Bake

Kindred's Milk Bread

November 17, 2015
4.3
66 Ratings
Photo by Bobbi Lin
  • Prep time 2 hours 30 minutes
  • Cook time 1 hour
  • Makes 6 rolls, two 9- by 5-inch loaves, or 12 split-top buns
Author Notes

This recipe is served as a starter to each dinner table at Kindred Restaurant in Davidson, North Carolina. But the dough doesn't stop there. It can be used as sandwich bread, French toast, burger buns, doughnuts, and more. This is a bread that merges utility and taste, seamlessly. —catherine margaret o'donnell

What You'll Need
Watch This Recipe
Kindred's Milk Bread
Ingredients
  • 5 1/3 cups bread flour, divided, plus more for surface (Kindred uses King Arthur)
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1/3 cup mild honey (such as wildflower or alfalfa)
  • 3 tablespoons nonfat dry milk powder (such as Alba)
  • 2 tablespoons active dry yeast (from about 3 envelopes)
  • 2 tablespoons kosher salt
  • 3 large eggs, divided
  • 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, at room temperature
  • Nonstick vegetable oil spray
  • Flaky sea salt (optional, but shouldn't be)
Directions
  1. Cook 1/3 cup flour and 1 cup water in a small saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly, until a thick paste forms (almost like a roux but looser), about 5 minutes. Add cream and honey and cook, whisking to blend, until honey dissolves.
  2. Transfer mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook and add milk powder, yeast, kosher salt, 2 eggs, and 5 remaining cups flour. Knead on medium speed until dough is smooth, about 5 minutes. Add butter, a piece at a time, fully incorporating into dough before adding the next piece, until dough is smooth, shiny, and elastic, about 4 minutes.

  3. Coat a large bowl with nonstick spray and transfer dough to bowl, turning to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
  4. If making rolls, lightly coat a 6-cup jumbo muffin pan with nonstick spray. Turn out dough onto a floured surface and divide into 6 pieces. Divide each piece into 4 smaller pieces (you should have 24 total). They don’t need to be exact; just eyeball it. Place 4 pieces of dough side-by-side in each muffin cup.
 If making loaves, lightly coat two 9- by 5-inch loaf pans with nonstick spray. Turn out dough onto a floured surface and divide into 12 pieces. Nestle pieces side-by-side to create 2 rows down length of each pan.
 If making split-top buns, lightly coat two 9- by 13-inch baking dishes with nonstick spray. Divide dough into 12 pieces and shape each into a 4-inch long log. Place 6 logs in a row down length of each dish.
  5. Let shaped dough rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size (dough should be just puffing over top of pan), about 1 hour.
  6. Preheat oven to 375° F. Beat remaining egg with 1 teaspoon. water in a small bowl to blend. Brush top of dough with egg wash and sprinkle with sea salt, if desired. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until bread is deep golden brown, starting to pull away from the sides of the pan, and is baked through, 25 to 35 minutes for rolls, 50 to 60 minutes for loaf, or 30 to 40 minutes for buns. If making buns, slice each bun down the middle deep enough to create a split-top. Let milk bread cool slightly in pan on a wire rack before turning out; let cool completely.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Twila Kim
    Twila Kim
  • Vickie Resor
    Vickie Resor
  • Pamela_in_Tokyo
    Pamela_in_Tokyo
  • WellFedWit
    WellFedWit

536 Reviews

brushjl February 10, 2024
Wow! So easy and so delicious. Makes great toast and snacking bread.
 
Beth February 6, 2024
It's delicious, but it makes so much and halving it doesn't work too well. Too much for 2 people. Try the Japanese milk bread recipe, it's very similar and makes one loaf.
 
Twila K. February 6, 2024
Love, luv, luv this bread!!!!!! Dense, soft, light and doughy. MMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!1
 
Twila K. February 6, 2024
Oh, I cut out all that salt!!!!!! Use just enough so you can enjoy the sweet bread!!
 
DianeStella October 31, 2023
This is my go-to bread. I often share the buns or bread loaves with a few of my bachelor neighbours. Living in the country everyone shares the wealth. A funny thing happened the last time I shared the Kindred Bread. The old fellow came back a few days later and he said "You don't happen to have any more of that bread, it is just like what we used to have when we were kids, it is delicious". So coming from him I feel like that is a five star compliment. Thanks for the sharing recipe.
 
Mwhalen February 19, 2023
This was awful! I typically oversalt my food and did a trouble take when it said 2 tablespoons of salt. I watched the video and read the recipe 3 times, but shrugged and added the salt. I ate a piece, and tried it again the next day. Ended up throwing out the remaining loaf and 1/2. What a waste of ingredients.
 
Twila K. February 17, 2024
Cut out the salt!
I use 1tsp only. - to your taste, of course.
It's really delicious, like a sweet bread.
 
