PANDESAL

PANDESAL

#SIAintheKitchen

Woot! Another Filipino recipe in for the books! I made pandesal, or Filipino sweet buns today.

I looked at several recipes and it all looked fairly easily. The recipe isn’t perfect (yet) but I am actually looking forward to making another batch again soon. They’re soft, slightly sweet and great for breakfast with butter, by itself, made into a sandwich, or as a perfect substitute for Hawaiian sweet buns. Seriously. I was so happy with the initial results.

Just a tip? I’d go easy on the kneading. As with any bread recipe, you don’t want to over-knead. That just causes the bread to become hard. I think I would perhaps try stopping when the dough becomes shaggy. As a result, these weren’t as soft as the buns I was used to while growing up but they were equally delicious. It reminded me of all the pandesal I used to eat as a kid.

Anyways, time to demolish more of these bad boys.

PANDESAL - makes a baker’s dozen (13) buns

• 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

• 2 tsps granulated sugar

• 1 cup lukewarm oat milk

• 1 egg, lightly beaten

• 3 tbsp unrefined coconut oil

• 3 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar

• 2 tsps kosher salt

• 1/4 cup breadcrumbs

1. Combine the yeast, milk, and sugar in a small bowl. Let sit and wait til the yeast dissolves and that the mixture is frothy. You should see the yeast mildly bubbling up. Transfer this mixture to a stand mixer and add the egg and the coconut oil and mix with the bread hook attachment.

2. Preheat the oven to its lowest setting - mine was just under 200F. If your house is warm enough, you may not have to do to this. Slowly add in the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix on low until all of the dry ingredients are used up. Mix well until a ball begins to form. Form into a bowl and wrap in plastic. Transfer to a bowl and cover with a damp towel. Let the bread rise for 1 hour.

3. Remove from the oven and punch the dough. It should spring back into place like a mattress. Begin to tear off pieces of and form into small balls. Dip the top of the ball into breadcrumbs. Place each ball of dough onto a Silpat-lined baking sheet. Once the sheet is full, cover with plastic wrap and transfer back to the oven to let proof for another 30 minutes.

4. Remove from the oven and increase the temperature to 350 F. Place the buns back into the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until golden. Store in an airtight container.