Super Soft Tang Zhong 100% Wholemeal Rolls

Have been trying to bake a decent wholemeal loaf using my breadmaker (Panasonic SD-P104) but I got disappointing results almost everytime! Brick-like, cake-like, sponge-like, you name it!

So this time, I decided to try my luck on bread rolls instead, but still using the breadmaker to do the kneading. I looked for 100% wholemeal rolls, and got a recipe from this webpage – An Oregon Cottage. Texanerin reproduced the recipe and got amazing results, so I picked up my courage and tried.

Also, I wanted to incorporate ‘tang zhong’ in the recipe for even softer bread. Gladly, there is this amazing post all about ‘tang zhong’ and how to incorporate it in any bread recipes by  Simply A Food Blog. Using her formula, I converted Oregon Cottage’s recipe into my own ‘tang zhong’ version. (Also converted the cup-units to metric units.)

The dough was quite wet. It did not come clean at the bottom – under the blade. Nevertheless, it held up well as a ball and it was not too flabby. When poked with a finger, it felt soft – sign of a very light dough!

1st proof took about an hour, in the breadmaker.

The dough after the first proof was a little slack, but still strong enough to be rolled into a ball. I was quite worried when I turned the dough out, as it almost resembled the dough of one of my failed attempts! It was squishy and ‘sweat’ a lot! To my delight, it was tricky but perfectly shapable! It was also very light that it felt like pinching air, ahha. Don’t let this put you off if you encounter the same problem! 😉

I made two different flavours: a batch with choc chips; another with cheese, decorated with more cheese! 😛

Luckily, they were beautifully baked.

Look at these babies!

The cheese ones were less brown than the chocolate chips ones, but just as good!

The texture of the bread rolls was perfect. Soft, with just the right moistness. The amazing thing was that it sprang back instantly when you bite on it! Flavour wise, it was spot on – very nutty, and the choc chips and cheese were lovely. A very good bake indeed! 😀 Very happy to have found this recipe!

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Super Soft Tang Zhong 100% Wholemeal Rolls – adapted from ‘An Oregon Cottage’ (link above) 

For the tang zhong:

19g wholemeal flour, 95g water

For the dough:

281g           whole wheat bread flour
1tsp            brown sugar
1/2tsp         salt
4g                instant yeast
43g              honey / maple syrup
1                   egg  (or 1.5 egg, but reduce milk to 85g)
110g            milk
50g              butter (I did not have enough butter and substituted some oil for it)
and all of tang zhong made above.

1. Prepare the tang zhong and other wet ingredients in advance and chill in fridge.
2. Put everything in the breadmaker and put it on the dough mode.
3. When the dough has doubled its size, turn it out and start shaping!
4. Allow 15-20 minutes for proofing after shaping.
5. Bake at 180ºC at middle rack for 20 minutes.

Enjoy! 😀