FUN FACT: Hong Kong Pineapple buns don't actually contain pineapples in any way - it's name is simply as such because of how the crust resembles that of a pineapple! (It's okay if you didn't know this; I didn't know this till I was 16 either...)
Here's presenting to you - my very first attempt at Hong Kong Pineapple Buns, or as we affectionately call it - Bo Lo Bao 菠蘿包!
Words can't describe how happy I was when I saw that golden crust forming in my trusty oven... making food truly brings me so much joy.
Just looking at that flaky, buttery and crisp crust on top of some warm, fluffy asian milk bread brings me joy! Growing up, I've always been a big fan of bread (yeah... I'm an Asian who doesn't like rice 😅). Not to mention, my preference would ALWAYS be asian bakery buns, which always come in such a variety of shapes, sizes and patterns! I would always ask my mum to buy some on the way home from work as a treat for the family for breakfast the next morning. And having one of those before heading off to school on an early morning never fails to put me in a good mood!
And I still remember the very first time I went to Hong Kong - where these buns originated from. I literally went on a search for the BEST pineapple buns, woke up early so I could go to countless cha chaan teng's (Hong Kong coffeeshops) that claimed to have great pineapple buns!
And here's a picture of a typical breakfast I had in Hong Kong for the 5 or 6 days that I was there. These pineapple buns were almost always a staple. Because I love that crust SO much... However, I must say, even though I've had many of these buns which were really good, they were often already cooled down, or even cold (especially when you're visiting Hong Kong during winter and you don't catch the right timing where the buns just come out from the oven, freshly-baked) ... And truly, nothing can compare to freshly made buns that just popped out of the oven!
So yes, I definitely highly recommend you try making these at home! It definitely is rather time consuming, as with any bread recipe - but that golden crust is nothing too difficult to achieve. And the best part of it? You can control the taste of the crust really easily!
So a little bit about my Asian milk bread recipe - I prefer to use the Tangzhong method, which requires pre-cooking the dough in a pan at low heat and letting it cool down before use. This may feel slightly cumbersome, but it really brings out that super fluffy texture in bread! And ever since getting started on Tangzhong, I never leave it out of my Asian bread recipes anymore. Because that's how much difference it makes!
And I'll now be sharing the ingredients and steps to re-creating this Hong Kong bakery classic!
INGREDIENTS
Asian Milk Bread
Adapted from Umi's Baking on YouTube, this video provides really detailed step-by-step instructions on how to create that perfect Asian milk bread dough, which made bread-making a lot easier for me!
Yields 1.1-1.2kg of dough after proofing, equivalent to 2 9" x 5" loafs or 20-25 individual buns. Feel free to half the recipe! But do measure out 25g of egg - I would prefer to be rather precise when it comes to breadmaking.
Tangzhong (Pre-cooked Dough): in pan
200g water
40g bread flour
Dry Ingredients
10g dry milk (milk powder) (2.5 tsp)
10g instant yeast (1 pk)
12g salt
60g sugar
580g bread flour
Wet Ingredients
Tangzhong (should weigh anywhere between 160-170g), cooled and brought back to room temperature
1 egg (50g without shell), beaten
260g milk
50g unsalted butter, cut into small cubes and softened at room temperature
Egg Wash
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp milk
Recipe Notes
Sugar: I am using caster sugar as I use the SIS Low GI Sugar for all my bakes, but I have tried using regular granulated sugar and it works equally well.
Bread flour: Good quality bread flour should have a protein content >12-13%: this would allow for the gluten to more easily develop. My go-to brand of bread flour in Singapore has always been Prima - which has a protein content of 13.1% (13.1g per 100g)!
Milk: Whole milk would yield a tastier dough I believe, but I've always stuck with low-fat milk because that's all I have at home. Upon research, I also read that some people like to use the Hokkaido milk because it has a supposed special taste to it - though I personally haven't tried because that milk is more than double the price of the typical fresh milk here in Singapore... 😅
Pineapple Crust Dough (Low Sugar Version)
I came up with this recipe myself after reading through a few recipes, and a few key factors would be the egg yolk, the type of flour used, and the butter: flour ratio as well.
55g butter, softened to room temperature
80g caster sugar (It is important to use caster sugar here - because you definitely don't want to be biting into sugar granules heh. For a more authentic taste and if you don't mind more sugar, feel free to increase this amount up to 100-120g! My family just prefers low-sugar treats in general.)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
115g cake flour (NOTE: cake flour is a low-protein flour with a protein content of 7-9.5%. You can make your own from all-purpose flour and cornstarch as well! Use 90g all-purpose flour and 20g cornstarch.)
