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Conchas are soft and yummy Mexican sweet breads with a shell-shaped sugar topping.
In Spanish, “concha” means “shell” which is where this dessert bread gets its name.
White is the most common topping color, but you will also find other colors like pink or chocolate.
They are easily found everywhere in Mexico from bakeries to pharmacies and consumed at all hours of the morning, day, or night.
How to Make the Dough:
- Add warm water to the yeast.
- Mix slightly. Set is aside.
Don’t use hot water to the yeast, or you will kill the beast. You can also use milk instead of water.
Yeast is also used when making Rosca de Reyes, Pan de Muerto, and other traditional Mexican breads.
Very Important! Look at the expiration date on the yeast package. If it is expired, you can’t use it. Test the yeast by adding some to warm water. It should start to bubble after 5 minutes and good to use.
Important Notes:
- Unsalted butter ONLY! Don’t use salted butter as it will kill the yeast, and the bread won’t rise.
- The butter has to be either room temperature or melted. Cold gets old, and it won’t fold when mixing.
- Use bread flour for a softer texture.
- You might need more or less milk, depending on the flour used. Some flour absorbs more milk. Other flours absorb less milk.
- Instead of evaporated milk, you can substitute for regular milk.
- Add all of the ingredients to a mixer EXCEPT for the flour.
- Mix on a low-medium speed.
- Slowly add a little bit of the flour and mix.
You can use a regular hand mixer too.
Pro Tip: Start early in the day so the dough has plenty of time to proof. You can also make the dough a day before. Simply store in your fridge, then bake the next day.
I usually start with the paddle attachment. As the dough gets thicker, I switch to the hook attachment.
Stop every so often and scrape the sides of the bowl.
Be sure not to turn on the Kitchen Aid mixer or the hand mixer on high. Flour will go everywhere!
This dough is needy. Wink. Wink.
Be patient. It can take up to 15 minutes (sometimes 20 minutes) for the dough to come together.
At first, it might look like it will never come together, and you will be tempted to add more flour.
DON’T ADD FLOUR, or your conchas will be more dense.
If after 15 minutes, you don’t see the dough come together, add a little bit of flour. Little by little, until it comes together.
The dough should be elastic, soft, and should NOT stick to your hands.
Place the dough in a greased bowl. Turn it around so you can grease the bottom side too.
Cover with plastic or a kitchen towel. If you don’t cover the dough, it will form a crust.
Leave the dough in a warm place. It will take roughly 2 hours for the dough to rise. It will double in size. In this case, size does matter. 😉
How to Make the Sugar Topping:
Any good authentic Mexican conchas recipe starts with the vanilla topping.
From there you can change it to whatever you like: strawberry, chocolate, purple, etc.
Here, we are doing two types of toppings – chocolate and vanilla.
How to Change the Color of the Toppings:
- For yellow conchas, add a few drops of yellow food coloring to the sugar topping.
- For pink conchas, add a few drops of red food coloring.
- Add softened butter to the mixer.
- Mix for 1 minute.
- Add powdered sugar and flour to the mixer.
- Blend until smooth.
Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. You want to mix everything well.
After you add the flour, the topping mixture will look like wet sand. This is exactly what you want. By itself, this conchas topping tastes really, really good.
- Divide the sugar topping into two balls.
- Set one aside in a bowl, and the other in another bowl.
If you are only making white conchas (or as some people know them “Conchas de Novia”), then skip this next step.
To one of the topping balls, add the cocoa powder. Mix well.
If you are making the topping using food coloring, use gloves. It tends to stain your hands.
- Take the sugar topping and roll out 6 chocolate balls and 6 vanilla balls.
- Place one of the balls between two pieces of wax papers.
- Using a rolling pin, roll out the topping wide enough to cover the dough balls.
Use your judgement here. Eyeball the size you need.
See how thick this is?
Do not roll this out too thin or it will crumble before you are able to place it on the dough.
- Remove the plastic wrap or kitchen towel, and place on a wooden surface.
