FOODIEO: Pandesal (Filipino Sweet Bread Roll)

Homemade pandesal, (Filipino sweet bread roll). Maliknamnam!

Whenever we visit the Philippines, before dropping off our luggages at my mom's childhood home in Cubao, Manila, we make a pit stop on route from the airport to the famous Megamelt Muhlach. They are best known for their ensaymada (Filipino cheesy butter pastry) but our guilty pleasure is their pandesal. We pick up a dozen of their fresh pandesal, a Filipino classic sweet bread roll. This batch of pandesal barely lasts us 24 hours. 

Foodieo Fact: Pandesal is Spanish for "salt of bread" but they're slightly sweet! Lost in translation;)

The national bread of the Philippines, these golden rolls are soft, airy and slightly sweet with a light crust for crunch, yum! They are best consumed warm, spread with a layer of salted butter, topped with a slice of sharp cheddar cheese then dipped into hot strong coffee. They melt in your mouth like pillowy biscotti. For most Filipinos, it's tough to live through a day without our fix of pandesal.

Foodieo Fact: Commonly known as "poor man's bread", pandelsal was a cheaper alternative for rice during the world war times. Now, these ubiquitous buns can be found throughout the world in variety of flavours like whole wheat, cheese, raisin, ube (purple yam) and much more!

Whenever we crave these little oval loaves back in Canada, we can easily find them at local Filipino stores. However, it's nothing like have them hot-out-of-the-oven, watching steam gently evaporating when you pull the loaf apart and seeing the butter liquify before your eyes. Then immediately devouring a 3-4 pandesal rolls at once! Not that I've experienced that but can imagine the temptation;)

So happy the pandesals turned out, yay!

Here's an easy, a little time consuming recipe (believe me it's worth it!) pandesal recipe that is foolproof. At least it was for me. This FOODIEO shows me making pandesal for the first time and nailing it! They turned out exactly how I remember eating them in the Philippines. Hope you will give it a try and bring some pinoy comfort food into your home.



Ingredients:
2 cups warm water (110°F)
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/3 cup
1/4 cup sunflower oil
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
5-6 cups organic, unbleached all-purpose flour + 1/3 cup for kneading
1/2 cup bread crumbs (sprinkle on top of rolls)
Butter (optional)

Directions:
1) Fill small bowl with warm water, add yeast and 1 tsp of sugar, stir to dissolve. Let sit until mixture becomes bubbly and creamy, about 10 min.
2) In large mixing bowl, combine 1/3 cup of sugar and oil, mix until smooth. Add salt and 1 cup of flour, mix until combined. Add yeast mixture. Add remaining 4-5 cups of flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
3) Turn dough onto slightly floured surface and knead until smooth, supple and elastic, 10 minutes. Oil a large mixing bowl, turn dough in it until coated with oil. Cover with a damp towel and let sit in warm place until dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour.
4) Turn dough onto floured surface and divide into 4 equal pieces. Form each piece into
log and roll until 1/2" thick in diameter. Using a sharp knife, cut log into 1/2" roll pieces. Place the rolls, flat side down, onto 2 baking sheets. Gently press each roll down to flatten. 
5) Preheat oven to 375°F.
6) Sprinkle pandesal rolls with bread crumbs, cover them with a damp cloth and let rise until double in volume, about 30 min.
7) Bake for about 10-15 min or until golden brown. Then immediately eat with lots of butter, masarap!!

Enjoy spread with butter, cheddar cheese, jam, coffee grinds...anything would be good in pandesal!

Recipe adapted from All Recipes.