Twisted Coconut Buns

These soft and fluffy twisted coconut buns are made using milk bread dough. The dough is braided together with shredded coconut, raisins, and cinnamon for sweet and tasty snack!

Fresh bread! Fresh bread!

I miss my weekly trips to Asian bakeries to fill up on fluffy sliced milk bread, cheddar hot dog buns, and an assortment of sweet rolls.

Since most of these bakeries are still closed or have limited bread production, I’ve sought out to make some of my favorite breads.

Grab your homemade boba milk tea and enjoy one of these twisted coconut raisin buns fresh from the oven!

Braided Coconut Raisin Bread Buns

These soft and fluffy bread buns are made with a milk bread dough. The secret to soft and fluffy milk bread is the use of tangzhong.

This Japanese Milk Bread is consistently one of my top three most popular recipes. It is where I first introduced the tangzhong water roux method.

I get many questions and complains regarding the amount of the tangzhong used in bread recipes. Tangzhong is usually cooked stovetop. It is difficult to heat up a small batch stovetop.

I have a solution! Use a microwave!

What is tangzhong?

Milk bread gets its iconic fluffy texture from the use of a dough starter, also known as “tangzhong” or water roux.

The dough starter is a mixture of flour, milk, and water heated together to a form a thick paste. Once cooled, this paste is mixed with the remaining dough ingredients to create an easy to work with, very forgiving dough.

Cook tangzhong in the microwave

This is the fastest way to prepare tangzhong! The microwave immensely speeds up the process.

You need: a microwave safe mug or bowl, milk, water, and all-purpose flour.

NOTE: The cooking times listed here are for a 1100 W microwave.

1. Place flour in small microwave safe mug. Pour in milk and water.

2. Stir contents together. The mixture will not be smooth. Simply stir everything together as much as you can. It will smooth out as it heats up.

3. Heat mixture in the microwave for 20 seconds at full power.

4. Remove from microwave and stir contents together. The mixture will have thickened. Stir and break up any large clumps of flour. Then, return to microwave and heat for another 20 seconds at full power.

5. Remove from microwave and stir together. Return to microwave and heat for another 10-15 seconds until mixture is smooth and has thickened to the consistency of mashed potatoes.

6. Transfer mixture to a cool clean bowl. Let mixture sit for 10-15 minutes to cool before adding to remaining dough ingredients.

Mixing & Kneading Milk Dough

This dough is easily mixed and kneaded together in a stand mixer fitted with a hook attachment.

You may mix it by hand, but it will be take much longer.

Active Dry Yeast vs Instant Yeast For Milk Bread

Recipe works with either instant yeast or active dry yeast. No need to change the yeast amount.

If you have NEW active dry yeast, there is no need to proof it first (regardless of what the package directions say). However, if you don’t know how old your active dry yeast is, you should activate it in warm liquid to ensure it is still alive.

Instant yeast does not require rehydration before use.

Keep in mind, active dry yeast takes a little longer to rise and proof compared to instant yeast. Keep an eye on the proofing dough. Let rest until doubled in volume.

Where to rest or proof dough?

Yeast thrives in warm, humid environments. For home use, I suggest finding the warmest place in the house. Perhaps it’s the garage, over the microwave, or beside the refrigerator.

Covering the resting dough with plastic wrap helps to trap in the heat created by the live yeast, thus creating a nice warm environment.

Yeasted dough rise best at a room temperature of 75 degrees F. Avoid direct sunlight. Keep the dough in a relatively dim area.

Once dough has doubled in volume, punch it down and get ready to assemble your twisted coconut buns!

Twisted Coconut Raisin Bun Components:

• Milk bread dough divided in 6 equal pieces
• Cinnamon sugar butter
• Shredded sweetened coconut
• Raisins
• Milk or cream, for brushing
• Sliced almonds and turbinado sugar, for topping

How to assembled twisted or braided buns

1. Working with one piece of a dough as a time, roll dough into a 6-inch square.
2. Spread a thin layer of cinnamon sugar butter all over dough.
3. Sprinkle shredded coconut and raisins over cinnamon sugar butter.
4. Roll dough into a tight log.
5. Place log seam side down. Slice down the middle lengthwise. Slice into two pieces if making twisted buns. (Keep a portion of the end intact if braiding.)
6. Twist or braid the two ends of the dough together. Pinch end seams together

Place assembled coconut buns on a parchment lined baking sheet. Six buns will fit perfectly when arranged on an angle on a 3/4 sheet pan (15″x 21″ baking sheet pan).

Cover buns and let rest until dough is puffy. The buns will rise significantly, almost touching each other.

It is important to cover dough with plastic wrap. The dough should look pillowy and soft.

If uncovered, the dough will get rubbery and dry on the outside.

Before baking

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F while the assembled buns are proofing.

When the buns are soft and pillowy, lightly brush the tops with milk or heavy cream. Sprinkle on sliced almonds for crunch and turbinado sugar for a touch of extra sweetness.

Bake until the bread buns are fragrant and golden brown. Let them rest in the sheet pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

These twisted coconut buns are best warm, fresh from the oven. They’re equally delicious at room temperature.

They can be quickly reheated in a toaster oven or gently reheated in the microwave. (Check notes section of recipe for how to reheat in the microwave!)

Ingredient Substitutions:

Customize the recipe for these twisted milk bread buns with your choice of filling.

Flour

All-purpose flour or bread flour work well in this recipe. Do not substitute in whole wheat flour or cake flour.

Yeast

I have tested this recipe using both instant yeast and dry active yeast. Either yeast option will work.

Instant yeast is mixed directly with the ingredients.

If you have NEW dry active yeast, you can treat it like instant yeast. If you’ve had your dry active yeast for a while, rehydrate the yeast in the warm milk listed in the recipe.

Shredded Coconut

This recipe uses sweetened shredded coconut. It is also labeled as sweetened coconut flakes.

Do not use unsweetened coconut. It will not provide enough flavor.

Raisins

Use your choice of raisins: Thompson, Flame, Muscat, Sultana, etc.

Or, swap in other dried fruit like dried cranberries, chopped dried apricots, dried cherries, or dried mango bits.