Inside:Mexican conchas is a delicious sweet bread that you can find anywhere in Mexico and which goes great with a delicious atole or hot chocolate. Keep reading to find out how to make this delicious bread.
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When people of think of Mexico, food such as tacos, tostadas, and of course tortillas probably come to mind. However, you may not know that bread, especially sweet bread, is very popular as well. You will often see Mexican families heading to the corner store in the evening to buy a variety of bread. One of the most popular varieties is definitely these conchas.
What are Mexican Conchas?
Conchas are a sweet bread, baked to perfection with a light or dark sweet topping. They have a very distinctive look and often have different line patterns etched into them before baking to give them some variety.
There are have been many times in the past couple of years where I have been craving them at night. I have seen them on very rare occasions at some grocery stores here, but I almost never find them. A few nights ago, I was really craving them and my husband wasn’t able to find any at the local store. So what did I do? I made a few calls and did some research and decided to try to make my own conchas!
It took me a couple of tries, but I finally got the recipe right and they turned out great!
How do you make Conchas?
To make these conchas, you will need a few key ingredients, including the following (see recipe for all ingredients):
- Flour
- Butter
- Milk
- Eggs
- Sugar
- Vanilla
- Cinnamon
- Powdered Sugar
The first step is to make the dough. The key to making sure that you get a perfect texture on the final product is to make the dough right. I find that I get a better result when I knead it by hand.
The first batch I made didn’t turn out quite right, and the only difference between that batch and the final batch (which turned out great) was the hand kneading instead of using a mixer with a dough hook.
After the dough is made and has risen enough, you will form it into balls and put it on a baking sheet. While the dough is rising, you will make the topping, which is made of a few ingredients such as sugar, flour, butter and, in the case of the chocolate flavor, cocoa powder.
The final step before baking is to flatten the topping and cover the conchas like a blanket. Then you will make shallow cuts with a sharp knife in the pattern of your choice. Try not to cut all the way through though, or else the lines may be too wide. While this doesn’t affect the flavor, it will look more authentic with thin lines.
After baking, these go great with hot chocolate, atole or just milk.
Just a warning, these will not last long! They are so good and brought me right back to my youth in Mexico.
Let me know in the comments below how it turns out!
Check out these other authentic Mexican recipes
- Authentic Mexican Rice Recipe
- Authentic Mexican Pozole Verde Recipe
- Authentic Tacos de Canasta Recipe (Mexican Basket Tacos)
- Authentic Mexican Birria Recipe (3 Methods)
- Horchata de Coco (Coconut Horchata)
- Authentic Mexican Horchata That You Can Make At Home
Mexican conchas is a delicious sweet bread that you can find anywhere in Mexico and which goes great with a delicious atole or hot chocolate. Keep reading to find out how to make this delicious bread.
Prep Time1 hour hr 10 minutes mins
Cook Time20 minutes mins
Total Time1 hour hr 30 minutes mins
Course: Desserts
Cuisine: Mexican
Keyword: conchas, mexican bread, sweet bread
Servings: 8 Conchas
Calories: 847kcal
Author: Charbel Barker
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 3 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 3 eggs
- 11 tbsp butter
- 3/4 cups sugar
- 3/4 cups warm milk
- 1 1/2 tbsp dry active yeast
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp anise extract
- 1/2 tsp salt
For the Topping
- 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 cup flour
- 16 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp Cocoa Powder for baking
Instructions
For the Dough
Start by combining 1 tbsp of flour and and 1 tbsp of sugar with the warm milk and the yeast. Mix well and let rest for 10 minutes.
In a large bowl with a stand mixer, add the rest of the flour, the cinnamon, and the sugar and the yeast mixture from above and mix well.
Add the eggs one at a time and continue mixing.
Add the butter, vanilla extract and anise extract and mix well until everything is integrated.
Remove from the stand mixer and knead the dough for 15-20 minutes. It will be sticky at first, but it will become less sticky as you continue to knead. You will know it is ready when it is soft and smooth and no longer sticky.
Make the dough into a large ball and put in a large bowl that is coated with vegetable oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 40 minutes or until it has doubled in size.
Once the dough has doubled in size, remove it from the bowl and separate into 8 balls, each of about 3 inches in diameter. Flatten each ball slightly and leave space between each on the baking sheet. Coat with some additional vegetable oil or melted butter before adding the the topping from the instructions below.
For the Topping
Divide the powdered sugar, butter, and flour in half.
Combined the first half of each of the above ingredients with the vanilla extract and mix well. Form into a ball and wrap in plastic. Set aside.
Do the same with the other half, but add the cocoa powder instead of the vanilla. Form a ball, cover with plastic wrap and set aside.
Baking Instructions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit
Divide the topping balls that you formed in the previous section into 4 even amounts for each type (vanilla and cocoa flavored), and flatten. I used a tortilla press, but you can also just use a rolling pin or your hands.
Add one of the flattened pieces of topping to each concha. You can cut thin, shallow lines in the pattern of your choice, or you can cook it without making the cuts.
Bake for 20 minutes, or until the bread is cooked through.
Nutrition
Serving: 1Concha | Calories: 847kcal | Carbohydrates: 107g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 42g | Saturated Fat: 26g | Cholesterol: 166mg | Sodium: 521mg | Potassium: 188mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 42g | Vitamin A: 1314IU | Calcium: 64mg | Iron: 4mg
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