Description
This Japanese Honeydew Bread recipe creates cloud-soft milk bread with a delicate honeydew aroma and a crisp cookie-like crust. Each bun is tender, sweet, and optionally filled with a creamy custard for the perfect Japanese bakery experience.
Ingredients
Scale
- 3 tablespoons bread flour
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 1/2 cups bread flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup warm milk
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 2 teaspoons honeydew flavoring or melon essence
- A few drops of green food coloring (optional)
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon honeydew flavoring
- A few drops of green food coloring
- 1 cup milk (for custard)
- 2 egg yolks (for custard)
- 2 tablespoons sugar (for custard)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch (for custard)
- 1 teaspoon honeydew flavoring (for custard)
Instructions
- Whisk flour, milk, and water in a small pan and cook until thickened to make the tangzhong starter. Cool completely.
- Combine bread flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. Add tangzhong, egg, warm milk, butter, and flavoring. Knead until smooth and elastic.
- Let rise in a greased bowl until doubled, about 1 hour.
- Prepare the cookie crust by creaming butter and sugar, then mixing in egg yolk, honeydew flavor, food coloring, and flour. Chill briefly.
- Optional: Prepare custard by heating milk, then whisking into yolks, sugar, and cornstarch. Cook until thick, add flavoring, and cool.
- Punch down dough and divide into 8 pieces. Flatten, fill with custard (optional), seal, and top each with rolled cookie crust. Score crosshatch pattern.
- Let rise again for 30–40 minutes until puffy.
- Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 15–18 minutes, until bottoms are golden but tops remain pale. Cool before serving.
Notes
For best results, cook the tangzhong gently, chill the cookie topping before shaping, and keep dough slightly tacky for the softest texture. Store cooled buns in an airtight container up to 3 days or freeze up to 1 month.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 18 minutes
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Japanese
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bun
- Calories: 260
- Sugar: 12g
- Sodium: 180mg
- Fat: 9g
- Saturated Fat: 5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 36g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 6g
- Cholesterol: 55mg
Keywords: Japanese honeydew bread, milk bread, tangzhong, sweet bread, melon pan, Hokkaido bread