- Divide the dough into 12 pieces, a little smaller than the size of a tennis balls.
- Roll out until smooth.
Make sure they are the same size, or they will not cook evenly. Place each of the dough balls on a greased sheet pan.
Separate them about 3 inches apart.
They will expand when they are baking in the oven.
Pat them down with the back of your hand to flatten them out slightly.
- Grease the top of the balls with shortening or melted butter. It will help the sugar topping stick to the dough.
- Take the rolled out topping and gently place it on top of the dough balls.
I am using a serrated knife to create the pattern. If you use a knife, dip it in flour after each use.That way the knife will not stick to the topping.
You can also buy a conchas cutter online. Same thing, dip the cutter in flour after each use. It will make things easier.
Cover the conchas and proof for an additional 45 minutes to 1 hour. Then bake for 20 minutes.
You can even freeze the dough. Thaw and bake later.
HOW LONG DO THEY LAST?
Do NOT store conchas (or Mexican Sweet Bread) in the refrigerator. They will go stale faster.
Best way to store pan dulce (or conchas) is at room temperature for 1-2 days in a plastic, sealable bag.
You can freeze them for longer storage, but they won’t be the same. If you are making conchas bread pudding, you can use frozen conchas.
More Pan Dulce Recipes:
Pan Dulce, or Mexican Sweet Bread, can make strong men weep and children smile. Serve these soft and fluffy Mexican Conchas with coffee or milk for dunking.
They are a lot of work, but totally worth it. You can taste the love baked into every bite.
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Did you make this recipe? Please rate the recipe below!
Conchas + VIDEO
Ingredients
For the Dough:
- 2 1/2 teaspoons yeast
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 1/2 cup evaporated milk
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter or margarine softened or melted
- 1 egg
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
For the Topping:
- 2/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup butter or margarine
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder if using
Instructions
For the Dough:
- In a large bowl, stir together the yeast and warm water.
- Mix and set aside for 10 minutes.
- Add the evaporated milk, 1/3 cup sugar, salt, 1/3 cup butter, egg and 2 cups of the flour.
- Mix everything on medium speed.
- Stop mixing and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Gradually add in the remaining flour and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon.
- Knead with the hook attachment for 10-15 minutes.
- Do not add more flour.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured counter.
- Place the dough in a greased bowl.
- Turn the dough to coat the bottom.
- Cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel.
- Let rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size. About 2 hours.
For the Topping:
- In a bowl, beat 2/3 cup powdered sugar and 1/2 cup butter until light and fluffy.
- Scrape the sides of the bowl, making sure to mix everything.
- Stir in the flour, cinnamon, and vanilla.
- Mix until the mixture is the consistency of a thick paste. It will look like wet sand.
- Divide into two parts, and place one part in a separate bowl.
- If making chocolate conchas, add cocoa powder to one of the bowls, and mix until fully incorporated.
- When the dough is done rising, divide into 12 pieces.
- Make sure the dough pieces are the same size, or they will not bake evenly.
- Shape the dough into balls.
- Place on a greased cookie sheet.
- Space the dough pieces out about 3 inches apart.
- Gently press them down with the back of your hand.
- Make 6 balls of the chocolate topping mixture and 6 balls of the white topping mixture.
- Place each ball between wax paper.
- Using a rolling pin, roll out the balls enough to cover the dough balls.
- Grease the top of the dough with melted butter, oil, or shortening.
- Place the rolled out topping on top of the dough balls.
- Pat down lightly.
- Use a knife to cut the grooves in the topping like a shell or criss cross.
- Cover and let rise until doubled. About 45 minutes to an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Enjoy!
Never heard of Conchas before. Would love to try anytime soon!
You so should! These conchas are to die for… with a warm cup of tea or coffee, of course. 🙂
You sounds super amazing in this post. There is so much information on the ingredients. Just need to apply when I go to kitchen.
Thank you. I try to add as much information to my blog posts. Hope you get a chance to try out this conchas recipe.
