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Soft & Fluffy Rice Cooker Bread

March 19, 2021 By Lisa Kitahara 12 Comments

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Learn how to make soft and fluffy Japanese style bread in a rice cooker! Crusted on the outside with a lovely light milky sweetness– perfect for breakfast and serving with your favourite spreads and dishes!

There is nothing more comforting than the aroma of a Japanese bakery. Tearing into warm, soft and fluffy bread is PURE LOVE.

How to make bread in a rice cooker

The process of making bread with a rice cooker is simple and practically the same as making baking bread in the oven! The only difference is we place it into a rice cooker pot instead of a loaf pan and cooking time.

  • Make the dough: Add the flour to a stand mix. Add the sugar and yeast to one side of the bowl and then the salt and vegan butter (or margarine) to the other side of the bowl (if using salted butter, omit salt). The reason for this is the yeast is affected if it comes in to contact with salt. Run the stand mix on low speed (setting #2) and pour in the lukewarm milk. Increase the speed to setting $4 and let it run for 5-7 minutes, or until a dough forms. This can also be done without a stand mix. Add all the ingredients to a bowl and knead with your hands for 10-12 minutes.
  • Proof: Shape the dough back into a round ball and then place in a rice cooker. Set it to 'keep warm' for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, turn off the setting and continue to proof for another 30 minutes or until x1.5 in size.
  • Knead & Shape: Punch the dough, take it out of the rice cooker and knead a few times. Roll it into a log and divide the dough into 6 equal pieces (I use a kitchen scale). Knead each piece a few times to smooth it out and then shape it back into a small ball, tucking the seams toward the bottom. Place them into the rice cooker with the tucked side down. Repeat for remaining dough.
  • Proof: Set to 'keep warm' again for 10 minutes. Turn it off and continue to proof for 20-30 minutes or until x1.5 in size again. Do a poke test to ensure it is perfectly proofed.
  • Cook: Turn on 'quick cooking' and let it cook. When complete, flip the bread over and then place it back into the pot. Cook for another cycle on quick cooking, and then the bread is complete!

Rice Cooker Bread Variations

Once you have the basic dough down, there are so many ways to customize it! Simply knead them in after the first fermentation period. Here are some of my favourite add-ins:

  • Maple pecan: ¼ cup chopped pecans + 2-3 tablespoon maple sugar
  • Garlic herb: 3 garlic cloves, minced + 2 teaspoon herbs of choice
  • Raisin walnut: ¼ scant cup of raisins + ¼ cup chopped walnuts

Recipe tips

  • What type of non-dairy milk to use: I highly recommend using oat milk or soy milk for this recipe. These two milks tend to be higher in protein and fat which helps with the texture and flavour of the bread. Be sure to use lukewarm milk (not too hot nor cold).
  • Perfect proofed dough: Do not underproof or overproof the dough. To check, I always use the poke test. Perfectly proofed dough will spring back slowly when poked. If it spring back quickly, rest for longer. If it does not spring back at all, the dough is over proofed. If over prooved, you can save it by re-kneading it and letting is proof again.
  • Cooking time: This will vary depending on your rice cooker. I used the 'quick cooking' setting twice which is a total of about 30 minutes cooking time. After the first round, the top should look somewhat cooked– not completely raw. After the second cook, check inside. If it still seems a little raw, cook for ½-1 more round on quick mode.
  • Oil rice cooker pot: My rice cooker is fairly new and very non-stick. If your rice tends to stick to your rice cooker pot, I highly recommend brushing some oil before cooking the buns.
  • Rice cooker size: I use a 5.5 cup rice cooker. You can use a larger rice cooker, however the bread will come out flatter and may need less time to cook. If using a 10 cup rice cooker, I recommend doubling the recipe.

If you recreate this Easy Rice Cooker Bread recipe let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment and rating below or by tagging me on Instagram @Okonomikitchen, I love seeing all of your tasty recreations!
Hungry for more? Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Instagram, Youtube and Pinterest for more deliciousness!

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Soft & Fluffy Rice Cooker Bread

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★★★★★

5 from 9 reviews

Learn how to make soft and fluffy Japanese style bread in a rice cooker! Crusted on the outside with a lovely light milky sweetness– perfect for breakfast and serving with your favourite spreads and dishes!

