Soft Honey & Sage Milk Buns
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These honey & sage milk buns are soft, fluffy, and packed with flavor—perfect for pairing with any soup or meal. Topped with browned honey & sage butter, plus a sprinkle of flaky sea salt, they’re a flavorful and fall-ready upgrade from classic dinner rolls.
Table Of Contents
How To Make Honey & Sage Milk Buns
These honey & sage milk buns are surprisingly easy to make. Start by preparing the tangzhong, then add it along with the main dough ingredients to your stand mixer bowl. Knead the mixture for about 10 minutes before incorporating the butter. Continue kneading until the dough reaches the window-pane stage, which should take about 15 minutes, depending on your mixer.
As you may or may not know, I love using tangzhong in my dough when I want the final bake to be extra soft and fluffy. It helps keep the buns tender for a longer time. Combined with proper kneading and proofing, you get that perfect, pull-apart texture, with light air pockets throughout the crumb.
Once the dough has finished kneading, transfer it from the mixing bowl to your work surface. Shape it into a round ball, then place it in a lightly oiled bowl that’s large enough to accommodate the dough as it rises. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and proof it in a warm spot, ideally around 77°F (25°C), for 60-90 minutes, or until doubled in size.
How to shape perfect buns
First, divide your dough into 9 or 12 equal pieces, depending on whether you want larger or smaller buns. To ensure they are the same size, start by weighing the entire dough. Then, divide this weight by 9 or 12 to determine the weight for each piece. As you divide the dough, weigh each section to maintain consistency.
Next, take a piece of dough and fold the edges inward to meet at the bottom, creating a tight surface on top, which helps the buns rise evenly. Finish by rolling the dough gently on your work surface to seal it, then place each shaped bun in your baking pan, seam side down.
Proofing & Baking
After placing the shaped buns in your baking pan, cover the pan with plastic wrap and set in in a warm spot, ideally around 77 °F (25°C), for the second and final proof. You want the dough to rise visibly and be fluffy, which should take around 30-45 minutes, depending on the temperature.
Once the milk buns have risen and look nice and fluffy, it’s time to bake. First, preheat your oven to 350°F/180°C. Brush the buns with an egg wash, then bake for 15-20 minutes, or until they are golden on top and the internal temperature reaches 200°F (95°C). While the buns are baking, prepare the honey & sage butter:
Making The Honey & Sage Butter
Prepare the honey & sage butter while the buns are baking, and brush it on top of the milk buns as soon as they come out of the oven while they’re still hot.
To prepare the honey & sage butter, melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the sage leaves and let them bubble for a few minutes until the butter turns golden brown, swirling the saucepan gently as it cooks. Remove the saucepan from the heat and use kitchen tongs to take out the sage leaves from the browned butter. Finely chop the leaves and return them to the pan, then stir in the honey to combine.
Finishing Touches
Once the milk buns are beautifully golden, remove them from the oven and immediately brush the honey & sage butter over the tops. Let the buns sit in the baking pan for 2 minutes to soak up that delicious flavor. Then, transfer to a cooling rack, sprinkle with flaky salt, and let them cool for about 10 minutes (if you can resist, haha…). Enjoy!
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Honey & Sage Milk Buns
Equipment
- Stand mixer
- Large bowl
- Saucepan
Ingredients
Tangzhong
- 100 g whole milk
- 20 g bread flour
Main Dough
- 350 g bread flour
- 15 g milk powder
- 7 g instant dry yeast
- 7 g salt
- 1 whole egg + 1 egg yolk
- 80 g whole milk at around 77°F (25°C)
- 20 g honey
- all the tangzhong at room temp
- 65 g unsalted butter softened at room temp
Honey & Sage Butter
- 45 g unsalted butter
- 1 handful fresh sage leaves
- 20 g honey
Toppings
- flaky sea salt
Instructions
Tangzhong
- In a small pot, combine the ingredients listed for Tangzhong.100 g whole milk, 20 g bread flour
- Heat the mixture over medium heat, stirring continuously.
- Once the mixture thickens to a pudding-like consistency, remove it from the heat.
- Transfer the tangzhong to a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap that touches the surface of the tangzhong. This is to prevent a skin from forming.
- Allow the tangzhong to cool to room temperature before continuing with the next step.
Prepare the Main Dough
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine all the ingredients listed for the main dough, excluding the butter, including the tangzhong.350 g bread flour, 15 g milk powder, 7 g instant dry yeast, 7 g salt, 1 whole egg + 1 egg yolk, 80 g whole milk, 20 g honey, all the tangzhong
- Knead the dough on low to medium speed for about 10 minutes.
- Gradually add the cubed butter to the dough, one cube at a time, while continuing to knead.65 g unsalted butter
- Continue kneading for another 10-20 minutes or until the dough passes the window-pane test – it should be smooth, elastic, and able to be stretched thinly without tearing.
- Gently shape the dough into a round, and place it in a lightly oiled baking bowl.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough proof for about 90 minutes, ideally at around 77°F (25°C), until it doubles in size.
Shape
- Once the dough has doubled in size, dump it onto a lightly floured work surface.
- Divide the dough into 9 or 12 equal pieces, depending on whether you want larger or smaller buns. Use a scale for accuracy.
- Shape each dough piece into seamless rounds and place in a greased/lined 9×9 baking tray.
- Cover and proof in a warm spot (ideally at 77°F/25°C) for 30-45 minutes, or until the milk buns have doubled in size and look nice and puffy.
Bake
- Preheat your oven to 350°F/180°C.
- Gently brush the tops of the milk buns with egg wash.
- Bake the for 15-20 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 200°F (95°C). While the milk buns are baking, prepare the honey & sage butter:
Honey & Sage Butter
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.45 g unsalted butter
- Add the sage leaves and let them simmer while swirling the pan.1 handful fresh sage leaves
- Continue cooking until the butter turns a light golden brown.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat, use tongs to remove the sage leaves, and finely chop them on a cutting board.
- Return the chopped sage to the pan with the browned butter.
- Stir in the honey until combined. If the butter has cooled, return the pan to low heat until the honey melts into the butter.20 g honey
Finishing Touches
- Once the milk buns are done baking, remove them from the oven and immediately brush them with the honey & sage butter. Let them sit in the baking pan to soak up that delicious flavor.
- Transfer to a cooling rack and sprinkle with flaky sea salt.flaky sea salt
- Let the honey & sage milk buns cool for a few minutes, and enjoy!
Pintan deliciosos!