Red bean paste turns up in Chinese bakeries as a filling for mooncakes and steamed buns, and this is the soft-bread version: a milk and butter dough rolled thin enough to see light through, then folded so each bun opens into layers. One mix gives twelve buns, which makes it a reasonable weekend bake.
Chinese bakery · Bread
Red Bean Fan Buns: Soft Milk Bread for a Crowd
An enriched milk dough rolled thin, spread with sweet red bean paste, cut into wedges and folded into fans that pull apart at the table.
- Prep40 min
- Cook15 min
- Serves12
- LevelMedium
Ingredients
| 500 g | bread flour |
| 100 g | wholemeal flour |
| 60 g | milk powder |
| 8 g | instant yeast |
| 290 g | whole milk , lukewarm |
| 100 g | egg , beaten |
| 50 g | unsalted butter , softened |
| 6 g | fine salt |
| 500 g | sweet red bean paste |
| 50 g | egg yolk , for glazing |
Method
- Mix both flours with the milk powder, yeast, milk and egg until no dry flour is left, then knead on medium speed for 4 minutes.
- Add the butter and salt and knead for another 4 to 6 minutes, until the dough stretches thin enough to show light through it.
- Divide into 12 pieces of about 92 g, roll each one into a 19 cm circle, and spread red bean paste over the surface.
- Cut each circle into four wedges, stack them, press down the middle with a chopstick, then twist the two ends towards each other and pinch them shut.
- Set the buns on a lined tray and proof for 1 hour, until they look visibly puffed.
- Brush the tops with egg yolk and bake at 170 °C on fan setting for 15 minutes, until deep gold.
Notes
- Fan ovens run hot; at 190 °C on a conventional setting, start checking at 12 minutes.
- Use a smooth, sweetened red bean paste. Unsweetened bean mash leaves the bun tasting flat, because there is no sugar in the dough.
- Shape the buns on the tray they will bake on. The dough is soft and does not enjoy being moved twice.
Ratios and technique checked against 爱美食的拉拉 on Douguo (豆沙花式面包). The method here is written by Stellaok and the illustration is ours; no text or photograph from the source is reproduced.