Conchas (Mexican Sweet Bread)

  4.5 – 203 reviews  • Bread

Sesame seeds, teriyaki, and soy sauces are stir fried with zucchini and onions.

Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins
Additional Time: 1 hr 45 mins
Total Time: 2 hrs 25 mins
Servings: 12
Yield: 12 conchas

Ingredients

  1. ½ cup warm water
  2. 2 ½ teaspoons yeast
  3. 4 cups all-purpose flour
  4. ½ cup evaporated milk
  5. ⅜ cup white sugar
  6. ⅓ cup butter, melted
  7. 1 large egg
  8. 1 teaspoon salt
  9. ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  10. ⅔ cup white sugar
  11. ½ cup butter, softened
  12. 1 cup all-purpose flour
  13. 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  14. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Gather all ingredients.
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  3. To make the bread: Stir warm water and yeast together in a large bowl; let stand until yeast softens and begins to form a creamy foam, about 5 minutes.
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  5. Mix in 2 cups flour, milk, sugar, melted butter, egg, and salt until combined.
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  7. Gradually mix in remaining 2 cups flour and cinnamon until dough comes together.
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  9. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, 6 to 8 minutes. Place in a large greased bowl; turn dough to coat.
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  11. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
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  13. Meanwhile, make the topping: Beat sugar and butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
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  15. Stir in flour until a thick paste forms.
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  17. Transfer 1/2 of the paste to a separate bowl. Mix cinnamon into one half and vanilla into the other half.
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  19. Divide dough into 12 equal pieces. Shape into balls and place 3 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet.
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  21. Divide each bowl of topping into 6 balls; pat flat. Place circles of topping on top of dough balls, patting down lightly. Use a knife to cut grooves in the topping like a seashell.
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  23. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.
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  25. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
  26. Bake in the preheated oven until lightly golden brown, about 20 minutes.
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Nutrition Facts

Calories 395 kcal
Carbohydrate 59 g
Cholesterol 52 mg
Dietary Fiber 2 g
Protein 7 g
Saturated Fat 9 g
Sodium 303 mg
Sugars 19 g
Fat 15 g
Unsaturated Fat 0 g

Reviews

Barbara Hernandez
Good for midday snack ♥️
Michael Anthony
This sweet bread is really good. The only problem I had was that the dough was too dry, and I kept having to add a little bit of water. I do have bread making experience. The sugar, flour and butter paste that goes on top was too dry also. Thanks for the recipe! I will be giving them to friends for Christmas
Jerry Hall
No changes, did not see much rising after too was put on
John Edwards
I used my bread maker to make the dough! I rolled the topping into an 8″ log-cut it into 12 pieces-rolled to circles (easy!) I followed the rest of the instructions from there on. These are the best! Had them in Mexico, and I like these better! Watch them when baking, around 18 min. would have worked. Love it! Thank you!
Ashley Evans
Great recipe. I only used enough flour so it was not sticky. I prefer soft, fluffy bread. For the topping I used vanilla and almond extract. Will make again and again.
Kristin Valencia
My dough came out a little heavy but I think it was my rising of the dough. They looked really pretty, but I think I can improve the recipe with some tweaks. I like to add my own twist to my baking. It makes it feel more personal. Edit* I made these a second time, allowed my yeast to bloom, and they still didn’t come out light and fluffy. I allowed the dough to rise for an 1 1/2 hr and it didn’t help much. I’ll find another recipe.
Carolyn Jones
Wonderful recipe, they taste better then the stores. For anyone who is wondering what 3/8 of a cup is: 3/8 = 1/4 plus 2 Tablespoons.
Andrew Zamora
I did it perfectly, and didn’t make any mistakes, and you have something good from your childhood on your plate.
Ashley Lopez
Thanks for the recipe. I reduced the amount of flour to 3.5 cups and used a large duck egg .. result was super fluffy! For the topping, I substituted the cinnamon with cocoa powder.
Briana Boyd
Turned out really well. The recipe makes a little bit more topping/frosting than needed but no complaints here. I did have to bake for about 5 min. longer as well but other than that, there were lived by the whole family!
Julian Martin
These turned out so tasty! I’m looking forward to making them more often so that I can play around with the recipe. I totally impressed myself.
Tammy Huang
They tasted good. I could only find instant yeast (due to the pandemic) and tried the first rise. Well it failed, after almost two hours of watching nothing rise in the warm oven, I tossed it out..because I needed to activate the yeast first….lame. Tried again after activating the yeast. Yay! Success! So moved on to the topping…let it rise a second time. Then baked…..So, only put 6 conchas per 9×13 because they do need space to grow. I used a 16×12 jelly roll and that wasn’t enough room for 12, but after over three hours of working on these, I was ready to be done, I do have a life. These turned out dense and somewhat flat compared to the ones I get at the Mexican bakery. It also tastes more like a sweet biscuit, good, but not what I was wanting. Thank you for giving me a fun day of baking!
Gina Wolf MD
Loved these, not syrupy sweet, great for breakfast. Somewhat labor intensive but well worth it.
Tony Brown
To get the dough to rise properly you need to get the yeast to bloom. Mix it into a bowl with the warm water plus about 2 Tbsp of the sugar needed for the dough and let it sit for about 10 minutes until the mixture turns foamy, then mix it in with all the rest of the ingredients
Teresa Myers
Made just as instructed, and they were delish! However, next time I will let the yeast and water stand for 10 mn, and warm the milk a bit. It took them a while longer to rise enough, Definitely only 14-15 mn in oven, or perhaps lower temp to 350 as they were a bit too browned on bottom. Highly recommend this recipe!
Jonathan Miller
No changes, and bet, I’ma keep making these for the family.
Nathaniel Ford
Great recipe. However on the last 2 cups of flour you won’t use anywhere near all of it. Only add until the dough is workable without sicking to your hands and no more. I made this mistake. Luckily my wife saved the day by adding more condensed milk and working the dough back to life. The Butter for topping should be room temp or it takes forever to complete. Again you won’t need the full cup of flour.
Ronald Greer
Ive made this recipe twice and my family absolutely loved it
Amy Hill
tastes great but I never stick to recipes so I will never know. P.S it’s a LOT of work. I usually love baking but this was a bit much
Timothy Wong
Need a milk free version, my first effort is a spec dense using this recipe.
Robert Montoya
I followed the recipe exactly, and it ended up making conchas more or less similar to those which I frequently eat in Mexico (where I live). The flavor was spot on, but I think they definitely need a bit more time to rise. I actually warmed my oven and had the dough rise in there or it would have taken hours for it to get there. Everyone is mostly happy with these conchas, so I will make them again – I will probably just let the dough rise over night to get it that real airy rise.

 

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