Chinese Coconut Cream Buns

Soft and fluffy milk bread stuffed to the brim with a creamy buttercream filling that’s rich and velvety smooth and topped with sprinkles of coconut flakes. You’re gonna love this Chinese coconut cream bun recipe.

Introduction

As a child I had a weight problem and I can largely attribute that to the regular consumption of these coconut cream filled buns that I so eagerly stuffed my face with.

My face lighted up like a Christmas tree everytime my parents took me to a Chinese bakery because I knew there would be Chinese coconut cream buns there, just waiting me to devour them when we got back home.

Forget about being fit enough to run a lap around gym class, I was more concerned about gobbling down each and every last piece of these Chinese bakery coconut cream buns that made me feel like I was in heaven.

For a person trying to stay in shape, these buns are their worse nightmare but for everyone else, these buns are a godsend.

Soft and airy, creamy and smooth, highly addictive and simply difficult to put down, you may end up getting into regular arguments with friends and family fighting over the last one.

Coconut buns, Hong Kong coconut cream buns, 奶油椰絲包 (Chinese) or simply a gift from the gods, whatever you want to call them, these buns taste AMAZING!!!!!!😍😍

I’m sorry I can’t control my excitement when talking about food lol.

What are coconut cream buns?

Hong Kong coconut buns is an Asian style milk bread that is extremely soft and pillowy that is filled with a rich and thick buttercream filling that isn’t overly sweet and is the perfect compliment to the milk bread that is then drenched in desiccated coconut to create the perfect dessert bun.

If you haven’t gotten a chance to try these buns then your in for a real treat because I’m going to be sharing with you my Chinese coconut cream bun recipe that taste nearly identical to the ones found at Chinese bakeries.

Here’s how to make Chinese coconut cream buns:

Ingredients

Tangzhong:

• Water 100ml
• Bread flour 20 g

Dough:

• Bread flour 300 g
• Milk 95 ml
• 1 Egg (large)
• Instant yeast 5g
• Unsalted butter 20 g
• White granulated sugar 40 g
• Table salt 2g
• Milk powder 6 g
• Desiccated coconut for dipping

Buttercream filling:

• Unsalted butter 110g (room temperature)
• Whipping cream (35%) 150 ml (room temperature)
• Powdered sugar 40g
• Vanilla extract 1 tsp

Egg wash:

• 1 egg
• splash of milk

Sugar water glaze:

• 1 Tbsp of white granulated sugar
• 1 Tbsp of water

Ingredient notes

Whipping cream/heavy cream: I’m using 35% heavy cream in the recipe. I recommend using heavy cream for this recipe and not something lighter like 18% table cream to really get the best texture and flavour.

Desiccated coconut: I recommend using desiccated coconut to sprinkle or dip the buns in. Shredded coconut flakes tend to be a bit larger so if you are using that then I recommend using a food processer to ground it down a bit.

Substitutions

You can also use all-purpose-flour as a substitute for bread flour if you don’t have bread flour available to you, however due note that your bread texture will not be the same and will not give you that nice chewiness compared to using bread flour.

If you don’t have unsalted butter lying around the house, you can use salted butter but you will need to omit the salt from the recipe otherwise the buns will become too salty.

Directions

Tangzhong

We’re going to start off by making our Tangzhong, a water roux. This will make our bread nice and fluffy when baking.

In a small sauce pan, add in your bread flour and water. Heat the pan on low heat while constantly stirring it until the mixture turns into a thick gelatinous paste.

Then remove the pan from the stove and transfer it to a small bowl or dish. Cover it with plastic wrap and then store in the fridge and let it cool down for at least 30 minutes before using.

You can also make your Tangzhong the night before as well.

Dough

After our tangzhong has cooled down, we’re going to make our dough.

In a large mixing bowl, add in your bread flour, white granulated sugar, table salt, instant yeast, milk powder, 1 egg, and the tangzhong.

Pop the mixing bowl into a stand mixer and give it a quick few whisks.

Then add in your room temperature milk and mix everything together for 3-4 minutes.

Then add in your room temperature butter and continue kneading the dough for an additional 11-12 minutes.

Next transfer the dough over to a greased large bowl.

Then shape the dough into a round ball. if you find the dough difficult to handle then you can apply either some oil or water to your hands.

Once done shaping the dough, place it back into the bowl and cover it with plastic wrap or a towel and let it proof in a warm place until double in size, approximately 1 hour.

