Japanese Condensed Milk Bread

Do you love the glorious liquid that is condensed milk? This Japanese Condensed Milk Bread is a delicious way to enjoy condensed milk, enclosed in a soft and sweet bread that is studded with almonds, raisins and cherries.

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Okay, condensed milk. Don’t you just love the sweetness and the smoothness of that divine liquid? I  could lick it out of a spoon and not stop, actually. It is like a ready-made dessert on its own.

But this bread. This is a more adult way of enjoying condensed milk rather than having it drip down your spoon, then into your arms. Japanese Condensed Milk Bread, just the sound of that got me intrigued.

This bread is filled with a sweet, buttery condensed milk filling. It also has condensed milk in the dough to give it that extra note of sweetness. Not too sweet though. Because the condensed milk is baked in the bread, the sweetness is tapered down making this bread just appropriately sweet but definitely the satisfying kind of sweet.

I love this bread. The look, the taste, the process. It is baked in a 9×5 inch loaf pan. If you like, you can bake it in these aluminum loaf pans to give it as a gift. Why not right? It is so pretty.

You can also use paper loaf pans, even prettier.

Japanese Condensed Milk Bread: The Process

• Start off by proofing the yeast in a large mixing bowl. Add the yeast, some of the sugar and warm milk in the bowl. Let stand until creamy or foamy.
• Add in your flour, the softened butter, sugar, salt and condensed milk. Use a wooden spoon to stir everything together.
• As you stir, gradually sprinkle some of the reserved flour to help with the stickiness of the dough. Once the dough gathers in the center of the bowl like a shaggy mass, turn it over on a floured board.
• Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, dusting the board and your hands as needed, just minimally, to help with the stickiness. Shape the dough into a ball, place it in a bowl and cover it. Let it rise for 1 and 1/2 hours.

• Once the dough has risen, roll it into a 12×8 inches rectangle. Spread the condensed milk filling across the dough.
• Use a pizza cutter or a sharp knife to cut the dough vertically into 4 sections.

• Stack those four sections together, with the filling side up.
• Once stacked, cut them into 8 portions as shown below.

Tip: To cut the stacked dough into 8 sections, first cut the entire length in half, forming two sections. Cut each section in half again, then cut those further in half until you have 8 almost equal portions.

• Arrange the portion of dough close together in a greased 9×5 inch loaf pan. The long sides of the dough should be facing up.
• Some space will be left vacant. This will be filled up once the dough rises, about 1 hour, covered loosely with a clean kitchen towel.
• Once risen, preheat oven to 325 F. Top the dough with raisins, sliced almonds and maraschino cherries. Bake the bread at 325 F for 20 minutes, then lower the temperature to 300 F then bake for 10-12 minutes more, or until the bread is golden.

And here you have it, Japanese Condensed Milk Bread, our final bread entry for this month. Soft, sweet and milky. It tastes as good as it looks.

I have truly enjoyed making those four bread and sharing the recipes with you. My hope is that you find even more joy making bread then sharing the delight of eating with your favorite people.

From this point on, we will continue with our #breadseries with one (or two) delicious bread recipe each month. I hope to have you in this wonderful bread-making journey.

In case you missed the last three recipes for our September #breadseries, here you go:

• Chelsea Buns
• Sweet Beehive Buns
• Easy Focaccia Bread

Aaand we have a growing number of bread recipes here, you can’t bake too many breads, right?

• Milk Bread
• Japanese Milk Buns
• Austrian Buchteln
• Sweet Cheese Rolls
• Brioche Braid Recipe
• Soft and Buttery Sugar Buns
• Chocolate Walnut Bread
• Sticky Buns with Pecans and Rum Raisins
• Chocolate Brioche

5 from 2 votes

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Japanese Condensed Milk Bread

Japanese Condensed Milk Bread is a delicious way to enjoy condensed milk, enclosed in a soft and sweet bread that is studded with raisins and cherries. 

Course Dessert

Cuisine Asian

Keyword asian bread, sweet loaf bread

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

rise times for the dough 2 hours 30 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 12

Calories 142 kcal

Author sanna

Ingredients

For the Bread Dough

• 1 and 1/2 cup all-purpose flour plus 5 tbsp extra
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp active dry yeast
• 2/3 cup warm milk 105-115 F
• 2 tbsp condensed milk or 37 grams, at room temperature
• 2 tbsp softened butter or 28 grams

Condensed Milk Filling

• 2 tbsp softened butter or 28 grams
• 2 tbsp condensed milk or 37 grams, at room temperature
• 8-10 pieces maraschino cherries drained
• 2 tbsp raisins
• 1 tbsp sliced almonds

Instructions

Make the Bread Dough

1. In a large mixing bowl, stir together 1 teaspoon of the sugar, the warm milk, and the yeast. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. 

2. Add 1 and 1/2 cups of flour, the remaining sugar, salt, condensed milk, and butter. Use a wooden spoon to stir the ingredients together. Gradually sprinkle some of the reserved flour, a little at a time, to help with the stickiness. Keep stirring until a soft, sticky dough gathers in the center of the bowl. You may not need the entire reserved flour at this point.

3. Generously flour a working board using the remaining flour. Turn the dough over onto the board. Knead the dough for 6-10 minutes, dusting more flour in the board and in your hands as needed. Once the dough is smooth and elastic, shape it into a ball and place in a bowl. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let the dough rise for 1 and 1/2 hours.

4. While the dough is rising, make the condensed milk filling. Stir together softened butter and condensed milk until it turns into a paste. It is important that the butter is very soft and the condensed milk is at room temperature. Butter a 9x5 inch loaf pan.

5. Punch the dough down and roll it into a 12 x 8 inch rectangle. Spread the condensed milk filling across the surface of the dough. Using a sharp knife or a pizza cutter, cut the dough vertically into 4 sections, forming 4 long strips.

6. Stack the strips together, the filling side up. Cut the stacked dough into 8 sections. You now have 8 stacked rectangular dough portions. Arrange the dough portions in the greased loaf pan, with the long sides of the dough facing up. It is fine if a small space is vacant in the pan, it will be filled up once the dough rises. Let it rise for about an hour, covered loosely with a kitchen towel.

7. Preheat oven to 325 F. Top the dough with raisins, sliced almonds and maraschino cherries. Bake the bread at 325 F for 20 minutes, then lower the temperature to 300 then bake for 10-12 minutes more, or until the bread is golden. To serve, cut into slices or pull-apart.

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

Nutrition Facts

Japanese Condensed Milk Bread

Amount Per Serving (1 serving)

Calories 142 Calories from Fat 45

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 5g 8%

Saturated Fat 3g 15%

Cholesterol 13mg 4%

Sodium 146mg 6%

Potassium 89mg 3%

Total Carbohydrates 20g 7%

Sugars 6g

Protein 2g 4%

Vitamin A 3.2%

Vitamin C 0.4%

Calcium 3.9%

Iron 4.6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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