Broa de milho (Portuguese corn bread)

Name: Broa de milho (Portuguese corn bread)
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 3 h 35 min
Ingredients: 300 g cornmeal; 380 ml water; 100 g rye flour; 150 g bread flour; 1 instant yeast; 9 g salt

Vegetarian

Broa de milho

A rustic, crackled-crust Portuguese loaf made from scalded yellow maize flour with rye and wheat — dense, moist and slightly sweet from the corn.

Broa de milho (Portuguese corn bread) is a Portuguese bread from Portugal, ready in about 3 hours 35 minutes and made with cornmeal, rye flour and bread flour. It serves 12 and is rated easy to cook.

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Prep: 20 min
Cook: 45 min
Rest: 2 h 30 min
Total: 3 h 35 min
Serves: 12
Level: Easy
Calories: 167

Ingredients

12 wedges

300 g Cornmeal (opens in a new tab)Fine yellow maize flour, plus extra for dusting.
380 ml Water (opens in a new tab)300 ml boiling for the scald plus 80 ml lukewarm.
100 g Rye flour (opens in a new tab)Contains gluten
150 g Bread flour (opens in a new tab)Contains wheat, gluten
1 (7 g) Instant yeast (opens in a new tab)A 7 g sachet.
9 g Salt (opens in a new tab)

Equipment

Method

1
Step 1
Pour the boiling water over the cornmeal (opens in a new tab) and salt and stir into a thick paste. Cover and cool for 30 minutes — scalding gelatinises the corn so the bread stays moist.
- 3 min
Food safety: Take care stirring boiling water into the cornmeal.
2
Step 2
Add the rye flour (opens in a new tab), wheat flour, yeast and lukewarm water. Knead 5 minutes into a soft, sticky, clay-like dough; it won't become elastic.
How it looks · Photo: Klaus Nielsen on Pexels
3
Step 3
Cover and rise 1 hour until puffy with cracks on the surface.
4
Step 4
With floured hands, shape into a round, roll it in cornmeal (opens in a new tab) and place on a lined tray. Proof 30 minutes until the cornmeal coating cracks. Heat the oven (opens in a new tab) to 230 °C (fan 210 °C).
- 4 min
5
Step 5
Bake 15 minutes, then reduce to 200 °C (fan 180 °C) and bake 30 minutes more until dark golden with a cracked, crunchy top and hollow-sounding base (about 96 °C inside).
- 45 min
- 200°C · fan 180 °C after 15 minutes at 230 °C
- Oven (opens in a new tab)
- Baking tray / sheet (opens in a new tab)
6
Step 6
Cool completely on a rack before cutting into wedges.
- Cooling rack (opens in a new tab)

About this dish

Origin: Minho and northern Portugal, Portugal · Well documentedAlso popular in BrazilMore food from Portugal
Dish: Lunch · Dinner · Breads & flatbreads
Cooking method: Oven-baked, Fermented
Taste: sweet, earthy, nutty
Diet: Vegan · Dairy-free · No nut ingredients
All labels
Vegan · Plant-based · Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Lacto-vegetarian · Ovo-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · Dairy-free · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · Low-fat · DASH-style
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for: Budget-friendly · Everyday
Cook more with: Cornmeal · Rye flour · Bread flour · Instant yeast
Techniques: Baking · Boiling · Kneading · Reduction · Fermentation

Allergens

Contains: Wheatfrom rye flour, bread flour
Contains: Glutenfrom rye flour, bread flour

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

167 kcal per serving

Calculated

1 serving ≈ 71 g · recipe makes 12

Where the energy comes from

Protein 11%
Carbohydrate 82%
Fat 7%

Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
Nutrient	Per serving	Per 100 g
Energy	167 kcal	235 kcal
Protein	4.7 g	6.6 g
Carbohydrate	34.8 g	49.2 g
Net carbohydrate	31.5 g	44.5 g
Sugars	0.3 g	0.4 g
Added sugars	0 g	0 g
Fibre	3.3 g	4.6 g
Fat	1.3 g	1.8 g
Saturated fat	0.2 g	0.3 g
Trans fat	—	—
Cholesterol	0 mg	0 mg
Sodium	301 mg	425 mg
Salt equivalent	0.8 g	1.1 g

Vitamins & minerals per serving

Potassium: 121 mg
Calcium: 9 mg
Iron: 1.6 mg
Magnesium: 41 mg
Vitamin A (RAE): 3 µg
Vitamin C: 0 mg
Vitamin D: 0 µg
Vitamin B12: 0 µg
Folate (DFE): 59 µg

How these numbers were made

Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
“—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

Use fine maize flour, not coarse polenta, or the crumb will be gritty.

