As a young child there are few things that I instantly loved to eat – SWEET MILK BREAD, however, was definitely one of them. A bread called by many names, there are DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF SWEET BREAD IN DIFFERENT CULTURES. In America, these are referred to as DINNER ROLLS OR SWEET ROLLS, in the Philippines they are called PANDESAL, in Japan SWEET MILK BREAD, in Mexico PAN DULCE. I could go on and on because we all have a certain way of making them.
I wanted to share with you MY FAVORITE VERSIONS, one which is made with HONEY AND BUTTER and the other, which is MY OWN TAKE ON A FILIPINO UBE SWEET BREAD ROLL.
Here are what the simple HONEY AND BUTTER SWEET MILK BREAD ROLLS look like:
Yes, I LOVE THIS RECIPE (SEE BELOW) BECAUSE ANYONE CAN DO IT AT HOME!
FIRST and foremost, PROOF YOUR YEAST before you make bread to ensure that it is viable. In the case of this recipe, it involves MIXING THE YEAST WITH WARM MILK AND GRANULATED SUGAR and then ALLOWING IT TO SIT IN A BOWL FOR 5-10 MIN. You’ll know it is ACTIVE IF YOU SEE LOTS OF BUBBLES/GAS FORMING WITHIN THE MIXTURE. It basically means that THE YEAST IS CONSUMING THE SUGARS, FORMING CARBON DIOXIDE AND FERMENTING:
When you have GOOD ACTIVE YEAST, then your DOUGH WILL RISE BEAUTIFULLY:
This is a picture of the UBE HALAYA A.K.A. PURPLE YAM JAM I use frequently in MY ASIAN DESSERTS. It tastes SIMILAR TO A SWEET POTATO and pairs well with this MILDLY SWEET MILK BREAD.
This is HOW I STUFF THE ROLL WITH UBE:
Then you just ROLL THEM INTO NICE, UNIFORM BALLS AND PLACE THEM IN AN OIL-SPRAYED BAKING DISH. Here is the resulting DELICIOUSNESS:
SOFT, FLUFFY, AND LIGHTLY SWEET, this SWEET MILK BREAD is a WONDERFUL WAY TO INTRODUCE YOURSELF TO BREAD-MAKING.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH MY YOUTUBE VIDEO TO LEARN ALL MY TIPS AND TRICKS:
Here is THE RECIPE:
Ingredients
- RECIPE ADAPTED FROM AIMEE'S COOKING "Dinner Rolls Recipe/Milk Bread" on YouTube, SLIGHTLY MODIFIED BY CHERRY
- Milk 400ml (just over 1 and 2/3 cups)
- Active Dry Yeast 20g (2 Tbsp and 1 tsp) or close to it (I used 2 individual yeast packets, which is short but works)
- Granulated sugar (1st part) 25g (2 Tbsp)
- Unsalted butter 1 stick (8 Tbsp), melted and cooled
- Honey 4 Tbsp
- Eggs 2 large, room temperature
- Granulated sugar (2nd part) 80g (6 and 1/2 Tbsp)
- Salt 14g (2 and 1/2 tsp)
- Bread flour 800g (6 and 2/3 cups), high 12.7% protein, high gluten content & development, AKA strong flour
- 1 jar of Ube Halaya (AKA Ube or Purple Yam Jam - FIND IT UNDER ALL THESE NAMES)
- SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT:
- Non-stick butter spray
- Plastic wrap
- 2 ceramic or glass oven-safe casserole dishes
Instructions
- READ ENTIRE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE BEGINNING:
- NOTE: This recipe involves RISING TIME FOR 1st PROOF: 1hr & 15 min, and 2nd PROOF: 30 min
- In a microwave safe bowl, heat the cold milk in the microwave for about 30 to 40 seconds, until slightly warm to the touch.
- Add the yeast and the first part of the sugar and mix to combine. Set aside to allow the yeast to bloom for 5 to 10 minutes. It will get foamy if the yeast is active/viable.
- In a separate microwave safe bowl, melt the butter and allow it to cool for a few minutes. Then add to this the honey and eggs and mix well. Now add in the second part of the sugar and the salt. Mix well.
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, add the bread flour. To this add the milk/yeast mixture and the butter/honey mixture - mix on low speed for about one minute. (ALTERNATIVELY KNEAD BY HAND).
