Shokupan in a Bread Machine (Fluffy Japanese Milk Bread)
Shokupan (食パン) is the soft, square white loaf that Japanese families eat for breakfast — thick slices, toasted, with butter. Plenty of Japanese homes have a small bread machine on the counter for exactly this, and ours is one of them. You put the ingredients in the pan the night before or in the morning, press one button, and about four hours later you have a loaf.
This is the “fluffy” shokupan recipe from Iris Ohyama’s own recipe collection for my machine, their compact bread maker. It uses milk, heavy cream, and a spoonful of mizuame (Japanese starch syrup), which is what makes it softer and slightly sweeter than ordinary sandwich bread. I made it as written and ate it the way most Japanese people eat shokupan: toasted, for breakfast the next morning.
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The Short Answer
If you just want the method:
- What it is: shokupan is Japanese milk bread — a soft, fine-crumbed white loaf eaten toasted for breakfast in many Japanese homes.
- The recipe: 230g bread flour, 50g water, 90g milk, 50g heavy cream, 15g butter, 5g sugar, 25g mizuame (or light corn syrup), 4g salt, and 1.5g instant yeast. It makes one small loaf.
- The order matters: liquids first, then flour, then sugar, syrup, salt, and butter in separate corners, and the yeast last in a well in the center of the flour.
- Machine setting: I used the “fluffy shokupan” course with a medium crust — about 4 hours 20 minutes. On other machines, use the basic or soft white bread course for a 1-pound loaf.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Five minutes of work. Weigh, pour, press start. The machine kneads, rises, and bakes.
- Genuinely soft. Milk, cream, and starch syrup give it the tender, slightly sweet crumb that shokupan is known for.
- No special technique. No tangzhong or yudane step to prepare in advance — the dairy and syrup do the softening.
- Toasts beautifully. Thick-cut and toasted, it’s crisp outside and fluffy inside — a real Japanese breakfast slice.
What is Shokupan?
Shokupan literally means “eating bread,” and it’s the everyday white sandwich loaf of Japan. In English it’s usually called Japanese milk bread. Compared with American sandwich bread, it’s softer, richer, and a little sweeter, with a fine, almost cottony crumb. In Japan it’s sold sliced unusually thick — four, five, or six slices to a loaf — because the main way to eat it is toasted with butter for breakfast.
Bakery shokupan is often made with a cooked flour paste (tangzhong or yudane) to keep it moist. This bread machine version gets a similar softness a simpler way: by replacing some of the water with milk and heavy cream, and adding mizuame, a clear starch syrup that keeps the bread moist and helps it brown.
About My Bread Machine
Mine is a compact Iris Ohyama bread maker, a common Japanese brand that, as far as I know, isn’t sold in the US. The closest equivalent there is a small 1-pound-loaf machine like the Zojirushi Home Bakery Maestro — Zojirushi is the Japanese bread machine brand most people outside Japan know, and this recipe’s quantities are sized for a loaf of that size. I haven’t used the Zojirushi myself, so check your own machine’s manual for its course names and capacity.
Ingredients (Makes 1 Small Loaf)
| Ingredient | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Water | 50g (about 3½ tbsp) | Room temperature |
| Milk | 90g (about 6 tbsp) | Whole milk |
| Heavy cream | 50g (about 3½ tbsp) | Heavy whipping cream |
| Bread flour | 230g (about 1¾ cups) | Weigh it if you can |
| Sugar | 5g (about 1 tsp) | |
| Mizuame (starch syrup) | 25g (about 1 heaping tbsp) | Light corn syrup or honey works |
| Salt | 4g (about ⅔ tsp) | |
| Butter | 15g (about 1 tbsp) | Salted or unsalted |
| Instant dry yeast | 1.5g (about ½ tsp) | Bread machine yeast |
Bread machine recipes are more reliable by weight than by cups, especially for flour and yeast, so I’d use a kitchen scale if you have one. The amounts here are exactly what the recipe calls for. If you’re using a Zojirushi bread maker or another machine, add the ingredients in the order your manual says — some machines want the yeast at the bottom instead of on top.
How to Make Shokupan in a Bread Machine
Step 1: Attach the Paddle and Add the Liquids
Fit the kneading paddle into the bread pan. Pour in the water, then the milk, then the heavy cream.
Step 2: Add the Flour, Then Sugar, Syrup, Salt, and Butter in Separate Corners
Add the bread flour so it covers the liquid completely. Then put the sugar, mizuame, salt, and butter on top of the flour, each in a different corner of the pan, spaced apart from each other.
