Conchas (Mexican Sweet Bread) Pan Dulce.

Conchas are a Mexican sweet bread known as Pan Dulce in Spanish and they are served at panaderías (bakeries). Concha bread is soft and fluffy with lots of butter and sugar in the dough. The top has a sweet and crunchy streusel topping that is also sweet and buttery. The recipe below makes 12 Conchas.

My sister’s sister-in-law who is originally from Mexico was coming into town over her birthday so my sister surprised her with some sweet treats from a local Mexican bakery. One of the items she bought at the bakery was Concha’s and ever since then we’ve been wanting to try making some homemade ones. Like homemade cinnamon rolls I think these rolls taste so good when they are served warm.

The 3 photos above starting from top left side show some of the process of shaping the dough into balls and placing them on the cookie sheet. The middle photo shows covering the dough balls with the streusel topping and cutting lines in the topping so it looks like a seashell. The third photo shows what they look like after rising for about 40 minutes just before going into the oven to bake.

I made vanilla flavored Conchas but I’ve also seen you can make chocolate ones by adding some cocoa powder to the topping or people also make pink topping by adding red food coloring or strawberry Nesquik.

PS. If your looking for a bread machine (amazon affiliate) to help knead the dough I always use my Sunbeam bread (amazon affiliate). It’s such a time saver for kneading dough plus it helps the dough rise faster because it heats the dough up.

Conchas (Mexican Sweet Bread) Pan Dulce

 

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Recipe type: Dessert

Ingredients

• -DOUGH-
• 2¼ teaspoons instant yeast
• 1⁄2 cup warm milk (105 degrees F to 115 degrees F or 40 to 46 celsius)
• 3 -3 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1⁄2 cup sugar
• ½ cup butter, softened (1 stick)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
• -Streusel TOPPING-
• ⅔ cup sugar
• ½ cup (1 stick) salted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all purpose flour

Instructions

1. Use your favorite bread making method (bread machine, stand mixer w/ dough hook or by hand). If making by hand: Add yeast, water, then the rest of the dough ingredients to a large bowl & begin stirring with a wooden spoon. You may need to add more or less flour, I started with 3 cups and ended up adding a little more to get the right consistency (the amount of flour needed varies depending on the brand/type of flour you will be using).
2. Once a dough ball has formed move the dough to a well floured surface.
3. Knead dough for 10-15 minutes until it is smooth & elastic like.
4. Move back to the bowl & cover with a clean cloth.
5. Let rise 1 hour or until double in size
6. After about 1 hour of rise time divide dough into 12 equal pieces.
7. Shape each piece into a ball; place on a greased cookie sheet (I fit about 6 on each cookie sheet).
8. Prepare the Topping by whipping the sugar and butter together with an electric mixer until light a fluffy. Add vanilla and mix in. Slowly mix in the flour until a thick paste forms (you might not need to add quite the full cup of flour, you don't want it too dry or it will crack).
9. Divide topping into 12 equal parts (I roll it into a log shape and slice it into 12 pieces)
10. Pat each piece into a 3-4 inch circle to match the size of the top of the rolls.
11. Place 1 circle of streusel topping on each ball of dough, shaping it down over the ball and pat it down lightly.
12. Make 5 or 6 line cuts across the topping, using a table knife, to form a shell pattern.
13. Let rise about 40 minutes or until double in size.
14. Preheat oven to 350 F. degrees.
15. Bake at 350 F. degrees for 16-20 minutes or until the bottom is golden brown.
16. Let cool

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