This pillowy soft yogurt bun is fast becoming an absolute favourite in this household. They’re so delicious that I bet your family would be demanding for more.
It was my first time trying a bread recipe that calls for yogurt. I was initially rather skeptical but I had a tub of yogurt sitting in the fridge threatening to expire.
I later learnt that yogurt is indeed a wonder ingredient to incorporate into bread! Not only does yogurt hydrates the dough, but due to its acidity, it will also relax the gluten, and thus yields a nice, tender bread.Check out the crumb check video below:
A friend who has tried this recipe using a hand mixer, said her partner commented that it’s the softest and fluffiest bun he has ever had in their kitchen. That’s one great feedback to receive!
Between three adults in my household, eight buns were definitely not enough. The first time I made these light, airy little buns, they were gobbled up almost instantly. I had to make more the next morning.
From then on, I’ve been doubling the recipe. I suspect this is what you may also end up doing so I’ve left some notes at the bottom of the recipe for your reference.
Click here to check out raving reviews from others who have tried and loved this recipe!
Print Recipe
5 from 42 votes
Pillowy Soft Yogurt Buns
These buns are so pillowy soft and delicious, your family will be demanding for more!
Prep Time2 hours hrs
Cook Time15 minutes mins
Course: Breakfast, Snack
Keyword: Baking, Bread, Buns, Egg Free, Thermomix
Servings: 8 buns in 8” round cake tin
Ingredients
(A)
- 200 g high protein bread flour
- 40 g greek or unsweetened plain yogurt chilled
- 120 g cold milk
- 16 g sugar
(B)
- 1 tsp instant dried yeast mix with 1/2 tbsp water
- ½ tsp salt
- 12 g unsalted butter softened at room temp
Instructions
Kneading with Thermomix
Place all ingredients from (A) into mixing bowl – mix for 30secs/Sp3. Let rest for at least 15-20 minutes to autolyse. Refer to notes regarding autolyse.
Mix yeast with room temp water, and add into dough mixture then knead for 1 min.
Add salt – knead 30secs 🌾.
Add butter and let knead for 4mins. 🌾.
Kneading with Stand Mixer / Bread Machine
Place all ingredients from (A) into mixing bowl and mix together until well combined. If using a bread machine, select the "dough" mode, let knead for 3-5 minutes, then stop the machine. Let rest for at least 15-20mins to autolyse. Refer to notes regarding autolyse.
Mix yeast with room temp water, and add into dough mixture and knead using dough hook attachment for 2-3 minutes. If using bread machine, restart the "dough" mode, let knead for 3 minutes.
Add salt, knead for a further 2 minutes. If you're using bread machine, the dough mode would rest for approximately 5 minutes at this stage.
Add butter and knead on stand mixer for 12-15 minutes until achieve window pane. For bread machine users, after the first rest, add butter and let kneading cycle is complete.
Proofing & Shaping
Transfer dough to a pastry mat, shape into ball and let proof in a warm place covered loosely with clingwrap/damp towel until doubled in size (approx 45-60 mins).
Punch down dough to deflate. Divide dough into 8 equal portions (approx 48g each) and roll into round balls. View video tutorial here for how to shape into round balls.
Grease an 8” round cake tin, and place the dough balls around the pan in a circular pattern.
Let proof for approximately 40mins. I usually heat up a cup of water in the microwave for 45 seconds then proceed to leave my dough inside the microwave to rise. During last 15 minutes, preheat oven to 180°C.
Lightly sift some flour over the dough and bake at 180°C for 15mins until golden brown.
Remove from tin and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack before serving.
Notes
Help! My dough is too sticky!
Your dough should be smooth and the mixing bowl should be clean by the end of kneading cycle. If your dough is too sticky to manage, I suggest adding 1 tbsp of flour at a time, and knead to incorporate the flour in.
For bread machine/stand mixer users, for every 1 tbsp of flour added, you will knead for 2-3 minutes to incorporate flour.
For TM users, for every add 1 tbsp of flour at a time, knead for 15-20 seconds until incorporated.
Repeat until dough is manageable. Then lightly oil your hands (and the pastry mat depending on how sticky your dough is) using neutral flavoured oil or butter to shape dough into a ball. Apply the chafing technique by cupping your hands gently around the dough, apply a light, downwards pressure to the sides whilst simultaneously rotating the dough in a circular clockwise motion. Continue doing so until a smooth, even, and round ball is formed. I shared a video of how I perform this technique here.
Alternatively, sticky dough could also be a result of the difference in ingredients, such as flour absorbency for example. If you experienced extremely sticky dough in your first attempt, and adding additional flour did not help, what you can do is to give the recipe another try but add 10-20g of additional bread flour to (A).
Can I double the recipe?
If you wish to double the recipe, make 16 equal portions and divide them equally into 2 x 8″ round pans. Alternatively, you could divide the dough into 12 equal portions (weighing 64g each) and bake in a 9×13″ oblong glass baking dish such as Pyrex.
For those using conventional methods, you may need to increase the kneading duration by 5-10 minutes.
For those using the Thermomix,increase the kneading time to 4.5 minutes at step 4.
Can I skip the autolysing step?
Even if you are pressed for time, I would recommend to at least allow the mixture to rest for at least 15-20 minutes at minimum. This rest period will assist in making your dough become smoother and more elastic.
Oh no, I left the dough to autolyse for too long!
No worries at all, you don’t have to necessary stick to 15-20 minutes for the autolyse step. Letting the dough autolyse for 20-60 minutes is fine. In fact, it helps the dough.
