Eggless milk loaf / pav
Get ready to prepare the softest and the fluffiest milk loaf aka Hokkaido aka Shokupan you will ever put in your mouth without using eggs. Make a feathery light loaf or a buttery pav, it is guaranteed to please everyone.
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Milk bread aka Hokkaido milk bread aka Shokupan is a Japanese milk bread, known for its buttery, pillowy crumb with a slight sweet flavour. It has a melt in the mouth milky sweet flavour with barely a hint of crust.
The milk bread is most often an enriched dough with ingredients like milk, eggs, sugar and butter. It also involves making a roux which is basically a paste of flour and water which is added to the flour mix to get soft, fluffy bread. This method is known as tangzhong method which gives a lighter, tender crumb to the loaf. Yudane is another method whereby the flour is scaled with hot water which pre-cooks the starch in the flour leading to a soft, pillowy bread. Both of these methods not only give a bread a soft crumb but it also keeps it cottony soft for a long time.
When I did a video on jowar roti on my Instagram account, we used the similar idea. Adding hot water to a gluten free flour like jowar (sorghum) flour activated its starch, which in turn increased the flour’s capacity to absorb more water and therefore leading to a soft jowar roti. I have saved it under highlights (Kathiawadi food) in case you are interested to know more about this roti.
In a bread, starch plays an important part in the structure of the bread, it helps develop a softer texture. Simply put, higher amount of protein leads to a chewier bread whereas higher amount of starch makes the bread softer. And therefore, the purpose of making a roux, either with tangzhong or yudane method, is to increase the starch in the dough which helps retain moisture in the bread.
In my recipe, however, I am using the humble potato to create a cottony, soft crumb. The potato in this loaf is not for flavour but to give that unique lighter, tender crumb without the use of eggs or a slurry. It makes not only a feathery light sandwich loaf but works wonderfully as a pav too. Most often Mumbai pav have a crust with a bit of a chew but a pav made with this loaf is totally different. A soft, thin crust with a buttery interior is what you will be making with this method.
So go ahead, make this amazingly delicious loaf/pav and enjoy the buttery goodness of a milk loaf without eggs.
Update: I updated this recipe on 1/6/2021 with new pictures, measurements in grams and more details. The recipe however remained unchanged.
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Recipe Card
Eggless milk loaf / pav
Recipe Rating
AUTHOR
Hema B Kathrani
CUISINE
International
PREP TIME
3 hrs
COOK TIME
25 – 30 mins
SERVINGS
makes 1 loaf
Author: Hema B Kathrani | Cuisine: International | Category: Breads
Prep Time: 3 hrs | Cook Time: 25 – 30 mins | Servings: makes 1 loaf
Get ready to prepare the softest and the fluffiest milk loaf aka Hokkaido aka Shokupan you will ever put in your mouth without using eggs. Make a feathery light loaf or a buttery pav, it is guaranteed to please everyone.
Ingredients
- For the potato:
- 100 gm potato (about 1 medium sized potato)
- 150 ml (¾ cup) water
- For activating the yeast:
- 150 ml milk
- 1 tsp instant yeast
- 1 tbsp sugar
- For the dough:
- 350 gm (2 ½ cups) bread flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 26 gm (¼ cup) milk powder
- 58 gm (¼ cup) soft butter
- 50 ml milk
Method
- Prepare the potato:
- Cook cubed potato pieces in ¾ cup of water until tender.
- Drain the potato reserving the liquid (I got about 1 ½ tbsp of starchy water)
- Mash the potato well and keep it aside.
- Activating the yeast:
- In a bowl, mix 150 ml of warm milk, sugar and instant yeast. Stir well.
- Keep it aside till the mix becomes frothy.
- Make the dough:
- In a large bowl, combine mashed potato, the starchy water, bread flour, salt, milk powder, 50 ml milk and the frothy yeast just until it comes together.
- Cover it and let it rest for at least 15-30 minutes.
- Remove the dough on to a clean surface and knead the mix in a soft, pliable dough with the soft butter.
- Place it in a greased bowl and cover it for an hour or until it doubles.
- Once the dough has risen, gently deflate the dough and transfer it to a clean counter surface.
- Shaping the loaf: (if you intend to make pav, skip this step, do step 5 and proceed to step 6)
- Divide the loaf in 4 equal parts.
- Keeping the 3 parts covered under a clean napkin, roll out each part in a circle.
