You’ve seen them in Japanese bakeries, perhaps along the streets of Asakusa, maybe in a bean bun specialty shop. Anpan (あんパン) are essentially soft and fluffy Japanese bread rolls filled with sweet, moist, melt-in-your-mouth anko, or, red bean paste. Honestly, they taste just as good when baked at home. There’s just something about pulling freshly baked buns out of the oven and filling your home with the smell of sweet bread. Good thing this anpan recipe is fairly simple.
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Picking the texture of your sweet red bean paste
If you’ve never tasted anko before, it’s a rather dense paste made by boiling and mashing earthy red azuki beans. The paste is then sweetened with sugar. It is a very important ingredient featured in many Asian desserts. For this recipe, we used tsubuan, a chunky version of the paste that creates a subtle textural contrast with the soft bread. If you prefer a smoother bean paste, koshian is the way to go. Both of these can be either made at home or bought from most Asian supermarkets.
Just look at how cute the little anpan are, especially with the sprinkling of sesame seeds sitting pretty on top! A good way to snack on these buns is to have them in the morning for breakfast, accompanied by a nice hot cup of coffee or smooth hōjicha to cut through the sweetness of the red bean paste.
That satisfaction when you bite into one and find that gooey, sticky, sweet red bean centre? So indescribably good. Learn how to make your own Japanese sweet red bean buns at home with our easy anpan recipe below.
The best anpan recipe to rival store-bought red bean buns
Homemade Anpan あんパン (Soft & Fluffy Japanese Red Bean Buns)
Course: Dessert, SnackCuisine: JapaneseDifficulty: MediumDeliciously soft bread buns filled with sweet and sticky red bean paste. Perfect with a hot cup of coffee or freshly brewed tea. This recipe yields 8 small buns.
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups bread flour
3 1/2 tablespoons white caster sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons milk powder
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons egg, beaten
100ml warm filtered water
2 tablespoons butter, softened
- For the filling and topping
350g anko (red bean paste / azuki bean paste)
1 egg mixed with a bit of water, for egg wash
Sesame seeds, for sprinkling
Preparation
- In a large bowl, combine bread flour, sugar, milk powder and yeast. Mix well, set aside.
- In a separate bowl, combine egg and warm water. Mix thoroughly, then gradually mix into dry ingredients.
- Knead until everything comes together and becomes less sticky, about 5 minutes. Knead the softened butter into the dough. Continue to knead the dough for another 15 minutes, or until smooth and elastic.
- Form dough into a ball and place in a large bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place to proof for 1 hour, or until double in size.
- Punch down dough and divide into 8 equal pieces. Shape each piece into even-sized balls and place them on a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper. Cover loosely and leave to proof for another 20 minutes. Meanwhile, roll red bean paste into small, even balls.
- When the dough has risen, flatten each piece into rounds roughly larger than your palm. Place a ball of bean paste in the centre of each round. Carefully wrap the dough around it. Make sure the buns are sealed well, then lightly roll each bun into a ball shape and place on baking tray seamside down. Proof for a further 40 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 170ºC. While waiting, brush the tops of each bun with egg wash and sprinkle with some sesame seeds.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the buns are a nice golden colour. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Best eaten warm.
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