| Total: | 3 hr 5 min |
| Prep: | 5 min |
| Cook: | 3 hr |
| Yield: | 3 to 4 loaves |
Ingredients
- 1 pint ice water
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 ounce shortening (lard or vegetable)
- 1 ounce (4 packets) dry yeast
- 1 1/2 pounds flour, plus more if necessary
- Oil, for coating
- Palmetto leaves, for creating a seam (unbleached or colored shoe strings can be used)
Instructions
- In a mixing machine fitted with a dough hook, add the water, salt, sugar, shortening, and yeast. Add the flour slowly, making a stiff dough that is silky smooth.
- Turn dough out into a large oiled bowl, cover with a cloth. Place dough in a warm place, and allow to double in bulk.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Pound and knead the dough, until it is silky smooth. Return the dough to the bowl, cover, and let rise again, until doubled in bulk.
- Meanwhile, sterilize the palmetto leaves or shoe strings by soaking them in boiling water.
- Portion dough into 10-ounce loaves. As a loaf is formed, immediately place a palmetto leaf or shoestring down the length of the loaf, and turn the loaf over onto a baking sheet, leaf/string side down. Repeat with the remaining loaves.
- Let the dough rise, leaf side down, for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Bake loaves until they are golden brown, about 30 minutes.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 3.5 servings |
| Calories | 862 |
| Total Fat | 15 g |
| Saturated Fat | 3 g |
| Carbohydrates | 155 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 7 g |
| Sugar | 4 g |
| Protein | 23 g |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg |
| Sodium | 824 mg |
Reviews
There were a couple vague things about this recipe that caused trouble for me. It would have been nice of them to ballpark how long the rise would take. Most breads take about 3 but this took longer. I had to go ahead and roll it into loaves before it was done so I could eat before dawn. There was also no indication of how long the loaves needed to be so I had to guess. I’m pretty sure I rolled them too skinny. All things considered, it did taste pretty good in the end, but I’ve never had real Cuban bread so I can’t speak to its authenticity.
What is with the shoestring or palmetto leaf?
Was not authentic cuban bread. I made it and was not as good and light as Cuba Bakery cuban bread in Newark, NJ.
It is NOT Cuban bread. It is a decent loaf bread but definitely lacks the interior texture and proper crunchy crust of true to form Cuban bread.
I halved the recipe (2 3/4 cups flour) and made 3 smallish loaves. I used Crisco for the
shortening.
The taste and texture were great.
Baing Cuban and from Miami, I am really picky about my Cuban Bread. There is no …OR Lard…in Cuban Bread, it is a must, or it’s not authentic. As long as you use it, the recipe works well.
I made the recipe using a Online conversion 1 1/2 pounds is 5.44 cups, since I do not have a scale, and it turned out beautiful. I froze half the recipe for another baking day and make 4 sandwich rolls with the other half for Cuban sandwiches.
I love cuban bread but not able to make myself
I’ve been looking for a good Cuban Bread recipe for years – this is it!! Taste just like I remember from living in the keys – thanks so much for posting – Yes, it makes alot – I got 4 big loaves out of it – but I can freeze some!! Made cuban pork shoulder also – gonna have awesome cuban sandwiches for lunch tomorrow:)
This was perfect for Cuban sandwiches, just enough sweetness to it. Be warned! It makes huge loaves! I halved the recipe (only 2 of us) and formed this into 2 loaves… they were HUGE for sandwiches! Next time I will form 3 loaves from a 1/2 recipe.