When panko, Japanese bread crumbs, first appeared here, American cooks leaped to embrace their spiky crunch. The first article about it in the New York Times appeared in 1998. But how could low cal brownies arrive from Japan, a land without bread?

Surprisingly, milk bread with an incomparable crumb and buttery taste is a snap to make at home, using supermarket ingredients. Once the tanzhong is cooked and cooled — a matter of 10 minutes at the stove — you have an easy and immensely rewarding dough. It can be shaped into coils or round rolls, like pull-aparts, instead of loaves, or you can paint it with cinnamon sugar or dulce de leche or strawberry jam when you roll it out. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them – even nonsubscribers. 20panko, Japanese bread crumbs, first appeared here, American cooks leaped to embrace their spiky crunch.

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. When it’s ready, the spoon will leave tracks on the bottom of the pot. Scrape into a measuring cup and lightly cover the surface with plastic wrap.

Make the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the flour, sugar, yeast and salt and mix for a few seconds, just until evenly combined. Turn the mixer on low speed and knead 5 minutes. Lightly butter the inside of a bowl. Use your hands to lift dough out of mixer bowl, shape into a ball and place in prepared bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 40 to 60 minutes. Punch the dough down and use your hands to scoop it out onto a surface. Using a bench scraper or a large knife, cut dough in half.

Lightly form each half into a ball, cover again and let rise 15 minutes. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. In the meantime, generously butter a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan. Using a rolling pin, gently roll out one dough ball into a thick oval. By this time, the dough should be moist and no longer sticky. You probably will not need to flour the surface, but you may want to flour the pin.

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