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An Pan is a Japanese sweet bread with Anko (sweet red bean paste) inside. It is an old-fashioned kind of bread, and one of the most popular snack breads of all time.
An Pan was created in the late 19th century, and it became tremendously popular right away. Although people in Japan were not familiar with bread back then, they got to like An Pan which is similar to traditional Japanese sweets because of the use of Anko.
Today, there are a lot of sweet breads at Japanese bakeries (which by the way are in every corner in the cities in Japan!), many influenced by French pastries. There are all sorts of breads and fillings, using creams and fruit jams, but An Pan is still the most beloved one. It is sweet, soft, and nostalgic.
An Pan is time consuming to make at home (a lot of waiting) but not hard. And fresh home-made An Pan is as good as or sometimes better than those at bakeries. You can eat them at the best time: not right out of the oven, but when it’s still warm. Yum!
We put black sesame seeds for garnish, but poppy seeds are the traditional decoration for An Pan. If you have them, go ahead and use them. Either way, you’ll have a very tasty treat or two for yourself.
Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote
An Pan
Prep Time2 hours hrs
Cook Time30 minutes mins
Total Time2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins
Cuisine: Japanese
Keyword: bread, japanese bread
Servings: 8 pieces
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Ingredients
- 200 ml milk lukewarm
- 5 g active dry yeast
- 30 g sugar
- 240 g bread flour
- 60 g cake flour
- 5 g salt
- 10 g dry milk powder
- 30 g butter room temperature
- Anko half the recipe
- egg wash: 1 egg plus pinch of salt mixed well
- black sesame seeds
Metric – US Customary
Instructions
Put lukewarm milk, yeast, and sugar in a stand mixer bowl, then whisk well. Let it sit for 5 minutes.
Combine bread flour and cake flour, and add to the milk mixture. Add salt and milk powder, and start the mixer kneading with a dough hook at medium speed.
When the dough is becoming a ball (after about 8 minutes), add soft butter and knead for another 4-5 minutes until the butter is completely incorporated. Cover with plastic, and leave in a warm place about 1 hour until the dough has doubled in size.
Make balls of Anko, each 1.5″ (or 4cm) in diameter and about 1 1/4oz (or 35g).
Take the dough and deflate the gas from the dough. Put on to a cutting board, and cut into 8 equal pieces about 2.5oz (or 70g) each. Form into small balls. Let them rest for 15 minutes covered.
Flatten a ball of dough with a rolling pin to a 4″ (or 10cm) round. Put a ball of Anko in the center of the round, wrap with dough, and pinch the ends of the dough so that the Anko is sealed inside the dough ball. Repeat for remaining dough and Anko.
Place shaped dough balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper leaving 2″ (or 5cm) space between the balls. Brush egg wash (the mixture of egg with a pinch of salt) on the surface of the dough, and sprinkle some black sesame seeds on top. Leave them to double in size, about 1 hour.
Bake in a preheated oven at 400F(205C) for about 10 minutes until they brown.
Video
AnkoAnpanbread
March 24, 2014 By JapaneseCooking101
About JapaneseCooking101
Noriko and Yuko, the authors of this site, are both from Japan but now live in California. They love cooking and eating great food, and share a similar passion for home cooking using fresh ingredients.Noriko and Yuko plan and develop recipes together for Japanese Cooking 101. They cook and shoot photos/videos at their home kitchen(s.)
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Megan
February 13, 2016 at 11:29 pm
I just finished making this recipe and I love it! I can finally make my favorite treat anytime I want!
Christina
February 28, 2016 at 7:33 pm
Can you use all-purpose flour or additional bread flour in substitute of cake flour? Thank you!
Noriko
March 2, 2016 at 7:14 pm
Christina,
if cake flour is not available, you could use 200g bread flour and 100g all purpose flour.
Alice Koh
March 2, 2016 at 8:23 pm
Can I don’t add milk power?
Noriko
March 4, 2016 at 9:01 am
Alice,
if you don’t have milk powder, omit it.
Elizabeth
March 13, 2016 at 3:56 pm
I make this for my friends at least once a month! I was wondering though, can other fillings be used in place of the anko?
Noriko
March 22, 2016 at 4:43 pm
Elizabeth,
you could fill with custard cream or jam.
Stephen
March 30, 2016 at 2:35 pm
Do you have the ingredients in US measurement? Thanks.
Noriko
April 5, 2016 at 11:35 pm
Stephen,
1 oz = 28.5g and you can convert. Good luck!
Shirley
August 8, 2016 at 1:53 am
Thank you for sharing. My buns turned out so well.
Shirley
August 8, 2016 at 1:55 am
Noriko,
Do you have any brioche bread recipe to share?
Thank you in advance
Shirley
Noriko
August 19, 2016 at 12:14 pm
Shirley,
not yet!
Cathlynn
October 22, 2016 at 6:24 am
Hi Noriko,
Love your sites & recipes.
For the anpan, I’m assuming to store it in airtight container up to 2 days? Will the bread turns soggy with the anko filling?
I’m planning to make it for potluck party I’m attending so just wondering if I can make a day ahead. Thanks~
