Chinese Coconut Bread Loaf
Stuff your face and expand your waistline with this ultra-soft and pillowy Chinese coconut bread loaf that’s packed full of coconut goodness!
Equipment
- 1 stand mixer
Ingredients
Tangzhong
- 15 g Bread flour
- 75 ml Water
Dough
- 220 g Bread flour
- 35 g White granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp Table salt
- 5 g Instant yeast
- 6 g Milk powder
- 1 Large Egg Room temperature
- 60 ml 2% milk
- 25 g Unsalted butter Room temperature
Coconut filling
- 60 g Unsalted butter Room temperature
- 50 g White granulated sugar
- 30 g Pastry flour
- 1/4 tsp Table salt
- 1/2 Large Egg Room temperature
- 55 g Desiccated coconut
- 15 g Milk powder
- 15 g Custard powder
Egg wash
- 1 tsp Milk
Instructions
Making the Tangzhong
- In a small saucepan, add 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.
Making the 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.
Making the Coconut Filling
- Now in another bowl, add in your room temperature butter, white granulated sugar, and table salt.
- Mix everything well together then add in your egg and continue mixing it until the egg has been incorporated into the mixture.
- Then in another bowl, add your pastry flour, milk powder, and custard powder and put everything through a strainer before adding it to your wet ingredients.
- Continue mixing everything together until you no longer see any white flour spots.
- Finally add in your desiccated coconut and mix everything well together and then set the bowl aside.
Dough Continued
- Once your dough has finished proofing, de-gase the dough and transfer it to a floured countertop.
- Now shape the dough into a round ball and cover it with plastic wrap and let it rest for about 20 minutes to relax the dough.
- Then roll out the dough into a large rectangle, approximately 11 x 14 inches.
- Now add the coconut filling to the dough and spread it out evenly onto the dough.
- Finally, roll the dough from the wide end over to the other end to form a long roll.
- Make sure to pinch the edges and ends of the dough to seal it.
- Now make a cut in the middle of the dough, splitting it in half with a dough cutter.
- Now fold one piece of the dough over the other piece and then wrap the other piece on top and tuck the ends inside and make a braided pattern.
- Repeat this for the other end of the two pieces of dough.
- Next, place the dough onto a bread loaf pan lined with parchment paper and cover the bread loaf pan with plastic wrap or a towel.
- I’m using a 9×5 inch pan here but you can use any bread loaf pan just as long as it fits.
- Now place the dough in a warm environment and let it proof for about 35-40 minutes.
- While the dough is proofing, pre-heat your oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Once the dough has finished proofing, apply an egg wash onto the dough by whisking together 1 egg and a splash of milk.
- Now bake the bread loaf at 350°F (180°C) in the middle rack of the oven for about 15 minutes and then cover the top of the bread loaf with some aluminum foil to prevent it from further browning at the top and continue baking the bread loaf for another 15-20 minutes or until the bread loaf has been fully baked on the inside.
- You can check for doneness by taking a toothpick, running it through the bread loaf, and seeing if it comes out clean. If it does, then the inside has been fully baked.
- Once the coconut bread loaf has been baked, leave it inside of the bread loaf pan for about 5-10 minutes and then transfer it to a cooling rack and let it cool down before consuming.