Common mistakes

Skipping the scald, which gives a dry, crumbly loaf.

Serve with

With caldo verde, grilled sardines or chouriço, or crumbled into stuffings.

Storage

Keeps 3–4 days wrapped in a cloth.

Reheating

Toast wedges or warm in the oven.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added 29 Oct 2026 · Updated 8 Nov 2026

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Compare with

Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

Used in steps 1, 2

Baker’s notes

Customise in Bread & Bakery

Timeline and readiness cues

Mix and knead · about 20 min
Weigh everything. Knead until smooth and elastic: a small piece stretches thin enough to see light through (the windowpane test).
First rise (bulk) · about 1 h 30 min
About doubled, domed, jiggly, with bubbles on the sides. A floured finger poked in leaves a dent that fills slowly.
Final proof · about 30 min
Poke test: the dent springs back slowly and only partly. Springs back fast = needs longer; doesn't spring back = over-proofed, bake now.
Bake · about 45 min at 230 °C
Deep golden; bread sounds hollow when tapped underneath, or reads 93–96 °C inside (enriched breads 88–90 °C).
Cool · about 1 h
Cool on a rack before slicing — the crumb is still setting; cutting hot bread makes it gummy.
Start to finish: about 4 h 5 min. Times are a guide — warmth changes everything; follow the cues.

The dough

The dough in baker's percentages. Flour = 100%.
Ingredient	Role	Weight	Baker’s %
Cornmeal	Flour	300 g	54.5%
Bread flour	Flour	150 g	27.3%
Rye flour	Flour	100 g	18.2%
Water	Water	380 g	69.1%
Salt	Salt	9 g	1.6%
Instant yeast	Yeast	7 g	1.3%

Total flour: 550 g
Hydration: 69.1%
With milk, eggs…: 69.1%
Wholegrain: 72.7%

Hydration = water ÷ flour × 100. Milk is about 87% water and eggs about 75%, so they’re shown separately as “with milk, eggs…”.

Soft, slightly sticky dough (65–75%) — open crumb; most rustic loaves.
Salt 1.6% — normal for bread.
72.7% wholegrain — absorbs more water and gives a denser, nuttier loaf.

If something goes wrong

Dense, heavy loaf
Likely causes
- Under-kneaded (weak gluten)
- Under-proofed
- Old or dead yeast/starter
- Too much wholegrain flour without extra water
What to do
- Knead to the windowpane stage
- Proof by the poke test, not the clock
- Test yeast in warm water with sugar; feed the starter and use it at its peak
- Add 5–10% more water for wholegrain flours and give them a rest
Gummy or wet crumb
Likely causes
- Under-baked
- Sliced while hot
- Hydration too high for the flour
What to do
- Bake to 93–96 °C inside (cakes: clean skewer)
- Cool completely on a rack before slicing
- Reduce water by 3–5% or use a stronger flour
Spreads flat / no oven spring
Likely causes
- Over-proofed
- Weak shaping (no surface tension)
- Oven not hot enough
- Too much water for the flour
What to do
- Shorten the proof; bake when the poke springs back slowly
- Shape tightly so the skin is taut
- Preheat fully (30+ minutes; with a stone or Dutch oven, 45)
- Lower hydration or use bread flour
Pale crust
Likely causes
- Oven too cool
- Too little sugar or no milk/egg for browning
- Over-fermented (yeast ate the sugars)
What to do
- Check the oven with a thermometer
- Brush with egg wash or milk
- Shorten the fermentation
Burnt bottom
Likely causes
- Tray too close to the heat
- Dark tray absorbs more heat
- Too much sugar in the dough
What to do
- Bake on the middle shelf
- Double up trays or use a light-coloured one
- Lower the temperature 10–15 °C and bake a little longer
Crust too hard or thick
Likely causes
- Baked too long at too low a temperature
- No steam at the start
What to do
- Bake hotter for a shorter time
- Add steam for the first 15 minutes (tray of boiling water, or a covered Dutch oven)
- Cool under a tea towel for a softer crust
Dough didn't rise
Likely causes
- Dead yeast (expired or killed by hot liquid)
- Kitchen too cold
- Salt in direct contact with fresh yeast
- Starter not active
What to do
- Liquid should be lukewarm (no hotter than 40 °C)
- Proof somewhere warm (an oven with just the light on)
- Mix the salt into the flour, not onto the yeast
- Feed the starter until it doubles in 4–8 hours
Over-proofed (sour smell, collapses when scored)
Likely causes
- Too warm
- Too much yeast
- Left too long
What to do
- Knock back, reshape and proof again briefly (yeast doughs)
- Use less yeast or a cooler proof
- Set a timer and check early with the poke test

Reviews & corrections

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