- Scrape down the bowl with a spatula and then increase the mixer speed slowly to number 4/medium speed and mix for 8 to 10 minutes. (The dough is sturdy and at this speed will cause your mixer to jump a little, so stay with your mixer and hold it down if needed for the entire kneading period.) The dough will appear sticky, but toward the end of the 8 to 10 minutes it will begin to slightly pull away from the sides.
- CAUTION: IF YOUR MIXER IS HEATING UP TOO MUCH OR CANNOT HANDLE IT AT ANY TIME DURING THIS MIXING, PLEASE STOP USING IT AND SWITCH TO KNEADING BY HAND FOR SEVERAL MINUTES. The minutes of mixing are not as important as the CONSISTENCY of the dough - WE ARE LOOKING FOR THE DOUGH TO BE VERY ELASTIC AND ABLE TO STRETCH UNTIL YOU CAN SEE THROUGH A THIN LAYER OF IT (The "Window Pane Test").
- Prepare a separate large bowl greased all around with oil. Scrape the dough out of the stand mixer bowl and into this greased bowl. Add a thin layer of oil to the top of the dough. This will prevent the dough from sticking to the bowl as it rises.
- Cover this dough bowl not too tightly with one layer of plastic wrap. Allow this dough to rise for 1hr and 15 min in a mildly warm area, BUT NO LONGER OR IT WILL OVERPROOF!!! When ready, work with it because it will continue to rise.
- Onto a lightly floured work surface, turn out the risen dough. Punch out the air and start forming it into a large, long horizontal log. Use a dough cutter to cut the log lengthwise so that you have two long, parallel horizontal logs.
- Prepare multiple ceramic baking dishes according to how many you need by spraying them lightly with nonstick butter spray or greasing them lightly with butter.
- Use the dough cutter to cut equal pieces of dough down the logs.
- FOR PLAIN HONEY ROLLS: Roll each piece into a ball by flattening it and pulling the sides up and into the center. Pinch the dough tightly at the center, making the lines virtually disappear. You want your dough to be as smooth as possible. You may need to roll each ball in your hands just a little.
- FOR UBE HONEY ROLLS: Take a cut piece of dough, flatten it, add 1 Tbsp Ube Halaya to the center. Then use your fingers to twist it, mix it in, and tuck it into a ball. In the same manner as the plain honey rolls, pinch the dough tightly at the center, making the lines virtually disappear. You want your dough to be pretty smooth, but you may get ube hanging out on the outside of your dough ball. This is fine - after baking, it actually tastes good this way, too.
- Place each ball of dough seam side down into a greased baking dish. Give them 2 cm to 1 inch space in between the dough balls to allow them to expand as they rise a second time.
- When the baking dish is filled with dough balls, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 20 to 30 minutes more in a mildly warm area. They will expand and start to touch/overlap.
- PREHEAT OVEN TO 350F.
- Remove the plastic wrap and BAKE the dough at 350°F for anywhere from 15 to 22 min. This time varies because it depends on your oven and on how much you are baking at once. If you are baking only one ceramic dish, all the heat will go to those rolls and it will take a shorter time. However if you are baking multiple dishes at the same time, the heat will be distributed and it will take longer for the bread to bake. Also if you fill the rolls, they tend to bake longer. THE KEY IS TO LOOK FOR A LIGHT TO SLIGHTLY MEDIUM GOLDEN BROWN COLOR ON THE TOPS OF THE ROLLS, THEN REMOVE THEM FROM THE OVEN.
- Immediately brush with melted butter and allow them to cool in the dish.
- Serve when slightly cooled about 5-10 min. They should be warm, soft, pillowy, buttery, and delicious.
- Save any leftovers in Ziploc bags or airtight containers.
- Reheat leftover buns in the microwave for about 15 seconds to soften before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
♥ Original "Dinner Rolls Recipe/Milk Bread" from Aimee's Cooking:
https://youtu.be/6wHNqOcDuPc
♥ Normally, I would place Amazon links to the products in my video, such as King Arthur BREAD FLOUR and Tropics Brand UBE HALAYA/UBE/PURPLE YAM JAM - but after looking at the high prices online, I think it's best to go to the grocery store to save money. Bread flour is found at almost any grocery store and Ube will be available at almost any Asian market - CALL THEM TO SEE IF THEY HAVE IT FIRST (because they run out).
THANKS FOR TRYING ONE OF MY FAVORITE BREAD RECIPES!
Please check out my other fun recipes at:
https://glamourandsugar.com/blog/blog-grid/
Have a wonderful day!
Cherry🍒
Thank you so much for dropping by – have fun with it and I’ll see you soon!
Cherry🍒