Step 3: Add the Yeast Last, in a Well in the Flour
Make a small dip in the center of the flour and put the yeast in it, so it isn’t touching the liquid, salt, sugar, or butter. On a timer this keeps the yeast from starting early, and salt in direct contact with yeast slows it down.
Step 4: Set the Machine and Press Start
Lock the pan into the machine, close the lid, and choose the course. On my Iris Ohyama it’s menu 3, “fluffy shokupan,” with the crust set to medium; the display showed 4 hours 21 minutes. On another machine, use the basic or soft white bread course for a 1-pound loaf with a light or medium crust.
After kneading, the dough should be a single smooth ball that’s come away from the sides of the pan.
Step 5: Let the Machine Rise and Bake It
From here the machine does everything: it rests the dough, rises it, and bakes it, with the paddle staying in the pan the whole time. By the end of the rise the dough fills the pan in a smooth dome. Resist opening the lid during the rise and bake — the dough is delicate at this stage, and a draft of cool air can make it sink.
Step 6: Turn It Out, Remove the Paddle, and Cool
When the machine finishes, take the pan out right away (use oven mitts) and turn the loaf out onto a wire rack. On my machine the kneading paddle comes out stuck in the bottom of the loaf, so once it’s cool enough to handle, I pull it out. It leaves a small hole in the bottom — that’s normal for bread machine bread. Then let the loaf cool. Wait at least an hour before slicing. Warm shokupan is very soft and squashes under the knife; once it’s cooled, a bread knife cuts clean, thick slices.
Tips and Variations
- Weigh the yeast. 1.5g is a very small amount, and a little too much makes the loaf rise too high and collapse. A scale that reads to 0.1g helps, or use a level ½ teaspoon.
- No mizuame? Light corn syrup is the closest substitute. Honey works too, but the bread will brown a little darker and taste faintly of honey.
- Use bread flour, not all-purpose. The higher protein is what gives shokupan its tall, springy, stretchy crumb.
- Slice it thick. For the Japanese breakfast experience, cut slices about 2.5–3 cm (1 inch) thick and toast them.
What to Serve It With
- Toasted with butter, for a typical Japanese breakfast — this is how we ate it.
- With a slice of tamagoyaki on the side, or tucked inside as a sandwich.
- As a sandwich with Japanese potato salad — a standard filling in Japanese convenience stores and bakeries.
- Cut thick and turned into pizza toast, the Japanese café classic.
If you’re building a Japanese kitchen, I’ve written about the other Japanese kitchen tools I actually use every day.
Storing
Once completely cool, keep the loaf in a bag at room temperature and eat it within 2 to 3 days. For longer storage, slice it first and freeze the slices individually wrapped; toast them straight from frozen. Avoid the fridge, which dries bread out faster than room temperature does.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you make shokupan in a bread machine?
Yes — it’s one of the most common ways Japanese families make it at home. The machine handles the kneading, rising, and baking. The loaf is rounder on top than a bakery’s square Pullman-style shokupan, but the soft, milky crumb is the same idea.
Is shokupan the same as Japanese milk bread?
Yes. Shokupan is the Japanese name for the soft white loaf known in English as Japanese milk bread. Hokkaido milk bread is the same style of bread, named after the region of Japan known for its dairy.
What is mizuame, and what can I use instead?
Mizuame is a clear, thick Japanese syrup made from starch. In bread it adds moisture and a gentle sweetness and helps the crust brown. Light corn syrup is the closest substitute; honey also works.
Why is there a hole in the bottom of my bread machine loaf?
That’s where the kneading paddle sat during baking. On many machines, including mine, the paddle comes out still stuck in the bottom of the loaf, and you pull it out once the bread is cool enough to handle. The small hole it leaves is normal and doesn’t affect the slices above it.
Shokupan in a Bread Machine (Fluffy Japanese Milk Bread)
Ingredients
Method
- Fit the kneading paddle into the bread pan. Add the water, milk, and heavy cream.
- Add the bread flour so it covers the liquid. Place the sugar, mizuame, salt, and butter on top of the flour, each in a separate corner.
- Make a small well in the center of the flour and add the yeast, keeping it away from the liquid, salt, sugar, and butter. (If your machine’s manual specifies a different order, follow the manual.)
- Set the pan in the machine and select a soft or basic white bread course for a 1-pound loaf with a medium crust (on an Iris Ohyama compact bread maker: menu 3, about 4 hours 21 minutes). Press start.
- Let the machine rise and bake the bread. Avoid opening the lid during the rise and bake.
- When baking finishes, turn the loaf out onto a wire rack right away. If the kneading paddle is stuck in the bottom of the loaf, pull it out once it is cool enough to handle. Cool for at least 1 hour before slicing thick.
