Kirbie's Cravings

Matcha bread rolls

freshly baked match bread rolls cooling on a wire rack

If you read my blog regularly, you know I’ve been obsessed with making breads with the Tangzhong method lately. A chinese woman, Yvonne Chen, published a book a few years ago where she describes her “Tangzhong” method of creating bread that is incredibly soft, fluffy and bouncy.

So far I’ve made milk toast, raisin rolls, and nutella cream horns. This time I tackled matcha bread rolls because I love matcha.

I was hoping for a greener bread to match with the upcoming holidays, but the breads came out pretty brown on the outside. The inside was a dark green though. Maybe next time I’ll add a little more green tea powder.

three matcha bread rolls on a white plate

I used another recipe I found on Christine’s recipes, who has been trying a lot of recipes from the book. I don’t read chinese, so I can’t read the book myself.

a close-up of a match bread roll sliced in half with the filling showing

I made a couple of tweaks from the recipe, like I’ve done with the rest of the recipes I’ve tried. I wanted to have a shiny outside, so I used eggwash rather than dusting the bread with flour. This may have been a mistake. The eggwash created a crispy outside and made the exterior of the bread harder than I wanted. I wanted a completely soft bread.

The bread was still good. For the filling, I used red bean paste. I don’t like a lot of filling in my bread, so I only used a little bit of paste.

a match bread roll sliced in half on a paper doily

Recipe Tips

The dough should be kneaded until it is elastic enough until it passes the “windowpane” test. This means you should be able to pull and stretch the dough on all sides until it is very thin (so that it resembles a windowpane), without it breaking. When it eventually does break, the hole should form a perfect circle.
photo showing how thin the dough should stretch after kneading
a photo showing how the dough, stretched until it breaks, forms a hole in the form of a circle

Matcha Bread Rolls

Servings: 12 rolls
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: Chinese
These soft and fluffy bread rolls flavored with matcha get their amazing texture from a mixture called tangzhong, which is just flour and water cooked to a certain temperature and cooled. Plan to make your tangzhong in advance. I've linked the recipe in the in the notes section. You will only need approximately half of the batch for this recipe. The leftover tangzhong can be stored in the refrigerator for up to two days.

Ingredients

  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 Tbsp + 2 tsp caster sugar
  • 2 1/2 cups bread flour
  • 2 tsp green tea powder
  • 2 tsp instant yeast
  • 1/2 cup skim milk
  • 1 large egg
  • 120 gm tangzhong (see note)
  • 3 tbsp butter cut into small pieces and softened to room temperature
  • canned red bean paste for filling

Instructions

  • In the stand mixer bowl, combine salt, sugar, bread flour, green tea powder and instant yeast. Make a well in the center and add in the milk, egg, and tangzhong.
  • Fit the dough hook attachment on your stand mixer and begin mixing on medium speed until the dough comes together. Then add in the butter and continue to mix on medium speed. Keep kneading until the dough is smooth, not too sticky on the surface and elastic. I kneaded the dough for about 18-20 minutes. Each mixer may vary. When the dough is ready, you should be able to take a chunk of dough and stretch it to a very thin membrane before it breaks. When it does break, the break should form a circle.
  • Gather up the dough and put it in a bowl greased with oil. Cover with plastic wrap or a wet paper towel. Let it proof until double the size, about 40 minutes.
  • Deflate and divide the dough into 12 equal portions. Knead into ball shapes. Cover with cling wrap, let rest for 15 minutes.
  • Create balls with the red bean paste. Use however much you want for your filling. Make 12 balls.
  • Roll out each small dough ball with a rolling pin and flatten into a disc. Flip the dough so that the smooth side of the disk will be at the bottom (will be the outside of the bun.) Place a small red bean ball in the middle of the non-smooth side of the dough. Pinch the dough closed and knead into a ball shape with the seal facing down. Repeat this step of rolling and wrapping fillings with the rest of your dough. Place onto a baking tray, lined with parchment paper, covered with cling wrap. Let the dough sit for a second round of proofing, about 45 to 60 minutes, until double in size.
  • Bake in a pre-heated 320F oven for about 30 minutes, or until brown on top. Transfer onto a wire rack and let cool completely.

Notes

Recipe link for tangzhong. Please note you will only need about half the amount (120g) for the recipe.
Recipe adapted from Christine's Recipes
The nutrition estimates do not include the filling as it will vary depending on how much you use.

Nutrition

Serving: 1roll, Calories: 185kcal, Carbohydrates: 26.7g, Protein: 5.5g, Fat: 4.5g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Sodium: 205.8mg, Fiber: 0.9g, Sugar: 4.4g, NET CARBS: 26

The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.

Did you make this recipe?I'd love to see it! Mention @KirbieCravings and tag #kirbiecravings!

Subscribe to receive new post updates via email

don’t miss a thing!

Get new post updates via email:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




10 comments on “Matcha bread rolls”

  1. Hi Kirbie,

    I wish to try the recipe but I am not good with measuring cups for flour and measuring spoons for butter.I would be very grateful if you could weigh them in grammes, please. I notice that the tangzhong is in gm. Thank you

    • I’m sorry but I do not have time to reweigh all the ingredients. You can try searching on google and someone may have done the conversions.

  2. How did you make the rolls so shiny? egg wash?

    • Yes, though on later versions I stopped using the egg wash because it also made the outside shell too hard. I prefer it to be soft.

  3. I must try this recipe. The bred rolls look so cute and delicious

    Monica from Romania

  4. Aww yummy! These are all my favourite flavours in such soft bread 🙂

  5. Ohh. These matcha bread rolls look good. I love using the Tangzhong method for the extra soft bread(:

  6. ?Fleur De sel Caramel Popcorn from 479 degrees Popcorn