I remember when I was a little girl in Mexico, I would go to our local little grocery store . Every day I would buy 2 Conchas, one for my Abuelita and one for me. Brings back so many good memories ! I certainly will try your recipe . Thank you !
Love those memories. Hope you try this recipe it’s delicious!
I never knew about this type of bread. It looks absolutely delicious though! 🙂 This recipe is really well written and easy to follow, and the photos makes it look even more appetising. Thank you for sharing 🙂
Thank you. Conchas is a type of Mexican sweet bread. Super delicious. I know how hard it can be for some people to make certain foods. That’s why I try to be as detailed as possible and make videos when I can. Less time figuring out what to cook, and more happy times eating. Words to live by. lol.
I love Mexican food but I’ve never heard of conchas before but now I need to try it, it sounds delicious.
Conchas is a type of Mexican sweet bread. Sooooo yummy. Especially in the morning with some coffee… Hope you get to try them one day!
I’m so really impressed the way you give the information, so really detailed and i love all the photos as well so amazing. I love bread very much. Thank you for this wonderful sharing.
Awww… thank you. Conchas are easy for some people, but some people don’t know where to start. That’s why I try to be as specific as possible with my blog posts.
Loved the recipe! I am gonna try it out this weekend. The pictures are so tempting!
Awww… thank you. Conchas take time to make, but they are totally worth it!
Wow, that Conchas looks so delicious. This is bread is so cute. My kids will love this bread for sure.
It’s a kids favorite, for sure!!
this is an amazing treat! that look’s tasty & thank you for sharing your recipe with us
You’re quite welcome. This is very tasty!!
I love conchas so much and this looks so easy! My favorite conchas in Mexico were much denser than all the light and fluffy ones here in the US, and I so badly want to recreate those slightly heavier and more filling conchas. Do you know if these come out on the denser side or how to make them a bit denser? Thank you!!
Hi! A couple of things to note. This is an authentic Mexican conchas recipe, but it is slightly different from what you might get at the Mexican panaderias. They are not as light and squishy. Mainly because I use all-purpose flour which is the way that I was taught. However, you can use bread flour which will make your conchas lighter and fluffier. All purpose flour and bread flour are interchangeable. If you are looking for denser Mexican conchas, try adding 1/2 cup more bread flour, or follow the recipe as is with all purpose flour. I find that if you add more flour, it will make your conchas denser. Hope this helps!
Is there something I can substitute the condensed milk with? Thank you for the recipe! It looks absolutely delicious!
There is a particular dessert I found at a Mexican bakery that I would like the recipe to make. I don’t know the name. It’s a flaky layered dessert. It looks like 1 inch strips of dough that were rolled in a circle to the size of a concha. They are very flaky, delicious and covered/heavily sprinkled with granulated sugar. Thank you for any help you can provide me with.
How do I prevent the topping from cracking? Once they are done they always seem to crack in different directions than the way I cut them with the knife. Everything else Is perfect except for that.
Never ate concha before baking them for for grandkids, who loved them. My wife grew up on them and thought, “not as airy as I remember”, but she thought it was good. My question is, I thought I could of gotten by with a little less flower, maybe half a cup, what do you think. I follow all recipes exactly as written, the first time. If I’m able to post a picture, I will.
Thanks for sharing!
Recipe is not near as hard as it looks, just got to dive in.
They might not be as “airy” for several reasons – it might be your elevation, how hot the room is, or it’s not hot enough. This will all affect the dough when it’s rising, especially since this recipe requires a double proof. The other thing you can do to make the conchas lighter is to use bread flour which will help the bread rise more. Hope this helps. Happy Baking!
I messed up – I was sooo excited to get them in the oven that I didn’t second proof the first batch, but they still tasted great. Let’s see how the second batch turns out!
So glad you liked this recipe!
Can I make the dough in the bread machine?
Yes. Do the first steps. That is, you can knead the dough in the bread machine. Then continue with the recipe.