Super Soft Purple Rice Mini Bread

First, make the purple rice filling. Rinse the purple rice clean and soak it overnight, then put it into the rice cooker inner pot and select the 'Cook Rice' mode.

While the steamed purple rice is still hot, add fine sugar, condensed milk, and coconut oil (if you don't like the coconut flavor and prefer a milky flavor, you can replace the coconut oil with an equal amount of butter), and stir thoroughly until well mixed. The filling is now ready for use.

I have always used Dumei Fresh Butter; it has a rich milky flavor and a mellow texture. Whether for baking or making Western dishes, I use it, and my family loves it. As a pure animal butter, I trust Dumei Fresh and feel at ease giving it to my children.

Make and knead the dough: In a mixing bowl, add high-gluten flour, milk powder, high-sugar-tolerant yeast, granulated sugar, eggs, and water. Use a stand mixer to knead the dough until it reaches 80% gluten development, which is judged by the windowpane test where the edges of the dough's tear holes appear jagged, and the dough has some elasticity but is not strong. At this point, add softened butter and salt, and continue kneading with the stand mixer until full gluten development is achieved, which is determined by the windowpane test where the edges of the dough's tear holes are smooth, and the dough is delicate and shiny, making it ready for bread-making.

Let the dough ferment at room temperature until it doubles in size, then take it out of the mixing bowl, punch down the large bubbles, and divide the dough evenly into 16 portions. Roll each portion into a ball, making sure to cover the dough with plastic wrap throughout the process to prevent it from drying out. Take one portion of the dough, flatten and roll it out, then fill it with an appropriate amount of purple rice filling and seal it tightly. The filling I used is relatively large; the amount of purple rice filling in the recipe is just enough to make 16 small buns.

After all are wrapped, place them in a baking tray. A square tray with a side length of 28 centimeters is used. Ferment in a fermentation box at 37°C and 75% humidity until the tray is full, with the small breads closely packed together. Brush the surface with a layer of milk (or diluted egg wash) and sprinkle with white sesame seeds for decoration.

Preheat the oven, set both top and bottom heat to 180°C, place in the middle layer, and bake for about 18 minutes. Cover with aluminum foil during baking if browning too quickly. After baking, take it out, tap the pan to release steam, place on a cooling rack to cool, then seal for storage. It can be frozen.

Take a look at the brushed effect, it's very nice. Just placing it on the table makes the fragrance very strong.

The purple rice filling in the middle is very fragrant and sweet, and it goes very well with the soft bread. If you press the part where you hold it, it will leave a dent, because it is really very soft. Note that this purple rice filling is quite sweet, suitable for use as a filling. If eaten directly, it will taste too sweet, so the amount of sugar should be determined according to the actual usage.