  • Author: Lisa Kitahara
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Total Time: 45 minutes
  • Yield: 6 servings 1x
  • Category: bread
  • Method: rice cooker
  • Cuisine: vegan, gluten free, japanese

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 160g bread flour
  • 40g cake flour
  • 1 ½ tbsp organic cane sugar (22g)
  • 1 tsp instant yeast (3g)
  • 2 tsp vegan butter or margarine (10g)
  • ½ cup + 1 tablespoon lukewarm oat milk (136ml // or soy milk)
  • ¼ tsp salt

Instructions

  1. Add the bread flour, cake flour, sugar, instant yeast, vegan butter and oat milk to a stand mix. Knead at low speed (setting #2) for 30 seconds and then increase to medium-high speed (setting #4) for 5 minutes. If using a bowl, do the same thing but knead with your hands for 10 minutes. 
  2. Shape it into a ball and then place into rice cooker. Set to keep warm for 10 minutes. Turn off the keep warm setting and continue to ferment for 30 minutes, or until 1.5 in size. 
  3. Punch the dough, knead a few times and then roll it into a log. Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces. Knead and shape it back into small balls. Place it into the rice cooker and set to keep warm for 10 minutes. Turn off the keep warm setting and then continue to proof for 20-30 minutes or until x1.5 in size again. (Do a poke test to check because every rice cooker is different. When poking, the dough should spring back slowly. Too fast and it needs more time. If it does not spring back, it is over-fermented. When proofed, switch on quick mode and cook. When complete, flip the bread over and cook on quick mode again. Once the second cycle is complete, the bread it ready!

Notes

  • Helpful Equipment: rice cooker
  • Nutritional Information Disclaimer: Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated on an online tool (Cronometer). 

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 serving
  • Calories: 160
  • Sugar: 3.8
  • Sodium: 23.7
  • Fat: 2
  • Saturated Fat: 0.5
  • Unsaturated Fat: 1.2
  • Trans Fat: 0
  • Carbohydrates: 30.6
  • Fiber: 1.2
  • Protein: 4.4
  • Cholesterol: 0

Keywords: rice cooker bread, no oven bread

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  1. Louma says

    March 23, 2021 at 1:02 am

    If I didn't already have a zojirushi, I'd buy one just for this recipe. The bread was so fluffy and cloudy and the smell was divine!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  2. MK says

    March 30, 2021 at 2:27 pm

    It' s my first time to make bread with a rice cooke). And this recipe really surprised me!
    The taste of the bread was so soft and yummy, I really enjoy it!
    Thanks for sharing :)))

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  3. Hanna says

    April 11, 2021 at 5:45 am

    I didn’t know before, I could even make bread with a rice cooker and this is amazing! It tastes delicious and is super easy to follow 🙂

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  4. dominique (eonmoony) says

    April 11, 2021 at 7:08 pm

    these are so fluffy, and easy to make!! i loved it because there was less of a mess, it didnt burn like some breads do in the oven (lol) and the pull apart was sooo satisfying hihihi
    it was fluffy inside yet crispy on both sides. i did flip it halfway through cooking, it was worth it! it's not so fussy either... just watch it and estimate when it's done to your liking ☆

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  5. Alex Bradberry says

    April 14, 2021 at 12:54 am

    Love this recipe! Super easy and fun with minimal clean up. I bloomed the yeast in the oat milk and sugar a bit before adding it to the flour mix - next time I'll add 1-2tsp of salt during the first knead, too.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  6. Sandra says

    May 01, 2021 at 6:57 pm

    I have a 8 cup Ricecooker and used 1,5 of the Recipe and it worked really well also with one round quick cook for each side. Turned out amazing!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  7. Anh says

    September 21, 2021 at 1:43 pm

    It was truly perfect—so fluffy and soft and gently crisped on the outside. Eating them felt very comforting and nostalgic! Thank you Lisa 🙂

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  8. Anh says

    September 21, 2021 at 7:32 pm

    I am not a baker at all, so I'm happy these came out perfectly! They were so soft and fluffy on the inside with a slight crisp on the outside. It was very comforting and nostalgic to eat them. Thank you Lisa 🙂

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  9. Philip G says

    November 11, 2021 at 4:00 pm

    So delicious! I think overproofed the dough, though--any tips for when this happens?

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  10. Ale says

    February 08, 2022 at 10:32 am

    Is there gluten free version?

    Reply
  11. Sara says

    September 14, 2022 at 8:26 am

    This recipe looks amazing! Do you think they would get nicely cooked even if my rice cooker does not have a "quick cook" setting? I think the temperature in the normal program is lower, so I'm hesitant... I would love your advice! 🙂

    Reply
  12. Shirley says

    October 17, 2022 at 7:07 pm

    What is "quick cooking" mode? I don't have that on my rice cooker unless it is called something else.

    Reply

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