Sourdough Conchas (i.e. Mexican Pan Dulce) 🐚

Closeup Mexican sourdough conchas with strawberry and chocolate seashell coatings

Sourdough Conchas (i.e. Mexican Pan Dulce) 🐚

An ode to the most famed Mexican pan dulce, these sourdough conchas are ultra buttery and light curtesy of using a sweet stiff starter.

Course Bread

Cuisine Functional Food, Mexican

Keyword mexican conchas, sourdough conchas

Prep Time 1 30

Cook Time 1

proofing time 1

Servings conchas

Ingredients

for the sweet stiff starter

120 g bread flour
50 g spring water
40 g active sourdough starter
20 g sugar works better than honey

for the dough

all your sweet stiff starter
2 large eggs at room temp
2 egg yolks
50 g raw honey maple syrup or granulated sugar of choice
60 g cane sugar
2 teaspoons orange blossom water agua de azahar imparts unbeatable light floral notes… but can be skipped if you don’t have on hand
zest of 1 orange
100 g whole milk at room temp
350 g unbleached bread flour*
6 g fine sea salt
120 g unsalted grass-fed butter at room temp
60 g almond flour optional, but will keep your bread extra moist

for the crostón (i.e. sugary topping)

100 g unsalted grass fed butter soft enough to spread
70 g icing sugar (you can add up to 100g if you like them sweeter)
120 g all purpose flour
10 g cocoa see notes for strawberry
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch fine sea salt
1 egg lightly whisked (to adhere the croston onto the conchas)

to serve with

Mexican hot chocolate go for Ibarra rather than Abuelita (pretty pls!)

Instructions

6 p.m. feed your starter

VIP (time saving) note: if your starter is active enough that you trust it to double in size after every feeding (i.e. it hasn't been languishing in the fridge for months), feel free to skip this section and whip up your sweet stiff starter using your unfed starter.
Add 50g of flour to feed your starter (you need just 40g of active starter for the recipe, so it depends on how big you keep your starter (and if you’re taking yours out of the fridge you’ll most def need to do one feeding before it’s strong enough to bake with).
Add 50g spring water (you don’t want filtered, you really do want the added minerals)(this should tell you something too about what you should be drinking too btw 👀) and mix until the dough resembles a thick pancake batter.
Allow to rest for 3-6 hours in a warm(ish) place until doubled in size.

9 p.m. make your sweet stiff starter

Add all your ingredients to a medium bowl and knead them together until a stiff dough emerges (just ensure there are no pockets of flour).
Form a round, transfer to a wide-rim jar and allow it to proof in a warm spot until tripled in size (8-12 hours).
Note: know that you can refrigerate your sss for 12-24 hours once its nearly tripled, just bring it back to room temperature before baking with it.

7 a.m. make your dough

My best advice: just ensure everything is at room temp to give your culture the best fighting chance (and watch the recipe video for the shaping). Other than that, you’ll be surprised how simple the process is (and how little you have to do, it just takes time).
Add sweet stiff starter, eggs, honey, sugar and orange flavorings to the bowl of your stand mixer and mix, until just combined, using the paddle attachment. Add in the milk and mix again.
Set your mixer on low and add the flour in parts until just combined. Add in the salt and continue mixing until everything looks nice and incorporated (about a minute). Yup, the dough is pretty sticky at this point!
Cover with a damp paper towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Switch to the dough hook attachment on your mixer and “knead” on medium speed for 8-10 minutes, adding a pad of butter at a time (it really needs to be at room temp so that it incorporates seamlessly!) . The dough will be sleek and pull away from the sides at this point (if it isn’t, just sprinkle a tad of flour at a time, think a tablespoon or two, and kneed for a bit longer).
Add your almond flour (optional) and kneed until incorporated. Your dough should be at (or very near) windowpane by now– test it by stretching it, you want it to be translucent. If it feels a bit stiff don’t worry, knead it for a couple more minutes, let it rest for thirty minutes and do a set of stretch and folds (the sourdough cultures will take care of it).
Transfer to a smaller bowl for the bulk rise (as it’s easier to gauge the rise if you can actually mark it with a sharpie) and cover with cling film.
Allow to proof in a warm spot for 3-5 hours, or until at least doubled in size (but I generally let mine go until it almost tripes as I personally find it easiest to digest).
Note: once it doubles is a good time to refrigerate the dough if you don’t intend to bake the same day.

shape (watch video for deets)

Line a baking tray with parchment paper and set aside.
Lightly flour your working surface, turn the dough out (feel free to give it a good punch!) and stretch it out gently (allow it to rest for 10 minutes if it “feels” like it’s resisting)(you’ll know, trust me!).
Divide dough into 12 equal pieces. Flatten it out with your hands and fold in "the edges” in to form it into a round. Gently roll it against the counter a few times in order to create tension (which is what ultimately gives us the super nice fluff when proofing).
Cover with a light kitchen towel (or oiled cling film) and allow to rest until nice and fluffy (about 1 to 2 hours).
Make the croston while your conchas are proofing by adding all the ingredients (minus the egg!) to a bowl and mixing with your hands until a sticky dough emerges. Wrap it in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes and up to 3 days.
Form into rounds and roll out between parchment paper when needed (but using a tortilla press makes it easy peasy).
Gently brush your proofed conchas with egg wash and place the croston over them. Score the lightly (as you don't want to score the actual dough!) so it resembles sea shells– either squares or lines are traditional.
and bake away!
Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.
Bake on the center rack for 20-25 minutes, checking in at minute 15 for over-browning. The top will be a nice golden brown once ready, so keep an eye on it (because I pulled mine out at min 20 and it was beginning to look a little toasty). You can also test for doneness by tapping it on the bottom just like your sourdough loaf- you wanna hear that nice little hollow clunk.
Allow to rest until it comes down to room temp before serving (trust me, this is one where I’m literally forcing you to hold your horses)(and if you know me I tend to be lenient- but not here!)
non negotiable: serve with a frothy hot chocolate to liberally dunk in
and feel free to store in an airtight plastic bag (yup, no exceptions here either!), and it’ll keep for a good week this way– simply reheat it for 6-7 minutes at 350.

Video

Notes

*please note that all sourdough recipes on the site are developed around King Arthur's Organic Bread Flour (for consistency sake)(and because its my personal favorite "generic" flour to bake sourdough with)(but I generally also test all the recipes with other heirloom & heritage flours– Hayden Flour Mills makes some of my favorite blends).

** Chocolate conchas are my favorite, but throw in some strawberry to the mix and they're my super duper favorite. So if you're in for a treat to make these marbled goodies you'll need to procure some freeze dried strawberry powder (and dragon fruit too if you want that extra vibrant pink)– that way you'll be adding an actual burst of vibrant flavor and not just a pretty pink hue via your good old artificial colorings (split the croston dough in half before adding in your flavors: add 5g cocoa to half and 10g strawberry + 1/2 tsp dragon fruit to the second half).