Fluffy Overnight Ube Bread Rolls

Course: Breakfast, Brunch, Snacks, Tea / coffee break

Cuisine: American, East Asian, Filipino, Fusion, Japanese

Prep Time: 1 30

Cook Time: 40

Chilling time / Proofing time (overnight): 16

Total Time: 3 55

Servings: rolls

Calories: 528kcal

Author: Dini Kodippili

Overnight ube bread rolls made with soft, fluffy Japanese milk bread, and swirls of sweet ube halaya. Perfect for breakfast or brunch! Topped with a sweet and salty coconut glaze for a delicious treat!

EASY - Make the recipe even easier by using store-bought ube jam. There is also an option to make overnight rolls for convenience.

There is at least one overnight proof time in the recipe (two for an overnight roll version).

US based cup, teaspoon, tablespoon measurements. Common Measurement Conversions. Weight measurements are recommended for accurate results. You can access metric weight measurements using the toggle button below the ingredient list.

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Metric - US Customary

Ingredients

1 recipe Japanese milk bread dough
1 ½ cups ube halaya you can make the ube halaya with sweet potatoes as well
Egg wash

Sweet and salty coconut glaze

226 g confectioner's sugar
60 - 90 mL coconut cream
½ tsp fine sea salt or more if you prefer

Instructions

Ube halaya

You can use store-bought ube halaya, or make homemade ube halaya according to my recipe.
1 ½ cups ube halaya
If you can't find frozen ube or fresh ube, you can make this with purple sweet potatoes or regular sweet potatoes as well.
Ube halaya can be made a few days ahead of time.
If the jam seems a bit too stiff before spreading it on the dough, you can warm it up slightly (in the microwave) to make it more spreadable.

Japanese milk bread dough

Make the dough according to my milk bread recipe.
1 recipe Japanese milk bread dough
Once the dough is kneaded, instead of the first room temperature proof mentioned in the above recipe, cover the dough bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise overnight in the fridge.

Swirled ube bread rolls

Prep a 9 x 9 inch square pan by lining it with parchment paper with an overhang. Butter and flour any surfaces that are not covered by parchment paper.
The following day, turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface, and deflate gently.
Shape the dough into a square, and roll it out while maintaining the square shape. The final square should be about 15 - 16 inches on each side.
Spread an even layer of ube jam over the dough, leaving a one inch border along one end.
1 ½ cups ube halaya
Now roll up the dough towards that end with the border. Make sure the spiral is tight.
Once rolled up, pinch the seam to seal. Then gently roll the tube again on your work surface to make sure the thickness is even.
Slice off the two ends of the dough with a sharp knife or unflavored dental floss.
Divide the tube of dough into 9 equal pieces (using a sharp knife or dental floss).
Place the ube rolls in the prepared square pan (3 x 3 configuration). Cover the pan with plastic wrap.
If you want to bake them on the same day, let the rolls proof in a warm place until doubled in size, and the rolls are making contact with each other. This can take as little as 45 minutes (in a warm area) or up to 2 hours (in cold conditions).

Overnight ube bread rolls

If you want to bake these the next morning, cover the pan and let the ube rolls sit in the fridge overnight.
The following morning, remove the pan from the fridge. The rolls would have proofed to some degree overnight in the fridge. Preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C.
Let the rolls come to room temperature and proof until they have doubled in size, or the sides of the rolls are touching.
Once proofed, brush the top with an egg wash, or milk, or melted butter.
Egg wash
Bake in preheated oven for about 30 - 40 minutes, or until the bread has an internal temperature of about 190°F, and golden brown in color on top.
Remove from the oven and let them cool slightly.
Turn the rolls out onto a cooling rack. Serve while warm or at room temperature.
Optional - dust the rolls with confectioner's sugar, or top them with coconut cream, or drizzle them with the sweet and salty coconut glaze (recipe below).

Sweet and salty coconut glaze

Place the confectioner’s sugar in a bowl.
226 g confectioner's sugar
Dissolve the salt in 4 tbsp of the coconut cream, and add that to the glaze. Whisk to combine.
60 - 90 mL coconut cream, ½ tsp fine sea salt
If you'd like the glaze to have more coconut flavor, and/or be runnier, add the rest of the coconut cream.
If you'd like the glaze to have a more salty flavor, you can add more salt (which is what I do).
Drizzle over warm ube bread rolls. Enjoy!

Notes

Notes about proofing

There are two overnight proofs. The first overnight proof (recommended) in the fridge is to make the dough easier to handle. The second overnight proof in the fridge is so that you can prep the rolls the night before, and bake them the following morning.

However, you can skip both of the overnight proofs and replace them with room temperature proofs for about 1 - 2 hours until the dough doubles in size. In this case, the dough will be softer to work with.

Nutrition