Milk Tea Cream Buns

If you're a fan of the popular boba drink, you'll love these milk tea cream buns. Tea-infused buns are sandwiched with milk tea whipped cream and a sweet red bean paste for one delicious treat.

Watch how to make this

Recipe

Print Recipe

Milk Tea Cream Buns

Yields 12 buns

Total Time3 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Asian

Keyword: bread

Servings: 12

Author: Christine Ma

Ingredients

Milk tea whipped cream filling

• 2 ½ cups heavy cream (375 ml)
• 3 tablespoons loose leaf black tea leaves
• ½ cup powdered sugar (65 grams)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Milk tea buns

• 1 cup milk (250 ml)
• 2 tablespoons loose leaf black tea leaves
• 1 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast (6 grams)
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 3 cups bread flour (420 grams)
• ¼ cup granulated sugar (50 grams)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• ⅓ cup butter, softened at room temperature (75 grams)
• 1 large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon heavy cream (egg wash)

Red bean filling

• 1 cup dry adzuki beans (200 grams)
• 6 cups water
• ¼ cup butter (57 grams)
• ¾ cup brown sugar (150 grams)

Instructions

• Prepare milk tea cream filling. Combine heavy cream with tea leaves in a medium saucepot. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, reduce heat to low and continue to steep tea for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for 1 hour. Strain cream, discarding tea. Chill in the fridge.
• Make bread dough. Combine milk with tea leaves in a medium saucepot. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and steep tea for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes. Strain milk, discarding tea leaves. Measure ¾ cup of the infused milk, reserving any extra for another use. If you do not have ¾ cup, add enough plain milk to yield ¾ cup. Let milk cool slightly if it's above 100 degrees F.
• Combine tea infused milk with active dry yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar, stirring gently to combine. Let sit for 5 minutes or until yeast is activated and foamy.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, add flour, ¼ cup sugar, salt, egg, softened butter, and yeast mixture. Knead dough until smooth, about 7-8 minutes. Transfer dough to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let proof in a warm area for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
• Line two baking sheet trays with parchment paper. Punch down dough and divide it into 12 equal portions. Roll each portion into a ball and place on prepared baking sheet, 6 buns per sheet. Make sure to evenly space the dough to give them enough room to expand. Cover the buns with a clean kitchen towel and let proof in a warm area for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
• Meanwhile, prepare red bean filling. Rinse dry adzuki beans with water and drain. Add beans and water in the instant pot and pressure cook for 20 minutes. Let sit for 25 minutes and release pressure if needed. Drain beans, reserving ¼ cup of the cooking liquid. Puree beans in a food processor with ¼ cup cooking liquid until smooth.
• Melt butter in a large nonstick saute pan over medium heat. Add red bean puree, stirring until incorporated with the butter. Reduce heat to low and add half of the brown sugar, stirring until sugar has melted. Add remaining sugar and continue to heat until sugar is fully absorbed, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl. Cover with a damp paper towel and let cool.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Brush buns with egg wash. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown, rotating the trays halfway. Remove from the oven and transfer buns to a wire rack to cool completely.
• While buns are cooling, make milk tea whipped cream. Add tea infused heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer and whip with the whisk attachment until stiff peaks form. Alternatively, whip by hand. Transfer cream filling to a piping bag with an open star piping tip (tip is optional).
• Cut buns in half and set aside the top bun. Spread 2 tablespoons red bean paste on the bottom bun and pipe whipped cream on top. Top with remaining bun and serve immediately.

Notes

Feel free to make the infused heavy cream the day before. After straining the tea, you should have 2 cups of cream left. If you have less than 2 cups, add enough plain heavy cream to the infused cream to yield 2 cups.

If you do not have an instant pot, you can cook the adzuki beans on the stovetop. Rinse beans and place in a large saucepot with enough water to cover the beans by 2 inches. Bring the water to a boil over high heat, reduce to medium, and continue to cook for 1 hour or until tender. Some of the water will evaporate so add more water to keep the beans submerged as needed. The beans should crush easily with your fingers when they are ready. Drain and reserve ¼ cup of cooking liquid.