Mary S. October 18, 2022
For some reason, I can't understand this obsession with weighing every ingredient in every recipe. I made this bread today, using 2 T. of Diamond Crystal salt and didn't weigh a single ingredient. (I did let the hot ingredients cool some so the eggs wouldn't curdle.) I have 2 beautifully risen loaves of bread that are browner than I'd like, but I'll adjust the temp/baking time next time.
 
Karen October 18, 2022
Cover with foil the last 5 to 10 minutes (or when it's as brown as you like). Won't affect the rest of the cooking time
 
Mary S. October 19, 2022
Thank you. I'll add that it wasn't too salty with the Diamond Crystal salt, and we tend to undersalt our food.
 
SnarkyKatCooks January 16, 2023
Just wondering how you think a recipe should look if one doesn't include weights/measures. Not measuring/weighing ingredients seems like a strange flex, but there you go.
 
QueenieFrancie February 27, 2023
The entire recipe is written in volume measurements not weight, so one would not weight ingredients but measure them.
 
[email protected] February 23, 2022
I tried this recipe twice. It did not turn out twice. The bread did not rise over three hours. I used new fresh yeast. My product was really dense and hard to eat. Something is not right with this recipe.
 
Vickie R. February 23, 2022
Good morning. I read you post and can totally relate. I tried this recipe and you'll see that in my post of 7/7/2020, I mention the "Not rising" issue. I've been to this restaurant and eaten this bread so I was determined to be able to make it here at home. It's a TREAT! I've made it 3 times already and each time I've had to put the dough on a flat pan above a pan filled with hot boiling water in the oven. No heat In the oven, just the steam because my dough does NOT rise as it should in the first rising process. Try it again and use large ramekins like I did. And by the way, I used coconut oil in the ramekins before putting my dough in. That stuff is magic. Good luck. there are also many comments about the salt. Take a look through the reviews.
 
Susan February 6, 2024
Either your liquid was too hot for your yeast and killed the yeast or your salt kill your yeast. Salt will inhibit the yeast from raising the dough.
 
Wayteach February 10, 2022
This came out great! Following a few of the reviews, I cut the Kosher salt down to 1T, stirred the dry ingredients before adding, let the honey mixture cool to about 105 degrees before adding the yeast and flour mixture to it, and I baked it at 350 for about 35 minutes. I temped it at 200° and removed it from the oven. Perfectly done and moist and delicious bread.
 
Syed February 3, 2022
The first time I tried this bread two years ago, it turned out too salty.
This time I converted using my own calculations to metric. Cup measurements do not work for me as a cup of my flour would weigh from 125gm to 160gm. I halved this recipe and the bread turned out pretty good! For this I used 362 gm of bread flour, 125 ml heavy cream, 58 gm honey, 10.5 gm of yeast (3 envelopes of yeast = 21 gm), 7.2 gm of kosher salt (about 2% of weight of the flour), 1 large egg, 29 gm butter, 1-1/2 tbsp milk powder. I used 23 gm of flour with 1/2 cup water to make the roux, added the cream and honey. The flour/water/cream/honey mixture should be not exceed 105 F - barely warm to the touch. I followed rest of the steps and this bread rose beautifully. In fact it rose a bit too much - the next time I'll cut down the second proofing time. I used a loaf pan. The bread tasted great and it disappeared quickly.
 
Jennie W. January 22, 2022
Should have read the reviews before making it. Didn't have kosher salt so used regular himalayan pink and my dough did not rise a lick. I know my yeast is good. So blah. What a waste. Probably should edit the recipe to say if you don't have kosher add only 1 tbsp.
 
Karen October 18, 2022
The kind of salt you use has NO effect on the. Read. IF the salt and yeast are mixed together, thst can have an effect on the yeast. I've made bread for over 50 years and have used all minds of salt.
 
Karen October 18, 2022
The kind of salt you use has NO effect on the. Read. IF the salt and yeast are mixed together, thst can have an effect on the yeast. I've made bread for over 50 years and have used all minds of salt.
 
BurgeoningBaker October 24, 2021
I think the tangzhong killed my yeast. I see people talking about letting it kill but not saying how long they do that. Any clues or feedback?
 
Beth October 24, 2021
It must have been too hot. Let it cool before mixing anything in it, and don't put the yeast right on top of it. I make the tangzhong in my microwave, stirring several times but you don't have to stand there stirring like on the stove. Stick it in the frig or freezer to cool quickly.
 
Jennie W. January 22, 2022
This recipe has enough salt that it could have prevented the rise. Happened to me and I know my yeast is good.
 
blanchette October 10, 2021
Made this today. I read all the reviews regarding saltiness and baking temp. I used 2 T of kosher salt in the recipe, and 1 T kosher salt sprinkled on top and baked at 350 degrees. Turned out great! The second proofing wasn't quite as "poofy" as I had hoped, nevertheless it was very tasty!
 
