Updated 12/18/24. This post may contain affiliate links.
Bolo bao and its cousin the bolo yao (which contains a huge slab of cold butter in the middle) are staples of the Hong Kong bakery and dim sum. Despite their name, which means “pineapple bun,” these buns, in fact, contain no pineapple at all, and were named for their physical appearance rather than their contents.
In fact these buns typically feature a crumbly cookie-like topping baked directly atop fluffy milk bread buns. The topping is brushed with egg yolk to give it both its signature glossy sheen as well as its yellow hue.
Bolobao stuffed with egg custard were my favorite treat growing up in LA, but when I moved to the Bay Area for college I quickly learned that the egg custard version was more of a regional specialty and hard to find in Oakland and San Francisco, where the plain bolobao reigned supreme. In my eyes, without the custard, a plain bolobao just became a thin layer of cookie on top of a plain piece of bread — not nearly as appetizing.
I was reminiscing about these years of my life when I only had these plain baos at my disposal and realized there might be a better way — what if the plain ol’ bread was replaced, instead, by a cookie. Like, an actual cookie — resulting in a kind of cookie-on-cookie Frankenstein.
I put my idea to the test and was *so* happy with the result, as was Ben, who remarked: “I feel like I’m not really supposed to say this but I think I might prefer this to the real thing.” Though the base doughs were the same, I shaped the cookies in 3 different ways and I’m still not sure which I like best. Based on my little Instagram poll it seems like options 2 and 3 are the crowd favorites.
Either way I hope you’ll take a stab at making these for yourself because they are very good, if I do say so myself.
Tips for Making Bolo Bao Cookies
These cookies are good no matter what they look like, but if you want to make a perfectly crackled, golden yellow cookie, follow these tips:
- Use eggs with dark orange yolks, if you’re able to get your hands on them. I found a brand at 99 Ranch that has a line called “Golden Yolks”, and I use them specifically for these cookies. I don’t find that they taste any different but the color difference really comes through, especially for the egg wash.
- When pressing out your bolo topping, don’t be afraid to use your hands/fingers. I find that a topping “disc” in an uneven thickness (aka lumpy) is the best way to ensure great cracks.
- Careful with the broiler! While I find the broiler is necessary to get the right golden brown coloring, your cookies can go from beautifully golden to burnt to a crisp in the blink of an eye. DO NOT TAKE YOUR EYES OFF YOUR COOKIES when broiling them!! You can probably also bake these in the very top rack of your oven to achieve a similar result, though I haven’t done much testing on this technique so I can’t say for sure.
Specialty Ingredients
Bird’s Custard Powder — This powder comes from the UK and is basically instant pudding mix, but is also used in a lot of Hong Kong bakery recipes. It adds a certain nostalgic flavor to the bolo topping, but if you’re unable to find it can be omitted. I reliably get mine on Amazon and Cost Plus World Market.
Dry Milk Powder — This is just dehydrated milk and can be found at most standard grocery stores. I use the low-fat kind, which is most readily available.
Salted Duck Egg Yolks — This is a newer variant that, if you grew up with the flavor of salted egg yolks, is delightful. These egg yolks add another dimension of flavor — similar to adding miso to cookies — that lend another layer of nostalgia. If you’ve never had salted duck egg yolks, they can be polarizing — it’s a bit of an acquired taste. Don’t feel pressure to add these to your cookies in order for them to taste good! I love these cookies with or without the salted egg yolks. If you do want to add salted egg yolks, they can be found at most Chinese markets in the refrigerated egg section. Buy the ones in the vacuum-sealed package and NOT the whole salted duck eggs, which can be hard to work with in this application.
Bolo Bao Cookies
Ingredients
For the Topping
- 60 g Unsalted Butter cold
- 60 g Granulated sugar
- 2 Egg Yolks
- 1 Tbsp Bird's custard Powder*
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 120 g all purpose flour gold medal brand
- 1/8 tsp almond extract
For the Cookie Dough
- 225 g butter
- 250 g granulated sugar
- 50 g brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 250 g bread flour
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp almond extract
- 1 Tbsp dry milk powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 4 salted duck egg yolks** optional
For the Egg Wash
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp water
- Pinch salt
Instructions
Prepare the Topping
- To a food processor, add the sugar, custard powder, baking powder, and salt. Blitz for about a minute, then add all purpose flour and blitz again.60 g Unsalted Butter, 60 g Granulated sugar, 1 Tbsp Bird's custard Powder*, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 120 g all purpose flour, 1/2 tsp salt
- Add the butter and pulse until the butter completely "disappears" into the mixture — it'll have the texture of lightly wet sand. Add egg yolks and almond extract and continue processing just until the mixture pulls together.60 g Unsalted Butter, 1/8 tsp almond extract, 2 Egg Yolks
- Dump the loose dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap and firmly but swiftly press the pieces together, kneading lightly if needed, to form a more cohesive dough. Wrap the dough in the plastic and roll into a neat log shape. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.
Make the Cookie Dough
- Add butter to a medium-sized, light colored pot or pan. Heat on medium until butter melts, then stir, scraping the bottom constantly, with a heatproof spatula until you see brown bits at the bottom of the pan. This browning process can happen quickly and may end up burning if you're not watching carefully! As soon as the butter solids turn light brown, pour the butter into a medium-sized mixing bowl to help stop the cooking.225 g butter
- Add sugar, brown sugar, and salt to the hot butter and carefully stir to combine. Let rest at cool room temperature for about an hour until the mixture starts to congeal. If your kitchen is warm you can do this step in the refrigerator but you'll want to make sure the mixture remain soft and doesn't completely harden.250 g granulated sugar, 50 g brown sugar, 1 tsp kosher salt
- Give the cooled mixture a stir to "fluff" it up. Add baking powder, baking soda, and milk powder and mix to combine well.1 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp baking powder, 1 Tbsp dry milk powder
- Add egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract and mix well to combine before adding the bread flour and gently folding it in. Once flour is moistened, mix well to combine. IF USING SALTED EGG YOLKS — mash egg yolks against the side of the bowl with a spatula until broken up into fairly fine pieces (some small chunks are ok) and incorporate with the flour.1 egg, 250 g bread flour, 1/4 tsp vanilla extract, 1/8 tsp almond extract, 4 salted duck egg yolks**
Assembly and Baking
- Remove topping from the refrigerator, unwrap, and carefully slice into 12 discs. Set aside.
- Scoop egg-sized balls of dough and roll between your hands to achieve a smooth ball (I use a ~2 Tbsp cookie scoop for this). Place balls 3" apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Taking one disk of topping between your fingers, gently pinch, press, and rotate the disk until it's about 2" in diameter (quite a bit larger than the diameter of the dough balls). Dust your fingers and work surface lightly with flour if you experience any sticking.
- Gently drape the topping circle over each dough ball.
- To make the egg wash, mix egg yolk, water, and salt in a small dish until well combined.1 egg yolk, 1 tsp water, Pinch salt
- Brush the top of each topping layer with egg yolk mixture. Bake for 12 minutes at 350F, then turn on the top broiler of your oven to 450F and broil for 2-3 minutes until the bolo topping starts to brown. Keep an eye on your cookies here and move the pan around as necessary to ensure each cookie receives some color — you may leave the oven door open during this step as well.
- Remove cookies from oven and wait 5 minutes, then transfer each cookie to a cooling rack to finish cooling. I find these are best enjoyed once completely cool, as it gives the bolo topping time to firm up correctly.