Beef Free Classic Milk Bread

Soft, pillowy, and impossibly tender, this Japanese-style milk bread is the kind of loaf that makes you want to bake every weekend. The secret is the tangzhong — a simple cooked paste of flour and milk that gets folded into the dough and gives the finished bread its signature cloud-like crumb. From there, the dough comes together with butter, egg, and a touch of sugar, producing a slightly sweet, rich loaf that's nothing like your average sandwich bread. Everything in this recipe is straightforward pantry and dairy — no meat-based fats, broths, or animal-derived additives to navigate around, just clean, simple ingredients doing beautiful work. The shaping step, where you roll each dough portion into a tight log and nestle them side by side in the pan, is what creates those gorgeous pull-apart layers once baked. Patience pays off here: letting the loaf cool before slicing gives the crumb time to set so every slice is as fluffy as the last. Whether you're toasting it, using it for French toast, or eating it plain straight off the rack, this loaf is genuinely hard to resist.

About Fig

Fig is a food discovery app that helps you find foods and recipes that fit your dietary needs. Whether you have food allergies, intolerances, or follow a specific diet, Fig makes it easy to eat with confidence.

Learn more →