivet in the inner pot. Let the trivet hold the pan together. Place the inner pot into the instant pot base and cover it with the air fryer lid.
Push the bake setting button and set the temperature to 350 F. Set the timer to fourteen minutes. Brush with an egg wash at ten minutes and continue baking. Tap the bread and if sounds hollow, the bread is done.

Place oven rack at the middle layer. Do the steps mentioned and pre heat oven at 350 F. When the oven is ready, place the bread pan to the middle of the rack and bake for eighteen to twenty minutes. Start checking the bread at eighteen minutes by tapping the bread. If it sounds hollow, the bread is done.