Buttercream filling

While the dough is proofing, we’re going to prepare our buttercream filling.

For this next step, I recommend that you use a hand mixer instead of a stand mixer if you don’t have a cover for your stand mixer, otherwise you have a chance of your stand mixer making a big mess and splashing all of the whipped cream everywhere.

In a large mixing bowl, add in some room temperature butter and then siff in your powdered sugar.

Now whisk everything well together using either a stand mixer with a cover on, a hand mixer, or even a hand whisk for about 30 seconds. Then add in your vanilla extract and mix it for another 10 seconds or so.

Then add in your whipping cream in 3 stages and continue whisking everything together until you start to see peaks forming on the buttercream filling and no liquid is visible anymore.

Once done, place the filling inside of a piping bag with a French star tip and set it aside.

Dough continued

Once our dough has finished proofing, de-gase the dough and transfer it to your countertop.

Shape it into a ball and weigh out the dough.

Next, divide the dough into 6 pieces and weigh out each piece.

Then shape each piece into a round ball.

Cover the dough and let it rest for about 15-20 minutes.

Now take 1 piece of the dough, flatten it then roll it out and pinch the edges of one side of the dough then slowly roll the dough over to the pinched side, forming an oval shape.

Pinch the bottom and edges of the dough and then transfer the dough onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper.

Repeat the process for the other pieces.

Now cover the dough with plastic wrap or a towel and let it proof in a warm place for about 35-40 minutes.

Once the dough has finished proofing, pre-heat your oven to 350°F.

Now apply an egg wash to the top of the dough by whisking together 1 egg with a splash of milk.

Then bake the buns in a pre-heated oven at 350°F for about 15-16 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Once the buns have been baked, set them aside and allow them to fully cool down.

Once the buns have cooled down, prepare a sugar glaze for the buns by heating your white granulated sugar with a Tbsp of water on a small sauce pan over medium heat while constantly stirring it until it simmers.

Once all of the sugar has melted and the mixture is hot, remove it from the stove.

Now make a cut into the buns about halfway.

Then apply the sugar glaze generously to the top of the buns.

Now dip the buns into some desiccated coconut, making sure to apply a generous amount of the coconut all over the top of the buns.

Finally, pipe the buttercream filling all along the bun where you made the cut.

Repeat the process for the rest of the buns

Tips

I recommend that you don’t pour in all of the heavy cream at once when whisking unless you have a stand mixer with a lid on or you are using a very tall mixing bowl if your using a hand mixer. Instead pour it in stages to minimize the heavy cream from splashing all over the place.

Once the buns have been baked, allow them to fully cool down before cutting into them. This will make it much easier to cut the buns and also allow you to make a cleaner cut.

Frequently Asked Questions (F.A.Q.S)

Can I use dry active yeast instead of instant yeast?

Yes, absolutely! If you’re using dry active yeast make sure that you proof the yeast in a warm liquid such as water or milk in our case along with some sugar. You should see the yeast foam up at the top and produce a very yeast like smell. If you see this, that means your yeast is good to use.

How long can I store the buns for?

You can store the buns in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Make sure that you reheat the buns either in a microwave or the oven if you stored them in the fridge or freezer to give them back their nice soft texture.

How come my dough is not rising?

There could be a number of reasons such as the following:

• Your yeast is dead. Check if your yeast is still alive by adding 1 tsp of yeast, along with 1 tsp of sugar in 1/2 cup of warm water, give it a good mix, then let it sit for 10-15 minutes. If it starts to foam at the top with a very yeasty smell then your yeast is still alive.
• Your environment is too cold. Yeast rises best in a warm environment
• You mixed in hot water with the yeast and killed it.
• You didn’t knead the dough sufficiently enough. Use the window-pane test to check if your dough has been kneaded properly.

I don’t own a stand mixer, can I hand-knead the dough?

Yes, you can, however do realize that the dough is sticky and will be more difficult to knead by hand, that is why it is strongly recommended that you use a stand mixer to make life easier for you . Furthermore, you may need to spend a little more time to knead it compared to using a stand mixer, however it is definitely possible to hand knead it.

I don’t own a hand mixer nor a stand mixer, can I still make this recipe?

Yes, you can but it will be more work and you will need to get comfortable working with sticky dough. Kneading sticky dough by hand is much more difficult compared to using a stand mixer, but it is possible. Also you may use a hand whisk to whisk the buttercream filling together.