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Milk Bread Recipe for Bread Machine
4.9 from 70 votes

Milk Bread Recipe for Bread Machine

This milk bread recipe for a bread machine uses bread flour, sugar, milk powder, instant yeast, milk, water, butter, egg, and salt to produce a soft, light loaf. The inclusion of milk powder or an optional tangzhong starter enhances the bread’s fluffiness and rise. The dough is mixed and proofed in the machine to achieve a tender crumb with a slightly sweet flavor, suitable for sandwiches or toast.

Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
50 mins
Additional Time
4 hrs
Total Time
5 hrs
Servings: 14 slices
Calories: 163 kcal
Course: Snacks
Cuisine: Japanese, Korean

Ingredients

Wet Ingredients + salt
  • 3/4 cup milk use preheat function or warm up milk, 2% low fat
  • 1/4 cup water room temp
  • 60 g butter 60g = 1/4 cup, melted, unsalted
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp salt sea salt
Dry Ingredients
  • 365 g bread flour 365g = 2 3/4 cups, unbleached
  • 50 g sugar 50g = 3.5 Tbsp
  • 2 Tbsp milk powder
  • 7 g instant yeast 7g = 1 packet = 2 tsp
For coating bowls and pan
  • 1 Tbsp butter unsalted

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. Melt butter in the microwave until it's fully melted (50% power 20-25 sec in microwave).
  2. Warm up your milk (to bath water temperature) and use room temp water and eggs - especially if you don't have a preheat function within your dough cycle.
  3. Add all the wet ingredients (milk, water, melted butter, egg) + SALT into the bread pan. You can add salt with your dry ingredients but I like to add the salt in this step to ensure it doesn't inhibit the yeast in anyway.
  4. Mix DRY ingredients - mix flour and sugar first in a bowl and then add to pan on top of the wet ingrdients.
  5. Make a little well (or a divot) in the middle of the dry ingredients and add yeast inside the well and also add milk powder (I usually add it in the corner of the pan).
  6. Put the bread pan in the machine with all the ingredients in and start a full Basic Dough cycle. See above for details of my machine's dough cycle - it basically takes 1 hr 50 min total of preheating and proving twice. If you don't have a dough cycle, you can use a stand mixer by following steps in my regular milk bread recipe. After the dough cycle is complete and finished proving, your dough should look something like the bottom pic in the picture. Top pic is how the dough looks like at the start of the kneading process. So just be patient!
  7. When the dough is done (1), punch it down (2) and then take the dough out of the pan onto a granite or wood cutting board (4) and divide into 2 equal size dough (5). Sprinkle some flour on the surface and knead each dough a few times then shaping it tightly into a ball (7). IF you have custom rise function THEN nestle each dough ball back in the bread pan next to each other (8) and let the dough balls rise in the machine for 30 min. IF there's NO custom rise function in your machine, you can put each dough ball into separate bowls, cover with plastic wrap or towel and let it rise in warm location or 100℉ oven for 20 min.
  8. Once the dough has risen, transfer the dough one at a time on a smooth surface (granite or marble works well), sprinkle surface very lightly with flour and also coat the rolling pin lightlly with flour. Roll out one dough ball into a thick rectangle about 12 inches long and 4-5 inches wide. Roll the top of the dough (3 inches) down and then fold the bottom up about the same amount, resulting in a square-like dough shape. Roll it into a log, starting from one end of the square until you have a roll all rolled up.
  9. Lightly butter the sides of the bread pan and nestle the 2 logs down in the bread machine pan like above.
  10. Put pan back in the bread machine and set it to rise for 1 hr or until the top of the dough is up about 70% height of the pan. Again, if you don't have custom rise function, let dough rise in the pan at room temp or in 100℉ oven for 40 min.
  11. We are ready to start baking! Bake for 50 min. Select the crust to your preference. I usually set crust to medium. Optionally, for some shine, brush the top with some milk or egg whites before baking. Note that bread baked in the bread machine won't have the same golden brown top like you get in the oven. BUT, believe me, the taste and texture is just as good as my original milk bread recipe!

Notes

  • Warming milk before adding to the machine helps yeast activation by providing a suitable temperature.
  • Instant yeast is recommended over active dry yeast for consistent rising without prior proofing.
  • Milk powder or tangzhong can be used to improve the tenderness and rise of the bread.
  • Adding salt with wet ingredients prevents it from directly inhibiting yeast activity.
  • About 14 slices per loaf; nutritional values apply per slice rather than per loaf.

Nutrition Information

Serving 14g Calories 163kcal (8%) Carbohydrates 24g (8%) Protein 4g (8%) Fat 5g (8%) Saturated Fat 3g (15%) Polyunsaturated Fat 1g (6%) Monounsaturated Fat 1g (5%) Trans Fat 1g (50%) Cholesterol 25mg (8%) Sodium 182mg (8%) Potassium 70mg (1%) Fiber 1g (4%) Sugar 5g (10%) Vitamin A 184IU (4%) Vitamin C 1mg (1%) Calcium 33mg (3%) Iron 1mg (6%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 14 slices

Amount Per Serving

Calories 163

% Daily Value*

Serving 14g
Calories 163kcal 8%
Carbohydrates 24g 8%
Protein 4g 8%
Fat 5g 8%
Saturated Fat 3g 15%
Polyunsaturated Fat 1g 6%
Monounsaturated Fat 1g 5%
Trans Fat 1g 50%
Cholesterol 25mg 8%
Sodium 182mg 8%
Potassium 70mg 1%
Fiber 1g 4%
Sugar 5g 10%
Vitamin A 184IU 4%
Vitamin C 1mg 1%
Calcium 33mg 3%
Iron 1mg 6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.