Vegan Cloud-Soft Milk Bread Rolls

vegan cloud soft milk bread

This recipe is inspired by Aimee @twiggstudios Hokkaido milk bread recipe shared on her blog from Two Red Bowls new cookbook.

This bread is so soft rich and dreamlike puffy that I cannot believe myself it's vegan! If you are not vegan but you don’t want to use eggs just follow my instructions and use dairy instead.

The first time I tried the recipe came ok, but this time came out totally divine, as I have adjusted the proportions and changed the coconut powdered milk to coconut condensed milk. Said that I made the recipe twice so look out for adjustments of your own. There is infact only one goal here, have a soft and sticky dough that you can still roll down well.

The way the tangzhong is made is similar to how my grandma would prepare her yeast for the bread, with the only difference she was adding the milk and some of the sugar to this mixture, that resemble a bechamelle sauce. For this time, I followed the precise direction that Aimee gives, but I will soon try my grandma style to see if it's this effective to make the bread super puffy.

Compared to twiggstudio recipe, I added more liquid and more sugar to make the recipe as fluffy without the aid of the eggs. For double cream, I've used full fat coconut cream, and I wouldn't advise you to use vegan faux double creams made with starches, because they won't be as fatty and rich as dairy creams. Here, you are looking for fats and richness to make the bread soft! So vegan drinks such as rice or oat milk made creamy by starches won’t have any positive effect on making the dough soft and brioche-like.

The original recipe doesn't call for as much cream as I've used, but I worked ou that without eggs I needed more fat and sugar to create air bubbles in the dough.

As I was working on the styling of the recipe I left the dough rise on my shooting table, so I've added one extra proving time after the dough is rolled out, I think this can help a vegan dough to rise better.

Vegan Cloud-Soft Milk Bread
Vegan Cloud-Soft Milk Bread


320 gr strong bread flour (2 and a half cups)
½ cup of sugar
1 tsp salt
1 + 1/2 tsp active dried yeast ( I use doves farm)

200 ml vegan double cream ( I’ve used full fat coconut cream or Mylk)
1/4 to 1/3 cup rich plant based milk (I’ve used Mylk or Sojade. I still need experiment more and to adjust this quantity to perfection, you can start with less and add more later on if the dough is stiff)
2 tbsp sweetened coconut condensed milk
3 tbsp vegan butter softened

2 tbsp bread flour
6-8 tbsp water

  • Method

    Three hours before baking make the dough.

    Make the tangzhong in a small sauce pan adding the water and flour and whisk until no lumps remain. Heat over a medium/low heat whisking constantly until the mixture resembles a shiny bechamelle, about 2 minutes. Allow to cool down to tepid.

    Bring the milk to a slightly warm temperature (don’t need to boil vegan milk), mix in the condensed milk, and sprinkle the yeast on top and let sit until foamy, 5 to 10 minutes.

    Once the yeast has foamed, add tangzhong, 3 spoonful of milk and whisk together until well combined.
    In the bowl of your stand mixer add the flour, salt, sugar and mix.

    Turn your mixer on with dough hooks attached. Pour in all the liquid and start mixing with the dough hook. Add extra milk if the dough is dry*. It needs to be a sticky and soft, smooth dough**.

    After the dough has been mixing for two minutes add the butter in small chunks a bit at a time and making sure it is combined before you add the next chunk. Turn the mixer up and knead for another 3 to 5 minutes.

    Place the dough in a large bowl, so it has space to rise and cover with a damp towel and place in the oven with light on ( or slighly warmed up in advance if it's cold weather) and leave to rise for 3 hours.

Vegan Cloud-Soft Milk Bread
vegan cloud-soft milk bread rolls
vegan cloud-soft milk bread rolls
vegan super soft milk bread rolls

On a floured surface, roll the dough out into a large rectangle and leave it rest for 20 minutes. Use flour to prevent the dough to stick around the rolling pin and your table.

In a small bowl mix 2-3 spoons of vegan butter with some condensed milk and toasted hazelnut or almonds meal. Then, spread it with the mixture and roll it tightly lenghtwise with the edge facing down. Cut in equal buns and ease them in a baking tray previously greased. They need quite­ some room to rise so don't fit them too tight.

I didn’t leave them to rise more before cooking ( Aimee does) , but I put the rolls into the cold oven, by the time it reached the temperature they have rised again. But if you prefer to play safe leave the rolls to rise again for 20 minutes and then place in the oven at 180°C. For sure more times they rise the better.

If insteadn you want to follow my shortcut, just put the rolls into your oven on the lower rack, and switch it on to 180°C. Bake for 30-40 minutes depending how big your rolls are, or until the top is golden brown.

They brown quickly so keep an eye on them. Aimee suggestes they might need to be covered with foil towards the end of the cooking. Personally I didn’t cover the rolls.

Enjoy with jam or cream, or brush with condensed milk leftovers and more nuts.

*don’t overwork the dough or will become stiff

** better to start with a slightly dry dough snd add milk, than having to add flour later because is too loose. Adding flour will make your dough stiff and your bread more bagel-like.

Vegan Cloud-Soft Milk Bread
Vegan Cloud-Soft Milk Bread
Vegan Cloud-Soft Milk Bread
Vegan Cloud-Soft Milk Bread
Vegan Cloud-Soft Milk Bread
Vegan Cloud-Soft Milk Bread