Eileen August 21, 2021
There is far too much salt in the recipe, I’d cut it to less than half the amount. It’s too bad the recipe can’t be changed. I’ve made it with too much salt..as directed…then with less than a tbsp..delicious.
 
Pamela_in_Tokyo August 22, 2021
The problem with this recipe and a lot of recipes online these days is that these chefs use _kosher salt_ which has large flakes and thus fills up the measuring spoon quickly. If you (like most of us, like me too) just have table salt - you have to use HALF the amount. Only some recipe writers are kind enough to mention that in the directions. At least they should provide the gram amount of salt.

To tell the truth, this salt issue is very frustrating. I live in Japan and I can not get the same kind of salt.

Also, you would think after all the comments and the disappointments that people have suffered because of the salt issue, you would think that the recipe writer would correct the recipe or add a note so that others are not suffering the same thing as well.
 
Eileen August 22, 2021
You’re correct, however I did use kosher salt and it’s still too much.
Otherwise it’s a good recipe, I hope you find a good salt to use.
 
Julie C. August 21, 2021
I really wish I had read the comments before adding all that salt. I will add half that amount next time. I also reduced my oven temp to ~350.
I'm trying to figure out how I can salvage this salty bread.
 
Karen October 24, 2021
Cut it up, let dry and make bread pudding. Don't add salt to anything.
 
Vicki December 19, 2021
Or make croutons.
 
Caroline N. June 6, 2021
I've made this recipe a couple of times without issue but today, I noticed that after the first mix, little white balls appeared in the dough. I am trying to figure out what happened. Does anyone know?
 
Carol H. June 7, 2021
It's the powdered milk. Happened to me several times as well. Whisk all the dry ingredients together well before adding the liquid ingredients and you'll avoid this problem in the future. Happy baking!
 
Caroline N. June 7, 2021
Oh good to know, thank you so much!
 
Courtney January 29, 2021
I made this bread yesterday. I had to make the dough twice because the first time I made it there was a lot of lumps in the dough. Im unsure what happen. Second time the dough came out super nice. I put it in the refrigerator for a few hours as I had to leave. Once I took it out and rolled it into the 12 balls and let it rest it took way longer then 1 hour and never rose over the top of the bread pan. I baked it for about 35 mins. It came out great. I was also worried about putting 2 Tablespoons of salt in it. But it was great. Would totally recommend and make it again. Great bread
 
mkhelmick December 15, 2020
I made this recipe according to the metric suggestions posted in the comments by MQAvatar, also using KA bread flour. I found that I needed to use about 3 tbsp more flour than his measurements called for (using tbsp’s in this estimate because I did not measure when I added in the extra flour and I have no idea how to estimate how many grams I added). The video included in this recipe and on YouTube of this bread being made was very useful in knowing what to look for in the desired consistency of both the tangzhong and the dough. I agree with other commenters that the bake time / oven temperature for this recipe is wildly off. I baked half of my dough in a regular loaf pan and the other half as rolls and both were finished in 28 minutes when baked at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and had to be covered with foil for their last 10 minutes in the oven to keep the tops from scorching. Luckily I have a food thermometer so I was able to check and know that they were cooked through. Overall, with the changes in temperature and cook time and using the metric weight suggestions for the ingredients, they turned out beautifully - soft and fluffy interiors with deeply browned exteriors, absolutely delicious. I’ll definitely be making this again.
 
AndreaB October 13, 2020
I recently had the original milk rolls at the Kindred restaurant and these are just as good. I followed other commenters' tips and reduced the kosher salt by half since I used Morton's, cooled the heated mixture before I added the yeast, and decreased the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Turned out perfectly with those modifications. Bad news for my waistline.
 
parikshah October 12, 2020
Come on - how come the measurements aren’t by weight? Anyone attempting something like this should be using the ingredients by weight. Would solve all the salt problems mentioned in the reviews.
 
WellFedWit October 12, 2020
Check the comments...several people have added the weight. I asked Food52 to do it a few years ago and they wouldn’t because they didn’t want the alter the person’s recipe. And then even the person who submitted the recipe responded that “not everyone has a scale” blah blah blah I wasn’t asking them to take away the other measurements, only to ADD but to no avail. Almost 500 comments later and they still won’t fix it!
 
parikshah October 12, 2020
Interesting, I’ll look through the comments. But yeah, it’s a little silly to be baking, or attempting to bake at this level and not having a scale.
 
Jef September 27, 2020
Add a step to cool stovetop mixture before adding yeast!!! Or at least as the floors and other ingredients prior to adding yeast to let the whole thing cool a bit so you don’t kill your yeast. My bread is not rising at all and after thinking about it realized I likely added the yeast to the hot mix. I should known better, having baked a lot of bread over a lot of years, but it’s been several months andi want thinking. What a waste of ingredients...