When Baariki first saw this Rilakkuma bread, she knew we had to make it. Rilakkuma is a Japanese bear character that we’ve known and loved for years, and the buns are similarly adorable. The instructions for the recipe looked straightforward enough, and we had all the ingredients at home. So we decided to try them out one weekend.
Making this bread is a bit of a time commitment — the process starts with kneading the dough by hand, and then there are a lot of steps where you have to roll and shape dough balls. But it is so worth it. The rolls are soft and rich; they pull apart easily. The bread is lightly sweet; it’s delicious on its own. But this version goes one step further and has chocolate in the centers for an extra surprise. And of course, you’ve got those lovable bear faces on top!
If you’ve got a few hours and are looking for a baking project, look no further. I promise you won’t regret making this Rilakkuma bread. Want a dessert bread that’s a bit easier? Check out my recipe for Cinnamon Swirl Bread.
Chocolate Rilakkuma Buns
Course: DessertCuisine: Japanese16
servings3
hours15
minutesIngredients
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (1 standard packet)
3/4 cup warm milk* (see notes)
2 1/8 cup bread flour
3 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp condensed milk
2 tbsp softened butter
2 tbsp semi-sweet chocolate chips
additional white chocolate chips and semi-sweet chocolate chips (for decorating)
small amount of olive oil (for decorating)
Directions
- Warm up the milk (we find that it takes 45 seconds in our microwave when it’s straight from the fridge; the milk should be warm to the touch but not too hot, about 110 F) and dissolve the yeast in it. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, sift together the bread flour, granulated sugar, cocoa powder and salt. Mix well. Then add the milk and yeast (it should have a couple of bubbles on top) and knead by hand to form a dough. It will take a while! It may seem like you need to add additional liquid, but keep working at it.
- Add the condensed milk and butter and work those into the dough by hand as well. Again it may seem like they won’t get incorporated, but keep at it — it will all get combined.
- Cover the dough with a plate or towel and leave it to rest in a warm place for about an hour, or until it has doubled in size.
- Punch the air out of the dough and cut it into five pieces of approximately equal size (this is best done with a dough cutter). If they’re not exactly equal, that’s fine — just be sure to set aside the smallest one. Form this into a ball.
- Cut the remaining four pieces of dough into four pieces each and shape each of these into a ball. So you should have a total of 17 dough balls: 16 relatively small ones and one that is larger (from the first time you cut the dough). Cover all of them with a damp towel and leave to rest for 10 minutes.
- Remove the air from each of the 16 smaller balls and flatten them a bit. Add three semi-sweet chocolate chips to the center of each, then re-form each ball. Place into an 8×8 baking dish lined with parchment paper. Cover with a damp towel and let rest for 40 minutes.
- AFTER all 16 balls have been stuffed with chocolate and are rising, remove the air from the remaining large ball of dough. Cut and form it into 32 small pieces — these are the “ears” for your bears. Attach the ears to the heads (this is best done with a toothpick as it helps press the dough together) and re-cover the pan. Allow the rolls to rest until the 40 minutes are complete.
- Bake at 350 F for 15-18 minutes (ours are usually done at 17 minutes). Remove from the oven and allow the rolls to cool.
- Meanwhile, mix 1 tsp semi-sweet chocolate chips with a bit of olive oil (just enough to coat them) and warm them up for about 15 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until you have melted chocolate. Repeat with the white chocolate chips (you’ll probably want to use a bit more of these though).
- Decorate the rolls with the melted chocolate. We recommend using a cone for the white chocolate (if you don’t have one, you can easily make one with a plastic bag — just cut a bit of the corner off) and a toothpick for the semi-sweet chocolate. Enjoy these buns warm!
Notes
- How warm should your milk be? If you have a kitchen thermometer, measure your milk to 110 degrees F (any more will kill active dry yeast). If you don’t have a thermometer, no worries, just touch the milk and remember that if it feels hot to you, it’s hot to the yeast as well. Just keep it warm enough to feel comfortable.
This recipe was adapted from bonobos25’s YouTube video for Rilakkuma Pull-Apart Bread and the tips from Little Emerald Thumb’s post titled Rilakkuma Pull-Apart Yeast Rolls – An American Attempts a Japanese Recipe. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
