Salt Bread Recipe
Salt bread, also known as shio pan, is a soft and buttery Japanese-style bread roll known for its light texture and crisp, golden base. Each roll is shaped around a piece of butter, which melts into the dough as it bakes, creating a rich flavor and a delicate, glossy crust. The result is a bread roll that is fluffy on the inside, lightly salted on top, and wonderfully crisp on the bottom.
Why You’ll Love It
These rolls are simple, elegant, and incredibly satisfying. They have a soft interior, a buttery aroma, and just the right touch of salt. They are delicious on their own, but they also pair well with sweet or savory fillings.
What Makes Great Salt Bread
A few small details can make a big difference when making salt bread. Keeping the dough cool helps it develop properly during mixing. Adding moisture before baking helps create a smooth, shiny crust. Oven type can also affect the final texture, especially the color and crispness of the bottom, but even a home oven can produce excellent results.
Processes of making Salt Bread
First rise (bulk fermentation) until doubled in size.
Portion & bench rest by dividing into balls and resting so the gluten relaxes.
Shape into long, tapered triangles with butter rolled inside.
Final rise until puffy and airy.
Bake until golden with a crisp, buttery bottom
Using cold water is important because the mixer naturally warms the dough while kneading. Starting with cold water helps keep the dough from getting too warm, which can affect both gluten development and fermentation.
Steam also plays a big role. I like to spray the rolls with water before baking. This helps the salt stick to the surface and also adds steam to the oven, which gives the bread a shiny, glossy crust.
The type of oven you use makes a difference as well. Traditional salt bread is often baked in deck ovens, which provide strong bottom heat and help create the ideal color and texture. I use a commercial convection oven, which gives very even browning. Home bakers can still get delicious results with a regular oven, though the crust’s color and texture may be a little different.
Dough Stickiness
If your dough feels very sticky at the start, don’t worry. This recipe has been tested many times, and the dough will come together as long as you follow the instructions and use cold water and cold butter.
This dough may feel sticky at first because it contains more fat, which slows down gluten development. As the gluten forms, the dough will gradually become smoother, stronger, and less sticky without needing extra flour. It’s completely normal for the dough to look a bit messy in the beginning, so I never add additional flour while mixing.
This dough can take some time to fully come together, even when using a stand mixer. Depending on the mixer and the speed, it may require about 15–25 minutes of kneading before it develops into a smooth, silky, and stretchy dough. At first it might seem like the dough isn’t coming together, but with enough kneading it will gradually transform.
If you’re having trouble getting the dough to strengthen, you can slightly reduce the butter. Using about 30 g instead of 40 g lowers the fat content, which helps the dough develop faster. The bread will still turn out soft and flavorful, but the dough will be a bit easier to handle.
A few things can also cause the dough to feel overly sticky. The dough may have become too warm, which weakens the gluten structure, or it may simply need more kneading for the gluten to fully develop. Try not to add extra flour just because the dough feels sticky during mixing. With enough kneading, it should come together on its own, and some stickiness at the beginning is completely normal.
Ideally, the dough temperature after kneading should be around 78°F (25–26°C). It’s best not to let it exceed 82°F (28°C), because gluten begins to weaken when the dough gets too warm, making it feel sticky and loose. Using cold water helps control the dough temperature and keeps it within a good range while kneading.
Ingredients
Recipes for 1 Batch, Yields 12 Rolls
400 g bread flour
120 g cake flour
365 g water (ice water, I live in Vancouver so room temp is lower so cold water is good enough)
26 g sugar
10 g salt
30 g non-fat milk powder
40 g cold unsalted butter, straight from fridge ( If your dough remains sticky try using less butter in the dough, instead of 40g use 30g)
7 g instant dry yeast
12 x 15 g butter chunks (these chunks will be rolled into the dough when shaping)
Flakey salt
Instructions
Make the dough
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add bread flour, cake flour, sugar, salt, milk powder, yeast, and cold water.
Mix with a dough hook on low speed until a shaggy, cohesive dough forms.
Add the unsalted butter (fridge-cold, not softened) and increase to medium speed.
Knead until the dough is smooth and passes the windowpane test (about 15–25 minutes, depending on your mixer). If dough is stick DO NOT add flour
First Rise
Shape the dough into a smooth ball by rolling it tight
Place into a bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled in size.
Test readiness by poking the dough with a floured finger — if the hole stays without springing back, it’s ready.
While the dough rises, cut 1.5 stick of salted butter into 12 even sticks (~15 g each, 1 stick of butter = 8 chunks).
Portion and bench rest
Degas the dough and divide into 80 g portions. (Punch it to release gas from fermentation)
Roll each into a smooth ball, cover, and let rest for 15 minutes (starting from the first ball you shaped).
Shape the Rolls
Roll each ball into a long teardrop shape, keeping the top wider and the bottom narrower.
Start with the bottom half of the tear drop shape (narrower part.) Use a rolling pin to flatten the bottom half while using the other hand to slightly pull downward. Do the same for the upper half to flatten the wider end into a triangle base about the same width as your butter stick.
Place a butter stick at the wide end and roll down toward the point, gently tugging for tension.
Keep the seam side down on the tray.
Final Proof
Place rolls on non-stick baking tray (no parchment paper) with space between them.
Cover and let rise until doubled in size.
Bake
Preheat oven to 450°F (232°C).
Spray rolls lightly with water and sprinkle pretzel salt on top.
Just before baking, spray each roll generously (about 20 pumps) for added steam.
Lower oven to 400°F (204°C) and bake for 12-15 minutes, rotating the tray halfway if needed for even browning.
Serve
Enjoy your freshly baked Salt Bread
