Anna Milk Bread. The name itself tells you that this is extra soft, sweet, and fluffy!
Boasting a delicate texture, tender crumb, and filled with creamy cheesecake, these rolls are absolutely heavenly! Just look at those delicious shreds!
At school, we have the cutest little residents. The campus is home to the fluffiest bunnies you’ve ever seen. I love watching their antics each day. They are little furry balls of fun and the inspiration for my Cheesecake Bunny Bun dinner rolls!
The cheesecake filling almost melts into the soft bread while baking, so you get a mild tasting cream cheese center that is almost soufflé-like.
Because the cream cheese is so mild, you can top these with cinnamon butter, normal butter, or even savory butter. Each one will be a hit at the Easter celebration.
These cute bunny buns are the perfect addition to any spring table. Easter was yesterday, and I was so excited to bring my little bunnies to dinner. I have made many dinner rolls in my time, but milk bread is next level! It’s as soft as a cotton ball and super light and fluffy.
I first discovered delicious Japanese milk bread at a bakery in California called 85°C Bakery Cafe. They had a massive selection of Taiwanese treats. Many of the treats were made with milk bread!
What Makes Milk Bread Special?
Milk bread is special because of the tangzhong technique. Tangzhong allows you to add extra hydration to the dough by cooking water and flour into a slurry/paste. This gives you softer bread. Milk softens the gluten strands and makes this dough so perfectly pillowy and squishy. Unlike normal rolls that soon go stale after one day, milk bread remains soft and fresh for a few days.
Tangzhong Tips
Cook the tangzhong slowly and gently whisk. If you overheat the mixture, it will get lumpy. At the start, the tangzhong will look like milk. As it begins to thicken, you will see streaks left behind as you whisk it. Finally, it will come together like smooth pudding. This is the perfect time to stop. Get it out of the saucepan quickly so it doesn’t overcook!
Battling Butter
Many milk bread recipes tell you to knead the butter after the dough has already formed. I struggled with this because the addition of oil after the dough formed made kneading with my kitchen aid mixer difficult. I found that if you add the butter as soon as a dough begins to form, the oil gets uniformly mixed, and kneading will be a whole lot simpler! Once the butter disappears, increase the speed to medium as you continue working the dough.
The Perfect Dough
The dough will start off very sticky. As the gluten strands get worked, the dough will come together into a warm, smooth, elastic ball.
Mastering the Windowpane Test
The windowpane test is a foolproof way to know if the gluten has been worked enough! Kneading time with bread can be fairly relative. Depending on how exact your measurements are, the dough may need slightly more or less kneading time. In general, 25 minutes works great for me. I would not recommend kneading past 35-40 minutes. You risk the danger of over-working your bread. For the perfect windowpane, gently lift the dough up and stretch out the dough until you see a thin, see-through membrane. If the dough doesn’t tear immediately, it’s ready to take a nap and rise!
Perfecting the Custard
My favorite bread from 85°C Bakery Cafe always had cream cheese inside it. It was creamy, soft, tangy, and slightly sweet. I decided to make my own version by filling the buns with a cream cheese custard. As the buns baked, the custard melted into the bread which resulted in a delightful custardy soufflé center.
The cream cheese and sour cream needs to be room temperature and gently heated so they don’t curdle or separate. I went through several failed trials before coming up with the right technique. The microwave is the key! Heat the cream cheese and sour cream for two 15 second intervals. If you go longer than twice, you can run the risk of overheating the cheese.
Helpful Tip: Make the custard ahead of time. The longer you let the filling chill, the easier it will be to crimp and seal it inside the dough.
Shaping the Bunnies
Of course, you don’t “need” to make the buns look like bunnies…but look at them! They are so cute!
Shaping the buns into bunnies was actually the tricky part. I tried multiple ways to make the bunny buns.
Method One
Method Two
Sometimes they were perfect…other times, the bread just rose wonky. However, bread is always delicious. Regardless of how you shape the dough, the buns will taste AMAZING!
These delicious and sweet buns are the perfect addition to any kind of celebration. Because they are milk bread based, they can be made a day or two in advance and still retain their soft texture without getting stale. Try them out at your next party! Creamy Bunny Buns will be an absolute hit!
Cheesecake Bunny Buns
Equipment
- Kitchenaid
Ingredients
Tangzhong
- 2 Tbsp bread flour
- 1/2 cup water
Milk Bread Dough
- 2 egg whites
- 2 Tbsp milk powder
- 1 Tbsp active dry yeast
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 1/2 cups bread flour
- 1/2 cup evaporated milk whole milk works too
- 2 Tbsp softened butter so soft it's almost melted
Cheesecake Filling
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch
- 2 Tbsp cake flour
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 4 oz cream cheese room temperature
Instructions
Make the Tangzhong
- In a small saucepan, whisk 2 tablespoons bread flour and 1/2 cup of water.