The Thermomix method was converted and written by The Bakeanista. The ingredients for this recipe is identical to a recipe I found on a Facebook group written by a user called Cynderella Bakes.
Variation – Savoury Korean Spam / Luncheon Meat Pocket Buns
This dough recipe is very versatile and can be used with any fillings or toppings you desire. One of my personal favourites being Korean spam or luncheon meat. If you don’t have Korean spam handy, you may consider filling with ham and cheese as an alternative.
You would use the above recipe as a base and take into account the following changes for the shaping below:
- Cut luncheon meat into 6 slices about 1cm thick. Pan fry with minimal oil on both sides. Pat dry with kitchen towel and let sit to cool.
- Punch down dough to deflate. Divide dough into 6 equal portions and pre-shape into round balls. Let rest, covered for 10-15 minutes.
- Shape dough following video tutorial here.
- Grease and line a baking pan, then place shaped pocket buns a few centimetres away from one another.
- Let proof for approximately 40mins. During last 15 minutes, preheat oven to 180°C.
- Brush surface of dough with egg wash for a golden brown finish and bake at 180°C for 15-20mins until golden brown.
- Remove from baking pan and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack before serving.
Variation – Pizza Sausage Buns
These pizza sausage buns make a great snack and I dare say even, they are WAY better than those store-bought ones! A single batch of this pillowy soft yogurt bun recipe makes 4-5 pizza sausage buns, depending on how big you like your buns to be.
For this recipe, you will need:
- 4-5 sausages
- 1/2 red onion, diced
- Kewpie mayonnaise
- Tomato ketchup
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- Dried parsley flakes
I used cheesy sausage for the extra cheesy goodness, but any other type of sausages work too. I used 75g dough per bun as I’ve got a big 60g sausage (that’s what he said 😂 lol) but if you’re using a smaller sausage, remember to reduce dough as well. You can also add some corn kernels too if you like.
Video guide on how to shape the pizza sausage buns here:
Variation – Baked Panko Buns with Sausage & Cheese
You can also amp these pillowy soft yogurt buns up a notch by breading the buns with panko (Japanese bread crumbs) then top with Korean Vienna sausages, some mozzarella cheese and dried parsley flakes.
These buns are inspired by Japanese korokke, whereby after baking, the perfect golden-brown bread crumbs creates a lovely crunch as you bite into the pillowy soft bun within.
For this recipe, you will require additional ingredients for the topping:
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup panko
- 8 pieces of Korean Vienna sausages
- Kewpie mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- Dried parsley flakes
The portion above is suitable for one batch of the pillowy soft yogurt buns.
You can watch a quick video guide on how to shape these here or refer to the written recipe below:
- After the first round of bulk fermentation, punch down dough to deflate. Divide dough into 8 equal portions and roll into round balls.
- For each dough, dip into beaten egg then coat evenly with panko and place on lined baking sheet.
- Important Tip: As we will be baking the buns, and not deep frying them, pre-toast panko with a little olive oil in a pan for several minutes until golden brown. Let cool before using. If you wish to omit this extra step, spray cooking oil on your panko-breaded dough before baking.
- Let proof for approximately 25-30 minutes until doubled in size. During the last 15 minutes, preheat oven to 180°C.
- Use a pair of scissors to cut a slit on the top of each dough where the vienna sausage will fit snugly within. Pipe some kewpie mayo atop sausage.
- Top with shredded mozzarella cheese and garnish with some dried parsley flakes.
- Bake at 180°C for 15-18 minutes until golden brown. Kindly note that if you are not using pre-toasted panko, your buns may require slightly longer baking duration to achieve the golden brown.
- Remove from baking sheet and let cool on a cooling rack before serving. Enjoy them warm!
Variation – 450g Loaf
To make a 450g loaf, simply multiply the recipe by 1.5. This is the measurements that I go by:
300g high protein bread flour
60g chilled greek/plain yogurt
175g cold milk
25g sugar
1½ tsp instant yeast mix with 1 tbsp water
¾ tsp salt
20g unsalted butter, room temp
You can then shape into a loaf by following this video guide here – I am using a 8x4x4 inch pullman tin. Let proof for approximately 40mins. During last 15 minutes, preheat oven to 180°C.
Lightly sift some flour over the dough or brush surface with egg wash. Bake at 180°C for 30mins until golden brown. Remove from tin and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack before serving.
Variation – Korean Soboro Buns with Almond Cream Filling
If you prefer sweeter buns, you may want to check out the Korean Soboro Buns with Almond Cream filling recipe instead. The soboro buns are a levelled-up version of this exact same bun recipe as its base. This video will also guide you from start to finish with tips on how best to shape and roll your buns!
Few Things to Note
When it comes to bread making, there are many factors that will influence your dough and the end product. Recipes should be used as a guide, as you familiarize yourself with the process and dough.
For instance, your dough may require extra kneading time depending on the flour and its protein content. The method used to knead also needs to be taken into account as some machines work the dough quicker, whilst others may require a bit more kneading time.
Temperature and humidity plays a big part in how your dough rises. The amount of time required to proof your dough also varies depending on where you’re based at. For my second proofing, I usually heat up a cup of water in the microwave for 1 minute, then proceed to leave my dough inside the microwave to rise for 25-30 minutes.
It’s also very important to try to get to know your oven, as every oven is different. My oven heats up quickly so when a recipe calls for 180°C, I sometimes drop it down to 160-170°C. Keep an eye out as the bread is baking. Adjust either the baking temperature or duration according to how your oven behaves.
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