Mallorca Sweet Bread (Puerto Rican Sweet Bread)

Ingredients

  • 1/2 tablespoon Dry Yeast
  • 1/2 cup Water, Lukewarm
  • 1/2 cup Milk
  • 4 ounce Butter, Melted
  • 4 Egg Yolks, Large
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla, Extract or Stick
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • 1/3 cup Sugar, Granulated
  • 3 1/2 – 4 cups Flour, AP
  • Sugar, Confectioners for dusting (optional)

Directions

  1. In a large bowl combine lukewarm water and yeast; let bloom for approximately 3-5 minutes.
  2. Add remaining ingredients except for flour and whisk together. (If you are not going to handmix/knead the dough; you can use a stand mixer with a dough hook, which is my preferred method.)
  3. Add 3 1/2 cups flour then thoroughly mix; dough is going to be sticky. If dough is too sticky, add more flour, a little at a time. (Less is more in this case!) *
  4. Cover with a cloth and let rise in a warm place for approximately 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until doubled.
  5. Punch dough down.
  6. Either refrigerate dough for a few hours/overnight OR proceed to next step. IF you proceed to skip step 6 and proceed to step 7, this will not affect the final product.
  7. Roll out dough to approximately 1/4-inch thick rectangle and brush with melted butter. Cut the dough into 6 or 10 strips, depending on your overall serving size. For larger portions, cut into 6 strips. For smaller portions, cut into 10 strips.
  8.  Take each strip and roll into a rope. Coil each rope into a bun and tuck the end under the bun.
  9. Place on baking sheet that is prepared with either a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Brush each bun with melted butter.
  10. Rise for about 45 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-18 minutes, until lightly brown.
  11. Remove the sheet pan from the oven, let cool for a few minutes and sprinkle the buns with powdered sugar (optional).

*I have found that if I sift my flour, I wind up using 4 cups, plus a little more. If I do not sift, usually the 3 1/2 – 4 cups is more than plenty!