- Fold one side of the dough half way along the circle, repeating the same process on the other side.
- Then from the top, start rolling the dough towards you into a log.
- Pinch the ends of the log to seal it tightly.
- Place the log pinched side down in a greased pan of 9X5 inches or slightly smaller.
- Repeat the process with the rest of the dough pieces.
- Cover the pan and let it rise for at least an hour or until the bread rises above the pan surface.
- Shaping the pav: (if you intend to make loaf, skip this step, do step 4 and then proceed to step 6)
- Divide the dough in 12 equal parts. You can either eyeball it here or divide the total weight of the dough by 12.
- Take each dough ball and shape each ball in a round shape.
- Pinch the seam if you see any open endings and place the pav in a greased pan seam side down
- Place the pav with only 1 ½ cm distance on the tray. This not only makes them rise together but also makes the pav taller instead of wider.
- Baking the bread:
- Pre heat the oven to 180 C
- Keep a tray with 2 glasses of water at the bottom rack to create steam in the oven
- Gently brush the top of your loaf or pav with milk.
- Bake the loaf in the oven for at least 25-30 minutes and the pav for 18-20 minutes
- Cover the loaf with an aluminum foil for the last 5 minutes of the cooking time if you feel that the crust is becoming too dark.
- Remove from the oven and let it cool in the pan for 5 minutes.
- Gently, flip the pan and remove the bread/pav on a wire rack to cool.
- Slice the loaf only when it has cooled completely.
Notes
- If you don’t have bread flour, you can use plain flour as well. Bread flour has a higher protein content which gives a higher rise and airy texture to the loaf but if you don’t have it, plain flour will do as well.
- I use US cup measurement which is 1 cup = 235 ml, however I would strongly recommend using the weighing scale to get the best results.
- If you got more 1 ½ tbsp of starchy liquid, you can adjust the liquid quantity with the reserved 50 ml of milk. However, do not use more than 3 tbsp total of starchy liquid.
- For this recipe, I have used a nonstick 8-inch loaf tin with these dimensions: 8.5 inches in length, 4 inches in width and 4 inches in height.
- Each flour is different. If you find your dough too sticky, add 1 tbsp of flour to the mix.
- The temperature of the milk should be warm, not hot. To test, simply put your finger in the bowl. If you are able to comfortably keep you finger in, it is good to go.
- If your yeast mix does not become frothy and bubbly in 10 minutes, it is best to discard and start again.
- Lastly, do not be concerned about the use of potato. You won’t be able to taste it at all. It is added to the recipe to keep the crumb soft and moist, not for flavouring.
- I did a step by step process of pav on my Facebook and Instagram account showing the tips and tricks to get the perfect ‘look’ and have saved it under ‘pav’ in the highlights of the Instagram account for reference.
Did you make this recipe? Follow me on Instagram handle @acookwithin or @acookwithin on Facebook.
www.acookwithin.com
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Let me know how this recipe turned out for you by writing to me in the comments below. And if you take a picture, please tag me on my instagram handle @acookwithin 
to share your creation😊 It would make my day!
10 thoughts on “Eggless milk loaf / pav”
This is the softest pav I’ve had so far! Highly recommended. Thank you very much
Thank you so much for your feedback Anjali. I am glad you enjoyed the pav 🙂
Tried this recipe at home, i am a first time baker , got the taste right, but shape will take some tries. My kids loved the Pavs , something which is not easily available these days.
Thanks for sharing this recipe!!!, happy to be bake from home during the current work from home situation:)
It is wonderful to know that you and the kids enjoyed the bread. Thank you so much for providing your feedback 🙂
What’s is starchy liquid in said recipe.secondly is it safe for otg to keep water in it while baking bread
The starchy liquid is what you get after cooking potato. Do have a look at the recipe. It is explained there. I have always baked bread with a tray of water in the oven and haven’t had any issues at all. Creating an environment of steam in the oven keeps the crumb of the bread soft and gives a shiny, crusty exterior to the bread.
This is the softest pav I’ve had so far! Adding potatoes and milk really makes it amazing. It was a lot of time and effort but totally worth it. Beats any store bought pav, hands down!
Thank you so much for writing the feedback Swati!! I am super happy to know that the recipe turned out so well for you 🙂
Woooooow thank you very much mmmmmm…fresh and yummy
Thank you so much 🙂