This recipe makes extra red bean paste. You can half the amount if desired.

Step-by-step instructions

Step 1: Make infused cream

Let's jump right in, shall we? Let's start with the milk tea-infused cream filling. Begin by heating heavy cream over medium heat with loose-leaf black tea leaves in a saucepot.

When it comes to a gentle simmer, lower the heat and let it steep for five minutes. It's important not to boil the cream, or it will thicken and turn into butter.

After an hour, strain the cream, discard the tea leaves, and chill it in the refridgerator for a luscious flavor.

You can also steep the cream the day before.

Step 2: Prepare dough

Next, let's make the bread dough. Heat milk with black tea leaves, steep, and strain it.

I like to infuse the milk and the cream at the same time since the process is the same.

Measure ¾ cup of the infused milk, and if needed, add enough plain milk to reach the desired amount.

Combine the tea-infused milk with active dry yeast and a teaspoon of sugar, allowing the yeast to activate and become frothy.

In a stand mixer, knead the dough with flour, sugar, salt, egg, softened butter, and yeast mixture until it becomes smooth. If you don't have a stand mixer, you can also knead the dough by hand.

Cover it with plastic wrap and let it proof in a warm area for an hour until it doubles in size. If your kitchen is particularly chilly, it can take more than one hour.

Step 3: Cook red bean filling

While the buns are proofing, let's prepare the red bean filling. Rinse dry adzuki beans and cook them in an Instant Pot for 20 minutes. Drain the beans and reserve ¼ cup of the cooking liquid. Puree the beans with the cooking liquid until smooth.

If you do not have an Instant Pot, you can also cook the adzuki beans on the stovetop. Rinse beans and place in a large saucepot with enough water to cover the beans by 2 inches. Bring the water to a boil over high heat, reduce the heat to medium, and continue to cook for 1 hour or until tender.

Some of the water will evaporate, so add more water to keep the beans submerged as needed. The beans should crush easily with your fingers when they are ready.

Drain and reserve ¼ cup of cooking liquid and puree until smooth.

Now that the red bean paste is ready, we have to sweeten it. In a sauté pan, melt butter, add the red bean puree, and stir until combined. Add brown sugar, allowing it to melt and be absorbed.

The paste should darken in color and be completely smooth in texture. Remove from the heat and let it cool.

You can also prepare the red bean paste up to 3 days in advance.

Step 4: Shape and bake

Now, divide the dough into 12 equal portions and shape them into balls, placing them on parchment-lined baking sheets.

When I was attending the Culinary Institute of America, my chef instructor would advise us to use a scale to weigh the dough when making rolls. It makes the sizes all consistent rather than guessing. As a professional chef, I still prefer to weigh out each portion to make sure they're all the same size.

Let them proof again for an hour until they double in size. By double-proofing the buns, you're ensuring that they will be beautifully light and fluffy when baked.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and brush the buns with an egg wash. Bake them until they turn golden brown and let them cool on a wire rack.

Step 5: Fill buns

In the meantime, make the milk tea whipped cream by whipping the tea-infused heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Make sure the heavy cream is cold before whipping, or it will not whip properly.

Transfer the cream to a piping bag with an open star tip, if available. You can also just use a Ziploc bag and cut off the tip.

Once the buns have cooled, cut them in half. Spread red bean paste on the bottom half, about 2 tablespoons per bun. You'll have extra red bean paste leftover, but that's not a bad thing!

Pipe the milk tea whipped cream on top and complete the buns by placing the top halves back on.

These mouthwatering milk tea cream buns are now ready to be enjoyed. Finally, a boba-inspired dessert that fits the bill! The buns have just the right amount of tea flavor with that beautiful crumb. And of course, that milk tea cream filling is incredibly delicious, pairing beautifully with the red bean paste.

What more could you ask for?

For more tea-flavored desserts, check out these milk tea egg tarts and hojicha roll cake!

More Asian dessert recipes

Looking for more Asian dessert ideas? Try these: