Pandesal Recipe - Jeanelleats Food and Travel Blog (2024)

FAQs

Why is my pandesal so hard? ›

Why is the crust on my pandesal so hard? Your bread should be fluffy on the inside and slightly crusty on the outside, but the crust should not be rock hard. If your crust is too hard, it could be the result of under kneading your bread. Make sure your dough is completely smooth after kneading.

Pandesal is a popular yeast-raised bread in the Philippines. Individual loaves are shaped by rolling the dough into long logs (bastón, Spanish for "stick") which are rolled in fine bread crumbs. These are then portioned, allowed to rise, and baked.

A soft and airy flour roll, pandesal —€” which is sometimes spelled out as "pan de sal" —€” is Spanish for "salt bread." However, contrary to its name, the bread is actually relatively sweet. The yeast-raised bread is similar to the Mexican bolillo, and is the breakfast bread of choice throughout the Philippines.

Cover loosely with plastic wrap, and allow to rise at warm room temperature (75°F/24°C) until almost doubled in size, about 1 hour. (Alternatively, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight until puffy and soft, between 10 and 12 hours).

Commercial bread is softer due to the steam process used by bakeries, which is made to keep bread hydrated and fresh.

For us Filipinos, this could be traced way back to our childhood when our parents would serve it for breakfast or as our baon for school. Who can forget pandesal with hotdog, pandesal with your hot choco drink, or pandesal with your favorite palaman?

Pandesal is the most popular local bread in the Philippines. It is the Spanish term for “salt bread,” since the name originated during the 16th century Spanish colonial era. Most bakeries all over the country, from small backyard establishments to industrial bakeries, produce and sell this bread.

Pandesal is the most popular style of bread in the Philippines. The name comes from the Spanish word meaning “salt bread" and it originated during the 16th century era of Spanish colonization in the Philippines. Pandesal is known for its pillowy texture and signature breadcrumbs on top.

Pan de Sal is a Filipino bread roll that is normally served warm with condiments during breakfast but also sometimes during afternoon tea or merienda alongside stir fried noodles or pancit.

A freshly baked pandesal is great on its own, but Filipinos most commonly eat it dipped in coffee or hot chocolate, filled with breakfast staples like Spam and eggs, or topped with rich spreads like peanut butter, coconut jam, or kesong puti (fresh farmer's cheese).

Who invented pandesal? ›

Pandesal traces its history to the arrival of the Spanish colonists, who brought wheat flour to the islands and baked bread in wood-fired pugon ovens (from fogon, a now archaic Spanish term for a clay stove), which gave this bread and its cousins distinct flavors and textures.

Breadcrumbs for Pandesal

I recommend using breadcrumbs with a finer texture. I often use Progresso plain breadcrumbs (this is not sponsored). You can also use panko breadcrumbs but I suggest doing the following before using it: Place breadcrumbs on a tray.

“If the dough has risen too long, it's going to feel fragile and might even collapse as you poke it,” says Maggie.

How to eat pandesal? Pandesal are best eaten directly from the oven. You can store them for 2-3 days in an airtight container and reheat them in a toaster oven — if you happen to have any leftovers. They're delicious with peanut butter (as I've told you) or smeared with salted butter and honey or jam.

There may be several reasons for a dense, cake like texture in bread. It may indicate the kneading wasn't enough for the gluten to develop properly, or the dough was proved for too short a time or the dough may have been too dry. It is also worth checking the flour you used.

The flour could have too low a protein content, there could be too much salt in the bread recipe, you did not knead it or leave it to proof long enough, or you could have killed the yeast by leaving the dough to rise in a place that was too hot.

But over time, the starches undergo what is called retrogradation, meaning the starch granules give back some of their water, as it works its way to the surface of the loaf and evaporates. As this happens, the starches partially revert to their crystalline structure, which causes the bread to become hard and brittle.