Emulsifier Free Classic Milk Bread

Total time3 hr 5 min

Prep time30 min

Cook time35 min

4.6

(8)

Soft, pillowy, and impossibly tender, this milk bread is the kind of loaf that makes you want to tear off a piece before it even finishes cooling. The secret is the tangzhong — a simple cooked paste of bread flour and whole milk that gets folded into the dough and gives the finished bread its signature cloud-like crumb. Every ingredient here is exactly what it sounds like: flour, milk, butter, egg, yeast, sugar, and salt. No additives, no stabilizers, nothing you'd need to decode on a label. That makes it a genuinely clean bake for anyone avoiding manufactured emulsifiers, which tend to sneak into commercial sandwich loaves and even some bakery breads. The dough comes together in a stand mixer, gets shaped into four neat rolls tucked side by side in a loaf pan, and bakes up into something that looks seriously impressive for the effort involved. A glossy egg wash gives the top that gorgeous deep-golden finish, and the wait while it cools on the rack is honestly the hardest part.

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Ingredients

10 servings

For the tangzhong

3 tbsp bread flour
½ cup whole milk

For the dough

2 ¼ tsp active dry yeast (1 packet)
¼ cup warm whole milk (about 110°f / 43°c)
2 ½ cups bread flour
3 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp fine salt
1 large egg
3 tbsp unsalted butter, softened and cut into pieces

For the egg wash

1 large egg yolk
1 tbsp whole milk

Instructions

1
Make the tangzhong: whisk together the 3 tbsp bread flour and 1/2 cup milk in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens into a smooth, pudding-like paste and leaves a trail when you drag a spatula across the bottom, about 3–4 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
2
Combine the yeast and 1/4 cup warm milk in the bowl of a stand mixer and let stand until foamy, about 5–10 minutes.

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