Anpanman Small Breads
Japanese red bean buns have always been simple, delicious, and popular small breads. However, with a little bit of thought and creativity, a plain bun can turn into an adorable and fun Anpanman bread! This time, I used the best dough recipe I've ever tried. It's easy to knead and gives a satisfying color. The dough doesn't use eggs or milk but uses milk powder, making it safe for those allergic to eggs or following a lacto-vegetarian diet. The recipe measures are enough to make about 5 small breads, so adjust the quantity as needed. Reproduction without permission is prohibited!
Ingredients
Steps
Combine all ingredients except butter and food coloring into a smooth and elastic dough until the extended stage. Then add butter and knead to the full stage, where the dough is strong and can form a thin and durable membrane. (The image used is from before, due to laziness...) The kneading process is not very different; just make sure it's done properly.
Separate a 15g dough piece and a 5g dough piece. Add 3g pumpkin powder or a few drops of orange food coloring into the 15g dough piece and knead until even to form an orange dough. Add 1g red yeast powder or a few drops of red food coloring into the 5g dough piece to form a red dough. Cover with cling wrap and start the first fermentation.
Let the dough rise in a room temperature of about 25°C. The first fermentation takes about 1-2 hours until the dough has doubled in size. Compare with the earlier image to clearly see the difference.
Take out the dough and divide the white dough into 50g pieces. Divide the orange and red dough into 10 and 5 pieces of 1.5g each, respectively, as shown in the picture.
Filling stuffing! (No photo of this step). Roll the white dough into a round shape and wrap it around 50g of red bean paste/chocolate filling. I used homemade chocolate filling (recipe from user ‘Swimmer's Song’). Place two orange dough pieces with a red dough ball in between in the center of the white dough to make Anpanman's nose. Place in a warm and humid environment (30-38°C) for the second fermentation. I usually put two cups of hot water in a large oven, close the door, and monitor the temperature.
After about an hour of the second fermentation, the dough should rise to 1.5 times its original size, completing the fermentation process.
Preheat the oven to 160°C. Place a sheet of wax paper over the risen dough, weight it with a baking tray, and bake for about 18 minutes. Be careful not to over-brown them since the bun's edges should remain white.
Take out the baked bread and let it cool on a rack. Use food coloring pens to draw cute faces on the Anpanman breads. If you don’t have food coloring pens, you can use melted chocolate to draw.
Break open to see the generously filled stuffing and fluffy crust—it’s super delicious!