Swirly Matcha Milk Bread Recipe

 In my quest to make a swirly matcha milk bread, I wanted to see if my tangzhong milk bread recipe works without the tangzhong. Turns out, it does.

This is a really easy recipe for milk bread. It's just a tad less bouncy than tangzhong, but still super soft and fluffy, and perfect for toasting.

The matcha is admittedly mostly for effect here – you only get a mild taste of it with the one swirl. If you want a proper matcha bread, forgo the swirl and just add 2 tbsp matcha to the whole dough instead of 1 tbsp to half. But if you want a milder flavour and a pretty swirl, read on...

Need visuals? Check out my YouTube video tutorial:

Ingredients:

100ml milk
10g fresh or dry active yeast
1 tsp caster sugar
350g bread flour
60g more caster sugar
1/2 tsp salt
30g unsalted butter, softened
1 egg
65ml more milk
1 tbsp matcha

To Glaze:

1 egg
Dash of milk

Method:

1. Warm the first 100ml milk in a small pan until just a little warm, then pour over the 1 tsp sugar and yeast in a small bowl. Stir to combine, and leave for a few minutes until bubbling.

2. Now add the rest of the ingredients plus the yeast mixture, except for the matcha, into a large bowl, and stir to combine. Tip out onto a work surface and knead for about ten minutes, so the dough becomes smooth and springs back when you try to stretch it.

3. Cut the dough in half and knead the matcha into one half until uniformly green. Pop the dough in two lightly-oiled bowls and cover with clingfilm. Let them proof until doubled in size (about 30 minutes to an hour, depending on how warm your room is).

4. Butter or oil a 2lb (9"x5") loaf tin. Punch the dough back down, and roll out each portion into large rectangles so the shorter end is the same length as your tin.

5. Place the matcha dough on top of the white dough, roll up from the shorter end, and place seam-side down in  (you can see this whole process more clearly on my YouTube video). Cover and leave to proof until doubled in size again.

6. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C. When the dough has finished proofing, brush the top with an egg wash made by whisking the egg with the milk. Bake it for 30 minutes, or until fully-risen and golden.

7. Leave to cool completely before popping out of the tin and slicing.

Enjoy, and have fun.