These homemade bao buns are perfectly soft and fluffy plain steamed buns. Delicious and easy to make, they’re ready to be filled with any flavourful filling you like.
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
Stand mixer - helpful but not absolutely necessary
Rolling Pin
baking tray
Bamboo steamer (notes) and large pot / wok
Instructions
MAKE THE DOUGH:In a small bowl or jug, combine the warm milk, the sugar and the yeast. Mix well and set aside 5 minutes to activate the yeast (notes).
In bowl of stand mixer (or by hand, see notes), combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix to combine.
Pour the yeast mixture into the bowl followed by the warm water.
Using the dough hook attachment, mix to a dough - knead for 3-4 minutes, until it looks smooth. Take it out and just pull it into a ball.
RISE:Oil the bowl lightly with a little vegetable oil and place the dough back in. Cover with plastic wrap then rest in a warm, draft-free place for 1 hour or until doubled in size. If your oven has a dough-rise setting, use that.
PORTION:Once the dough has risen, divide it into 12 even portions (to make them perfectly even, weigh the dough and divide the amount evenly by 12, then weigh each individual portion.
SHAPE:Place a dough portion into the palm of your non-dominant hand. Use the fingers of your dominant hand to pinch the sides into the middle, turning it, over and over until you have a smooth little ball when you flip it over. Repeat with the rest. If you’re finding the dough too sticky, just dust your hands and fingertips with a little flour to help.
REST:Lightly dust a baking tray with flour, then sit the balls on the tray and cover with a clean tea towel for 15 minutes in a warm spot to rest.
While they rest, tear off small squares of baking paper about 8cm/3in square - these will be for the prepared bao to rest on in the steamer so they don’t stick.
ROLL AND SHAPE:With a rolling pin, roll the first ball out to about 4-5mm thick, slightly oval shape. Make the top and bottom points of the oval slightly thicker than the middle.
Brush a little oil over then fold in half. Place onto one of your squares of paper. Repeat with remaining balls.
Place the bao buns on their paper squares into a steamer basket (notes) about 1 inch apart.
STEAM:Heat a wok or large pot with 1 inch of water until simmering then turn the heat down to medium-low (you just want a low simmer the whole time they cook). Place the steamer basket with the bao inside over the water. Cover with a lid (or foil if you don’t have a lid) and steam for 8 minutes.
Your bao can be used immediately or frozen for later (notes).
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Notes
YEAST: You can use instant yeast or active dry yeast. While instant yeast does not require activating, active dry does. However, even if using instant, step 1 shouldn’t be skipped as it will tell you if your yeast is good to use - if it doesn’t start to look puffy, the yeast is no good and you’ll need to buy a fresh pack. Taking this step prevents the risk of wasting all the other ingredients and time only to find out the dough isn’t rising.
BY HAND: If you don’t want to use a stand mixer, just use a spoon to mix the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl, then tip it out onto a clean work surface and knead until it looks smooth.
STEAMER BASKET: I love using a Chinese bamboo steamer; they’re super cheap, last forever and you can stack them up to steam all the buns in one go. That said, any steaming basket will work, just don’t crowd the buns - give them room to puff up and expand.
FREEZING: While you can keep them in the fridge for a few days, like any bread, they will get more stale as time goes on. Freezing the bao buns stops the staling process and they’ll stay perfect for up to 3 months.
REHEATING: You can reheat the thawed bao in the microwave or steamer again. Using the microwave, place a wet doubled-over paper towel over the top of the bao on a plate and heat for 30-40 seconds until hot.
Have you tried this recipe?Don't forget to leave a rating and comment below and let me know how it was! I love hearing from you. Nutrition information is approximate and derived from an online calculator. The brands you use may cause variations.