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.
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.
In case you missed the last three recipes for our September #breadseries, here you go:
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
- Cinnamon Roll Bread Loaf
- Whole Wheat Cinnamon Roll with Easy Caramel Glaze
- Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls
- Spanish Bread
- Hawaiian Rolls
Japanese Condensed Milk Bread
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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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I didn’t think i’d be able to mess up such a simple straightforward recipe, but I managed it ; _ ;
even with the extra flour, my dough remained sticky after 10 minutes of kneading in my kitchenaid stand mixer w/ bread hook attachment. I plopped it into a bowl to proof anyway, and even after 1.5 hours there was no rise.
second proof, same thing, it didn’t fill my loaf pan like in the photo.
I had even just bought new yeast, and it bubbled and foamed up nicely, so I’m not sure what I did wrong ):
I am already not great at working with breads, but I want to get better. I’ll have to try this again and maybe let the yeast bubble up longer, or mix all the dry ingredients evenly before adding the yeast/milk?
Hello Lisa! You did fine! I think the challenge when kneading using a mixer is that the dough ends up being wetter and stickier than when kneading by hand. With that said, if the dough does not gather in the mixer within ten minutes, start to sprinkle flour little by little just until the dough begins to take form. Good luck.
Hi. Is it okay to make the dough ahead of time, maybe at night, and then bake it in the morning? Is there a correct process to this so it doesn’t change the finished product as much?
Thanks!
Hello! Yes you can.Either you let the knead dough do its first rise in the fridge overnight, then deflate and shape it in the morning, Or shape the dough in the loaf pan and allow it to do its second rise in the fridge overnight, then bake it in the morning:)
I am not normally a big fan of bread but this bread is just sweet enough that I really enjoy it – without eating something too sugary. I bake mine in a 9 inch cake pan but don’t change much else. The first time I made this, I added a bit of taro to the dough and coconut milk instead of normal milk in the milk filling. The second time I made this, I put cherries and pineapple on top and made a little bit of extra milk filling mixed with cherry juice for a pink color, and drizzled it on top.
Thanks a lot! Thank you for sharing your modifications for others to try:)
I made several times. Very, very delicious and soft
Thank you
Pam
I can’t wait to make this! Quick question, what about a lite drizzle of powdered sugar frosting? Your thoughts?
Thank you so much!!
Can I use bread flour instead of apf? Will it make a bug difference?
Hello! Yes you can use bread flour. It should be fine 🙂
I had to watch the video fir the assembly of the pieces but it seems easy enough. Unfortunately I’m an idiot and didnt realize I grabbed evaporated milk and when I noticed i was out of condensed milk anyway so I went for it. The bread dough seemed doughy enough but the filling doesn’t work with evaporated milk. That part it my bad and I can’t wait to eat whatever monstrosity I’ve corrupted this into
Do you use salted or unsalted butter? Does it matter?
I use unsalted butter. You can use salted butter if that is what you have 🙂
Just out of the oven, looks amazing. Doesn’t say how long to leave it in the pan before taking it out. Does it matter? if so, let me know how long.
It is okay for it to stay in the pan if you prefer 🙂
Hi! I’ve only made bread a few times before so I’m very pleased that this turned out well for me. Thanks for helping me use up some leftover condensed milk in a fluffy and delicious way!
Hello Phoe! I am so happy you loved this!
Can i leave out the raisins and add chocolate chips instead?
Yes you can 🙂
Can I omit the maraschinno cherries? As I am not a fan of it..
Sure you can 🙂 Enjoy baking!
Hi, beautiful baker, My husband loves it and I enjoyed baking it. ❤️
Hello Becky! I am so happy to know that! Thank you very much!
We have a milk allergy in our family, so I am wondering how this will work with coconut sweetened condensed milk. I think I will give it a try! I have everything else on hand, I will let you all know how it turns out. By the, where do you live? I have lived in Norway and Canada, but I am from the USA and am currently living there. It is a challenge to cook in other countries at times!
Hello Jane! I live in Canada! I hope these turned out well for you!
awesome!! delicate taste of sweetness!
Hi Daisy! Thank you!
I made 8 of these for a bake sale to benefit a homeless shelter. They were all scooped up by happy purchasers and since then, I have had inquiries asking if I’ll be making them for the next monthly bake sale. Yummy and gorgeous ! I think I may try makin 2 sizes next time. Thank you so much. I also wanted you to know that it was your time, effort, and grace, to share your recipe that truly results in helping our homeless neighbors. Thank you !
Deb, your message made my day! I am so glad that these are making a difference. Thank you so much for letting me know. It means a lot to me!