Easy Birote Style Bread!

Birote style bread is a little different than the standard bolillo. When baked, the exterior is extra crunchy with a soft texture inside. It should taste a bit salty. If you are like me and enjoy tortas, Mexican style sandwiches with a roll that doesn’t get soggy or fall apart, this is the recipe!

I wish I could take credit for this easy and delicious bread recipe!

As many years as I have been baking bread, I was not satisfied with recipes I have tried in the past to achieve a crusty roll that was soft on the inside. I enjoy my original Mexican Bolillo Recipe, but it is different. It’s great for tortas of all kinds, but the exterior is softer and doesn’t hold up for tortas ahogadas. Please go and check out Food Language channel on YouTube for more wonderful bread recipes.

My motivation for wanting to bake that perfect crunchy roll! Tortas Ahogadas! Find the recipe HERE!

Torta ahogada literally translated to drowned sandwich. It is said that by mistake the torta was dropped into the savory salsa and grew to become one of the most popular sandwiches in Guadalajara, Mexico! I truly believe that the best recipes sometimes happen by accident. The torta ahogada originally sold exclusively on street stands is now served in hundreds of restaurants throughout Mexico and even in the states.

The key part of the recipe is having a baking pan that is deeper so you can cover it during the first bake. The water added creates steam and yields that crunchy exterior. The best!

The first time I attempted the recipe; I did not use a deep baking dish. When I covered them, they wanted to rise more, and the cover did not allow them to. They were still delicious though. For the second time, I purchased two disposable aluminum baking pans. If it is deep enough, you can even use foil paper to cover during the first bake.

This has to be one of the easiest bread recipes I have ever baked. No stand mixer, no fuss and delicious results!

Yes, I know that Mexico has its own traditional and authentic recipe for birotes. Unfortunately, we don’t all have wood fire oven in our backyard. This is a great alternate recipe that requires minimal ingredients. There is no big commitment, but you can double the recipe if you need more than 4 rolls.

I promise you that you will literally want to eat the rolls and not wait to prepare a torta! They are that delicious!

This was the first time I tried the recipe. The torta is layered with refried beans, a lot of pickled jalapeño strips, bacon, smoky ham. red onions and mayonnaise. It was delicious!

Easy Birote Style Bread

The easiest crusty roll recipe you will ever bake! The best!

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Course: Bread

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes minutes

Stretch and Fold and Proof Time: 3 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 day day 19 hours hours 32 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 Rolls

Ingredients

• 1 c lukewarm water
• 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 2 1/2 c bread flour 325 gr
• 2 tsps. salt

Instructions

• Mix water, yeast and sugar, Let stand for 10 minutes.
• Mix in the flour and salt until you have a shaggy dough.
• Cover for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes do 2 sets of stretch and folds, 30 minutes apart. To stretch and fold, you will wet your hands. Then gently pull up on one side of the dough and fold it over itself. Rotate and repeat on 2 sides.
• Cover and place in a warm spot for 2 hours or until it doubles in size.
• Pour out onto floured surface and fold over. Divide the dough into 4 equal parts. Roll into ball shapes. Let them rest for 20 minutes. Take each ball and gently shape into an oval shape. Tuck it tightly away from you pinching it along the seam as you go. do that twice.
• Gather the open side up and pinch it shut. Place it seam side down and gently roll to taper the ends. Place on a parchment lined deep baking sheet. Repeat until done.
• Sprinkle with some flour. Cover and let proof for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. When ready, gently score down the center of each roll. Brush some oil down the center of the score. Sprinkle some water around the inside edge of the baking pan, about 1/4 c.
• Place the pan in the oven on the middle rack. Cover with another pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the cover and bake for an additional 10 – 15 minutes. Let cool slightly. Listen to that crackling! Once cool, store in a plastic storage bag. Toast to crisp up the roll once again.

Notes

Depending on the pan you use to bake the bread, there will be different results. I tried three different pans and had three different results. The first pan was a sheet pan as you can see in the video. It gave me the best results compared to a covered graniteware. The bread got too dark, too fast. I will have to adjust the temperature and or baking time. The third time I used two disposable deep baking pans. I thought the bread might burn on the bottom since the pans were thin. I placed it on the thicker baking sheet while it baked. That was a mistake because it did not allow the bottom to bake and brown. The baking sheets pans I used the first time worked the best but need to find a deeper pan. This will allow the bread to spring more during baking. 

Tried this recipe?Mention @pinaenlacocina or tag #pinaenlacocina!

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