- Slowly heat the mixture over a low temperature, whisking constantly for about 4-5 minutes until lines form in the mix and it comes together in a pudding-like paste. You will have 1/2 cup of tangzhong. Let it cool.
Cheesecake Filling
- In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, cornstarch, and cake flour til smooth.
- In a small saucepan, heat the milk til steamy and just beginning to simmer. Don't let the milk boil.
- Temper the eggs by pouring the warm milk into the egg mixture. Constantly whisk the eggs while pouring the milk so you don't curdle the eggs.
- Once the milk is fully incorporated into the egg mixture, return the eggs back into the pan. Gently whisk the custard constantly to avoid curdling. Heat the custard over medium low heat for about 5-7 minutes until the mixture thickens.
- The custard will be done when it can easily coat the back of a spoon and a small trail gets left behind when you run your finger through the custard.
- Pour the custard through a sieve to remove any lumps. Meanwhile, in a small microwave safe bowl or measuring cup, add the cream cheese and sour cream together. Heat on high for 15 seconds. If the mixture is still hard, it might need to be heated 15 more seconds. Whisk the cream cheese and sour cream to combine.
- Fold the cream cheese mixture into the custard until it is fully incorporated.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let the mixture chill in the fridge until it is fully set and ready to use.
Make the Dough
- In a stand mixer, add the egg whites, milk powder, yeast, sugar, salt, and bread flour. Use a spatula to combine.
- Add the evaporated milk and 1/2 cup of the tangzhong. Mix with the stand mixer just until a dough forms.
- Add the butter in small pieces. Knead slowly to incorporate the butter. Once incorporated, knead on medium speed for about 20-30 minutes until the dough has completely cleared the bowl and is smooth and elastic.
- You will know when the dough is ready by doing the windowpane test. To do the windowpane test, simply pull up some of your dough and gently stretch it. The gluten strands will be very elastic and should allow you to pull the dough into a very thin film that is almost see-through. If your dough is easily tearing, you may need to knead it longer.
- Butter a medium sized bowl. Gently form the dough into a ball and let it take a nap for about 1-2 hours in a warm place til it has doubled in size.
Fill the Buns
- Once the dough has doubled in size, divide the dough. If you are making dinner rolls, Divide them into 8 equal pieces for large rolls or 10 for smaller rolls. Shape into balls, cover, and let them rest for 10 minutes.
- Roll one ball into a rectangle about 6 inches long. Fold one end over 2/3 or the way across and fold the other end on top to do a book fold. Let the dough rest another 15 minutes. Repeat with the other balls.
- Using a rolling pin, take the first ball and roll the dough out in a 6-8 inch round. Gently press the edges down to remove bubbles and make a more delicate crumb. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the cheesecake custard into the center of the dough and gently pinch the dough up around it. Seal the custard inside and make sure filling doesn't ooze out.
- Arrange the buns in a square 8×8 baking pan. Let it rise for 1 hour until nearly doubled in size. While the buns are rising, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lower the oven rack to it's lowest setting.
Shaping the Rolls Bunny Style
- If you decide to shape these buns into bunnies, Divide the dough into 8 pieces for large rolls or 10 pieces for smaller rolls. Let them rest, do the book fold, and rest again.
- Roll out one of the folded dough pieces to the shape of a triangle (about 6 inches). Gently press down the edges so you have a finer crumb and avoid really big air bubbles.
- Cut a small incision at the top of the triangle for the ears. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of filling at the base of the triangle. Fold the dough over itself and seal the edges.
- Make sure you fully seal the sides and front so the filling can't escape.
- At this point, you can decorate the bunnies with black sesame seeds for eyes and shape them to look more like cute bunnies. Feel free to add little bunny tails with small dough balls!
Bake the Rolls
- Before baking, brush the tops with egg wash. Gently cover with foil and bake the rolls for 35 minutes. 10-15 minutes before the rolls have finished baking, remove the foil so they can finish browning.
- Once baked, remove from the oven and set the pan on a wire rack. Let it cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan.
- Serve the creamy bunny buns warm. They taste great with normal butter and cinnamon butter.
Notes
You can add the ears and tails to the rolls by using egg wash.
Add black sesame seeds for the eyes and noses!
