Taiwanese Milk Butter Buns (奶酥麵包)

These pillowy milk buns filled with sweet, rich and creamy milk butter are some of the most popular items in Taiwanese bakeries. Give this a try and you'll understand why!

Taiwanese milk butter (奶酥醬) is so popular in Taiwan that people come up with creative ways to incorporate it into different types of buns and treats. The most popular ways are either spreading it on a thick slice of toast and baking until golden brown, or using it as filling for buns of all shapes and sizes. Whichever way you try it, Taiwanese milk butter just seems to make everything delicious!

Today, I'm showing you how to make milk butter filled twisted buns with crumb topping. Each bite of this bun gives you some sweet and creamy milk butter along with some of the crispy crumb topping for some contrasting texture. These buns are so good that it's almost impossible to stop with just one. If you like my custard bun, I'm sure you will like this milk butter bun as well!

Why You Need to Try This Recipe

• Milk butter buns are super tasty but are relatively hard to find in the US as they aren't so widely known yet.
• You can make more milk butter and use it as a toast spread for a quick and easy treat.
• My detailed instructions will help you make a milk butter bun that looks and tastes professional.

Ingredients You'll Need

notes

• Yeast - use instant yeast, I recommend using saf-instant yeast.
• Powdered sugar - I usually just blend sugar in my blender until it's powdery. it doesn't need to be super fine.
• Honey - honey helps keep the bun moist.
• Unsalted butter - I recommend using European butter as it contains a higher amount of butterfat.

Step by Step Instruction

Step 1 - Make yudane (tangzhong) roux paste the day before.

Pour boiling water into a small bowl with bread flour and immediately mix well. Cover and store in the fridge after it's cooled for between 12 and 48 hours.

Step 2 - Make milk bun dough.

In a stand mixer, mix all the dough ingredients except yeast, sea salt and unsalted butter until a rough dough is formed. Cover and and let it rest for 30 minutes.

This step is called the autolyse method, which will help shorten the kneading time later and prevent the dough from getting too warm (which negatively impacts the texture of the buns).

After resting, add yeast and knead for 1-2 minutes on medium speed before adding salt. Knead for another 2-3 minutes before adding unsalted butter, one piece at a time. Knead until the dough is smooth and able to pass the windowpane test (see FAQ below for more details). About 10 minutes.

Make sure the dough stays cool during the entire kneading process. If the temperature of your dough becomes higher than 82°F (28°C) when it's done kneading, place it on a tray and chill it in the freezer for 1-2 minutes before proofing.

Place dough in a greased bowl, cover and proof in a warm place (82°F / 28°C) for an hour or until the dough just about doubles in size.

Quick tip - If you find it difficult to tell whether it has doubled in size or not, place the dough in a container with about double of the volume of the dough. That way, when the dough nearly fills the container, you know it's done proofing.

Step 3 - Make crumb topping and milk butter while the dough is proofing.

To make the crumb topping, mix softened unsalted butter, sugar and bread flour together with your finger tips until well combined. Cover and store it in the fridge.

To make milk butter, cream unsalted butter with sugar together until smooth before stirring in milk powder and heavy whipping cream. Cover and leave it at room temperature until it's ready to use.

Step 4 - Assemble the buns and final proof.

Divide the dough into 8 equal portions with dough cutter (don't tear it!)

Flatten the dough with your palm before folding the edges to the center, pinch them together to form a ball and flip it over so the seam side is down. Cover the dough with a damp tea towel and let it rest for 15 minutes.

To form the bun, dust the working surface with a bit of flour, roll the dough ball into a rectangle that's about the size of your hand.

Spread about 25g of milk butter on the dough. Fold ⅓ of the dough from the side to the middle, then fold in the same direction again (See the video below to see how I form the buns.). Cut two lines in the middle of the dough length-wise and twist it two times before curling it up like a snail shell and stick the end into the bottom.

Video Tutorial on How to Shape the Bun

Place the buns on a lined baking sheet, cover with a damp tea towel and let it rest in a warm place (82°F / 28°C) for 50 minutes.

Step 5 - Top the bun with crumb and bake

Preheat the oven to 375°F / 190°C. Brush each bun with egg wash gently and sprinkle the crumb on top of the buns.

When the oven is done preheating, bake the buns for 14-15 minutes.

Let the buns cool on the cooling rack for 10-15 minutes before enjoying.

Recipe Tips and Tricks

• Measure your ingredients with a kitchen scale! Especially for flour and liquids, because your one cup can be very different from my one cup.
• Start with cold liquid - I learned this from professional bakers in Taiwan. Since the dough needs a lot of kneading, using cold liquid prevents the final dough from becoming too warm (which negatively impacts the texture of the bun). In summer, I would even place the milk in a freezer until a thin layer of ice forms near the edge before I use it.
• The best proofing temperature is between 80 - 90°F (26.5 - 32°C). If your indoor temperature is too low, you can proof your dough in a sealed oven over a separate tray/pan on the bottom rack that's filled with boiling water.
• If your oven has a proofing function, for the first proof, only turn it on for the first 20 minutes instead of using it for the whole time so the temperature won't be too high. For the second proof, you can turn on the whole time as we need higher temperature for second proof.
• The buns might not be golden brown when it's done baking due to the crumb topping. If your oven has a convection bake function, you can turn it on for the last 1-2 minutes to help the buns achieve a golden brown color.

Recipe FAQs

I hope you try this recipe because I know you'll love these milk butter buns if you get to try one!

Happy baking!!

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