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp whole milk
INSTRUCTIONS
Tangzhong
1. Add 40g of bread flour and 200g of water, and mix.
2. Pour this flour-water mixture into a pan, and cook it on low heat. Stir until sticky - it will be similar to a mochi texture when done! DO NOT OVERCOOK THE DOUGH!! If you do - please, please start again - a burnt tangzhong mixture definitely does not bode well - it can result in a dry asian milk bread which is really sad after spending all that effort.
3. Transfer the cooked tangzhong to a separate bowl, and let it cool down before refrigerating it. The original recipe calls for 6 hours' refrigeration time, but generally I just do it 2-3 hours before and it works fine for me as well. The shortest I've done is 1 hour, where I basically just let it cool to room temperature in the refrigerator before I start using it.
Making the Bread
1. Weigh out all dry ingredients - 10g milk powder, 10g instant yeast, 12g salt, 60g sugar, 580g bread flour.
2. Transfer all dry ingredients to a large bowl, or bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. I would highly recommend using a stand mixer for this recipe given the large volume of ingredients, as well as long kneading time.
3. Beat all dry ingredients at low speed, until combined. 4. Prepare all wet ingredients - egg, milk, tangzhong and butter. 5. With the stand mixer on low speed, slow add in the egg, milk, and tangzhong. Turn the stand mixer on to medium-high speed, beat until all ingredients are combined and a rough dough forms.
6. In separate additions, with the mixer now on high speed, slowly add in the 50g of softened unsalted butter. (I like to add very little at each time, and only continue adding when the traces of butter are no longer very visible). 7. Beat with the mixer on high speed until the dough no longer clings on to the sides of the bowl. Alternatively, you can use the 'window-pane' method to check whether the dough is done, which involves taking a small amount of dough and stretching it. It should be able to stretch quite a fair bit, where you can form a very thin layer without the dough breaking.
Proofing and Shaping the dough - for individual buns
1. When the dough is ready, place a cling wrap over the bowl, and let the dough proof for 40 mins - 1 hour. During this time, you can prepare the cookie dough for the pineapple bun's crust! (Instructions for the cookie dough is included below).
Bread dough: Pre-proofing (Sorry the bowl's rather messy.... heh)
2. It should more than double in size, and when you place 1 finger through the middle of the dough- whole finger should fit in without the dough springing back.
Bread dough: 40 minutes into proofing - just look at how thick that dough is!!
3. Punch a hole through the dough, and remove the dough from the mixing bowl onto a working surface. 4. Using a weighing scale, weigh about approximately 50g of dough, and shape it into any shape you would prefer. For these Bo Lo Buns, you can simply roll them into round balls, and slightly flatten them. Place them on baking paper, or a silicone baking mat. 5. ADDITIONAL STEP: If you would prefer, you can also add some Char Siew, mixed with some Char Siew sauce, sesame seeds and garlic into the buns, to make some Bo Lo Char Siew Buns! 6. After shaping all the dough, cover the tray with cling wrap and let it proof for a final 40 minutes - 1 hour. 7. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F). 8. When the dough is done proofing, place a piece of the Bo Lo cookie dough onto the proofed buns, and use a pastry brush to brush some egg wash on the surfaces of the buns.
9. Send the tray into the oven (middle rack) to bake! It should take about 15-20 minutes - once the cookie dough turns golden brown, your buns are ready. 10. Enjoy your freshly-baked buns! You can either cut a slit through the centre of the bun and place a slab of butter - like how they do it in Hong Kong.
Making the Pineapple Crust Dough
Can be made beforehand, should be refrigerated and only taken out 15 minutes before use to let it warm up slightly so it can be shaped.
1. Combine the dry ingredients - cake flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a medium-sized bowl. Set aside.
2. In another bowl, add the butter, and whisk till creamed and fluffy.
3. Add the egg yolk, and mix still combined.
4. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the dough, and mix until a cookie dough forms. Don't worry if the dough feels dry, a dry dough is actually crucial to create those pretty golden crust cracks on the top when baking!
5. Place the dough in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
6. Once cooled and buns are almost done proofing for the second time, remove from the fridge, and cut the dough into about 12 equal pieces (this size really depends on how big your buns are, but for me - it makes about 10-12).
7. Using either a rolling pin or your hands, shape the cookie dough into a flat round circle.
8. Drape this flat cookie dough over the proofed buns, before brushing egg wash over the buns. They are now ready to be baked!
9. And I'm finally done with this new recipe addition!! I know breadmaking may feel daunting when you look at this post, but no store-bought bread can beat freshly-baked bread. Enjoy your pineapple buns!
