Conchas (Mexican sweet bread)
Contains egg (no meat or fish)
Conchas
Soft, brioche-like Mexican sweet buns with a crumbly sugar topping scored into a seashell pattern. The best-known pan dulce of Mexican bakeries.
Conchas (Mexican sweet bread) is a Mexican bread from Mexico, ready in about 3 hours 40 minutes and made with bread flour and icing sugar. It serves 14 and is rated intermediate to cook.
- Prep
- 50 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Rest
- 2 h 30 min
- Total
- 3 h 40 min
- Serves
- 14
- Level
- Intermediate
- Calories
- 316
Ingredients
For the shell topping
Method
Step 1
Mix the flour, sugar (opens in a new tab), yeast, salt and cinnamon (opens in a new tab). Add the eggs (opens in a new tab), milk (opens in a new tab) and vanilla (opens in a new tab) and knead 6 minutes. Add the butter in pieces and knead 8–10 minutes more until smooth, elastic and slightly tacky.
How it looks · Photo: Klaus Nielsen on Pexels Step 2
Cover and leave until doubled, 75–90 minutes.
- 80 min
Step 3
Make the topping: rub the flour, icing sugar (opens in a new tab) and shortening (opens in a new tab) together into a smooth paste like play dough (knead cocoa into half if you like). Divide into 14 balls.
- 8 min
Step 4
Divide the dough into 14 pieces (about 70 g), shape into tight balls and place on lined trays, 5 cm apart. Flatten each topping ball between plastic into an 8 cm disc and lay it over a bun. Score a shell pattern of curved lines with a small knife or concha cutter, cutting the topping but not the dough.
Step 5
Proof uncovered 60 minutes until about doubled and the topping has cracked open along the lines. Heat the oven (opens in a new tab) to 180 °C.
- 60 min
- 180°C
Step 6
Bake 18–20 minutes until the bottoms are golden; the topping should stay pale. Cool on the tray.
- 20 min
- 180°C
- Oven (opens in a new tab)
About this dish
- Origin
- Mexico · Well documentedAlso popular in United States, GuatemalaMore food from Mexico
- Dish
- Breakfast · Snack · Breads & flatbreads · Sweets & confectionery
- Cooking method
- Oven-baked, Fermented
- Taste
- sweet, buttery, aromatic / warmly spiced
- Diet
- Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · No nut ingredientsWorked out from the ingredients. How labels work
All labels
Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · No nut ingredients · Pork-free · Beef-free - Good for
- Child-friendly · Freezer-friendly
- Cook more with
- Bread flour · Icing sugar · Sugar · Instant yeast · Egg · Milk
- Techniques
- Baking · Kneading · Fermentation
Allergens
- Contains: Milkfrom milk, unsalted butter
- Contains: Eggsfrom egg
- Contains: Wheatfrom bread flour, all-purpose flour
- Contains: Glutenfrom bread flour, all-purpose 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
316 kcal per serving
Calculated1 serving ≈ 82 g · recipe makes 14
Where the energy comes from
- Protein 8%
- Carbohydrate 59%
- Fat 33%
| Nutrient | Per serving | Per 100 g |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 316 kcal | 385 kcal |
| Protein | 6.6 g | 8 g |
| Carbohydrate | 46.6 g | 56.7 g |
| Net carbohydrate | 45.4 g | 55.2 g |
| Sugars | 15 g | 18.2 g |
| Added sugars | 14.1 g | 17.2 g |
| Fibre | 1.2 g | 1.4 g |
| Fat | 11.4 g | 13.9 g |
| Saturated fat | 4.7 g | 5.7 g |
| Trans fat | — | — |
| Cholesterol | 40 mg | 49 mg |
| Sodium | 184 mg | 224 mg |
| Salt equivalent | 0.5 g | 0.6 g |
Vitamins & minerals per serving
- Potassium
- 78 mg
- Calcium
- 27 mg
- Iron
- 2.1 mg
- Magnesium
- 13 mg
- Vitamin A (RAE)
- 57 µg
- Vitamin C
- 0 mg
- Vitamin D
- 0.3 µg
- Vitamin B12
- 0.1 µg
- Folate (DFE)
- 140 µg
How these numbers were made
- Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
- Optional ingredients are not included: cinnamon, cocoa powder.
- “—” 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
- Proofing uncovered lets the topping dry slightly so the pattern opens cleanly.
Common mistakes
- Topping that is too soft melts down the sides — add a spoon more flour.
Serve with
- Serve with hot chocolate or café de olla for breakfast or merienda.
Storage
- Airtight 2 days; freeze up to 1 month.
Reheating
- Warm at 160 °C for 5 minutes.
Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated
Recipe DNA
How this dish is built
Built from the recipe’s own sections. 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
- Bread flour500 g
- Egg2 piece · 100 g
- Milk180 ml · 185 g
- Unsalted butter, softened80 g
Baker’s notes
Customise in Bread & BakeryTimeline and readiness cues
Mix and knead · about 50 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 20 min
About doubled, domed, jiggly, with bubbles on the sides. A floured finger poked in leaves a dent that fills slowly.
Final proof · about 1 h
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 20 min at 180 °C
Deep golden; bread sounds hollow when tapped underneath, or reads 93–96 °C inside (enriched breads 88–90 °C).
- Start to finish: about 3 h 30 min. Times are a guide — warmth changes everything; follow the cues.
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
Collapsed or sunken middle
Likely causes
- Oven door opened too early
- Too much leavening or sugar
- Under-baked centre
- Over-proofed yeast dough
What to do
- Don't open the oven for the first two-thirds of baking
- Measure leaveners exactly with spoons, levelled
- Test the centre before removing
- Proof less
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
Cracked or domed top
Likely causes
- Oven too hot (crust sets before the centre rises)
- Too much leavening
- Overmixed batter
What to do
- Lower the oven 10–15 °C
- Use the exact leavening amount
- Fold just until combined
Big holes or tunnels
Likely causes
- Overmixed batter (cakes, muffins)
- Air trapped while shaping bread
- Uneven proof
What to do
- Mix quick breads only until no dry flour shows
- Degas gently and shape tightly
- Proof covered in an even, warm place
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
Dry or crumbly
Likely causes
- Too much flour (scooped, not weighed)
- Over-baked
- Too little fat or sugar
What to do
- Weigh flour, or spoon it into the cup and level
- Check 5 minutes early
- Don't cut fat or sugar by more than a quarter without another moisture source
Reviews & corrections
Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.
You might also like
Pan de muerto
Mexican · 4 h 5 min · 316 kcal · Contains eggMelonpan
Japanese · 2 h 55 min · 311 kcal · Contains egg
Pineapple bun (bo lo bao)
Hong Kong · 2 h 36 min · 346 kcal · Contains egg
Chocolate babka
Polish · 15 h 25 min · 349 kcal · Contains egg