Fructose 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 flour and milk that gets folded into the dough and keeps every slice moist and cloud-like for days. For anyone managing fructose sensitivity, store-bought breads are a minefield of high-fructose corn syrup, honey, and fruit-derived sweeteners hiding in the ingredient list. This loaf keeps things clean: bread flour, whole milk, butter, egg, a modest amount of granulated sugar, and salt — nothing that should trigger a reaction. The enriched dough gets kneaded until silky, shaped into four snug rolls tucked side by side in the pan, and baked until deeply golden with a soft, pull-apart crumb that's genuinely hard to resist. A quick egg wash gives the top that glossy, bakery-style finish without adding anything complicated. Once you smell it coming out of the oven, you'll understand why this style of bread has such a devoted following.

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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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