Choosing recipes to include in each book is one of my favorite parts of writing the Bread Shop Mysteries. In Kneaded to Death, I knew I wanted to include a traditional Mexican treat in honor of Olaya Solis and her bread making heritage. These conchas fit the bill.
Ingredients
3 teaspoons active dry yeast
1⁄2 cup warm water
1⁄2 cup lukewarm milk
1⁄3 cup granulated sugar
1⁄3 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3 1⁄2-4 cups all-purpose flour
Cinnamon and Vanilla Topping
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
- Dissolve yeast in warm water in large bowl.
- Add milk, sugar, butter, salt, and egg.
- Stir in 2 cups of the flour and beat until smooth.
- Add enough flour until dough easy to handle and forms a ball.
- Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. This should take about 5 minutes.
- Place dough in a large greased bowl, then turn greased side up.
- Cover, place in a warm place, and let rise until double, about 1 1/2 hours. You’ll know the dough is ready if an indentation remains after you press into it.
- While the dough is rising, prepare the topping. See below.
- Punch conchas dough down and divide into 12 equal pieces. Shape them into balls and place on greased cookie sheet.
Cinnamon and Vanilla Topping
- Beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
- Stir in the flour and mix until the dough is the consistency of thick paste.
- Divide into 2 equal parts.
- Stir cinnamon into one part and vanilla extract the second portion.
- Divide each part of dough into 6 equal pieces then pat each piece into a 3-inch circle.
- Lay one piece or circle of the topping onto each ball of dough. Shape it to fit over the ball.
- Make about 5 cuts across the topping in a shell pattern.
- At this point, heat oven to 375 degrees.
- One again, cover and let rise until doubled, or about 40 minutes.
- Bake conchas for 20 minutes. They should be lightly browned.