Spanish Bread

The hubs has been bugging me to make his favorite bread since he saw it on a friend's FB post a few weeks ago. Finally, I was able to make some for him the other day. For the bread, I used my favorite White Roll recipe from Red Star Yeast, and for the filling, I combined butter, sugar and vanilla. I'm glad they turned out soft, buttery and beautifully browned as the ones we used to eat back home.

These yummy looking rolls are what we call Spanish Bread in the Philippines. I honestly don't know why it is called as such, because there's really nothing "Spanish" about it. I guess it's just a result of the very strong influence that the Spaniards brought to the Filipino Cuisine in the more than 300 years of colonization. 

Spanish Bread is a Filipino favorite bread next to Pandesal which is best eaten with coffee for merienda (snack) and sometimes, for breakfast. It has a sweet buttery filling which makes it so perfect for the Filipino taste buds. Try the recipe and see for yourself! 

Pandesal

I still have a hangover from last week's spring break and Cherlin is a little sick (so she wants mommy by her side), hence I'm quite late for my post today...but better late than never, right?! Besides, I'm sure you'll love my recipe for today regardless of the time I post it. :) I made pandesal again last week, and they turned out really good! So I know it's time to share it with you...

Pandesal (Pan de Sal) which means salt bread in Spanish is a famous roll in the Philippines. It is usually eaten during breakfast to accompany a morning cup of coffee, but it is good for snacks too. It is made of flour, eggs, yeast, sugar, and salt. It is the most popular yeast-raised bread in the Philippines which can be eaten plain or with “palaman”(filling) like butter (or margarine), fruit jams, and peanut butter or anything your taste buds want. I love it with corned beef, sardines, scrambled eggs and Viena sausage.

In the Philippines, pandesal is sold everywhere: bakeries, market, grocery stores, and convenience stores…but here in Texas, you can rarely find it…so the only way to enjoy it is to bake it from scratch. I tried it twice already, and it came out good. I even put filling in some of my pandesal dough so I wouldn't have to slice it after baking. Yummy indeed!

It’s a little time consuming to prepare like siopao, but it’s worth it!

* I shared this on Let's Break Bread Together , Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Hearth and Soul Hop, Delectable Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Tasty Tuesdays, Tuesdays At The Table, Made From Scratch Tuesday and What's On The Menu Wednesday.

Yield 28 pcs.

Ingredients:

• 1 envelope active dry yeast (0.25 oz)
• ¾ cup warm water
• 1 Tbsp sugar (for activating the yeast)
• 4 cups bread flour
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• ¼ cup unsalted butter
• ¾ cup evaporated milk
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• ¾ cup bread crumbs
• about ¾ cup all purpose flour for dusting