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I attempt to remake a super popular Japanese recipe for Rilakkuma pull-apart rolls that I found on YouTube.

I am amazed at the talent of Japanese YouTubers. Their videos are totally different from their American counterparts. The scenes are full of calming imagery and lack in excess talking and boring intros. As a matter of fact, their videos focus more on the sights and sounds that you would experience as if you right there with them. One of my favorites is this one for Rilakkuma pull-apart yeast rolls.

I didn’t quite nail it but I still enjoyed trying to replicate them!

What I have found with Japanese recipes is that everything is downsized. The recipes aren’t humongous like ours. For example, my yeast roll recipe makes two huge sheet pans for a total of 32 softball-sized rolls. This particular recipe fits into a small 7×7 pan (which I didn’t have so I had to improvise) and each of the 16 buns are more like the size of a golf ball.

Another thing that I have noticed with these types of recipes is that they are usually all done by hand (no KitchenAid here). Start-to-finish, these sweet cocoa yeast rolls took about 8 hours – but they were totally worth it! The cute little Rilakkuma faces are actually melted chocolate piped on with paper cones (which makes these not quite a dinner roll and not quite a dessert).

Well, I take that back, what we call dessert.

Earlier that day…

First off, all the measurements for the Rilakkuma pull-apart rolls were metric so I had to convert the ingredients (how much exactly is 180cc anyway?). Once that was done, I was ready to begin. This recipe starts just like any other bread recipe by heating the milk and sifting the dry ingredients.



This is where the process began to differentiate from what I was used to. Instead of dissolving the yeast in the warm milk, it was added along with the milk. Once all that was combined, I mixed in a spoonful of sweetened condensed milk and some softened butter. The worst part about using the milk is that I was left with pretty much a whole can that I’ll need to find a recipe for (or I could just use it in my coffee :P ).

After all of the ingredients were worked in, I transferred the dough ball to a cutting board to knead it. Almost immediately I noticed the little bits of yeast. I totally should have went with my instincts and dissolved it in the milk first. Side note: This would have worked if I had smaller granules of yeast. I finally got most of it worked in and let the dough rise for an hour. After it had time to ferment, I divided the dough into 5 equal pieces.

Next, I needed to divide 4 of the 5 dough balls into 16 “heads” and the remaining dough ball into 32 tiny “ears”. I saved myself from having to figure out how to do this by weighing out each of the Rilakkuma heads to make them uniform in size (25 grams or .9 ounces each).

And that brings me to the next hurdle. My pan was way too big (all I had was an 8×8). To remedy this, I placed rolled up foil on two sides of the pan (to take up space and make it smaller) then lined it with parchment.

I did it (sorta)! *Phew* 8 hours later and I was able to call it quits. One thing I can say for certain is that it was so worth it. The hint of cocoa in the bread and the touch of sweet chocolate on the face and ears make these completely irresistible.

Not only were these rolls the perfect balance of savory sweet, they were also super tender. They also didn’t need any butter. Imagine a yeast roll with honey butter – that’s how these are except the sweetness comes from the chocolate and the richness from the butter is baked into the roll itself.

We I finished these off in just 2 days and can not wait to make them again. I think next time I will take the easy route and just make them into normal rolls and maybe stick a chocolate morsel or two into the center. Oh, and I will definitely dissolve the yeast in the warm milk prior to mixing it in. Other than that, this is an excellent recipe for some of the best rolls ever.

2 votes Print Rilakkuma Pull Apart Yeast Rolls Author bonobos25 Yield 16 rolls Ingredients 260g (2 1/8c) flour

40g (3T) sugar

3g (1/2t) salt

4g (1T) cocoa powder

20g (1T) condensed milk

30g (2T) butter

3g (2t) dry yeast

180cc (3/4cup) warm milk - 110°F Instructions Sift together the flour, sugar, salt, and cocoa powder in a medium bowl. Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk. Add the milk to the dry ingredients and mix with your hand until thoroughly incorporated. Work in the butter and the sweetened condensed milk (again, by hand). Turn out onto a plastic cutting board and knead for 5 minutes (the dough won't stick to its surface and it also prevents having to add extra flour) Place dough ball into a bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place for one hour. After it has doubled in size, place dough onto a cutting board and release the air. Cut the dough into 5 equal pieces and set one of those pieces aside. Cut the remaining 4 pieces into 4 pieces each (for a total of 16) and roll into balls. Cover with a damp towel and let rest for 10 minutes. Remove the air from each of the dough balls, reshape, and place into a parchment lined square pan. Cover again and let rest for 40 minutes. Meanwhile, divide and shape the remaining piece into 32 "ears" and place onto the 16 bear heads. Recover the pan and continue to rest until the 40 minutes is up. Bake at 355°F for 15-18mins. Decorate the ears and face with melted chocolate using paper cones. Courses bread